stined for some
secret expedition, of which all this display was but the blind. These,
and similar facts, I grouped together with a certain ingenuity, which,
if it failed to convince, at least silenced my opponents. And now the
brief twilight, if so short a struggle between day and darkness deserved
the name, passed off, and night suddenly closed around us--a night black
and starless, for a heavy mass of lowering cloud seemed to unite with
the dense vapor that arose from the river, and the low-lying grounds
alongside of it. The air was hot and sultry, too, like the precursor of
a thunder-storm, and the rush of the stream as it washed among the
willows sounded preternaturally loud in the stillness.

A hazy, indistinct flame, the watch-fire of the enemy, on the island of
Eslar, was the only object visible in the murky darkness. After a while,
however, we could detect another fire on a smaller island, a short
distance higher up the stream. This, at first dim and uncertain, blazed
up after a while, and at length we descried the dark shadows of men as
they stood around it.

It was but the day before that I had been looking on a map of the Rhine,
and remarked to myself that this small island, little more than a mere
rook in the stream, was so situated as to command the bridge between
Eslar and the German bank, and I could not help wondering that the
Austrians had never taken the precaution to strengthen it, or at least
place a gun there, to enfilade the bridge. Now, to my extreme
astonishment, I saw it occupied by the soldiery, who, doubtless, were
artillery, as in such a position small arms would prove of slight
efficiency. As I reflected over this, wondering within myself if any
intimation of our movements could have reached the enemy, I heard along
the ground on which I was lying the peculiar tremulous, dull sound
communicated by a large body of men marching. The measured tramp could
not be mistaken, and as I listened I could perceive that a force was
moving toward the river from different quarters. The rumbling roll of
heavy guns and the clattering noise of cavalry were also easily
distinguished, and awaking one of my comrades I called his attention to
the sounds.

"Parbleu!" said he, "thou'rt right; they're going to make a dash at the
fortress, and there will be hot work ere morning. What say you now,
corporal, has Maurice hit it off this time?"

"That's as it may be," growled the other, sulkily; "guessing is easy
w