at conquer they must. And not for an instant had I any fear of not
being equal to my task. On the contrary, it seemed to me that I had
been destined from all eternity to command this first offensive
reconnaissance of the campaign in France.... I felt my men's hearts
beating close to mine and in unison with mine.

I had consulted my map before breaking into a trot, and had noticed
that the road leading to Courgivault passed through two woods, not
very deep, but of considerable extent. I soon came in sight of one of
them, at about 500 yards distance, below a ridge which we had just
passed. I called out to Vercherin, who had begun to spur his horse
towards the wood, to stop. I knew that numbers of men had fallen by
having acted in this way--a way we have at manoeuvres, when the enemy
are our comrades with white badges on their caps, and when harmless
blank cartridges are used instead of bullets. We had very soon learnt
from the Germans themselves the way to reconnoitre a wood or a
village, and also how they must be held.

How much more dashing it would have been, more in the light cavalry
style, to ride full gallop, brandishing my sword, with my five little
Chasseurs into the nearest copse! But I knew then that if it were
occupied by the enemy their men would be lying down, one with the
soil, using the trees and bushes as cover, till the last moment. Then
not one of us would have come out alive.

We were reduced to employing against them their own tactics of mounted
infantry. The good old times of hussar charges are past--gone,
together with plumes, pelisses waving in the wind, Hungarian braiding,
and sabretaches. It would be senseless to continue to be a horseman in
order to fight men who are no longer cavalrymen and do not wish to be
so. We should fight at a disadvantage, and since the opening of the
campaign too many brave soldiers have paid with their lives for their
delight in epic fights _a la_ Lasalle.

I searched the edge of the wood carefully with my field-glasses.
Before entering it I wanted to be quite sure whether any movement
could be discovered, whether any of the brushwood showed signs of
being drawn aside by sharpshooters too eager for a shot. My men were
on the watch, crouching in attitudes that would have pleased Neuville,
their carbines ready, looking with all their eyes and listening with
all their ears. Nothing! I called Vercherin with a low whistle. The
silence was such that he heard it. He unders