They were even denied the relief of discharging their chassepots. Captain Beaudoin had at last put his foot down and stopped the firing, that senseless fusillade against the little wood in front of them, which seemed entirely2 deserted3 by the Prussians. The heat was stifling4; it seemed to them that they should roast, stretched there on the ground under the blazing sky.
Jean was alarmed, on turning to look at Maurice, to see that he had declined his head and was lying, with closed eyes, apparently5 inanimate, his cheek against the bare earth. He was very pale, there was no sign of life in his face.
"Hallo there! what's the matter?"
But Maurice was only sleeping. The mental strain, conjointly with his fatigue6, had been too much for him, in spite of the dangers that menaced them at every moment. He awoke with a start and stared about him, and the peace that slumber7 had left in his wide-dilated eyes was immediately supplanted8 by a look of startled affright as it dawned on him where he was. He had not the remotest idea how long he had slept; all he knew was that the state from which he had been recalled to the horrors of the battlefield was one of blessed oblivion and tranquillity9.
"Hallo! that's funny; I must have been asleep!" he murmured. "Ah! it has done me good."
It was true that he suffered less from that pressure about his temples and at his heart, that horrible constriction11 that seems as if it would crush one's bones. He chaffed Lapoulle, who had manifested much uneasiness since the disappearance13 of Chouteau and Loubet and spoke14 of going to look for them. A capital idea! so he might get away and hide behind a tree, and smoke a pipe! Pache thought that the surgeons had detained them at the ambulance, where there was a scarcity15 of sick-bearers. That was a job that he had no great fancy for, to go around under fire and collect the wounded! And haunted by a lingering superstition16 of the country where he was born, he added that it was unlucky to touch a corpse18; it brought death.
"Shut up, confound you!" roared Lieutenant19 Rochas. "Who is going to die?"
Colonel de Vineuil, sitting his tall horse, turned his head and gave a smile, the first that had been seen on his face that morning. Then he resumed his statue-like attitude, waiting for orders as impassively as ever under the tumbling shells.
Maurice's attention was attracted to the sick-bearers, whose movements he watched with interest as they searched for wounded men among the depressions of the ground. At the end of a sunken road, and protected by a low ridge20 not far from their position, a flying ambulance of first aid had been established, and its emissaries had begun to explore the plateau. A tent was quickly erected21, while from the hospital van the attendants extracted the necessary supplies; compresses, bandages, linen23, and the few indispensable instruments required for the hasty dressings24 they gave before dispatching the patients to Sedan, which they did as rapidly as they could secure wagons27, the supply of which was limited. There was an assistant surgeon in charge, with two subordinates of inferior rank under him. In all the army none showed more gallantry and received less acknowledgment than the litter-bearers. They could be seen all over the field in their gray uniform, with the distinctive30 red badge on their cap and on their arm, courageously31 risking their lives and unhurriedly pushing forward through the thickest of the fire to the spots where men had been seen to fall. At times they would creep on hands and knees: would always take advantage of a hedge or ditch, or any shelter that was afforded by the conformation of the ground, never exposing themselves unnecessarily out of bravado32. When at last they reached the fallen men their painful task commenced, which was made more difficult and protracted33 by the fact that many of the subjects had fainted, and it was hard to tell whether they were alive or dead. Some lay face downward with their mouths in a pool of blood, in danger of suffocating34, others had bitten the ground until their throats were choked with dry earth, others, where a shell had fallen among a group, were a confused, intertwined heap of mangled35 limbs and crushed trunks. With infinite care and patience the bearers would go through the tangled36 mass, separating the living from the dead, arranging their limbs and raising the head to give them air, cleansing37 the face as well as they could with the means at their command. Each of them carried a bucket of cool water, which he had to use very savingly. And Maurice could see them thus engaged, often for minutes at a time, kneeling by some man whom they were trying to resuscitate38, waiting for him to show some sign of life.
He watched one of them, some fifty yards away to the left, working over the wound of a little soldier from the sleeve of whose tunic39 a thin stream of blood was trickling40, drop by drop. The man of the red cross discovered the source of the hemorrhage and finally checked it by compressing the artery41. In urgent cases, like that of the little soldier, they rendered these partial attentions, locating fractures, bandaging and immobilizing the limbs so as to reduce the danger of transportation. And the transportation, even, was an affair that called for a great deal of judgment42 and ingenuity43; they assisted those who could walk, and carried others, either in their arms, like little children, or pickaback when the nature of the hurt allowed it; at other times they united in groups of two, three, or four, according to the requirements of the case, and made a chair by joining their hands, or carried the patient off by his legs and shoulders in a recumbent posture45. In addition to the stretchers provided by the medical department there were all sorts of temporary makeshifts, such as the stretchers improvised46 from knapsack straps47 and a couple of muskets49. And in every direction on the unsheltered, shell-swept plain they could be seen, singly or in groups, hastening with their dismal50 loads to the rear, their heads bowed and picking their steps, an admirable spectacle of prudent51 heroism52.
Maurice saw a pair on his right, a thin, puny53 little fellow lugging54 a burly sergeant56, with both legs broken, suspended from his neck; the sight reminded the young man of an ant, toiling57 under a burden many times larger than itself; and even as he watched them a shell burst directly in their path and they were lost to view. When the smoke cleared away the sergeant was seen lying on his back, having received no further injury, while the bearer lay beside him, disemboweled. And another came up, another toiling ant, who, when he had turned his dead comrade on his back and examined him, took the sergeant up and made off with his load.
It gave Maurice a chance to read Lapoulle a lesson.
"I say, if you like the business, why don't you go and give that man a lift!"
For some little time the batteries at Saint-Menges had been thundering as if determined58 to surpass all previous efforts, and Captain Beaudoin, who was still tramping nervously59 up and down before his company line, at last stepped up to the colonel. It was a pity, he said, to waste the men's morale60 in that way and keep their minds on the stretch for hours and hours.
"I can't help it; I have no orders," the colonel stoically replied.
They had another glimpse of General Douay as he flew by at a gallop61, followed by his staff. He had just had an interview with General de Wimpffen, who had ridden up to entreat62 him to hold his ground, which he thought he could promise to do, but only so long as the Calvary of Illy, on his right, held out; Illy once taken, he would be responsible for nothing; their defeat would be inevitable63. General de Wimpffen averred64 that the 1st corps17 would look out for the position at Illy, and indeed a regiment65 of zouaves was presently seen to occupy the Calvary, so that General Douay, his anxiety being relieved on that score, sent Dumont's division to the assistance of the 12th corps, which was then being hard pushed. Scarcely fifteen minutes later, however, as he was returning from the left, whither he had ridden to see how affairs were looking, he was surprised, raising his eyes to the Calvary, to see it was unoccupied; there was not a zouave to be seen there, they had abandoned the plateau that was no longer tenable by reason of the terrific fire from the batteries at Fleigneux. With a despairing presentiment66 of impending67 disaster he was spurring as fast as he could to the right, when he encountered Dumont's division, flying in disorder68, broken and tangled in inextricable confusion with the debris69 of the 1st corps. The latter, which, after its retrograde movement, had never been able to regain70 possession of the posts it had occupied in the morning, leaving Daigny in the hands of the XIIth Saxon corps and Givonne to the Prussian Guards, had been compelled to retreat in a northerly direction across the wood of Garenne, harassed71 by the batteries that the enemy had posted on every summit from one end of the valley to the other. The terrible circle of fire and flame was contracting; a portion of the Guards had continued their march on Illy, moving from east to west and turning the eminences72, while from west to east, in the rear of the XIth corps, now masters of Saint-Menges, the Vth, moving steadily74 onward75, had passed Fleigneux and with insolent76 temerity77 was constantly pushing its batteries more and more to the front, and so contemptuous were they of the ignorance and impotence of the French that they did not even wait for the infantry78 to come up to support their guns. It was midday; the entire horizon was aflame, concentrating its destructive fire on the 7th and 1st corps.
Then General Douay, while the German artillery79 was thus preparing the way for the decisive movement that should make them masters of the Calvary, resolved to make one last desperate attempt to regain possession of the hill. He dispatched his orders, and throwing himself in person among the fugitives80 of Dumont's division, succeeded in forming a column which he sent forward to the plateau. It held its ground for a few minutes, but the bullets whistled so thick, the naked, treeless fields were swept by such a tornado81 of shot and shell, that it was not long before the panic broke out afresh, sweeping82 the men adown the slopes, rolling them up as straws are whirled before the wind. And the general, unwilling83 to abandon his project, ordered up other regiments84.
A staff officer galloped85 by, shouting to Colonel de Vineuil as he passed an order that was lost in the universal uproar86. Hearing, the colonel was erect22 in his stirrups in an instant, his face aglow87 with the gladness of battle, and pointing to the Calvary with a grand movement of his sword:
"Our turn has come at last, boys!" he shouted. "Forward!"
