plumped right into the heart of us.
As I heard the scream of them past my ear my head went down like a
diver, but our sergeant gave me a prod in the back with the handle of
his halbert.

"Don't be so blasted polite," said he; "when you're hit, you can bow
once and for all."

There was one of those balls that knocked five men into a bloody mash,
and I saw it lying on the ground afterwards like a crimson football.
Another went through the adjutant's horse with a plop like a stone in
the mud, broke its back and left it lying like a burst gooseberry.
Three more fell further to the right, and by the stir and cries we could
tell that they had all told.

"Ah! James, you've lost a good mount," says Major Reed, just in front of
me, looking down at the adjutant, whose boots and breeches were all
running with blood.

"I gave a cool fifty for him in Glasgow," said the other. "Don't you
think, major, that the men had better lie down now that the guns have
got our range?"

"Tut!" said the other; "they are young, James, and it will do them
good."

"They'll get enough of it before the day's done," grumbled the other;
but at that moment Colonel Reynell saw that the Rifles and the 52nd were
down on either side of us, so we had the order to stretch ourselves out
too. Precious glad we were when we could hear the shot whining like
hungry dogs within a few feet of our backs. Even now a thud and a
splash every minute or so, with a yelp of pain and a drumming of boots
upon the ground, told us that we were still losing heavily.

A thin rain was falling and the damp air held the smoke low, so that we
could only catch glimpses of what was doing just in front of us, though
the roar of the guns told us that the battle was general all along the
lines. Four hundred of them were all crashing at once now, and the
noise was enough to split the drum of your ear. Indeed, there was not
one of us but had a singing in his head for many a long day afterwards.
Just opposite us on the slope of the hill was a French gun, and we could
see the men serving her quite plainly. They were small active men, with
very tight breeches and high hats with great straight plumes sticking up
from them; but they worked like sheep-shearers, ramming and sponging and
training. There were fourteen when I saw them first, and only four left
standing at the last, but they were working away just as hard as ever.

The farm that they called Hougoumont was down in front of