that tried his nerves most cruelly; every faculty of his being
was strained and concentrated in the one sense of hearing; sounds so
faint as to be imperceptible reverberated in his ears like the crash of
thunder; the plash of a distant waterfall, the rustling of a leaf, the
movement of an insect in the grass, were like the booming of artillery.
Was that the tramp of cavalry, the deep rumbling of gun-carriages driven
at speed, that he heard down there to the right? And there on his
left, what was that? was it not the sound of stealthy whispers, stifled
voices, a party creeping up to surprise him under cover of the darkness?
Three times he was on the point of giving the alarm by firing his
piece. The fear that he might be mistaken and incur the ridicule of
his comrades served to intensify his distress. He had kneeled upon the
ground, supporting his left shoulder against a tree; it seemed to
him that he had been occupying that position for hours, that they had
forgotten him there, that the army had moved away without him. Then
suddenly, at once, his fear left him; upon the road, that he knew was
not two hundred yards away, he distinctly heard the cadenced tramp of
marching men. Immediately it flashed across his mind as a certainty that
they were the troops from Grand-Pre, whose coming had been awaited with
such anxiety--General Dumont bringing in Bordas' brigade. At that same
moment the corporal of the guard came along with the relief; he had been
on post a little less than the customary hour.

He had been right; it was the 3d division returning to camp. Everyone
felt a sensation of deep relief. Increased precautions were taken,
nevertheless, for what fresh intelligence they received tended to
confirm what they supposed they already knew of the enemy's approach. A
few uhlans, forbidding looking fellows in their long black cloaks, were
brought in as prisoners, but they were uncommunicative, and so daylight
came at last, the pale, ghastly light of a rainy morning, bringing with
it no alleviation of their terrible suspense. No one had dared to close
an eye during that long night. About seven o'clock Lieutenant Rochas
affirmed that MacMahon was coming up with the whole army. The truth
of the matter was that General Douay, in reply to his dispatch of the
preceding day announcing that a battle at Vouziers was inevitable, had
received a letter from the marshal enjoining him to hold the position
until re-enforcements could reach hi