A thrill of enthusiasm ran through the ranks at the brief address, and the regiment put itself in motion. Beaudoin's company was among the first to get on its feet, which it did to the accompaniment of much good-natured chaff12, the men declaring they were so rusty88 they could not move; the gravel89 must have penetrated90 their joints91. The fire was so hot, however, that by the time they had advanced a few feet they were glad to avail themselves of the protection of a shelter trench92 that lay in their path, along which they crept in an undignified posture, bent44 almost double.
"Now, young fellow, look out for yourself!" Jean said to Maurice; "we're in for it. Don't let 'em see so much as the end of your nose, for if you do they will surely snip93 it off, and keep a sharp lookout94 for your legs and arms unless you have more than you care to keep. Those who come out of this with a whole skin will be lucky."
Maurice did not hear him very distinctly; the words were lost in the all-pervading clamor that buzzed and hummed in the young man's ears. He could not have told now whether he was afraid or not; he went forward because the others did, borne along with them in their headlong rush, without distinct volition95 of his own; his sole desire was to have the affair ended as soon as possible. So true was it that he was a mere96 drop in the on-pouring torrent97 that when the leading files came to the end of the trench and began to waver at the prospect98 of climbing the exposed slope that lay before them, he immediately felt himself seized by a sensation of panic, and was ready to turn and fly. It was simply an uncontrollable instinct, a revolt of the muscles, obedient to every passing breath.
Some of the men had already faced about when the colonel came hurrying up.
"Steady there, my children. You won't cause me this great sorrow; you won't behave like cowards. Remember, the 106th has never turned its back upon the enemy; will you be the first to disgrace our flag?"
And he spurred his charger across the path of the fugitives, addressing them individually, speaking to them, of their country, in a voice that trembled with emotion.
Lieutenant Rochas was so moved by his words that he gave way to an ungovernable fit of anger, raising his sword and belaboring99 the men with the flat as if it had been a club.
"You dirty loafers, I'll see whether you will go up there or not! I'll kick you up! About face! and I'll break the jaw100 of the first man that refuses to obey!"
But such an extreme measure as kicking a regiment into action was repugnant to the colonel.
"No, no, lieutenant; they will follow me. Won't you, my children? You won't let your old colonel fight it out alone with the Prussians! Up there lies the way; forward!"
He turned his horse and left the trench, and they did all follow, to a man, for he would have been considered the lowest of the low who could have abandoned their leader after that brave, kind speech. He was the only one, however, who, while crossing the open fields, erect on his tall horse, was cool and unconcerned; the men scattered101, advancing in open order and availing themselves of every shelter afforded by the ground. The land sloped upward; there were fully102 five hundred yards of stubble and beet103 fields between them and the Calvary, and in place of the correctly aligned104 columns that the spectator sees advancing when a charge is ordered in field maneuvers106, all that was to be seen was a loose array of men with rounded backs, singly or in small groups, hugging the ground, now crawling warily107 a little way on hands and knees, now dashing forward for the next cover, like huge insects fighting their way upward to the crest108 by dint109 of agility110 and address. The enemy's batteries seemed to have become aware of the movement; their fire was so rapid that the reports of the guns were blended in one continuous roar. Five men were killed, a lieutenant was cut in two.
Maurice and Jean had considered themselves fortunate that their way led along a hedge behind which they could push forward unseen, but the man immediately in front of them was shot through the temples and fell back dead in their arms; they had to cast him down at one side. By this time, however, the casualties had ceased to excite attention; they were too numerous. A man went by, uttering frightful111 shrieks112 and pressing his hands upon his protruding113 entrails; they beheld114 a horse dragging himself along with both thighs115 broken, and these anguishing117 sights, these horrors of the battlefield, affected118 them no longer. They were suffering from the intolerable heat, the noonday sun that beat upon their backs and burned like hot coals.
"How thirsty I am!" Maurice murmured. "My throat is like an ash barrel. Don't you notice that smell of something scorching119, a smell like burning woolen120?"
Jean nodded. "It was just the same at Solferino; perhaps it is the smell that always goes with war. But hold, I have a little brandy left; we'll have a sup."
And they paused behind the hedge a moment and raised the flask121 to their lips, but the brandy, instead of relieving their thirst, burned their stomach. It irritated them, that nasty taste of burnt rags in their mouths. Moreover they perceived that their strength was commencing to fail for want of sustenance122 and would have liked to take a bite from the half loaf that Maurice had in his knapsack, but it would not do to stop and breakfast there under fire, and then they had to keep up with their comrades. There was a steady stream of men coming up behind them along the hedge who pressed them forward, and so, doggedly123 bending their backs to the task before them, they resumed their course. Presently they made their final rush and reached the crest. They were on the plateau, at the very foot of the Calvary, the old weather-beaten cross that stood between two stunted124 lindens.
"Good for our side!" exclaimed Jean; "here we are! But the next thing is to remain here!"
He was right; it was not the pleasantest place in the world to be in, as Lapoulle remarked in a doleful tone that excited the laughter of the company. They all lay down again, in a field of stubble, and for all that three men were killed in quick succession. It was pandemonium125 let loose up there on the heights; the projectiles126 from Saint-Menges, Fleigneux, and Givonne fell in such numbers that the ground fairly seemed to smoke, as it does at times under a heavy shower of rain. It was clear that the position could not be maintained unless artillery was dispatched at once to the support of the troops who had been sent on such a hopeless undertaking128. General Douay, it was said, had given instructions to bring up two batteries of the reserve artillery, and the men were every moment turning their heads, watching anxiously for the guns that did not come.
"It is absurd, ridiculous!" declared Beaudoin, who was again fidgeting up and down before the company. "Who ever heard of placing a regiment in the air like this and giving it no support!" Then, observing a slight depression on their left, he turned to Rochas: "Don't you think, Lieutenant, that the company would be safer there?"
Rochas stood stock still and shrugged129 his shoulders. "It is six of one and half a dozen of the other, Captain. My opinion is that we will do better to stay where we are."
Then the captain, whose principles were opposed to swearing, forgot himself.
"But, good God! there won't a man of us escape! We can't allow the men to be murdered like this!"
And he determined to investigate for himself the advantages of the position he had mentioned, but had scarcely taken ten steps when he was lost to sight in the smoke of an exploding shell; a splinter of the projectile127 had fractured his right leg. He fell upon his back, emitting a shrill131 cry of alarm, like a woman's.
"He might have known as much," Rochas muttered. "There's no use his making such a fuss over it; when the dose is fixed132 for one, he has to take it."
Some members of the company had risen to their feet on seeing their captain fall, and as he continued to call lustily for assistance, Jean finally ran to him, immediately followed by Maurice.
"Friends, friends, for Heaven's sake do not leave me here; carry me to the ambulance!"
"_Dame_, Captain, I don't know that we shall be able to get so far, but we can try."
As they were discussing how they could best take hold to raise him they perceived, behind the hedge that had sheltered them on their way up, two stretcher-bearers who seemed to be waiting for something to do, and finally, after protracted signaling, induced them to draw near. All would be well if they could only get the wounded man to the ambulance without accident, but the way was long and the iron hail more pitiless than ever.
The bearers had tightly bandaged the injured limb in order to keep the bones in position and were about to bear the captain off the field on what children call a "chair," formed by joining their hands and slipping an arm of the patient over each of their necks, when Colonel de Vineuil, who had heard of the accident, came up, spurring his horse. He manifested much emotion, for he had known the young man ever since his graduation from Saint-Cyr.
"Cheer up, my poor boy; have courage. You are in no danger; the doctors will save your leg."
The captain's face wore an expression of resignation, as if he had summoned up all his courage to bear his misfortune manfully.
"No, my dear Colonel; I feel it is all up with me, and I would rather have it so. The only thing that distresses134 me is the waiting for the inevitable end."
The bearers carried him away, and were fortunate enough to reach the hedge in safety, behind which they trotted136 swiftly away with their burden. The colonel's eyes followed them anxiously, and when he saw them reach the clump137 of trees where the ambulance was stationed a look of deep relief rose to his face.
"But you, Colonel," Maurice suddenly exclaimed, "you are wounded too!"
He had perceived blood dripping from the colonel's left boot. A projectile of some description had carried away the heel of the foot-covering and forced the steel shank into the flesh.
M. de Vineuil bent over his saddle and glanced unconcernedly at the member, in which the sensation at that time must have been far from pleasurable.
"Yes, yes," he replied, "it is a little remembrance that I received a while ago. A mere scratch, that don't prevent me from sitting my horse--" And he added, as he turned to resume his position to the rear of his regiment: "As long as a man can stick on his horse he's all right."
