in the world; but when they went off, horse and
foot and left our division alone to face the whole force of the enemy,
I hardly even hoped we should hold our ground till Alten came up."

"Yes, he was just in the nick of time; but even with him we should
have had to fall back if Cooke had not arrived with the guards. By the
way, has any one heard what has taken place on our left?"

"We have heard nothing; but I think there is no doubt the Prussians
must have been thrashed. One could hear the roar of fire over there
occasionally, and I am sure it got farther off at the end of the day;
beside, if Blucher had beaten Napoleon, our friends over there would
be falling back, and you can see by their long lines of fire they have
not done so. I dare say we shall hear all about it to-morrow. Anyhow,
I think we had better lie down and get as much sleep as we can, we may
have another hard day's work before us."

CHAPTER XVIII.

WATERLOO.

The Prussians indeed had been beaten at Ligny. Their three corps,
numbering eighty thousand men, with two hundred and twenty-four guns,
had been attacked by Napoleon with sixty thousand men, with two
hundred and four guns. The battle was contested with extraordinary
obstinacy on both sides. The villages of Ligny and St. Armand were
taken and retaken over and over again, and for hours the desperate
strife in and around them continued without cessation. Both parties
continued to send down reinforcements to these points, but neither
could succeed in obtaining entire possession of them.

The faults which Wellington had perceived in the Prussian position
told against Blucher. The villages were too far in advance of the
heights on which the army was posted, and his reinforcements were
therefore a long time in reaching the spot where they were required to
act. They were, too, as they descended the hill, under the observation
of Napoleon, who was able to anticipate their arrival by moving up
supports on his side, and who noted the time when Blucher's last
reserves behind Ligny had come into action. At this critical moment
General Lobau arrived from Charleroi with twelve thousand fresh men
and thirty-eight guns, and at seven o'clock in the evening Napoleon
launched this force with his division of guards, twenty thousand
strong, who had hitherto been kept in reserve, against the enemy.

Ligny was captured and the victory won. The Prussians throughout the
day had fought with great bravery. Th