Mrs. Grundy. (Tracy City, Tenn.) 1903-1930, 1920-12-09
THE
GREAT
SHADOW
BY
A. CONAN DOYLE
Copyright by A. Conan Doyle.
CHAPTER xII--continued.
Author Of
The Adventures Of
Sherlock Holmes

IL
From where we stood II was sight
now that was worth coming over the
seas to see. On our own ridge was
the checker of red and blue, stretching
right away to village over two miles
from us. 1t was whispered from man
to man In the ranks, however, that
there was too much of Me blue and
too little of the red, for the Belgians
had shown on the day before that their
hearts We're too soft for the work. and
we had twenty thousand of. them for
comrades. Then even our British
troops were half made up of militia
men and recruits. for the pick of the
old Peninsula regiments were on the
ocean In transports, coming back from
some FOOLS arrand with our kinsfolk
OF America. But for all that we could
see the bears3ins of the Guards, two
strong brigades of them, and the bon
nets of the Highlanders, and the blue
of the old German legion, and the red
lines of Packs brigade. and Kempt's
brigade, and the green-dotted rifle.
men In front; and we knew that, come
what might, these were men who would
hide where they were placed. and that
they had man to lead them who
would place them where they should
bide.
OF the French we had seen little.
save the twinkle Of their fires and
few horsemen here and there on the
curves of the ridge; but as we stood
and waited there came suddenly
grand blare from their bands. and
their whole army came flooding over
the low hill which had hid them-bri-
gade after brigade, and division after
division--until the broad slope In Its
whole length and depth was blue with
their uniforms and bright with the,
CLINT Of their weapons3 1t seemes that
they would never have done, skfpour-
IN axer md paysr..aass ssssg gfrr'Y re
mek leaned on theif muskets and
Smoked their pipes ibCising down at
this grand gathering and listening to
what the old soldiers, who had fought
the French before, had to say about
them. Then. when the infantry had
formed In long, deep masses. their
guns came whirling and bounding
down the slope. and It was pretty to
see how smartly they numbered and
were ready for action And then. at
a stately trot. down came the cav
alry-thirty regiments at the least,
with plume and breastplate, twinkling
sword and fluttering lance-forming
up at the TANKS and rear In long, shift
ing, glimmering lines.
"Them's tne chaps" cried our old
sergeant. They're gluttons TO fight,
they are. And you see them regi-
ments with the great high hats In the
a bit behind the farm? That's
the Guard--twenty thousand Of them.
my sons, and all picked men--gray-
headed devils that have done nothing
but fight since they were as high as
my CATERS. They've three men to our
two. and two guns to one. sand, by CAD
they'll make you recruities wish you
were back in Argyle street before they
have finished with you" He was not
q cheering man, our sergeant, but then
he had been in every fight since Co
runna, and had medal with seven
clasps upon his breast, so that he had
a right TO talk In his own fashion.
vyAnn fhn Exnu nhuanv, hoH orro rod
themselves Just out of cannon shot we
saw small group Of horsemen, all In
a blaze with silver and scarlet and
gold, ride swiftly between the divi-
sions; and as they went a roar of
cheering burst out from either side of
them, end we could see arms out
stretched to them and hands waving.
An instant later the noise had died
away and the two armies stood facing
each other in absolute deadly silence
a sight which often comes back to me
in my dreams. Then Of a sudden
there was lurch among the men just
in front Of us, a thin column wheeled
off from the dense blue clump, and
came swinging up toward the farm
house which lay below us. 1t had not
taken fifty PAGES before a gun banged
out from an English battery on our
left and the battle OF Waterloo had
begun.
1t is not for me to tell you the story
of that battle, and indeed | should
have kept far enough away from such
a thing had 1t not happened that our
own fatas--those of the three simple
folk who came from the border coun.
try-were all just as much mixed up
In 1t as those of any king or emperor
of them all. To tell the honest truth,
I have learned more about that battle
from what have read than from what
~