At last the two batteries of reserve artillery came up. Their arrival was an immense relief to the anxiously expectant men, as if the guns were to be a rampart of protection to them and at the same time demolish139 the hostile batteries that were thundering against them from every side. And then, too, it was in itself an exhilarating spectacle to see the magnificent order they preserved as they came dashing up, each gun followed by its caisson, the drivers seated on the near horse and holding the off horse by the bridle140, the cannoneers bolt upright on the chests, the chiefs of detachment riding in their proper position on the flank. Distances were preserved as accurately142 as if they were on parade, and all the time they were tearing across the fields at headlong speed, with the roar and crash of a hurricane.
Maurice, who had lain down again, arose and said to Jean in great excitement:
"Look! over there on the left, that is Honore's battery. I can recognize the men."
Jean gave him a back-handed blow that brought him down to his recumbent position.
"Lie down, will you! and make believe dead!"
But they were both deeply interested in watching the maneuvers of the battery, and never once removed their eyes from it; it cheered their heart to witness the cool and intrepid143 activity of those men, who, they hoped, might yet bring victory to them.
The battery had wheeled into position on a bare summit to the left, where it brought up all standing144; then, quick as a flash, the cannoneers leaped from the chests and unhooked the limbers, and the drivers, leaving the gun in position, drove fifteen yards to the rear, where they wheeled again so as to bring team and limber face to the enemy and there remained, motionless as statues. In less time than it takes to tell it the guns were in place, with the proper intervals145 between them, distributed into three sections of two guns each, each section commanded by a lieutenant, and over the whole a captain, a long maypole of a man, who made a terribly conspicuous146 landmark147 on the plateau. And this captain, having first made a brief calculation, was heard to shout:
"Sight for sixteen hundred yards!"
Their fire was to be directed upon a Prussian battery, screened by some bushes, to the left of Fleigneux, the shells from which were rendering148 the position of the Calvary untenable.
"Honore's piece, you see," Maurice began again, whose excitement was such that he could not keep still, "Honore's piece is in the center section. There he is now, bending over to speak to the gunner; you remember Louis, the gunner, don't you? the little fellow with whom we had a drink at Vouziers? And that fellow in the rear, who sits so straight on his handsome chestnut149, is Adolphe, the driver--"
First came the gun with its chief and six cannoneers, then the limber with its four horses ridden by two men, beyond that the caisson with its six horses and three drivers, still further to the rear were the _prolonge_, forge, and battery wagon26; and this array of men, horses and _materiel_ extended to the rear in a straight unbroken line of more than a hundred yards in length; to say nothing of the spare caisson and the men and beasts who were to fill the places of those removed by casualties, who were stationed at one side, as much as possible out of the enemy's line of fire.
And now Honore was attending to the loading of his gun. The two men whose duty it was to fetch the cartridge150 and the projectile returned from the caisson, where the corporal and the artificer were stationed; two other cannoneers, standing at the muzzle151 of the piece, slipped into the bore the cartridge, a charge of powder in an envelope of serge, and gently drove it home with the rammer152, then in like manner introduced the shell, the studs of which creaked faintly in the spirals of the rifling. When the primer was inserted in the vent138 and all was in readiness, Honore thought he would like to point the gun himself for the first shot, and throwing himself in a semi-recumbent posture on the trail, working with one hand the screw that regulated the elevation153, with the other he signaled continually to the gunner, who, standing behind him, moved the piece by imperceptible degrees to right or left with the assistance of the lever.
"That ought to be about right," he said as he arose.
The captain came up, and stooping until his long body was bent almost double, verified the elevation. At each gun stood the assistant gunner, waiting to pull the lanyard that should ignite the fulminate by means of a serrated wire. And the orders were given in succession, deliberately154, by number:
"Number one, Fire! Number two, Fire!"
Six reports were heard, the guns recoiled155, and while they were being brought back to position the chiefs of detachment observed the effect of the shots and found that the range was short. They made the necessary correction and the evolution was repeated, in exactly the same manner as before; and it was that cool precision, that mechanical routine of duty, without agitation156 and without haste, that did so much to maintain the _morale_ of the men. They were a little family, united by the tie of a common occupation, grouped around the gun, which they loved and reverenced157 as if it had been a living thing; it was the object of all their care and attention, to it all else was subservient158, men, horses, caisson, everything. Thence also arose the spirit of unity159 and cohesion160 that animated161 the battery at large, making all its members work together for the common glory and the common good, like a well-regulated household.
The 106th had cheered lustily at the completion of the first round; they were going to make those bloody162 Prussian guns shut their mouths at last! but their elation163 was succeeded by dismay when it was seen that the projectiles fell short, many of them bursting in the air and never reaching the bushes that served to mask the enemy's artillery.
"Honore," Maurice continued, "says that all the other pieces are popguns and that his old girl is the only one that is good for anything. Ah, his old girl! He talks as if she were his wife and there were not another like her in the world! Just notice how jealously he watches her and makes the men clean her off! I suppose he is afraid she will overheat herself and take cold!"
He continued rattling164 on in this pleasant vein165 to Jean, both of them cheered and encouraged by the cool bravery with which the artillerymen served their guns; but the Prussian batteries, after firing three rounds, had now got the range, which, too long at the beginning, they had at last ciphered down to such a fine point that their shells were landed invariably among the French pieces, while the latter, notwithstanding the efforts that were made to increase their range, still continued to place their projectiles short of the enemy's position. One of Honore's cannoneers was killed while loading the piece; the others pushed the body out of their way, and the service went on with the same methodical precision, with neither more nor less haste. In the midst of the projectiles that fell and burst continually the same unvarying rhythmical166 movements went on uninterruptedly about the gun; the cartridge and shell were introduced, the gun was pointed167, the lanyard pulled, the carriage brought back to place; and all with such undeviating regularity168 that the men might have been taken for automatons169, devoid170 of sight and hearing.
What impressed Maurice, however, more than anything else, was the attitude of the drivers, sitting straight and stiff in their saddles fifteen yards to the rear, face to the enemy. There was Adolphe, the broad-chested, with his big blond mustache across his rubicund171 face; and who shall tell the amount of courage a man must have to enable him to sit without winking172 and watch the shells coming toward him, and he not allowed even to twirl his thumbs by way of diversion! The men who served the guns had something to occupy their minds, while the drivers, condemned173 to immobility, had death constantly before their eyes, and plenty of leisure to speculate on probabilities. They were made to face the battlefield because, had they turned their backs to it, the coward that so often lurks174 at the bottom of man's nature might have got the better of them and swept away man and beast. It is the unseen danger that makes dastards of us; that which we can see we brave. The army has no more gallant29 set of men in its ranks than the drivers in their obscure position.
Another man had been killed, two horses of a caisson had been disemboweled, and the enemy kept up such a murderous fire that there was a prospect of the entire battery being knocked to pieces should they persist in holding that position longer. It was time to take some step to baffle that tremendous fire, notwithstanding the danger there was in moving, and the captain unhesitatingly gave orders to bring up the limbers.
The risky175 maneuver105 was executed with lightning speed; the drivers came up at a gallop, wheeled their limber into position in rear of the gun, when the cannoneers raised the trail of the piece and hooked on. The movement, however, collecting as it did, momentarily, men and horses on the battery front in something of a huddle176, created a certain degree of confusion, of which the enemy took advantage by increasing the rapidity of their fire; three more men dropped. The teams darted177 away at breakneck speed, describing an arc of a circle among the fields, and the battery took up its new position some fifty or sixty yards more to the right, on a gentle eminence73 that was situated178 on the other flank of the 106th. The pieces were unlimbered, the drivers resumed their station at the rear, face to the enemy, and the firing was reopened; and so little time was lost between leaving their old post and taking up the new that the earth had barely ceased to tremble under the concussion179.
Maurice uttered a cry of dismay, when, after three attempts, the Prussians had again got their range; the first shell landed squarely on Honore's gun. The artilleryman rushed forward, and with a trembling hand felt to ascertain180 what damage had been done his pet; a great wedge had been chipped from the bronze muzzle. But it was not disabled, and the work went on as before, after they had removed from beneath the wheels the body of another cannoneer, with whose blood the entire carriage was besplashed.
"It was not little Louis; I am glad of that," said Maurice, continuing to think aloud. "There he is now, pointing his gun; he must be wounded, though, for he is only using his left arm. Ah, he is a brave lad, is little Louis; and how well he and Adolphe get on together, in spite of their little tiffs181, only provided the gunner, the man who serves on foot, shows a proper amount of respect for the driver, the man who rides a horse, notwithstanding that the latter is by far the more ignorant of the two. Now that they are under fire, though, Louis is as good a man as Adolphe--"
Jean, who had been watching events in silence, gave utterance182 to a distressful183 cry:
"They will have to give it up! No troops in the world could stand such a fire."
