“You will have to lie down in the mud, Denis.”

“Is it lie down, your honor?  And when shall I get the mud off my uniform? and what will the duke say in the morning if he comes round and sees me look like a hog that has been rowling in his sty?”

“You won’t be worse than any one else, Denis; you see we shall all be in the same boat.  Well, here’s the tinder.  I should recommend you to break up a cartridge, and sprinkle the powder in among the leaves that you light your fire with.”

“That’s the difficulty, your honor; I have got some wood, but divil a dry leaf can I find.”

“Look here, Denis.  Open your knapsack under the wagon, and take out a shirt and tear it into strips.  You will soon get a fire with that, and we can easily replace the shirt afterward.”

“That’s a grand idea, your honor.  That will do it, sure enough.  Faith, and when the boys see how I do it, there will be many a shirt burned this evening.”

“But how about wood, Denis?”

“There’s plenty of wood, your honor.  The commissaries have had two or three score of woodcutters at work on the edge of the forest all day, and there’s timber felled and split enough for all of us and to spare.  The pioneers of all the regiments have gone off with their axes to help, and I will warrant there will be a blaze all along the line presently.  Now I will be off, your honor; for the cooks are ready to boil the kettles as soon as we can get a fire.”

Great masses of the enemy could now be seen arriving on the crest of the opposite rise.  Presently, these broke up into regiments, and then moved along the crest, halted, and fell out.  It was evident that nothing would be done till next morning, for it was already beginning to get dusk.

In a few minutes smoke rose in the rear of the regiment, and ere long half a dozen great fires were blazing.  Men came from the regiments near to borrow brands.  The news soon spread along the line of the means by which the Twenty-eighth had kindled their fires and, as Denis had foretold, the number of shirts sacrificed for this purpose was large.  Strong parties from each regiment were told off to go to the woodpiles and bring up logs, and in spite of the continued downfall of rain the men’s spirits rose, and merry laughs were heard among the groups gathered round the fires.  The officers had one to themselves; and a kettle was soon boiling, and tin cups of strong grog handed round.  Of food, however, there was little beyond what scraps remained in the haversacks; for the commissariat wagons had retired from Quatre Bras to leave room for those carrying the ammunition, and were now so far in the rear that it was impossible to get at their contents, and distribute them among the troops.  For an hour or two they chatted round the fire, and discussed the probabilities of the struggle that would begin in the morning.