e her boy in the snow.
But she did not sleep a minute. The thunder of the enemy's artillery,
the sound of the musketry, and the noise of the disordered mob of
soldiers who fought like demons to get safely across the one remaining
bridge, would have prevented almost anyone from sleeping.

When daylight came the Russians were so near that it was clear to
Madame Ladoinski that unless she crossed the bridge immediately she
would soon be a prisoner. Lifting her boy, and sheltering him as much
as possible, she hurried towards the bridge, but two or three times,
when the enemy's fire increased in severity, she took cover for a few
minutes. At last she reached the bridge. The crowd was not now great,
and it would have been possible for her to cross without any fear of
her boy being crushed, but no sooner had they put their feet on the
bridge when shouts of 'Go back, go back! Give yourselves up to the
Russians,' burst from their comrades who had already crossed the river.
Stupefied, the people fell back, and almost at the same moment the last
bridge burst into flames. To prevent the Russians from pursuing them,
the French had burnt the bridge and left hundreds of their fellow
countrymen to fall into the hands of the enemy.

The Cossacks, who were first of the Russian army to reach the river,
were more eager for plunder than slaughter, and Madame Ladoinski fled
along the river bank with her child pressed to her bosom. She had no
idea of what to do, and for a time she escaped molestation. Then she
decided to make an attempt to struggle through the river. She knew
that there was very little probability of her being able to reach the
other side, but it would be better for her and her little son to die
than to fall into the hands of the semi-savage Cossacks. Tying her boy
to her, so that the fate of one might be the other's, she approached
the water; but on the brink she was seized by a Russian. Terrified,
she screamed for help, and it was fortunate that she did so, for the
remnants of the Polish Lancers--last to cease fighting the
Russians--were entering the river not many yards away, and Captain
Ladoinski heard her cries. Calling to his men to come back, he urged
his horse up the bank, and galloped along the riverside until he came
to his wife and child. The Russian fled at the approach of the Polish
Lancers, and Captain Ladoinski lifted his wife and child on to his
horse without recognising them. Then quickly he put