eim
straight across the country to Strasburg; the beautiful spire of
whose cathedral rose above the flats, at a distance of about
fifteen miles. The day happened to be a quiet one, and the deep
booming of the guns of the besiegers could be distinctly heard. The
inhabitants reported that the German troops patrolled the whole
valley, pushing sometimes down to the walls of Schlestadt, levying
contributions and carrying off cattle.

The village was very poor, and was able to furnish little
accommodation in the way of quarters, still less in that of food.
Six of the villagers were, therefore, sent through the forest of
OEdenwald to Raon; with an order to fetch over two oxen, and thirty
sheep, of those left there in charge of the head man of the
village. They returned in three days, Raon being only about fifteen
miles east of Still.

The corps was now broken up into its four companies; who were
stationed in the villages on the Vosges, and at the edge of the
forest of Trieswald and Bar--the first company remaining at Still.
From these villages they commanded a view over the whole plain; and
could, with the aid of glasses, distinctly see any bodies of men
going south from Strasburg. Each company was to act independently
of the other, uniting their forces only when ordered to do so by
Major Tempe; who took up his headquarters with the second company,
that having the most central position. Each company was to keep a
sharp watch over the country, to attack any body of the enemy not
superior to themselves in force, and to cut off, if possible, any
small parties pillaging in the villages of the valley, near the
foot of the mountains.

The first company--under their lieutenant, De Maupas--turned their
special attention to Mutzig; which was not, they learned, actually
occupied by the Germans, but which was frequently visited by
parties from Molsheim, where a portion of the army of the besiegers
was stationed. The young Barclays, their cousins, and Tim Doyle
were quartered together, in one of the largest houses in the
village; and from thence a fine view over the plain was attainable.

They were not destined to remain long in inactivity. Upon the
fourth day after their arrival, they saw a party of some twenty
horsemen approaching Mutzig. In five minutes every man had
assembled and, at once, rapidly marched down the hill; taking
advantage of its irregularities, so as to follow a track in which
they would be invisible from the roa