advancing to attack in the rear the troops which had not yet
crossed. Instantly there was a panic, and the wagon-drivers, anxious
for their own safety, turned Madame Ladoinski and her companions out of
the wagon, so that their weight might not impede their progress.
Madame Ladoinski reminded them of Prince Eugene's instructions, but
they took no notice. Neither fear of punishment nor hope of reward had
any influence over them now; they were anxious only for their own
safety.

For a minute or two Madame Ladoinski knew not what to do. To attempt
to cross either of the bridges on foot would, she soon saw, result in
her and her child being crushed to death. Others, men and women, had
come to the same conclusion, and were wandering, shivering with cold,
along the bank of the river. These Madame Ladoinski hastened to,
believing, as did they, that before long the bridges would be less
crowded, and they would be able to cross in safety.

But soon the sound of the Russian guns was heard in the rear of Madame
Ladoinski and her fellow-sufferers, and a little later the cheers of
the advancing enemy could be heard distinctly. Marshal Victor's force,
which lay between these unfortunate people and the Russians, fought
gallantly at first, but at last they began to give way, and Madame
Ladoinski feared that all was lost. Nearer and nearer came the enemy,
and many of their musket balls reached the despairing creatures by the
riverside. Approaching nearer to one of the bridges, Madame Ladoinski
decided to join the crowd of terrified fugitives that was struggling
across it. But before she reached it there was a terrible rush for it,
and she stood aghast looking at the awful scene. Every one in the
living mass was terrified, and each was fighting for his own life.
Those who fell were quickly trampled to death by the hurrying mob, or
crushed beneath the wheels of baggage-wagons and artillery. Now and
again some terrified man, possessed of more than average strength,
would be seen making his way along the crowded bridge by seizing and
pitching into the river any who barred his way. And to add to the
horror of the scene a terrible storm burst.

Madame Ladoinski, horrified by what she saw, decided to make no attempt
to cross, but to remain where she was. Musket balls were now falling
rapidly around her, and, to save her boy from the chance of being
wounded, she laid him down on the ground, and placed herself in such a
position t