leaving Saint-Menges in its rear, was beginning
to show its heads of columns at Fleigneux; and, in the rear of the XIth
corps, then sharply engaged with General Douay's force, he could discern
the Vth corps, availing itself of the shelter of the woods and advancing
stealthily on Illy, while battery upon battery came wheeling into
position, an ever-lengthening line of thundering guns, until the
horizon was an unbroken ring of fire. On the right the army was now in
undisputed possession of the valley of the Givonne; the XIIth corps had
taken la Moncelle, the Guards had forced the passage of the stream at
Daigny, compelling General Ducrot to seek the protection of the wood of
la Garenne, and were pushing up the right bank, likewise in full march
upon the plateau of Illy. Their task was almost done; one effort more,
and up there at the north, among those barren fields, on the very verge
of the dark forests of the Ardennes, the Crown Prince of Prussia would
join hands with the Crown Prince of Saxony. To the south of Sedan the
village of Bazeilles was lost to sight in the dense smoke of its burning
houses, in the clouds of dun vapor that rose above the furious conflict.

And tranquilly, ever since the morning, the King had been watching and
waiting. An hour yet, two hours, it might be three, it mattered not;
it was only a question of time. Wheel and pinion, cog and lever, were
working in harmony, the great engine of destruction was in motion, and
soon would have run its course. In the center of the immense horizon,
beneath the deep vault of sunlit sky, the bounds of the battlefield were
ever becoming narrower, the black swarms were converging, closing in on
doomed Sedan. There were fiery reflexions in the windows of the city; to
the left, in the direction of the Faubourg de la Cassine, it seemed as
if a house was burning. And outside the circle of flame and smoke, in
the fields no longer trodden by armed men, over by Donchery, over by
Carignan, peace, warm and luminous, lay upon the land; the bright waters
of the Meuse, the lusty trees rejoicing in their strength, the broad,
verdant meadows, the fertile, well-kept farms, all rested peacefully
beneath the fervid noonday sun.

Turning to his staff, the King briefly called for information upon
some point. It was the royal will to direct each move on the gigantic
chessboard; to hold in the hollow of his hand the hosts who looked to
him for guidance. At his left, a flock of swall