they were
about to resume their march; the tents were struck and the entire corps
took the road and passed through Vouziers, leaving on the right bank
of the Aisne only one brigade of the second division, apparently to
continue the observation of the Monthois road; but all at once, as soon
as they had put the town behind them and were on the left bank of the
stream, they halted and stacked muskets in the fields and meadows that
skirt the Grand-Pre road on either hand, and the departure of the 4th
hussars, who just then moved off on that road at a sharp trot, afforded
fresh food for conjecture.

"If we are to remain here I shall stay with you," declared Maurice, who
was not attracted by the prospect of riding in an ambulance.

It soon became known that they were to occupy their present camp until
General Douay could obtain definite information as to the movements of
the enemy. The general had been harassed by an intense and constantly
increasing anxiety since the day before, when he had seen Margueritte's
division moving toward Chene, for he knew that his flank was uncovered,
that there was not a man to watch the passes of the Argonne, and that he
was liable to be attacked at any moment. Therefore he had sent out
the 4th hussars to reconnoiter the country as far as the defiles of
Grand-Pre and Croix-aux-Bois, with strict orders not to return without
intelligence.

There had been an issue of bread, meat, and forage the day before,
thanks to the efficient mayor of Vouziers, and about ten o'clock that
morning permission had been granted the men to make soup, in the fear
that they might not soon again have so good an opportunity, when another
movement of troops, the departure of Bordas' brigade over the road taken
by the hussars, set all tongues wagging afresh. What! were they going to
march again? were they not to be given a chance to eat their breakfast
in peace, now that the kettle was on the fire? But the officers
explained that Bordas' brigade had only been sent to occupy Buzancy, a
few kilometers from there. There were others, indeed, who asserted that
the hussars had encountered a strong force of the enemy's cavalry
and that the brigade had been dispatched to help them out of their
difficulty.

Maurice enjoyed a few hours of delicious repose. He had thrown himself
on the ground in a field half way up the hill where the regiment
had halted, and in a drowsy state between sleeping and waking was
contemplating the v