Cadoudal exchanged a few words with his comrades, and four of them, who were not mounted and who acted as officers to carry his orders into the underbrush and heather, glided1 away immediately, and passing between the thorn bushes, reached the foot of two sturdy oaks, whose broad branches and thick foliage2 made a rampart against the sun. These two oaks stood at the two ends of the avenue which the road coming from the town to the crossroad formed.
When they reached this spot, they paused, ready to execute some man?uvre, which no one who did not know the general's plan of battle could have divined.
Diane's carriage was drawn3 into the crossroad, and she herself was stationed on a little knoll4 some thirty paces from the road, among a cluster of trees, where she could see without being seen.
The chasseurs and hussars advanced cautiously at a foot-pace. An advance-guard of ten men preceded them, and,[Pg 498] like the rest of the troop, marched with the greatest caution. When the last man had left the town, a shot was heard, and a man in the rear-guard fell. This was a signal. The two crests5 of the ravine which formed the road blazed forth7 fire. The Blues8 sought in vain for the enemy who had attacked them. They saw the fire and the smoke, and they felt the bullets, but they could distinguish neither the weapon nor the man who carried it. Confusion seized upon them once they felt themselves the prey9 of an invisible foe10. Each one sought, not to escape death, but to give death for death. Some retraced11 their steps, others forced their horses to climb the slope; but no sooner did a man's head rise above the crest6 of the slope than he was shot at close quarters and fell back, overturning his horse with him like the Amazons in Rubens' "Battle of Thermodon."
Others again, and they were the more numerous, pushed forward, hoping to pass the ambush12 and thus escape the net which had trapped them. But Cadoudal, when he saw this movement, for which he had apparently13 been waiting, set spurs to his horse, and galloped14 out, followed by his forty men, to meet them. They fought along the road for about two hundred yards.
Those who attempted to turn back found the way barred by Chouans, who discharged their pieces in their faces and forced them to return. Finally those who pushed forward came in contact with Cadoudal and his men. But after a few moments the latter appeared to give way and fled.
The Blues at once started in pursuit. But scarcely had the last Chouan passed the two great oaks which were guarded by the four men than they began to push with all their strength, and the two giants, which had been previously16 separated from their roots with an axe17, bent18 toward each other and fell with crashing branches and a tremendous noise upon the road, which they thus closed by an impassable barrier. The Blues were following the Whites so closely that two of their number, together with their horses, were crushed by the falling trees.
[Pg 499]
The same man?uvre took place at the other end of the road. Two trees dislodged from their bases fell across the road, and their interlacing branches formed a barrier like that which had just closed up the other end of the road. Thus men and horses were caught as in a huge arena20, and each Chouan could choose his man, aim at discretion21, and bring him down without fail.
Cadoudal and his forty horsemen discarded their horses, which were now useless, and, rifle in hand, were about to join in the struggle, when Mademoiselle de Fargas, who was watching the sanguinary drama with all the ardor22 of her lion-like nature, suddenly heard the gallop15 of a horse coming along the road from Vitré, and, turning, she recognized the man with whom she had travelled.
When he saw that Georges and his companions were about to join in the fray23, he attracted their attention by shouting: "Stop! Wait for me!"
And no sooner had he joined them, amid cries of welcome, than he leaped from his horse, tossed the bridle24 to a Chouan to hold, and threw himself upon Cadoudal's neck. Then he selected a rifle, filled his pockets with cartridges25, and followed by twenty men, Cadoudal taking the others, he darted26 into the thicket27 which lined the left bank of the road, while the general disappeared on the right side.
The redoubled fusillade announced the arrival of these reinforcements for the Whites.
Mademoiselle de Fargas was too much absorbed in watching what was passing before her to pay much attention to Monsieur d'Argentan's conduct. She understood simply that the pretended tax-gatherer of Dinan was in reality a disguised royalist—which fact explained why he was bringing money from Paris to Brittany, instead of sending it from Brittany to Paris.
The heroic efforts of this little band of five hundred men would furnish material for an epic28 poem.
Their courage was all the greater as they were, as we have said, fighting against an invisible danger, calling to[Pg 500] it, defying it, and shrieking29 with rage because it would not rise up before them. Nothing could make the Chouans change their deadly tactics. Death flew whistling by, and the Blues simply saw the smoke and heard the report. A man would throw up his hands and fall back in the saddle, and the frightened riderless animal would dash wildly into the thicket and gallop madly on until an invisible hand checked him, and tied his bridle to the branch of a tree.
Here and there in the fields some one of these horses could be seen rearing and tugging30 at his bridle, trying to escape from the strange master who had just made him prisoner. The butchery lasted an hour. At the end of that time, they heard the drums beating the charge. It was the infantry31 coming to the assistance of the cavalry32.
Colonel Hulot commanded in person. His first care, with the infallible glance of a veteran, had been to get an accurate idea of the ground, and to open an exit for the unfortunates who were confined in this sort of a tunnel into which the Chouans had converted the road.
He had the horses unharnessed from the gun-carriages, the artillery33 being useless for the sort of combat upon which they were about to engage. The horses were then attached to the fallen trees, which they dragged from their transverse position across the road, thus opening a means of retreat for the stricken cavalry. Then he sent five hundred men to charge along the road, with levelled bayonets, just as if the enemy had been in sight. He ordered the most expert of his sharpshooters to return shot for shot—in other words, whenever a puff34 of smoke appeared they were to fire straight at it, since it denoted that a man was lying in ambush at that spot. This was almost the only way to reply to the fusillade of the Whites, who almost invariably shot from cover, and rarely showed themselves save at the moment of taking aim. Habit, and, above all, necessity, had made many of the Republican soldiers exceedingly skilful36 at this quick exchange of shots.
