her, all is plain and clear; but a great many
people do not have these ideas, and for my part I loved Catherine a
thousand times more than the Emperor.

On reaching a turn in the wall, where the hussars were waiting for him,
he mounted his horse, and General Gerard who had recognized him came up
at a gallop. He turned round for two seconds to listen to him, and
then both went into Fleurus.

Still we waited! About two o'clock General Gerard returned, and our
line was obliqued a third time more to the right, and then the whole
division broke into columns, and we followed the road to Fleurus with
the cannon and caissons at intervals between the brigades. The dust
enveloped us completely.

Buche said to me:

"Cost what it may, I must drink at the first puddle we come to."

But we did not find any water. The music did not cease, and masses of
cavalry kept coming up behind us, principally dragoons. We were still
on the march when suddenly the roar of musketry and cannon broke on our
ears as when water breaking over its barriers sweeps all before it.

I knew what it was, but Buche turned pale and looked at me in mute
astonishment.

"Yes, indeed, Jean," said I, "those over there are attacking St. Amand,
but our turn will come presently."

The music had ceased but the thunder of the guns had redoubled, and we
heard the order on all sides, "Halt!"

The division stopped on the road and the gunners ran out at intervals
and put their pieces in line fifty paces in front, with their caissons
in the rear.

We were opposite Ligny. We could only see a white line of houses half
hidden in the orchards, with a church spire above them--slopes of
yellow earth, trees, hedges, and palisades. There we were, twelve or
fifteen thousand men without the cavalry, waiting the order to attack.

The battle raged fiercely about St. Amand, and great masses of smoke
rose over the combatants toward the sky.

While waiting for our turn, my thoughts turned to Catherine with more
tenderness than ever, the idea that she would soon be a mother crossed
my mind, and then I besought God to spare my life, but with this, came
the comfort of feeling that our child would be there if I should die to
console them all, Catherine, Aunt Gredel, and Father Goulden. If it
should be a boy they would call it Joseph, and caress it, and Father
Goulden would dandle it on his knee, Aunt Gredel would love it, and
Catherine would think of me as she embraced it,