Within the space of five minutes the second position had become as untenable as was the first; the projectiles kept falling with the same persistency184, the same deadly precision. A shell dismounted a gun, fracturing the chase, killing185 a lieutenant and two men. Not one of the enemy's shots failed to reach, and at each discharge they secured a still greater accuracy of range, so that if the battery should remain there another five minutes they would not have a gun or a man left. The crushing fire threatened to wipe them all out of existence.
Again the captain's ringing voice was heard ordering up the limbers. The drivers dashed up at a gallop and wheeled their teams into place to allow the cannoneers to hook on the guns, but before Adolphe had time to get up Louis was struck by a fragment of shell that tore open his throat and broke his jaw; he fell across the trail of the carriage just as he was on the point of raising it. Adolphe was there instantly, and beholding187 his prostrate188 comrade weltering in his blood, jumped from his horse and was about to raise him to his saddle and bear him away. And at that moment, just as the battery was exposed flank to the enemy in the act of wheeling, offering a fair target, a crashing discharge came, and Adolphe reeled and fell to the ground, his chest crushed in, with arms wide extended. In his supreme189 convulsion he seized his comrade about the body, and thus they lay, locked in each other's arms in a last embrace, "married" even in death.
Notwithstanding the slaughtered190 horses and the confusion that that death-dealing discharge had caused among the men, the battery had rattled191 up the slope of a hillock and taken post a few yards from the spot where Jean and Maurice were lying. For the third time the guns were unlimbered, the drivers retired192 to the rear and faced the enemy, and the cannoneers, with a gallantry that nothing could daunt193, at once reopened fire.
"It is as if the end of all things were at hand!" said Maurice, the sound of whose voice was lost in the uproar.
It seemed indeed as if heaven and earth were confounded in that hideous194 din28. Great rocks were cleft195 asunder196, the sun was hid from sight at times in clouds of sulphurous vapor197. When the cataclysm198 was at its height the horses stood with drooping199 heads, trembling, dazed with terror. The captain's tall form was everywhere upon the eminence; suddenly he was seen no more; a shell had cut him clean in two, and he sank, as a ship's mast that is snapped off at the base.
But it was about Honore's gun, even more than the others, that the conflict raged, with cool efficiency and obstinate200 determination. The non-commissioned officer found it necessary to forget his chevrons201 for the time being and lend a hand in working the piece, for he had now but three cannoneers left; he pointed the gun and pulled the lanyard, while the others brought ammunition202 from the caisson, loaded, and handled the rammer and the sponge. He had sent for men and horses from the battery reserves that were kept to supply the places of those removed by casualties, but they were slow in coming, and in the meantime the survivors203 must do the work of the dead. It was a great discouragement to all that their projectiles ranged short and burst almost without exception in the air, inflicting204 no injury on the powerful batteries of the foe205, the fire of which was so efficient. And suddenly Honore let slip an oath that was heard above the thunder of the battle; ill-luck, ill-luck, nothing but ill-luck! the right wheel of his piece was smashed! _Tonnerre de Dieu!_ what a state she was in, the poor darling! stretched on her side with a broken paw, her nose buried in the ground, crippled and good for nothing! The sight brought big tears to his eyes, he laid his trembling hand upon the breech, as if the ardor206 of his love might avail to warm his dear mistress back to life. And the best gun of them all, the only one that had been able to drop a few shells among the enemy! Then suddenly he conceived a daring project, nothing less than to repair the injury there and then, under that terrible fire. Assisted by one of his men he ran back to the caisson and secured the spare wheel that was attached to the rear axle, and then commenced the most dangerous operation that can be executed on a battlefield. Fortunately the extra men and horses that he had sent for came up just then, and he had two cannoneers to lend him a hand.
For the third time, however, the strength of the battery was so reduced as practically to disable it. To push their heroic daring further would be madness; the order was given to abandon the position definitely.
"Make haste, comrades!" Honore exclaimed. "Even if she is fit for no further service we'll carry her off; those fellows shan't have her!"
To save the gun, even as men risk their life to save the flag; that was his idea. And he had not ceased to speak when he was stricken down as by a thunderbolt, his right arm torn from its socket207, his left flank laid open. He had fallen upon his gun he loved so well, and lay there as if stretched on a bed of honor, with head erect, his unmutilated face turned toward the enemy, and bearing an expression of proud defiance208 that made him beautiful in death. From his torn jacket a letter had fallen to the ground and lay in the pool of blood that dribbled209 slowly from above.
The only lieutenant left alive shouted the order: "Bring up the limbers!"
A caisson had exploded with a roar that rent the skies. They were obliged to take the horses from another caisson in order to save a gun of which the team had been killed. And when, for the last time, the drivers had brought up their smoking horses and the guns had been limbered up, the whole battery flew away at a gallop and never stopped until they reached the edge of the wood of la Garenne, nearly twelve hundred yards away.
Maurice had seen the whole. He shivered with horror, and murmured mechanically, in a faint voice:
"Oh! poor fellow, poor fellow!"
In addition to this feeling of mental distress133 he had a horrible sensation of physical suffering, as if something was gnawing210 at his vitals. It was the animal portion of his nature asserting itself; he was at the end of his endurance, was ready to sink with hunger. His perceptions were dimmed, he was not even conscious of the dangerous position the regiment was in now it no longer was protected by the battery. It was more than likely that the enemy would not long delay to attack the plateau in force.
"Look here," he said to Jean, "I _must_ eat--if I am to be killed for it the next minute, I must eat."
He opened his knapsack and, taking out the bread with shaking hands, set his teeth in it voraciously211. The bullets were whistling above their heads, two shells exploded only a few yards away, but all was as naught212 to him in comparison with his craving213 hunger.
"Will you have some, Jean?"
The corporal was watching him with hungry eyes and a stupid expression on his face; his stomach was also twinging him.
"Yes, I don't care if I do; this suffering is more than I can stand."
They divided the loaf between them and each devoured214 his portion gluttonously215, unmindful of what was going on about them so long as a crumb216 remained. And it was at that time that they saw their colonel for the last time, sitting his big horse, with his blood-stained boot. The regiment was surrounded on every side; already some of the companies had left the field. Then, unable longer to restrain their flight, with tears standing in his eyes and raising his sword above his head:
"My children," cried M. de Vineuil, "I commend you to the protection of God, who thus far has spared us all!"
He rode off down the hill, surrounded by a swarm217 of fugitives, and vanished from their sight.
Then, they knew not how, Maurice and Jean found themselves once more behind the hedge, with the remnant of their company. Some forty men at the outside were all that remained, with Lieutenant Rochas as their commander, and the regimental standard was with them; the subaltern who carried it had furled the silk about the staff in order to try to save it. They made their way along the hedge, as far as it extended, to a cluster of small trees upon a hillside, where Rochas made them halt and reopen fire. The men, dispersed218 in skirmishing order and sufficiently219 protected, could hold their ground, the more that an important calvary movement was in preparation on their right and regiments of infantry were being brought up to support it.
It was at that moment that Maurice comprehended the full scope of that mighty220, irresistible221 turning movement that was now drawing near completion. That morning he had watched the Prussians debouching by the Saint-Albert pass and had seen their advanced guard pushed forward, first to Saint-Menges, then to Fleigneux, and now, behind the wood of la Garenne, he could hear the thunder of the artillery of the Guard, could behold186 other German uniforms arriving on the scene over the hills of Givonne. Yet a few moments, it might be, and the circle would be complete; the Guard would join hands with the Vth corps, surrounding the French army with a living wall, girdling them about with a belt of flaming artillery. It was with the resolve to make one supreme, desperate effort, to try to hew222 a passage through that advancing wall, that General Margueritte's division of the reserve cavalry223 was massing behind a protecting crest preparatory to charging. They were about to charge into the jaws224 of death, with no possibility of achieving any useful result, solely225 for the glory of France and the French army. And Maurice, whose thoughts turned to Prosper226, was a witness of the terrible spectacle.
What between the messages that were given him to carry and their answers, Prosper had been kept busy since daybreak spurring up and down the plateau of Illy. The cavalrymen had been awakened227 at peep of dawn, man by man, without sound of trumpet228, and to make their morning coffee had devised the ingenious expedient229 of screening their fires with a greatcoat so as not to attract the attention of the enemy. Then there came a period when they were left entirely to themselves, with nothing to occupy them; they seemed to be forgotten by their commanders. They could hear the sound of the cannonading, could descry230 the puffs231 of smoke, could see the distant movements of the infantry, but were utterly232 ignorant of the battle, its importance, and its results. Prosper, as far as he was concerned, was suffering from want of sleep. The cumulative233 fatigue induced by many nights of broken rest, the invincible234 somnolency235 caused by the easy gait of his mount, made life a burden. He dreamed dreams and saw visions; now he was sleeping comfortably in a bed between clean sheets, now snoring on the bare ground among sharpened flints. For minutes at a time he would actually be sound asleep in his saddle, a lifeless clod, his steed's intelligence answering for both. Under such circumstances comrades had often tumbled from their seats upon the road. They were so fagged that when they slept the trumpets236 no longer awakened them; the only way to rouse them from their lethargy and get them on their feet was to kick them soundly.
