CHAPTER XVII.

QUATRE BRAS.

At ten o’clock Captain O’Connor returned and Lieutenant Desmond hurried off.

“Were you sorry to leave, O’Connor?” Ralph asked that officer.

“No; I was glad to get away,” he replied.  “Knowing as I do that in another twenty-four hours we may be engaged, and that in forty-eight the greatest battle of the age may take place, it was horribly sad to look on at the scene and wonder how many of the men laughing and flirting and dancing so gayly there would be so soon lying stark and cold, how many broken hearts there would be among the women.  I felt heartily glad that I had neither wife nor sweetheart there.  It is not often I feel in low spirits, but for once one could not help thinking.  Here it is a different thing; we are all soldiers, and whatever comes we must do our duty and take our chance.  But the gayety of that scene jarred upon me, and I could see there were many, especially the older men, who were thinking as I did.  I dare say if I had found any partners and gone in for dancing I should have thought but little about it; but standing looking on the thoughts came.  I think you were right, Conway, not to go.”

“Have you heard any news of what has taken place to-day?”

“Yes.  I was standing by the colonel when Picton came up to him and said: 

“’There’s been sharp fighting on the frontier.  Zieten gave the French a deal of trouble, and only fell back about six miles.  The other corps, except Bulow’s, will all join them to-night.

“’It is a thousand pities that Zieten did not send off a mounted messenger to us directly he became engaged.  If he had done so we might have started at one o’clock to-day, and should have been in line with the Prussians to-morrow.  I suppose he thought Blucher would send, and Blucher thought he had sent; and so between them nothing was done, and we only got the news at seven o’clock this evening.  Nine precious hours thrown away.  It is just a blunder of this sort that makes all the difference between failure and success in war.  Had the message been sent, we and the Dutch divisions and the troops from Braine le-Comte might all have been up by the morning.  As it is, Blucher, with only three out of his four army corps, has the whole of the French army facing him, and must either fall back without fighting or fight against superior numbers—­that is, if Napoleon throws his whole force upon him, as I suppose he will.  It is enough to provoke a saint.”

“’Which will Blucher do, do you think, general?” the colonel asked.

“’He sends word that he shall fight where he is; and in that case, if Napoleon throws his whole force on him, he is nearly certain to be beaten, and then we shall have Napoleon on us the next day.”

“And now, Conway, I think it better to get a few hours’ sleep if we can; for to-morrow will be a heavy day for us, unless I am mistaken.”