he day. They plodded on determinedly
through the night. The two weaker horses of the four finally gave way
under the strain. Husbanding the remaining two with the greatest care,
the two soldiers, passing through the deserted villages of St. Prix, on
the Little Morin, and Baye, finally reached the great highroad which
ran through Champaubert, Vauxchamps and Montmirail, toward Paris, and
which, owing to a northward bend of the river, crossed the country some
leagues to the southward of the Marne.

Day was breaking as they reached the edge of the forest bordering the
road, and from a rather high hill had a glimpse of a wide stretch of
country before them. Fortunately, while it was still raw and cold, the
sun came out and gave them a fair view of a great expanse of rolling
and open fields. A scene of great animation was disclosed to them.
The road was covered with squadrons of green-coated Russian cavalry,
evidently just called to the saddle, and moving eastward at a walk or
slow trot. They looked like the advance guard of some important
division. There was a low, rolling volume of heavy sound coming from
the far north, and in the rising sun they thought they could
distinguish in that direction smoke, as from a battlefield. The sound
itself was unmistakable to the veteran.

"Cannon!" he said. "Fighting there."

"Yes," answered Marteau. "The Emperor said that the Prussians and
Russians were pressing the Duke of Tarentum, Marshal Macdonald."

"But what have we here?" asked old Bal-Arret, shading his eyes and
peering at the array on the near road.

A division of Russians, coming from a defile to the right, had
debouched upon a broad plateau or level upon the edge of which the
little village of Champaubert straggled forlornly. The Cossack
horsemen and the Russian cavalry had cleaned out Champaubert. There
were no inhabitants left to welcome the Russian division, except dead
ones, who could offer no hospitality.

The division was weary and travel-stained, covered with mud, horses
dead beat; the cannon, huge, formless masses of clay, were dragged
slowly and painfully forward. It was evident that the commander of the
division had doubled his teams, but the heavy guns could scarcely be
moved, even by twice the number of horses attached. The poor brutes
had no rest, for, as fast as one gun arrived, both teams were unhitched
and sent over the road to bring up another. A halt was made on the
plateau. It was evid