ever, he fell in love with a cousin and they became
engaged; their intention was to open a little shop on the small
capital which she would bring him, and then existence once more became
desirable. He had received an elementary education; could read, write,
and cipher. For the past year he had lived only in anticipation of this
happy future.

He shivered, and gave himself a shake to dispel his revery, repeating
with his tranquil air:

"Yes, it is too bad; I shall be killed to-day."

No one spoke; the uncertainty and suspense continued. They knew not
whether the enemy was on their front or in their rear. Strange sounds
came to their ears from time to time from out the depths of the
mysterious fog: the rumble of wheels, the deadened tramp of moving
masses, the distant clatter of horses' hoofs; it was the evolutions
of troops, hidden from view behind the misty curtain, the batteries,
battalions, and squadrons of the 7th corps taking up their positions in
line of battle. Now, however, it began to look as if the fog was about
to lift; it parted here and there and fragments floated lightly off,
like strips of gauze torn from a veil, and bits of sky appeared, not
transparently blue, as on a bright summer's day, but opaque and of the
hue of burnished steel, like the cheerless bosom of some deep, sullen
mountain tarn. It was in one of those brighter moments when the sun was
endeavoring to struggle forth that the regiments of chasseurs d'Afrique,
constituting part of Margueritte's division, came riding by, giving the
impression of a band of spectral horsemen. They sat very stiff and erect
in the saddle, with their short cavalry jackets, broad red sashes and
smart little _kepis_, accurate in distance and alignment and managing
admirably their lean, wiry mounts, which were almost invisible under
the heterogeneous collection of tools and camp equipage that they had
to carry. Squadron after squadron they swept by in long array, to be
swallowed in the gloom from which they had just emerged, vanishing as if
dissolved by the fine rain. The truth was, probably, that they were in
the way, and their leaders, not knowing what use to put them to, had
packed them off the field, as had often been the case since the opening
of the campaign. They had scarcely ever been employed on scouting or
reconnoitering duty, and as soon as there was prospect of a fight were
trotted about for shelter from valley to valley, useless objects, but
too costly