e, retiring from blows struck from the direction of the arrows 1-5
over all that hilly and wooded country known as the Thierache, were,
as to the extreme salient of them at A, compelled to a very rapid
retirement indeed; and on this Sunday night the French line was
deflected southward, not without heavy losses, until either on that
night or on the Monday morning it joined up with the forces which
stretched northward through and from Mezieres. An attempt to
counter-attack through the precipitous ravines and deep woods on to
the valley of the Semois had failed, and the line as a whole ran, upon
this night between the Sunday and the Monday, much as is indicated
upon the accompanying sketch.

[Illustration: Sketch 53.]

From this it will be seen that the British contingent away upon the
extreme left was in very grave peril, not only because the turning
movement was wholly directed round their exposed flank, but also
because, their retirement having come late, they stood too far forward
in the general scheme at this moment, and therefore more exposed to
the enemy's blow than the rest of the line. With this it must be
remembered Tournai had already fallen. It was very imperfectly held by
a French Territorial brigade, accompanied by one battery of English
guns; and the entering German force, in a superiority of anything you
like--two, three, or four to one--easily swept away the resistance
proffered in this quarter.

These German forces from Tournai had not yet, by the nightfall of
Monday, come up eastward against the British, but they were on the
way, and they might appear at any moment. The corps next to them, the
4th of von Kluck's five, was already operating upon that flank, and
the next day, Wednesday, 26th of August, was to be the chief day of
trial for this exposed British wing of the army.

So far the operations of the British Army had not differed greatly
from the expected or at least one of the expected developments of the
campaign.

The operative corner, if it should not have the luck, through losses
or blunders on the part of the enemy, to take the counter-offensive
after receiving the third shock, is intended to retire, and to draw
upon itself a maximum of the enemy's efforts.

But between what had been intended as the most probable, and in any
case perilous, task of this body (which comprised, it will be
remembered, six French and ultimately two British army corps) turned
out, within twenty-four hours of