Shipka Pass--formed a strong recommendation; while the presence of an
island helped on the first preparations.

The flood of the Danube having at last subsided, all was ready by
midsummer. Russian batteries and torpedo-boats had destroyed two Turkish
armoured gunboats in the lower reaches of the river, and on June 22 a
Russian force crossed in boats from a point near Galatz to Matchin, and
made good their hold on the Dobrudscha.

Preparations were also ripe at Simnitza. In the narrow northern arm of
the river the boats and pontoons collected by the Russians were launched
with no difficulty, the island was occupied, and on the night of June
26-27, a Volhynian regiment, along with Cossacks, crossed in boats over
the broad arm of the river, there some 1000 yards wide, and gained a
foothold on the bank. Already their numbers were thinned by a dropping
fire from a Turkish detachment; but the Turks made the mistake of
trusting to the bullet instead of plying the bayonet. Before dawn broke,
the first-comers had been able to ensconce themselves under a bank until
other boats came up. Then with rousing cheers they charged the Turks and
pressed them back.

This was the scene which greeted the eyes of General Dragomiroff as his
boat drew near to the shore at 5 A.M. Half hidden by the morning mist,
the issue seemed doubtful. But at his side stood a general, fresh from
triumphs in Turkestan, who had begged to be allowed to come as volunteer
or aide-de-camp. When Dragomiroff, in an agony of suspense, lowered his
glass, the other continued to gaze, and at last exclaimed: "I
congratulate you on your victory." "Where do you see that?" asked
Dragomiroff "Where? on the faces of the soldiers. Look at them. Watch
them as they charge the enemy. It is a pleasure to see them." The
verdict was true. It was the verdict of Skobeleff[137].

[Footnote 137: Quoted from a report by an eye-witness, by "O.K." (Madame
Novikoff), _Skobeleff and the Slavonic Cause_, p. 38. The crossing was
planned by the Grand Duke Nicholas; see von Lignitz, _Aus drei
Kriegen_, p. 149.]

Such was the first appearance in European warfare of the greatest leader
of men that Russia has produced since the days of Suvoroff. The younger
man resembled that sturdy veteran in his passion for war, his ambition,
and that frank, bluff bearing which always wins the hearts of the
soldiery. The grandson of a peasant, whose bravery had won him promotion
in the great year, 1812; the