ep was slow, and more than once
he halted, as if to think. When he reached the walls, he walked rapidly
on, his suite following him.

'Ah, Monsieur Tiernay,' said he, as he passed me, 'you know what an
Apennine storm is now; but it will cool the air and give us delicious
weather'; and so he passed on with an easy smile.

CHAPTER XXXVII. MONTE DI PACCIO

The disappointment we had suffered was not the only circumstance adverse
to our expedition. The rain had now swollen the smallest rivulets to
the size of torrents; in many places the paths would be torn away and
obliterated, and everywhere the difficulty of a night march enormously
increased. Giorgio, however, who was, perhaps, afraid of forfeiting his
reward, assured the general that these mountain streams subside even
more rapidly than they rise; that such was the dryness of the soil, no
trace of rain would be seen by sunset, and that we should have a calm,
starry night; the very thing we wanted for our enterprise.

We did not need persuasion to believe all he said--the opinion chimed in
with our own wishes, and, better still, was verified to the very
letter by a glorious afternoon. Landward, the spectacle was perfectly
enchanting; the varied foliage of the Apennines, refreshed by the rain,
glittered and shone in the sun's rays, while in the bay, the fleet, with
sails hung out to dry, presented a grand and an imposing sight. Better
than all, Monte Faccio now appeared quite near us; we could, even with
the naked eye, perceive all the defences, and were able to detect a
party of soldiers at work outside the walls, clearing, as it seemed,
some watercourse that had been impeded by the storm. Unimportant as the
labour was, we watched it anxiously, for we thought that perhaps before
another sunset many a brave fellow's blood might dye that earth. During
the whole of that day, from some cause or other, not a shot had been
fired either from the land-batteries or the fleet, and as though a truce
had been agreed to, we sat watching each other's movements peacefully
and calmly.

'The Austrians would seem to have been as much deceived as ourselves,
sir,' said an old artillery sergeant to me, as I strolled along the
walls at nightfall. 'The pickets last night were close to the glacis,
but see, now they have fallen back a gunshot or more.'

'But they had time enough since to have resumed their old position,'
said I, half doubting the accuracy of the surmise.

'Time eno