"But what are they going to do, what are they going to do with us?" Prosper kept saying to himself. It was the only thing he could think of to keep himself awake.
For six hours the cannon141 had been thundering. As they climbed a hill two comrades, riding at his side, had been struck down by a shell, and as they rode onward seven or eight others had bit the dust, pierced by rifle-balls that came no one could say whence. It was becoming tiresome237, that slow parade, as useless as it was dangerous, up and down the battlefield. At last--it was about one o'clock--he learned that it had been decided238 they were to be killed off in a somewhat more decent manner. Margueritte's entire division, comprising three regiments of chasseurs d'Afrique, one of chasseurs de France, and one of hussars, had been drawn239 in and posted in a shallow valley a little to the south of the Calvary of Illy. The trumpets had sounded: "Dismount!" and then the officers' command ran down the line to tighten240 girths and look to packs.
Prosper alighted, stretched his cramped241 limbs, and gave Zephyr242 a friendly pat upon the neck. Poor Zephyr! he felt the degradation243 of the ignominious244, heartbreaking service they were subjected to almost as keenly as his master; and not only that, but he had to carry a small arsenal245 of stores and implements246 of various kinds: the holsters stuffed with his master's linen and underclothing and the greatcoat rolled above, the stable suit, blouse, and overalls247, and the sack containing brushes, currycomb, and other articles of equine toilet behind the saddle, the haversack with rations248 slung249 at his side, to say nothing of such trifles as side-lines and picket-pins, the watering bucket and the wooden basin. The cavalryman's tender heart was stirred by a feeling of compassion250, as he tightened251 up the girth and looked to see that everything was secure in its place.
It was a trying moment. Prosper was no more a coward than the next man, but his mouth was intolerably dry and hot; he lit a cigarette in the hope that it would relieve the unpleasant sensation. When about to charge no man can assert with any degree of certainty that he will ride back again. The suspense252 lasted some five or six minutes; it was said that General Margueritte had ridden forward to reconnoiter the ground over which they were to charge; they were awaiting his return. The five regiments had been formed in three columns, each column having a depth of seven squadrons; enough to afford an ample meal to the hostile guns.
Presently the trumpets rang out: "To horse!" and this was succeeded almost immediately by the shrill summons: "Draw sabers!"
The colonel of each regiment had previously254 ridden out and taken his proper position, twenty-five yards to the front, the captains were all at their posts at the head of their squadrons. Then there was another period of anxious waiting, amid a silence heavy as that of death. Not a sound, not a breath, there, beneath the blazing sun; nothing, save the beating of those brave hearts. One order more, the supreme, the decisive one, and that mass, now so inert255 and motionless, would become a resistless tornado, sweeping all before it.
At that juncture256, however, an officer appeared coming over the crest of the hill in front, wounded, and preserving his seat in the saddle only by the assistance of a man on either side. No one recognized him at first, but presently a deep, ominous257 murmur10 began to run from squadron to squadron, which quickly swelled258 into a furious uproar. It was General Margueritte, who had received a wound from which he died a few days later; a musket48-ball had passed through both cheeks, carrying away a portion of the tongue and palate. He was incapable259 of speech, but waved his arm in the direction of the enemy. The fury of his men knew no bounds; their cries rose louder still upon the air.
"It is our general! Avenge260 him, avenge him!"
Then the colonel of the first regiment, raising aloft his saber, shouted in a voice of thunder:
"Charge!"
The trumpets sounded, the column broke into a trot135 and was away. Prosper was in the leading squadron, but almost at the extreme right of the right wing, a position of less danger than the center, upon which the enemy always naturally concentrate their hottest fire. When they had topped the summit of the Calvary and began to descend261 the slope beyond that led downward into the broad plain he had a distinct view, some two-thirds of a mile away, of the Prussian squares that were to be the object of their attack. Beside that vision all the rest was dim and confused before his eyes; he moved onward as one in a dream, with a strange ringing in his ears, a sensation of voidness in his mind that left him incapable of framing an idea. He was a part of the great engine that tore along, controlled by a superior will. The command ran along the line: "Keep touch of knees! Keep touch of knees!" in order to keep the men closed up and give their ranks the resistance and rigidity262 of a wall of granite263, and as their trot became swifter and swifter and finally broke into a mad gallop, the chasseurs d'Afrique gave their wild Arab cry that excited their wiry steeds to the verge264 of frenzy265. Onward they tore, faster and faster still, until their gallop was a race of unchained demons266, their shouts the shrieks of souls in mortal agony; onward they plunged267 amid a storm of bullets that rattled on casque and breastplate, on buckle268 and scabbard, with a sound like hail; into the bosom269 of that hailstorm flashed that thunderbolt beneath which the earth shook and trembled, leaving behind it, as it passed, an odor of burned woolen and the exhalations of wild beasts.
At five hundred yards the line wavered an instant, then swirled270 and broke in a frightful eddy271 that brought Prosper to the ground. He clutched Zephyr by the mane and succeeded in recovering his seat. The center had given way, riddled272, almost annihilated273 as it was by the musketry fire, while the two wings had wheeled and ridden back a little way to renew their formation. It was the foreseen, foredoomed destruction of the leading squadron. Disabled horses covered the ground, some quiet in death, but many struggling violently in their strong agony; and everywhere dismounted riders could be seen, running as fast as their short legs would let them, to capture themselves another mount. Many horses that had lost their master came galloping275 back to the squadron and took their place in line of their own accord, to rush with their comrades back into the fire again, as if there was some strange attraction for them in the smell of gunpowder276. The charge was resumed; the second squadron went forward, like the first, at a constantly accelerated rate of speed, the men bending upon their horses' neck, holding the saber along the thigh116, ready for use upon the enemy. Two hundred yards more were gained this time, amid the thunderous, deafening277 uproar, but again the center broke under the storm of bullets; men and horses went down in heaps, and the piled corpses278 made an insurmountable barrier for those who followed. Thus was the second squadron in its turn mown down, annihilated, leaving its task to be accomplished279 by those who came after.
When for the third time the men were called upon to charge and responded with invincible heroism, Prosper found that his companions were principally hussars and chasseurs de France. Regiments and squadrons, as organizations, had ceased to exist; their constituent280 elements were drops in the mighty wave that alternately broke and reared its crest again, to swallow up all that lay in its destructive path. He had long since lost distinct consciousness of what was going on around him, and suffered his movements to be guided by his mount, faithful Zephyr, who had received a wound in the ear that seemed to madden him. He was now in the center, where all about him horses were rearing, pawing the air, and falling backward; men were dismounted as if torn from their saddle by the blast of a tornado, while others, shot through some vital part, retained their seat and rode onward in the ranks with vacant, sightless eyes. And looking back over the additional two hundred yards that this effort had won for them, they could see the field of yellow stubble strewn thick with dead and dying. Some there were who had fallen headlong from their saddle and buried their face in the soft earth. Others had alighted on their back and were staring up into the sun with terror-stricken eyes that seemed bursting from their sockets281. There was a handsome black horse, an officer's charger, that had been disemboweled, and was making frantic282 efforts to rise, his fore25 feet entangled283 in his entrails. Beneath the fire, that became constantly more murderous as they drew nearer, the survivors in the wings wheeled their horses and fell back to concentrate their strength for a fresh onset284.
Finally it was the fourth squadron, which, on the fourth attempt, reached the Prussian lines. Prosper made play with his saber, hacking285 away at helmets and dark uniforms as well as he could distinguish them, for all was dim before him, as in a dense286 mist. Blood flowed in torrents287; Zephyr's mouth was smeared288 with it, and to account for it he said to himself that the good horse must have been using his teeth on the Prussians. The clamor around him became so great that he could not hear his own voice, although his throat seemed splitting from the yells that issued from it. But behind the first Prussian line there was another, and then another, and then another still. Their gallant efforts went for nothing; those dense masses of men were like a tangled jungle that closed around the horses and riders who entered it and buried them in its rank growths. They might hew down those who were within reach of their sabers; others stood ready to take their place, the last squadrons were lost and swallowed up in their vast numbers. The firing, at point-blank range, was so furious that the men's clothing was ignited. Nothing could stand before it, all went down; and the work that it left unfinished was completed by bayonet and musket butt289. Of the brave men who rode into action that day two-thirds remained upon the battlefield, and the sole end achieved by that mad charge was to add another glorious page to history. And then Zephyr, struck by a musket-ball full in the chest, dropped in a heap, crushing beneath him Prosper's right thigh; and the pain was so acute that the young man fainted.
Maurice and Jean, who had watched the gallant effort with burning interest, uttered an exclamation290 of rage.
