Middletown transcript., 1920-09-18

might have rubbed all our faces II
pipeclay and we should have been N
whittier. AYE. you'll look sicklier ye
when you get hatful of grape int
your tripes," said he; and then. as
saw some of the cid soldiers laughing
l began to understand that this maj
was trying4to frighten us, so ! begal
to laugh also, and the others as well
but It was not a very hearty laugf
either.
The sun was almost above us wher
we stopped at little place called Hal
where there Is an old pump from
which I drew and drank shake full
Of water-and never did mug o1
Scotch ale taste as sweet. More guns
passed us here, and Vivian's hussars
three regiments Of them, smart mer
| with bOnny brown horses. a treat tC
! the eye. The noise Of the cannons was
louder than ever now. and it tingled
through my nerves just as it had done
years before when. with Edie by my
side, had seen the merchant ship
fight with the pri-,ateers. 1t was Sc
loud now that 1t seemed to me tina,
the battle must be going on just be-
yond the nearest wood. but my friend
the sergeant knew better.
TITS twelve to fifteen miles off," said
he. "you may be sure that the general
knows that we are not wanted, or we
should not be resting here at Hal"
What he said proved to be true. for
a minute later down came the colonel
with orders that we should stack arms
and bivouac where we were, and there
we stayed all day. while horse and
foot and guns. English, Dutch and
Hanoverians. were streaming through.
The devils music went on till evening,
sometimes rising into a roar. some
times sinking into grumble, until
about eight o'clock in the evening 1t
stopped altogether. We were eating
our hearts out, as you may think. to
know what 1t all meant, but we knew
that what the Duke did would be for
the best, so we just waited in patience.
Next day the brigade remained at
Hal in the morning. but about midday
came an order from the Duke. and we
pushed on once more until we came to
a village called Braine something, and
there we stopped, and time, too. for a
sudden thunderstorm came on and
plump of rain that turned all the roads
and the fields into hog and mire. We
got into the barns at this village for
shelter, and there we found two strag-
glers, one from a killed regiment and
the other a man Of the German legion.
who had a tale to tell that was as
dreary as the weather.
Boney had thrashed the Prussians
the day before, and our fellows had
been sore put to 1t to hold their own
against Ney. but had beaten him of at
last. It seems an old. stale story to
you now, but you cannot think how we
scrambled around those two men in
the barn. and pushed and fought just
to catch a word Of what they said, and
how those who had heard were in turn
mobbed by those who had not. We
laughed and cheered and groaned all
in turn. as we we're told how the Forty
fourth had received cavalry in line.
how the Dutch Belgians had fed. and
how the Black Watch had taken the
lancers into their square. and then had
killed them at their leisure. But the
lancers had had the laugh on their
side when they crumpled up the Sixty
ninth and carried off tene Of the eelors.
To wind 1t all up. the Duke was in re-
treat. in order to keep in touch with
the Prussians. and it was rumored that
he would take up his ground and fight
a big battle just at the very place
where we had been halted.
And soon we saw that this rumor
was true. for the weather cleared
toward evening, and we were all out
on the ridge to see what we could see.
It was such bonny stretch Of corn
and grazing land. with the crops just
half green and half yellow. and fine
rye as high as mans shoulder. A
scene more full Of peace you could not
think Of, and look where you would
over the low. curving. corn-covered
hills. you could see the little village
steeples pricking up their spires among
the poplars. But slashed right across
this pretty picture was a long tra!;
of marching men, some red, some
green. some blue. some black, zigzag-
ging over the plaine and choking the
roads. one end so close that we could
shout to them as they stacked their
muskets on the ridge at our left. and
the other end lost among the woods
as fur as we could see. And then on
other roads we saw the teams of
horses toiling and the dull gleam of
the guns, and the men straining and
swaying as they helped to turn the
spokes in the deep. deep mud. AS we
stood there regiment after regiment
and brigade after brigade took posi-
tion on the ridge. and ere the sun had
set we lay in line Of over sixty thou
sand men. blocking Napoleon's way to
Brussels. But the rain had come
swishing down again, and we Of the
Seventy-f1rst rushed off to our barn
once more. where we had better quar-
ters than the greater part of our COM
rades, who lay stretched in the mud.
with the storm beating upon them,
until the first peep Of day.
CHAPTER XII.
The Shadow on the [ and
It was still drizzling in the morning.
with brown. drifting clouds and
damp. chilly wind. It was a queer
thing for me as opened my eyes to