outed. "Steady! Don't throw away a
shot."

Now was the time for breech-loading weapons, and so deadly was the
fire that the center of the Prussian line melted away before it;
and the men who remained reined aside their horses, as they reached
the hedge of bayonets. The flanks kept on, and united again behind
the square; drawing up near the edge of the wood, a hundred and
fifty yards distant.

The charge of the second line was attended with precisely similar
results. The instant that they had passed, however, Major Tempe
shouted to his men:

"On again for the woods. Steady! Keep square. Reserve your fire
till I tell you. We must break through the cavalry. They only want
to keep us. Their infantry will be here in three minutes. They are
through the village, already."

The position of the franc tireurs was now critical in the extreme.
The enemy's cavalry--between them and safety, only a hundred yards
distant--had unslung their carbines, and opened fire. The infantry
were nearly two hundred yards behind but, fortunately, dared not
fire for fear of hitting their own cavalry.

At a rapid pace--for they were running for life--the little knot of
franc tireurs dashed forward. One or two fell from the fire of the
cavalry and, as they were fifty yards distant from the wood, there
was a cry and Philippe Duburg fell to the ground. In an instant Tim
Doyle--who was his next man--stopped, caught him up as if he had
been a feather and, with a desperate effort, again joined the
others, just as they were within twenty yards of the cavalry.

"Fire!" Major Tempe cried; and from the front, and from each side
of the little square--which was but six deep, either way--the
rifles flashed out.

"Level bayonets; charge!"

There was a short struggle. The second ranks poured their fire into
the cavalry line. There was a clashing of bayonets against swords,
and then the band ran through the broken line of cavalry. There was
a rush into the brushwood; and then, from behind the shelter of the
trees, the fire opened again; and the cavalry fell sullenly back,
having lost upwards of thirty men in that short five minutes since
they had left the village.

The German infantry halted, at a distance of two hundred yards; but
they would have lost too many men, in crossing the open, to make it
worth while to attack the sheltered foe--who could pick them off,
to the last moment, only to withdraw deeper into the forest when
they approached its edge.