and fresh groans. A score of
horses with their manes erect, rushed through the thick smoke which
settled around us, like shadows; some of them dragging their riders
with one foot caught in the stirrup.

And this lasted more than an hour.

After Milhaud's cuirassiers, came the lancers of Lefebvre-Desnoettes,
after them the cuirassiers of Kellerman, followed by the grenadiers of
the Guard, and after the grenadiers came the dragoons. They all
mounted the hill at a trot, and rushed upon the squares with drawn
sabres, shouting, "_Vive l'Empereur!_" in tones which reached the
clouds. At each new charge it seemed as if the squares must be
overthrown; but when the trumpets sounded the signal for rallying and
the squadrons rushed pell-mell back to the edge of the plateau to
re-form, pursued by the showers of shot, there were the great red
lines, steadfast as walls, in the smoke.

Those Englishmen are good soldiers, but then they knew that Bluecher was
coming to their assistance with sixty thousand men, and no doubt this
inspired them with great courage.

In spite of everything, at six o'clock we had destroyed half their
squares, but the horses of our cuirassiers were exhausted by twenty
charges over the ground soaked with rain. They could no longer advance
over the heaps of dead.

As night approached, the great battle-field in our rear began to be
deserted; at last the great plain where we had encamped the night
before was tenantless, only the Old Guard remained across the road with
shouldered arms, all had gone--on the right against the Prussians, on
the left against the English. We looked at each other in terror.

It was already growing dark, when Captain Florentin appeared at the top
of the ladder, and placing both hands on the floor, he said in a grave
voice, "Men, the time has come to conquer or die!"

I remembered that these words were in the proclamation of the Emperor,
and we all filed down the ladder. It was still twilight, but all was
gray in the devastated court; the dead were lying stiff on the
dung-heap and along the walls.

The captain formed our men on the right side of the court, and the
commandant of the other battalion ranged his on the left; our drums
resounded through the old building for the last time, and we filed out
of the little rear door into the garden, stooping one after the other
as we went through.

The walls of the garden outside had been knocked down, and all along
the rubbish,