he mitrailleuses were
even more intolerable with their rasping, grating, grunting noise. Were
they to remain forever reclining there among the cabbages? There was
nothing to be seen, nothing to be learned; no one had any idea how the
battle was going. And _was_ it a battle, after all--a genuine affair?
All that Maurice could make out, projecting his eyes along the level
surface of the fields, was the rounded, wood-clad summit of Hattoy in
the remote distance, and still unoccupied. Neither was there a Prussian
to be seen anywhere on the horizon; the only evidence of life were
the faint, blue smoke-wreaths that rose and floated an instant in the
sunlight. Chancing to turn his head, he was greatly surprised to behold
at the bottom of a deep, sheltered valley, surrounded by precipitous
heights, a peasant calmly tilling his little field, driving the plow
through the furrow with the assistance of a big white horse. Why should
he lose a day? The corn would keep growing, let them fight as they
would, and folks must live.

Unable longer to control his impatience, the young man jumped to his
feet. He had a fleeting vision of the batteries of Saint-Menges, crowned
with tawny vapors and spewing shot and shell upon them; he had also time
to see, what he had seen before and had not forgotten, the road from
Saint-Albert's pass black with minute moving objects--the swarming
hordes of the invader. Then Jean seized him by the legs and pulled him
violently to his place again.

"Are you crazy? Do you want to leave your bones here?"

And Rochas chimed in:

"Lie down, will you! What am I to do with such d----d rascals, who get
themselves killed without orders!"

"But you don't lie down, lieutenant," said Maurice.

"That's a different thing. I have to know what is going on."

Captain Beaudoin, too, kept his legs like a man, but never opened his
lips to say an encouraging word to his men, having nothing in common
with them. He appeared nervous and unable to remain long in one place,
striding up and down the field, impatiently awaiting orders.

No orders came, nothing occurred to relieve their suspense. Maurice's
knapsack was causing him horrible suffering; it seemed to be crushing
his back and chest in that recumbent position, so painful when
maintained for any length of time. The men had been cautioned against
throwing away their sacks unless in case of actual necessity, and he
kept turning over, first on his right side, then on the