Sometimes the men upon whom they retaliated37 were[Pg 501] killed outright38. Sometimes when they fired by guesswork, they were only wounded. In that case they would not move. Their shots were forgotten in the turmoil39, and the soldiers frequently passed very near them without discovering them. The Chouans were noted35 for their marvellous courage in stifling40 groans41 which their insufferable agony would have elicited42 from any other soldier.
The fight lasted until the first shades of night were falling. Diane, who did not lose a single incident, fumed43 with impatience44 at not being able to take part in it. She would have liked to don male attire45, arm herself with a gun, and rush upon the Republicans, whom she hated. But her costume, and, above all, the lack of a weapon, rendered her helpless.
About seven o'clock Colonel Hulot ordered the retreat to be sounded. In this kind of warfare46 day was dangerous, but night was more than dangerous, it was fatal.
The sounds of the trumpets47 and the drums, announcing the retreat, redoubled the ardor of the Chouans. Thus to abandon the field of battle and return to the town was an avowal48 on the part of the Republicans that they were beaten.
Shots accompanied them to the very gates of La Guerche, leaving three or four hundred dead on the field, ignorant of the losses which the Chouans had sustained, and without a single prisoner—to the intense chagrin49 of Fran?ois Goulin, who had succeeded in getting his instrument inside the town, and who had taken it to the other end of the town in order to be near the scene of battle.
All his efforts were now useless, and Fran?ois Goulin took up his lodgings50 in a house where he need not lose sight of his precious machine.
Since they had left Paris, neither officer nor soldier had chosen to lodge19 in the house of the commissioner51 extraordinary. He had been given a guard of twelve men, and that was all. Four men guarded the guillotine.
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1
glided
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| v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔 | |
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2
foliage
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| n.叶子，树叶，簇叶 | |
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3
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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4
knoll
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| n.小山，小丘 | |
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5
crests
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| v.到达山顶（或浪峰）( crest的第三人称单数 )；到达洪峰，达到顶点 | |
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6
crest
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| n.顶点；饰章；羽冠；vt.达到顶点；vi.形成浪尖 | |
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7
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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8
blues
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| n.抑郁，沮丧；布鲁斯音乐 | |
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9
prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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10
foe
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| n.敌人，仇敌 | |
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11
retraced
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| v.折回( retrace的过去式和过去分词 )；回忆；回顾；追溯 | |
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12
ambush
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| n.埋伏(地点)；伏兵；v.埋伏；伏击 | |
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13
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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14
galloped
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| （使马）飞奔，奔驰( gallop的过去式和过去分词 )； 快速做[说]某事 | |
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15
gallop
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| v./n.(马或骑马等)飞奔；飞速发展 | |
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16
previously
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| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
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17
axe
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| n.斧子；v.用斧头砍，削减 | |
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18
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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19
lodge
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| v.临时住宿，寄宿，寄存，容纳；n.传达室，小旅馆 | |
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20
arena
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| n.竞技场，运动场所；竞争场所，舞台 | |
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21
discretion
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| n.谨慎；随意处理 | |
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22
ardor
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| n.热情，狂热 | |
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23
fray
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| v.争吵；打斗；磨损，磨破；n.吵架；打斗 | |
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24
bridle
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| n.笼头，束缚；vt.抑制，约束；动怒 | |
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25
cartridges
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| 子弹( cartridge的名词复数 )； （打印机的）墨盒； 录音带盒； （唱机的）唱头 | |
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26
darted
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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27
thicket
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| n.灌木丛，树林 | |
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28
epic
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| n.史诗，叙事诗；adj.史诗般的，壮丽的 | |
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29
shrieking
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| v.尖叫( shriek的现在分词 ) | |
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30
tugging
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| n.牵引感v.用力拉，使劲拉，猛扯( tug的现在分词 ) | |
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31
infantry
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| n.[总称]步兵(部队) | |
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32
cavalry
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| n.骑兵；轻装甲部队 | |
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33
artillery
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| n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队) | |
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34
puff
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| n.一口(气)；一阵(风)；v.喷气，喘气 | |
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35
noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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36
skilful
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| (=skillful)adj.灵巧的，熟练的 | |
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37
retaliated
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| v.报复，反击( retaliate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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38
outright
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| adv.坦率地；彻底地；立即；adj.无疑的；彻底的 | |
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39
turmoil
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| n.骚乱，混乱，动乱 | |
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40
stifling
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| a.令人窒息的 | |
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41
groans
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| n.呻吟，叹息( groan的名词复数 )；呻吟般的声音v.呻吟( groan的第三人称单数 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦 | |
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42
elicited
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| 引出，探出( elicit的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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43
fumed
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| 愤怒( fume的过去式和过去分词 )； 大怒； 发怒； 冒烟 | |
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44
impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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45
attire
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| v.穿衣，装扮[同]array；n.衣着；盛装 | |
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46
warfare
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| n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突 | |
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47
trumpets
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| 喇叭( trumpet的名词复数 )； 小号； 喇叭形物； （尤指）绽开的水仙花 | |
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48
avowal
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| n.公开宣称，坦白承认 | |
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49
chagrin
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| n.懊恼；气愤；委屈 | |
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50
lodgings
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| n. 出租的房舍, 寄宿舍 | |
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51
commissioner
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| n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员 | |
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