"_Tonnerre de Dieu!_ what bravery wasted!"
And they resumed their firing from among the trees of the low hill where they were deployed291 in skirmishing order. Rochas himself had picked up an abandoned musket and was blazing away with the rest. But the plateau of Illy was lost to them by this time beyond hope of recovery; the Prussians were pouring in upon it from every quarter. It was somewhere in the neighborhood of two o'clock, and their great movement was accomplished; the Vth corps and the Guards had effected their junction292, the investment of the French army was complete.
Jean was suddenly brought to the ground.
"I am done for," he murmured.
He had received what seemed to him like a smart blow of a hammer on the crown of his head, and his _kepi_ lay behind him with a great furrow293 plowed295 through its top. At first he thought that the bullet had certainly penetrated the skull296 and laid bare the brain; his dread297 of finding a yawning orifice there was so great that for some seconds he dared not raise his hand to ascertain the truth. When finally he ventured, his fingers, on withdrawing them, were red with an abundant flow of blood, and the pain was so intense that he fainted.
Just then Rochas gave the order to fall back. The Prussians had crept up on them and were only two or three hundred yards away; they were in danger of being captured.
"Be cool, don't hurry; face about and give 'em another shot. Rally behind that low wall that you see down there."
Maurice was in despair; he knew not what to do.
"We are not going to leave our corporal behind, are we, lieutenant?"
"What are we to do? he has turned up his toes."
"No, no! he is breathing still. Take him along!"
Rochas shrugged his shoulders as if to say they could not bother themselves for every man that dropped. A wounded man is esteemed298 of little value on the battlefield. Then Maurice addressed his supplications to Lapoulle and Pache.
"Come, give me a helping299 hand. I am not strong enough to carry him unassisted."
They were deaf to his entreaties300; all they could hear was the voice that urged them to seek safety for themselves. The Prussians were now not more than a hundred yards from them; already they were on their hands and knees, crawling as fast as they could go toward the wall.
And Maurice, weeping tears of rage, thus left alone with his unconscious companion, raised him in his arms and endeavored to lug55 him away, but he found his puny strength unequal to the task, exhausted301 as he was by fatigue and the emotions of the day. At the first step he took he reeled and fell with his burden. If only he could catch sight of a stretcher-bearer! He strained his eyes, thought he had discovered one among the crowd of fugitives, and made frantic gestures of appeal; no one came, they were left behind, alone. Summoning up his strength with a determined effort of the will he seized Jean once more and succeeded in advancing some thirty paces, when a shell burst near them and he thought that all was ended, that he, too, was to die on the body of his comrade.
Slowly, cautiously, Maurice picked himself up. He felt his body, arms, and legs; nothing, not a scratch. Why should he not look out for himself and fly, alone? There was time left still; a few bounds would take him to the wall and he would be saved. His horrible sensation of fear returned and made him frantic. He was collecting his energies to break away and run, when a feeling stronger than death intervened and vanquished302 the base impulse. What, abandon Jean! he could not do it. It would be like mutilating his own being; the brotherly affection that had bourgeoned and grown between him and that rustic303 had struck its roots down into his life, too deep to be slain304 like that. The feeling went back to the earliest days, was perhaps as old as the world itself; it was as if there were but they two upon earth, of whom one could not forsake305 the other without forsaking306 himself, and being doomed274 thenceforth to an eternity307 of solitude308. Molded of the same clay, quickened by the same spirit, duty imperiously commanded to save himself in saving his brother.
Had it not been for the crust of bread he ate an hour before under the Prussian shells Maurice could never have done what he did; _how_ he did it he could never in subsequent days remember. He must have hoisted309 Jean upon his shoulders and crawled through the brush and brambles, falling a dozen times only to pick himself up and go on again, stumbling at every rut, at every pebble310. His indomitable will sustained him, his dogged resolution would have enabled him to bear a mountain on his back. Behind the low wall he found Rochas and the few men that were left of the squad253, firing away as stoutly311 as ever and defending the flag, which the subaltern held beneath his arm. It had not occurred to anyone to designate lines of retreat for the several army corps in case the day should go against them; owing to this want of foresight312 every general was at liberty to act as seemed to him best, and at this stage of the conflict they all found themselves being crowded back upon Sedan under the steady, unrelaxing pressure of the German armies. The second division of the 7th corps fell back in comparatively good order, while the remnants of the other divisions, mingled313 with the debris of the 1st corps, were already streaming into the city in terrible disorder, a roaring torrent of rage and fright that bore all, men and beasts, before it.
But to Maurice, at that moment, was granted the satisfaction of seeing Jean unclose his eyes, and as he was running to a stream that flowed near by, for water with which to bathe his friend's face, he was surprised, looking down on his right into a sheltered valley that lay between rugged130 slopes, to behold the same peasant whom he had seen that morning, still leisurely314 driving the plow294 through the furrow with the assistance of his big white horse. Why should he lose a day? Men might fight, but none the less the corn would keep on growing; and folks must live.
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1
budged
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| v.（使）稍微移动( budge的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）改变主意，（使）让步 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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stifling
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| a.令人窒息的 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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fatigue
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| n.疲劳，劳累 | |
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7
slumber
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| n.睡眠，沉睡状态 | |
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supplanted
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| 把…排挤掉，取代( supplant的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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tranquillity
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| n. 平静, 安静 | |
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murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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constriction
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| 压缩； 紧压的感觉； 束紧； 压缩物 | |
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chaff
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| v.取笑，嘲笑；n.谷壳 | |
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disappearance
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| n.消失，消散，失踪 | |
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spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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scarcity
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| n.缺乏，不足，萧条 | |
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superstition
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| n.迷信，迷信行为 | |
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corps
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| n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组 | |
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corpse
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| n.尸体，死尸 | |
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lieutenant
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| n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员 | |
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ridge
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| n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭 | |
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ERECTED
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| adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立 | |
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erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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linen
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| n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的 | |
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dressings
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| n.敷料剂；穿衣( dressing的名词复数 )；穿戴；（拌制色拉的）调料；（保护伤口的）敷料 | |
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fore
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| adv.在前面；adj.先前的；在前部的；n.前部 | |
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wagon
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| n.四轮马车，手推车，面包车；无盖运货列车 | |
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wagons
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| n.四轮的运货马车( wagon的名词复数 )；铁路货车；小手推车 | |
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din
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| n.喧闹声，嘈杂声 | |
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gallant
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| adj.英勇的，豪侠的；(向女人)献殷勤的 | |
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distinctive
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| adj.特别的，有特色的，与众不同的 | |
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courageously
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| ad.勇敢地，无畏地 | |
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bravado
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| n.虚张声势，故作勇敢，逞能 | |
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33
protracted
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| adj.拖延的；延长的v.拖延“protract”的过去式和过去分词 | |
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34
suffocating
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| a.使人窒息的 | |
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35
mangled
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| vt.乱砍（mangle的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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36
tangled
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| adj. 纠缠的，紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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37
cleansing
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| n. 净化(垃圾) adj. 清洁用的 动词cleanse的现在分词 | |
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38
resuscitate
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| v.使复活，使苏醒 | |
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39
tunic
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| n.束腰外衣 | |
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40
trickling
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| n.油画底色含油太多而成泡沫状突起v.滴( trickle的现在分词 )；淌；使)慢慢走；缓慢移动 | |
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41
artery
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| n.干线，要道；动脉 | |
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42
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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43
ingenuity
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| n.别出心裁；善于发明创造 | |
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44
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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45
posture
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| n.姿势，姿态，心态，态度；v.作出某种姿势 | |
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46
improvised
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| a.即席而作的,即兴的 | |
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47
straps
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| n.带子( strap的名词复数 )；挎带；肩带；背带v.用皮带捆扎( strap的第三人称单数 )；用皮带抽打；包扎；给…打绷带 | |
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48
musket
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| n.滑膛枪 | |
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49
muskets
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| n.火枪，（尤指）滑膛枪( musket的名词复数 ) | |
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50
dismal
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| adj.阴沉的，凄凉的，令人忧郁的，差劲的 | |
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51
prudent
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| adj.谨慎的，有远见的，精打细算的 | |
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52
heroism
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| n.大无畏精神，英勇 | |
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53
puny
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| adj.微不足道的，弱小的 | |
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54
lugging
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| 超载运转能力 | |
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55
lug
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| n.柄，突出部，螺帽；(英）耳朵；（俚）笨蛋；vt.拖，拉，用力拖动 | |
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56
sergeant
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| n.警官，中士 | |
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57
toiling
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| 长时间或辛苦地工作( toil的现在分词 )； 艰难缓慢地移动，跋涉 | |
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58
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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59
nervously
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| adv.神情激动地，不安地 | |
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60
morale
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| n.道德准则，士气，斗志 | |
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61
gallop
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| v./n.(马或骑马等)飞奔；飞速发展 | |
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62
entreat
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| v.恳求，恳请 | |
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63
inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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64
averred
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| v.断言( aver的过去式和过去分词 )；证实；证明…属实；作为事实提出 | |
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65
regiment
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| n.团，多数，管理；v.组织，编成团，统制 | |
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66
presentiment
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| n.预感，预觉 | |
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67
impending
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| a.imminent, about to come or happen | |
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68
disorder
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| n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调 | |
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69
debris
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| n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片 | |
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70
regain
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| vt.重新获得，收复，恢复 | |
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71
harassed
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| adj. 疲倦的，厌烦的 动词harass的过去式和过去分词 | |
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72
eminences
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| 卓越( eminence的名词复数 )； 著名； 高地； 山丘 | |
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73
eminence
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| n.卓越，显赫；高地，高处；名家 | |
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74
steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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75
onward
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| adj.向前的，前进的；adv.向前，前进，在先 | |
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76
insolent
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| adj.傲慢的，无理的 | |
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77
temerity
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| n.鲁莽，冒失 | |
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78
infantry
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| n.[总称]步兵(部队) | |
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79
artillery
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| n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队) | |
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80
