was the
only approach accessible to cavalry, and as this was the force which
would probably be used for a _coup-de-main_, if it were to be attempted
at all, I set all hands to work to secure it. Wild as the night was, my
men wielded the spade and mattock with good will; and we had completed a
trench of some feet deep and wide, half across the road, when I caught
the trampling of cavalry at a distance. My chagrin was irrepressible;
the enemy would be upon us before we had got through our work, and we
must be taken or fly. My men worked vigorously; but the cavalry were
upon us--and to my utter astonishment and infinite relief, our labours
produced a roar of laughter. The party were our dragoons, who had looked
for the French advance in vain, and were now amusing themselves with our
waste of toil. We forgave them their jest; they passed, and we prepared
to follow to our quarters. But still the French officer's report haunted
me; the precision of its terms, and the feasibility of the enterprise
itself, struck with new force; and even after I had given the word to
move, I halted the men, and climbing a little pleasure turret by the
side of the avenue, gave a parting glance round the horizon. Nothing was
to be seen. The night was dark as a dungeon, and I prepared to descend,
when at that moment the distant sound of a trumpet broke on the air. I
listened, and thought that I recognised the French call for cavalry to
saddle and mount. I sprang down; every man piled his arms, took spade
and mattock in hand once more, and in a few minutes the trench was
completed across the road. Still no further notice of approaching troops
was to be heard; and I heard a low, but rather provoking laugh among my
company. Still I determined to persevere, and ordering some of the trees
round us to be cut down, formed a rude species of _chevaux-de-frise_ in
front of our trench. It was scarcely finished, when the distant
trampling of cavalry was heard in the lull of the gale. All were now
convinced, and dispatching a notice to the dragoons to be ready, we
stood to our arms. Giving the strictest orders that not a word should be
spoken, nor a shot fired, I waited for the enemy. The trampling
increased every moment, and it was evident that the body of cavalry must
be large, though of its actual numbers we could form no conjecture. They
suddenly stopped at the entrance of the avenue, and I was in fear that
my _trou-de-rat_ would be discovered; but the nati