selves as well as they could behind
the massive stone balustrades bounding the terrace, opened upon us a
galling and continuous fire. This fire grew hotter and hotter, until
the rattle of musketry all along the front of the terrace became
continuous; the bullets pattering in showers through every window, and,
in spite of our hastily arranged bulwarks, wounding more or less
severely many of our people; while the terrace itself was obscured by a
thick curtain of fleecy smoke.

This had lasted for perhaps five minutes, when from my loophole of
observation I descried dimly in the midst of the smoky canopy, some
half-a-dozen indistinct forms hurriedly crossing the terrace toward the
great entrance door of the chateau. I immediately directed the
attention of my party to these men, ordering them to concentrate the
whole of their fire upon them, and stop their advance, if possible, at
all hazards. We were just in time. An almost simultaneous volley rang
out, just as the men were getting so near the walls that they could not
be aimed at without complete exposure on the part of the marksmen, and
every one of them fell. A few seconds afterwards a series of sharp
explosions took place, which told us that these men had been the bearers
of grenades or petards with which to blow open the door. But our
success had not been obtained without its price; for three of our men
were shot dead, and one more so seriously wounded that he had to retire
from the combat, in consequence of the way in which our men had been
obliged to expose themselves, in order to cover the grenadiers with
their muskets.

Meanwhile, the curtain of smoke which veiled the terrace was every
moment growing more dense, and in a few minutes from the fall of the
grenadiers it had become so thick that it was quite impossible to see
what was going on outside at a distance of more than twenty feet from
the windows. The fire was maintained as furiously as ever, but the
bullets no longer flew so thickly about our ears; a clear indication
that our antagonists were as much blinded as we were, and were aiming
pretty much at random; as it was of the utmost importance to economise
our ammunition as much as possible, I therefore directed my party to
cease firing for a time, until the smoke should have cleared away a
little, or, at all events, only to fire when they could descry an object
at which to aim. I then went across to the other wing, to suggest to
the count the adop