fugitives
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| n.亡命者，逃命者( fugitive的名词复数 ) | |
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81
tornado
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| n.飓风，龙卷风 | |
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82
sweeping
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| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
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83
unwilling
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| adj.不情愿的 | |
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84
regiments
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| （军队的）团( regiment的名词复数 )； 大量的人或物 | |
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85
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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86
uproar
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| n.骚动，喧嚣，鼎沸 | |
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87
aglow
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| adj.发亮的；发红的；adv.发亮地 | |
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88
rusty
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| adj.生锈的；锈色的；荒废了的 | |
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89
gravel
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| n.砂跞；砂砾层；结石 | |
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90
penetrated
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| adj. 击穿的，鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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91
joints
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| 接头( joint的名词复数 )； 关节； 公共场所（尤指价格低廉的饮食和娱乐场所） （非正式）； 一块烤肉 （英式英语） | |
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92
trench
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| n./v.(挖)沟，(挖)战壕 | |
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93
snip
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| n.便宜货，廉价货，剪，剪断 | |
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94
lookout
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| n.注意，前途，瞭望台 | |
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95
volition
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| n.意志；决意 | |
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96
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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97
torrent
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| n.激流，洪流；爆发，(话语等的)连发 | |
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98
prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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99
belaboring
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| v.毒打一顿( belabor的现在分词 )；责骂；就…作过度的说明；向…唠叨 | |
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100
jaw
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| n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训 | |
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101
scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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102
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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103
beet
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| n.甜菜；甜菜根 | |
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104
aligned
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| adj.对齐的，均衡的 | |
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105
maneuver
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| n.策略[pl.]演习；v.(巧妙)控制；用策略 | |
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106
maneuvers
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| n.策略，谋略，花招( maneuver的名词复数 ) | |
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107
warily
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| adv.留心地 | |
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108
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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109
dint
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| n.由于，靠；凹坑 | |
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110
agility
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| n.敏捷，活泼 | |
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111
frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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112
shrieks
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| n.尖叫声( shriek的名词复数 )v.尖叫( shriek的第三人称单数 ) | |
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113
protruding
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| v.（使某物）伸出，（使某物）突出( protrude的现在分词 )；凸 | |
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114
beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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115
thighs
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| n.股，大腿( thigh的名词复数 )；食用的鸡（等的）腿 | |
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116
thigh
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| n.大腿；股骨 | |
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117
anguishing
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| v.（尤指心理上的）极度的痛苦( anguish的现在分词 ) | |
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118
affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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119
scorching
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| adj. 灼热的 | |
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120
woolen
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| adj.羊毛(制)的；毛纺的 | |
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121
flask
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| n.瓶，火药筒，砂箱 | |
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122
sustenance
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| n.食物，粮食；生活资料；生计 | |
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123
doggedly
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| adv.顽强地，固执地 | |
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124
stunted
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| adj.矮小的；发育迟缓的 | |
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125
pandemonium
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| n.喧嚣，大混乱 | |
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126
projectiles
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| n.抛射体( projectile的名词复数 )；（炮弹、子弹等）射弹，（火箭等）自动推进的武器 | |
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127
projectile
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| n.投射物，发射体；adj.向前开进的；推进的；抛掷的 | |
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128
undertaking
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| n.保证，许诺，事业 | |
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129
shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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130
rugged
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| adj.高低不平的，粗糙的，粗壮的，强健的 | |
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131
shrill
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| adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫 | |
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132
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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133
distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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134
distresses
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| n.悲痛( distress的名词复数 )；痛苦；贫困；危险 | |
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135
trot
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| n.疾走，慢跑；n.老太婆；现成译本；(复数）trots:腹泻（与the 连用）；v.小跑，快步走，赶紧 | |
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136
trotted
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| 小跑，急走( trot的过去分词 )； 匆匆忙忙地走 | |
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137
clump
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| n.树丛，草丛；vi.用沉重的脚步行走 | |
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138
vent
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| n.通风口，排放口；开衩；vt.表达，发泄 | |
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139
demolish
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| v.拆毁(建筑物等)，推翻(计划、制度等) | |
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140
bridle
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| n.笼头，束缚；vt.抑制，约束；动怒 | |
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141
cannon
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| n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮 | |
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142
accurately
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| adv.准确地，精确地 | |
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143
intrepid
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| adj.无畏的，刚毅的 | |
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144
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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145
intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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146
conspicuous
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| adj.明眼的，惹人注目的；炫耀的，摆阔气的 | |
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147
landmark
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| n.陆标，划时代的事，地界标 | |
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148
rendering
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| n.表现，描写 | |
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149
chestnut
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| n.栗树，栗子 | |
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150
cartridge
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| n.弹壳，弹药筒；(装磁带等的)盒子 | |
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151
muzzle
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| n.鼻口部；口套；枪(炮)口；vt.使缄默 | |
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152
rammer
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| n.撞锤；夯土机；拨弹机；夯 | |
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153
elevation
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| n.高度；海拔；高地；上升；提高 | |
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154
deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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155
recoiled
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| v.畏缩( recoil的过去式和过去分词 )；退缩；报应；返回 | |
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156
agitation
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| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
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157
reverenced
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| v.尊敬，崇敬( reverence的过去式和过去分词 )；敬礼 | |
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158
subservient
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| adj.卑屈的，阿谀的 | |
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159
unity
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| n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调 | |
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160
cohesion
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| n.团结，凝结力 | |
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161
animated
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| adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的 | |
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162
bloody
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| adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染 | |
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163
elation
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| n.兴高采烈，洋洋得意 | |
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164
rattling
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| adj. 格格作响的, 活泼的, 很好的 adv. 极其, 很, 非常 动词rattle的现在分词 | |
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165
vein
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| n.血管，静脉；叶脉，纹理；情绪；vt.使成脉络 | |
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166
rhythmical
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| adj.有节奏的，有韵律的 | |
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167
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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168
regularity
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| n.规律性，规则性；匀称，整齐 | |
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169
automatons
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| n.自动机，机器人( automaton的名词复数 ) | |
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170
devoid
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| adj.全无的，缺乏的 | |
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171
rubicund
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| adj.(脸色)红润的 | |
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172
winking
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| n.瞬眼，目语v.使眼色( wink的现在分词 )；递眼色（表示友好或高兴等）；（指光）闪烁；闪亮 | |
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173
condemned
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| adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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174
lurks
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| n.潜在，潜伏；（lurk的复数形式）vi.潜伏，埋伏（lurk的第三人称单数形式） | |
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175
risky
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| adj.有风险的，冒险的 | |
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176
huddle
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| vi.挤作一团；蜷缩；vt.聚集；n.挤在一起的人 | |
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177
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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178
situated
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| adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的 | |
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179
concussion
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| n.脑震荡；震动 | |
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180
ascertain
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| vt.发现，确定，查明，弄清 | |
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181
tiffs
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| n.争吵( tiff的名词复数 )；（酒的）一口；小饮 | |
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182
utterance
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| n.用言语表达，话语，言语 | |
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183
distressful
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| adj.苦难重重的，不幸的，使苦恼的 | |
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184
persistency
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| n. 坚持(余辉, 时间常数) | |
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185
killing
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| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
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186
behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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187
beholding
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| v.看，注视( behold的现在分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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188
prostrate
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| v.拜倒，平卧，衰竭；adj.拜倒的，平卧的，衰竭的 | |
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189
supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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190
slaughtered
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| v.屠杀，杀戮，屠宰( slaughter的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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191
rattled
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| 慌乱的，恼火的 | |
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192
retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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193
daunt
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| vt.使胆怯，使气馁 | |
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194
hideous
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| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
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195
cleft
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| n.裂缝；adj.裂开的 | |
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196
asunder
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| adj.分离的，化为碎片 | |
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197
vapor
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| n.蒸汽，雾气 | |
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198
cataclysm
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| n.洪水，剧变，大灾难 | |
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199
drooping
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| adj. 下垂的，无力的 动词droop的现在分词 | |
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200
obstinate
