Sentence:  As for the guides, they were debarred from the pleasure of discourse, the one being placed in the van, and the other obliged to bring up the rear. / In this <WSD>posture</WSD> they travelled many hours, till they came into a wide and well-beaten road ... 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  The position of someone or something relative to another; position; situation.