good-night, and looked round for some cover. It was now dusk, and he
knew he could go no farther. When they understood his intention, they
consulted among themselves, and finally made him get up into one of the
carts, and sit down on the bundles of arrows, which filled it like
faggots. Thus he was jolted along, the rude wheels fitting but badly on
the axle, and often sinking deep into a rut.

They were now in thick forest, and the track was much narrower, so that
it had become worn into a hollow, as if it were the dry bed of a
torrent. The horses and the carters were weary, yet they were obliged to
plod on, as the arms had to be delivered before the morrow. They spoke
little, except to urge the animals. Felix soon dropped into a reclining
posture (uneasy as it was, it was a relief), and looking up, saw the
white summer stars above. After a time he lost consciousness, and slept
soundly, quite worn out, despite the jolting and creaking of the wheels.

The sound of a trumpet woke him with a start. His heavy and dreamless
sleep for a moment had taken away his memory, and he did not know where
he was. As he sat up two sacks fell from him; the carters had thrown
them over him as a protection against the night's dew. The summer
morning was already as bright as noonday, and the camp about him was
astir. In half a minute he came to himself, and getting out of the cart
looked round. All his old interest had returned, the spirit of war
entered into him, the trumpet sounded again, and the morning breeze
extended the many-coloured banners.

The spot where he stood was in the rear of the main camp, and but a
short distance from the unbroken forest. Upon either hand there was an
intermingled mass of stores, carts, and waggons crowded together, sacks
and huge heaps of forage, on and about which scores of slaves, drivers
and others, were sleeping in every possible attitude, many of them
evidently still under the influence of the ale they had drunk the night
before. What struck him at once was the absence of any guard here in the
rear. The enemy might steal out from the forest behind and help himself
to what he chose, or murder the sleeping men, or, passing through the
stores, fall on the camp itself. To Felix this neglect appeared
inexplicable; it indicated a mental state which he could not comprehend,
a state only to be described by negatives. There was no completeness, no
system, no organization; it was a kind of haphazardness, altog