in the village of Blenheim, and these, hemmed in on the one
side, and bounded by the river on the other, gave little trouble. The
poor fellows, in fact, were unable to stir, and many a man of them
sprang into the river in his desperation, only to be hopelessly
carried away by the swift current, and drowned.

It was a terrible scene of bloodshed, and it was an untold relief to
the Englishmen when their gallant foes in the village gave in. One
French regiment had actually burnt its colours to save them from being
taken.

Thus ended the great fight of Blenheim, a fight in which the enemy had
lost no fewer than forty out of their sixty thousand men. The Allies
had had fifty thousand troops and had lost eleven thousand of them.
The wonderful renown of the French army had received a mighty blow. No
longer could Louis boast that his troops were invincible.

To Marlborough the victory brought the royal manor of Woodstock and
the palace of Blenheim. To the humble Matthew Blackett it gave a place
near the great Duke's own person, as we have seen.

CHAPTER VIII

COMRADES IN ARMS

It was always a puzzle to George Fairburn that the Duke had so
unexpectedly assigned him to a cavalry regiment, and his friend
Lieutenant Blackett could not help with the solution.

"I suppose it was just an accident," Matthew said with a laugh; "he
saw a horse-soldier before him in the person of your servant here, and
so turned you over to me. I'm mighty delighted, anyhow, that we are
thrown together. We shall have a good time of it, I feel sure."

"We shall, if there's plenty to do," George assented with a smile.

There was plenty to do. At the very moment when the boy and Lieutenant
Fieldsend arrived, the Duke had given orders to prepare for another
long march, and within a couple of days George found himself one of a
large body of troops heading for the Rhine valley. A halt was called
before Landau, and the siege of this stronghold began. The affair
proved to be a slow business, the attacking force being very short of
military material. Days passed; the fortress stood firm, no apparent
impression being made at all.

"I dare wager the Duke won't stand cooling at this job," remarked
Matthew to George and Fieldsend one evening. The latter with his
regiment was assisting in the siege, and he had already taken a great
liking for Matthew Blackett, a liking Matthew was not slow to
reciprocate.

The prophecy was not far wrong. Almost bef