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| adj.顽固的，倔强的，不易屈服的，较难治愈的 | |
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201
chevrons
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| n.（警察或士兵所佩带以示衔级的）∧形或∨形标志( chevron的名词复数 ) | |
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202
ammunition
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| n.军火，弹药 | |
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203
survivors
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| 幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 ) | |
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204
inflicting
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| 把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的现在分词 ) | |
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205
foe
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| n.敌人，仇敌 | |
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206
ardor
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| n.热情，狂热 | |
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207
socket
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| n.窝，穴，孔，插座，插口 | |
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208
defiance
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| n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗 | |
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209
dribbled
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| v.流口水( dribble的过去式和过去分词 )；（使液体）滴下或作细流；运球，带球 | |
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210
gnawing
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| a.痛苦的，折磨人的 | |
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211
voraciously
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| adv.贪婪地 | |
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212
naught
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| n.无，零 [=nought] | |
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213
craving
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| n.渴望,热望 | |
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214
devoured
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| 吞没( devour的过去式和过去分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光 | |
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215
gluttonously
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216
crumb
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| n.饼屑，面包屑，小量 | |
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217
swarm
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| n.(昆虫)等一大群；vi.成群飞舞；蜂拥而入 | |
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218
dispersed
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| adj. 被驱散的, 被分散的, 散布的 | |
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219
sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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220
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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221
irresistible
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| adj.非常诱人的，无法拒绝的，无法抗拒的 | |
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222
hew
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| v.砍；伐；削 | |
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223
cavalry
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| n.骑兵；轻装甲部队 | |
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224
jaws
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| n.口部；嘴 | |
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225
solely
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| adv.仅仅，唯一地 | |
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226
prosper
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| v.成功，兴隆，昌盛；使成功，使昌隆，繁荣 | |
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227
awakened
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| v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到 | |
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228
trumpet
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| n.喇叭，喇叭声；v.吹喇叭，吹嘘 | |
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229
expedient
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| adj.有用的，有利的；n.紧急的办法，权宜之计 | |
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230
descry
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| v.远远看到；发现；责备 | |
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231
puffs
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| n.吸( puff的名词复数 )；（烟斗或香烟的）一吸；一缕（烟、蒸汽等）；（呼吸或风的）呼v.使喷出( puff的第三人称单数 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧 | |
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232
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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233
cumulative
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| adj.累积的，渐增的 | |
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234
invincible
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| adj.不可征服的，难以制服的 | |
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235
somnolency
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| n.想睡，梦幻 | |
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236
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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237
tiresome
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|
| adj.令人疲劳的，令人厌倦的 | |
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238
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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239
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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240
tighten
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| v.(使)变紧；(使)绷紧 | |
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241
cramped
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| a.狭窄的 | |
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242
zephyr
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| n.和风，微风 | |
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243
degradation
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|
| n.降级；低落；退化；陵削；降解；衰变 | |
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244
ignominious
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|
| adj.可鄙的，不光彩的，耻辱的 | |
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245
arsenal
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| n.兵工厂，军械库 | |
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246
implements
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| n.工具( implement的名词复数 )；家具；手段；[法律]履行（契约等）v.实现( implement的第三人称单数 )；执行；贯彻；使生效 | |
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247
overalls
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| n.（复）工装裤；长罩衣 | |
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248
rations
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| 定量( ration的名词复数 )； 配给量； 正常量； 合理的量 | |
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249
slung
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| 抛( sling的过去式和过去分词 )； 吊挂； 遣送； 押往 | |
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250
compassion
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| n.同情，怜悯 | |
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251
tightened
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| 收紧( tighten的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）变紧； （使）绷紧； 加紧 | |
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252
suspense
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| n.（对可能发生的事）紧张感，担心，挂虑 | |
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253
squad
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| n.班，小队，小团体；vt.把…编成班或小组 | |
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254
previously
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| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
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255
inert
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| adj.无活动能力的，惰性的；迟钝的 | |
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256
juncture
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| n.时刻，关键时刻，紧要关头 | |
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257
ominous
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| adj.不祥的，不吉的，预兆的，预示的 | |
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258
swelled
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| 增强( swell的过去式和过去分词 )； 肿胀； （使）凸出； 充满（激情） | |
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259
incapable
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| adj.无能力的，不能做某事的 | |
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260
avenge
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| v.为...复仇，为...报仇 | |
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261
descend
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| vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降 | |
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262
rigidity
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| adj.钢性，坚硬 | |
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263
granite
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| adj.花岗岩，花岗石 | |
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264
verge
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| n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临 | |
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265
frenzy
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| n.疯狂，狂热，极度的激动 | |
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266
demons
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| n.恶人( demon的名词复数 )；恶魔；精力过人的人；邪念 | |
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267
plunged
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|
| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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268
buckle
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| n.扣子，带扣；v.把...扣住，由于压力而弯曲 | |
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269
bosom
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|
| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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270
swirled
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| v.旋转，打旋( swirl的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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271
eddy
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| n.漩涡，涡流 | |
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272
riddled
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|
| adj.布满的；充斥的；泛滥的v.解谜，出谜题(riddle的过去分词形式) | |
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273
annihilated
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|
| v.（彻底）消灭( annihilate的过去式和过去分词 )；使无效；废止；彻底击溃 | |
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274
doomed
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| 命定的 | |
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275
galloping
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| adj. 飞驰的, 急性的 动词gallop的现在分词形式 | |
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276
gunpowder
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| n.火药 | |
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277
deafening
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| adj. 振耳欲聋的, 极喧闹的 动词deafen的现在分词形式 | |
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278
corpses
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| n.死尸，尸体( corpse的名词复数 ) | |
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279
accomplished
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|
| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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280
constituent
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| n.选民；成分，组分；adj.组成的，构成的 | |
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281
sockets
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| n.套接字，使应用程序能够读写与收发通讯协定(protocol)与资料的程序( Socket的名词复数 )；孔( socket的名词复数 )；（电器上的）插口；托座；凹穴 | |
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282
frantic
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| adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的 | |
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283
entangled
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|
| adj.卷入的；陷入的；被缠住的；缠在一起的v.使某人（某物/自己）缠绕，纠缠于（某物中），使某人（自己）陷入（困难或复杂的环境中）( entangle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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284
onset
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| n.进攻，袭击，开始，突然开始 | |
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285
hacking
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| n.非法访问计算机系统和数据库的活动 | |
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286
dense
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| a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的 | |
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287
torrents
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| n.倾注；奔流( torrent的名词复数 )；急流；爆发；连续不断 | |
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288
smeared
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| 弄脏； 玷污； 涂抹； 擦上 | |
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289
butt
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| n.笑柄；烟蒂；枪托；臀部；v.用头撞或顶 | |
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290
exclamation
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| n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词 | |
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291
deployed
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| （尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用 | |
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292
junction
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| n.连接，接合；交叉点，接合处，枢纽站 | |
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293
furrow
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| n.沟；垄沟；轨迹；车辙；皱纹 | |
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294
plow
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| n.犁，耕地，犁过的地；v.犁，费力地前进[英]plough | |
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295
plowed
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| v.耕( plow的过去式和过去分词 )；犁耕；费力穿过 | |
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296
skull
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| n.头骨；颅骨 | |
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297
dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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298
esteemed
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| adj.受人尊敬的v.尊敬( esteem的过去式和过去分词 )；敬重；认为；以为 | |
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299
helping
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| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
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300
entreaties
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| n.恳求，乞求( entreaty的名词复数 ) | |
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301
exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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302
vanquished
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| v.征服( vanquish的过去式和过去分词 )；战胜；克服；抑制 | |
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303
rustic
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| adj.乡村的，有乡村特色的；n.乡下人，乡巴佬 | |
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304
slain
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| 杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的过去分词 )； (slay的过去分词) | |
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305
forsake
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| vt.遗弃，抛弃；舍弃，放弃 | |
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306
forsaking
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| 放弃( forsake的现在分词 )； 弃绝； 抛弃； 摒弃 | |
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307
eternity
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| n.不朽，来世；永恒，无穷 | |
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308
solitude
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| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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309
hoisted
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| 把…吊起，升起( hoist的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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310
pebble
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| n.卵石，小圆石 | |
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311
stoutly
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| adv.牢固地，粗壮的 | |
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312
foresight
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| n.先见之明，深谋远虑 | |
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313
mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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314
leisurely
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| adj.悠闲的；从容的，慢慢的 | |
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