ir
food. "I said that the capture of that town would cost us 10,000 men. It
has cost Ney's corps alone half that number, and we have not taken it;
and yet we fought well. Had every man been as old a soldier as myself
they could not have done their duty better. _Peste!_ these Russians are
obstinate brigands."

"It was desperate work," Julian said, "more terrible than anything I
could have imagined. How anyone escaped alive is more than I can say.
Every wall, every house seemed to be fringed with fire. I heard no word
of command during the day; all there was to do was to load and
fire--sometimes to rush forward when the rest did so, sometimes to fall
back when the Russians poured down upon us. Shall we begin again
to-morrow?"

"I suppose so," the sergeant replied. "We certainly sha'n't march away
until we have taken it. Perhaps the enemy may evacuate it. The whole
town is a sea of flames; there is nothing to fight for, and next time we
shall no doubt breach the walls thoroughly before we try. You see, we
undervalued the Russians, and we sha'n't make that mistake again. Well,
lad, we have both got out of it without serious damage, for that bullet
you got through your arm will soon heal up again, but there is one
thing, if you remain in the army for the next twenty years you are not
likely to see harder fighting."

That night, indeed, Smolensk was evacuated by the Russians, contrary to
the wishes of both officers and men, Prince Eugene and General Doctorow
declaring that they could hold on for ten days longer. This might
doubtless have been done, but Barclay was afraid that Napoleon might
sweep round and cross the river somewhere to his left, and that in that
case he must fall back, and the town would have to be evacuated in the
day time when the enemy could sweep the bridges with their fire. By
three o'clock in the morning the whole force in the city had crossed,
and the bridges were burnt behind them. The flames acquainted the French
with the fact that the city had been evacuated, and at daybreak they
entered the town, and soon afterwards their skirmishers opened fire on
the Russians on the other side of the river. At eight o'clock a Spanish
brigade crossed the river waist deep, and entered the suburb known as
St. Petersburg, on the right bank; but they were at once attacked; many
were killed or taken prisoners, and the rest driven across the river
again.

General Barclay then withdrew his army to the heights, wishin