e same side.

The Uhlans came on. Suddenly, without the slightest provocation, their
leader swerved his horse and cut down one of the men, who dropped with a
shriek of mingled fear and agony.

Retribution came swiftly, because the charger slipped on some rounded
cobbles, crossed its forelegs, and turned a complete somersault. The
rider, a burly non-commissioned officer, pitched clean on his head, and
either fractured his skull or broke his neck, perhaps achieving both
laudable results, while his blood-stained sabre clattered on the stones
at Dalroy's feet. The nearest Uhlans drove their lances through the
other two civilians, who were already running for their lives. In order
to avoid the plunging horse and their fallen leader, the two ruffians
reined on to the pavement. They swung their weapons, evidently meaning
to transfix some of the six people clustered around the cart. The women
screamed shrilly. Leontine cowered near the wall; Joos, valiant soul in
an aged body, put himself in front of his wife; Maertz, hauling at the
dogs, tried to convert the vehicle into a shield for Leontine; while
Dalroy, conscious that Irene was close behind, picked up the
_unteroffizier's_ sword.

Much to the surprise of the trooper, who selected this tall peasant as
an easy prey, he parried the lance-thrust in such wise that the blade
entered the horse's off foreleg and brought the animal down. At the same
instant Maertz ducked, and dodged a wild lunge, which missed because the
Uhlan was trying to avoid crashing into the cart. But the vengeful steel
found another victim. By mischance it transfixed Madame Joos, while the
horse's shoulder caught Dalroy a glancing blow in the back and sent him
sprawling.

Some of the troopers, seeing two of their men prone, were pulling up
when a gruff voice cried, "_Achtung!_ We'll clear out these swine
later!"

Irene, who saw all that had passed with an extraordinary vividness, was
the only one who understood why the order which undoubtedly saved five
lives was given. A stout staff officer, wearing a blue uniform with red
facings, rode with the Uhlans, and she was certain that he was in a
state of abject terror. His funk was probably explained by an irregular
volley lower down the street, though, in the event, the shooting proved
to be that of his own men. Two miles away, at Solayn, these same Uhlans
had been badly bitten by a Belgian patrol, and the fat man, prospecting
the Namur road with a cavalry