sights
and distressing sounds. It was still covered with the bodies of the
dead and dying, their numbers greatly increased, for many of the
wounded had succumbed to the tortures of the night. The figures of
ministering comrades still moved to and fro, and men of all ranks were
busily engaged in the good work.

There were others whose action was more open to
question--camp-followers and sutlers, dropped from no one knew where,
who lurked in secret hiding-places, and issued forth, when the coast
seemed clear, to follow their loathsome trade of robbing the dead.

McKay's little party, as they trudged along, suddenly put up one of
these evil birds of prey almost at their feet. The man rose and ran
for his life, pursued by the maledictions of the Royal Picts.

"Stop him! Stop him!" they cried, and the fugitive was met and turned
at every point. But he doubled like a hare, and had nearly made his
escape when he fell almost into the arms of Sergeant Hyde.

"Stick to him!" cried McKay. "We will hand him over to the
provost-marshal, who will give him a short shrift."

A fierce struggle ensued between the fugitive and his captor, the
result of which seemed uncertain; but the former suddenly broke loose,
and again took to his heels. He made towards the French lines, and
disappeared amongst the clefts of the steep rocks.

When McKay joined Hyde, he said to him, rather angrily--

"Why did you let the fellow go?"

"I did my best, but he was like an eel. I had far rather have kept
him. I have wanted the scoundrel these dozen years."

"You know him, then?"

"Yes," replied Hyde, sternly. "I know him well, but I thought that he
was dead. It is better so; we have a long account to settle, and the
day of reckoning will certainly come."

Thus ended the first collision between the opposing armies: the first
great conflict between European troops since Waterloo. The credit
gained by the victors, whose prowess echoed through the civilised
world, was greater, perhaps, than the results achieved. The Alma, as
we shall see, might have paved the way, under more skilful leadership,
to a prompt and glorious termination of the war. But, if it exercised
no sufficient influence upon the larger interests of the campaign, the
battle greatly affected the prospects of the principal character in
this story.

Sergeant-major McKay was presently informed that, in recognition of
the signal bravery he had displayed at the storming of the Causeway