had not been destroyed, for the reason, this time, that some one
had neglected to provide the necessary powder. And Weiss sorrowfully
acknowledged to himself that the human torrent, the invading horde,
could now be nowhere else than on the plain of Donchery, invisible to
him, pressing onward to occupy Saint-Albert pass, pushing forward its
advanced guards to Saint-Menges and Floing, whither, the day previous,
he had conducted Jean and Maurice. In the brilliant sunshine the steeple
of Floing church appeared like a slender needle of dazzling whiteness.

And off to the eastward the other arm of the powerful vise was slowly
closing in on them. Casting his eyes to the north, where there was a
stretch of level ground between the plateaus of Illy and of Floing, he
could make out the line of battle of the 7th corps, feebly supported by
the 5th, which was posted in reserve under the ramparts of the city; but
he could not discern what was occurring to the east, along the valley of
the Givonne, where the 1st corps was stationed, its line stretching from
the wood of la Garenne to Daigny village. Now, however, the guns were
beginning to thunder in that direction also; the conflict seemed to be
raging in Chevalier's wood, in front of Daigny. His uneasiness was owing
to reports that had been brought in by peasants the day previous, that
the Prussian advance had reached Francheval, so that the movement which
was being conducted at the west, by way of Donchery, was also in process
of execution at the east, by way of Francheval, and the two jaws of
the vise would come together up there at the north, near the Calvary of
Illy, unless the two-fold flanking movement could be promptly checked.
He knew nothing of tactics or strategy, had nothing but his common
sense to guide him; but he looked with fear and trembling on that great
triangle that had the Meuse for one of its sides, and for the other
two the 7th and 1st corps on the north and east respectively, while the
extreme angle at the south was occupied by the 12th at Bazeilles--all
the three corps facing outward on the periphery of a semicircle,
awaiting the appearance of an enemy who was to deliver his attack at
some one point, where or when no one could say, but who, instead, fell
on them from every direction at once. And at the very center of all, as
at the bottom of a pit, lay the city of Sedan, her ramparts furnished
with antiquated guns, destitute of ammunition and provisions.

"Und