of the peasants, and tells them
who she is, they may take care of her for the sake of getting a reward,
and she may in time be restored to her friends. At any rate, as long as
I have strength to carry her I shall assuredly do so; when I cannot, I
shall wrap her in my cloak and shall lie down to die, bidding her sit
wrapped up in it till she sees some Russians approaching. She will then
speak to them in their own language and tell them who she is, and that
they will get a great reward from her parents if they take care of her
and send her to them."

"You are a good fellow, comrade--a man with a heart. I trust that,
whoever gets out of this alive, you may be one of them. To most of us it
matters little one way or the other. We have had our share of good luck,
and cannot expect that the bullets will always avoid us. Now let us turn
in, for we march at daybreak. At any rate, we may think ourselves lucky
to have had five days' rest here, with no more trouble than was needed
to keep the Russians from occupying that place across the river."

Julian called Stephanie to him, lay down by the side of his comrade near
the fire, and was soon fast asleep. They were under arms before daylight
broke, and in a few minutes were on the way. They had marched but half a
mile when a series of tremendous explosions were heard--the magazines
left behind at Smolensk had been blown up, together with such buildings
as the fire had before spared. 112 guns had been left behind, there
being only sufficient horses remaining to draw twelve. The fighting
force was reduced to 7000 combatants, but there were almost as many
stragglers, more or less armed, with them. The march led by the side of
the Dnieper, and they bivouacked that night at Korodnia. The next day
they arrived at a point within four miles of Krasnoi, where, on a hill,
fronted by a deep ravine, 12,000 Russians, with forty guns, had taken up
their position.

A thick mist covered the lower ground, and the advance of the French was
not perceived by the enemy until they were within a short distance of
its crest. Then the forty guns poured a storm of grape into the leading
regiment. The survivors, cheering loudly, rushed forward at the
batteries, and had almost reached them, when a heavy mass of Russian
infantry flung themselves upon them with the bayonet, and after a short
but desperate struggle hurled them down the hill again. The Russian
cavalry charged them on the slope, and swept through