s to advise him of the danger of their new position in the
too extended line of the 7th corps, which had to cover the long stretch
from the bend in the Meuse to the wood of la Garenne. There could be no
doubt that the enemy would attack with the first glimpse of daylight;
only for seven or eight hours now would that deep tranquillity remain
unbroken. And shortly after the dim light in the colonel's tent was
extinguished Maurice was amazed to see Captain Beaudoin glide by,
keeping close to the hedge, with furtive steps, and vanish in the
direction of Sedan.

The darkness settled down on them, denser and denser; the chill mists
rose from the stream and enshrouded everything in a dank, noisome fog.

"Are you asleep, Jean?"

Jean was asleep, and Maurice was alone. He could not endure the
thought of going to the tent where Lapoulle and the rest of them were
slumbering; he heard their snoring, responsive to Rochas' strains, and
envied them. If our great captains sleep soundly the night before a
battle, it is like enough for the reason that their fatigue will not
let them do otherwise. He was conscious of no sound save the equal,
deep-drawn breathing of that slumbering multitude, rising from the
darkening camp like the gentle respiration of some huge monster; beyond
that all was void. He only knew that the 5th corps was close at hand,
encamped beneath the rampart, that the 1st's line extended from the wood
of la Garenne to la Moncelle, while the 12th was posted on the other
side of the city, at Bazeilles; and all were sleeping; the whole length
of that long line, from the nearest tent to the most remote, for miles
and miles, that low, faint murmur ascended in rhythmic unison from
the dark, mysterious bosom of the night. Then outside this circle
lay another region, the realm of the unknown, whence also sounds came
intermittently to his ears, so vague, so distant, that he scarcely knew
whether they were not the throbbings of his own excited pulses; the
indistinct trot of cavalry plashing over the low ground, the dull rumble
of gun and caisson along the roads, and, still more marked, the heavy
tramp of marching men; the gathering on the heights above of that black
swarm, engaged in strengthening the meshes of their net, from which
night itself had not served to divert them. And below, there by the
river's side, was there not the flash of lights suddenly extinguished,
was not that the sound of hoarse voices shouting orders, addi