en. I felt
heartily glad that I had neither wife nor sweetheart there. It is not
often I feel in low spirits, but for once one could not help thinking.
Here it is a different thing; we are all soldiers, and whatever comes
we must do our duty and take our chance. But the gayety of that scene
jarred upon me, and I could see there were many, especially the older
men, who were thinking as I did. I dare say if I had found any
partners and gone in for dancing I should have thought but little
about it; but standing looking on the thoughts came. I think you were
right, Conway, not to go."

"Have you heard any news of what has taken place to-day?"

"Yes. I was standing by the colonel when Picton came up to him and
said:

"'There's been sharp fighting on the frontier. Zieten gave the French
a deal of trouble, and only fell back about six miles. The other
corps, except Bulow's, will all join them to-night.

"'It is a thousand pities that Zieten did not send off a mounted
messenger to us directly he became engaged. If he had done so we might
have started at one o'clock to-day, and should have been in line with
the Prussians to-morrow. I suppose he thought Blucher would send, and
Blucher thought he had sent; and so between them nothing was done, and
we only got the news at seven o'clock this evening. Nine precious
hours thrown away. It is just a blunder of this sort that makes all
the difference between failure and success in war. Had the message
been sent, we and the Dutch divisions and the troops from Braine
le-Comte might all have been up by the morning. As it is, Blucher,
with only three out of his four army corps, has the whole of the
French army facing him, and must either fall back without fighting or
fight against superior numbers--that is, if Napoleon throws his whole
force upon him, as I suppose he will. It is enough to provoke a
saint."

"'Which will Blucher do, do you think, general?" the colonel asked.

"'He sends word that he shall fight where he is; and in that case, if
Napoleon throws his whole force on him, he is nearly certain to be
beaten, and then we shall have Napoleon on us the next day."

"And now, Conway, I think it better to get a few hours' sleep if we
can; for to-morrow will be a heavy day for us, unless I am mistaken."

It was some time before Ralph slept, but when he did so he slept
soundly, waking up with a start as the sound of a bugle rang out in
the night air. It was taken up by the bugles