lls began to drop in their vicinity with uncomfortable
frequency, they withdrew and were lost to sight within the wood whence
they had come.

But Beaudoin's company had seen them there once, and to their eyes they
were there still; the chassepots seemed to go off of their own accord.
Maurice was the first man to discharge his piece; Jean, Pache, Lapoulle
and the others all followed suit. There had been no order given to
commence firing, and the captain made an attempt to check it, but
desisted upon Rochas's representation that it was absolutely necessary
as a measure of relief for the men's pent-up feelings. So, then, they
were at liberty to shoot at last, they could use up those cartridges
that they had been lugging around with them for the last month, without
ever burning a single one! The effect on Maurice in particular was
electrical; the noise he made had the effect of dispelling his fear and
blunting the keenness of his sensations. The little wood had resumed
its former deserted aspect; not a leaf stirred, no more Prussians showed
themselves; and still they kept on blazing away as madly as ever at the
immovable trees.

Raising his eyes presently Maurice was startled to see Colonel de
Vineuil sitting his big horse at no great distance, man and steed
impassive and motionless as if carved from stone, patient were they
under the leaden hail, with face turned toward the enemy. The entire
regiment was now collected in that vicinity, the other companies being
posted in the adjacent fields; the musketry fire seemed to be drawing
nearer. The young man also beheld the regimental colors a little to the
rear, borne aloft by the sturdy arm of the standard-bearer, but it was
no longer the phantom flag that he had seen that morning, shrouded
in mist and fog; the golden eagle flashed and blazed in the fierce
sunlight, and the tri-colored silk, despite the rents and stains of many
a battle, flaunted its bright hues defiantly to the breeze. Waving in
the breath of the cannon, floating proudly against the blue of heaven,
it shone like an emblem of victory.

And why, now that the day of battle had arrived, should not victory
perch upon that banner? With that reflection Maurice and his companions
kept on industriously wasting their powder on the distant wood,
producing havoc there among the leaves and twigs.

III.

Sleep did not visit Henriette's eyes that night. She knew her husband to
be a prudent man, but the thought th