er a wide surface, see what we could of the place.

"Scarcely was the order given, when away we went; and it was now a race
who should be earliest up, and exchange first shot with the enemy. Some
dashed forward over the open field in front; others skulked along by
dykes and ditches; some, again, dodged here and there, as cover offered
its shelter; but about a dozen, of whom I was one, kept the track of
little cart-road, which, half-concealed by high banks and furze, ran in
a zig-zag line toward the village. I was always smart of foot; and now,
having newly joined the 'voltigeurs,' was naturally eager to show myself
not unworthy of my new associates. I went on at my best pace, and being
lightly equipped--neither musket nor ball-cartridge to carry--I soon out
stripped them all; and, after about twenty minutes' brisk running, saw
in front of me a long, low farm-house, the walls all pierced for
musketry, and two small eight-pounders in battery at the gate. I looked
back for my companions, but they were not up, not a man of them to be
seen. 'No matter,' thought I 'they'll be here soon; meanwhile, I'll make
for that little copse of brushwood;' for a small clump of low furze and
broom was standing at a little distance in front of the farm. All this
time, I ought to say, not a man of the enemy was to be seen, although I,
from where I stood, could see the crenelated walls, and the guns, as
they were pointed: at a distance all would seem like an ordinary
peasant-house.

"As I crossed the open space to gain the copse, piff! came a bullet,
whizzing past me; and just as I reached the cover, piff! came another. I
ducked my head, and made for the thicket, but just as I did so, my foot
caught in a branch. I stumbled, and pitched forward; and, trying to save
myself, I grasped a bough above me. It smashed suddenly, and down I
went. Ay! down sure enough, for I went right through the furze, and into
a well--one of those old, walled wells they have in these countries,
with a huge bucket that fills up the whole space, and is worked by a
chain. Luckily the bucket was linked up near the top, and caught me, or
I should have gone where there would have been no more heard of Pierre
Canot; as it was, I was sorely bruised by the fall, and didn't recover
myself for full ten minutes after. Then I discovered that I was sitting
in a large wooden trough, hooped with iron, and supported by two heavy
chains that passed over a windlass, about ten feet abov