Gerard had not succeeded in getting in two
volleys which took them diagonally on their rear. The Blues of the two
wings ought to have remained in position and continued to pick off in
this way their terrible enemies; but excited by the danger of their
little main body, then completely surrounded by the Chouans, they flung
themselves headlong into the road with fixed bayonets and made the
battle even for a few moments. Both sides fought with a stubbornness
intensified by the cruelty and fury of the partisan spirit which made
this war exceptional. Each man, observant of danger, was silent. The
scene was gloomy and cold as death itself. Nothing was heard through the
clash of arms and the grinding of the sand under foot but the moans and
exclamations of those who fell, either dead or badly wounded. The twelve
loyal recruits in the republican main body protected the commandant (who
was guiding his men and giving orders) with such courage that more than
once several soldiers called out "Bravo, conscripts!"

Hulot, imperturbable and with an eye to everything, presently remarked
among the Chouans a man who, like himself, was evidently surrounded by
picked men, and was therefore, no doubt, the leader of the attacking
party. He was eager to see this man distinctly, and he made many efforts
to distinguish his features, but in vain; they were hidden by the red
caps and broad-brimmed hats of those about him. Hulot did, however,
see Marche-a-Terre beside this leader, repeating his orders in a
hoarse voice, his own carbine, meanwhile, being far from inactive. The
commandant grew impatient at being thus baffled. Waving his sword, he
urged on the recruits and charged the centre of the Chouans with such
fury that he broke through their line and came close to their chief,
whose face, however, was still hidden by a broad-brimmed felt hat with a
white cockade. But the invisible leader, surprised at so bold an attack,
retreated a step or two and raised his hat abruptly, thus enabling Hulot
to get a hasty idea of his appearance.

He was young,--Hulot thought him to be about twenty-five; he wore a
hunting-jacket of green cloth, and a white belt containing pistols. His
heavy shoes were hobnailed like those of the Chouans; leather leggings
came to his knees covering the ends of his breeches of very coarse
drilling, and completing a costume which showed off a slender and
well-poised figure of medium height. Furious that the Blues should thus
hav