n the other, managed to pass with sufficient regularity to keep the
generals informed of the movements of their opponents.

Wellington, then, was perfectly aware of the gathering of Napoleon's
forces upon the other side of the frontier; but they, like his own
troops were scattered over a long front, and yet there was no
indication whatever as to the point where Napoleon was likely to break
through. During the past three months large bodies of men had labored
to restore the ruined fortifications of the frontier towns. The moats
had been cleared out and deepened, the walls repaired, and the sluices
restored, so that in case of necessity a wide tract of country could
be laid under water.

These precautions had been specially taken on the right of the British
position where Wellington expected Napoleon's attack, and the general
calculated that with the aid of the obstacles so interposed to
Napoleon's advance, the troops stationed there would be able to check
the tide of invasion until the whole army arrived to their assistance.
The country between Brussels and the frontier was reconnoitered, and
engineer officers were employed in making sketches of all the
positions that appeared likely to offer special advantages as
battlefields for an army standing on the defense.

Among others the fields lying in front of the village of Waterloo were
mapped, and the spot was specially marked by the duke as one to be
occupied in case the enemy forced a way between the British and
Prussian armies. On the 12th of June the Duke of Wellington learned
that Napoleon and the guards had left Paris for the North, and the
next day the officer in command of the cavalry outposts reported that
the pickets of French cavalry which had so long faced him had
disappeared, and that he had learned from some French custom-house
officers that hostilities were about to commence.

On the 15th of June, Ralph Conway had gone with Stapleton into
Brussels as usual. Everything was going on with its accustomed
regularity. A military band was playing in the park. Numbers of
well-appointed carriages, filled with well-dressed ladies, drove to
and fro, and crowds of officers and civilians strolled under the
trees, greeting their acquaintances and discussing the latest gossip
of the town. As to the coming of the French, the topic was so
threadbare that no one alluded to it; and no stranger could have
imagined from the aspect of the scene that three great armies were
l