Vouziers, where the inhabitants, doubtless forewarned and trembling at
the thought of the impending combat, were keeping anxious vigil. His
terror was increased, if that were possible, on bringing his piece to
his shoulder to find that he could not even distinguish the sights on
it. Then commenced a period of suspense that tried his nerves most
cruelly; every faculty of his being was strained and concentrated in
the one sense of hearing; sounds so faint as to be imperceptible
reverberated in his ears like the crash of thunder; the plash of a
distant waterfall, the rustling of a leaf, the movement of an insect
in the grass, were like the booming of artillery. Was that the tramp
of cavalry, the deep rumbling of gun-carriages driven at speed, that
he heard down there to the right? And there on his left, what was
that? was it not the sound of stealthy whispers, stifled voices, a
party creeping up to surprise him under cover of the darkness? Three
times he was on the point of giving the alarm by firing his piece. The
fear that he might be mistaken and incur the ridicule of his comrades
served to intensify his distress. He had kneeled upon the ground,
supporting his left shoulder against a tree; it seemed to him that he
had been occupying that position for hours, that they had forgotten
him there, that the army had moved away without him. Then suddenly, at
once, his fear left him; upon the road, that he knew was not two
hundred yards away, he distinctly heard the cadenced tramp of marching
men. Immediately it flashed across his mind as a certainty that they
were the troops from Grand-Pre, whose coming had been awaited with
such anxiety--General Dumont bringing in Bordas' brigade. At that same
moment the corporal of the guard came along with the relief; he had
been on post a little less than the customary hour.

He had been right; it was the 3d division returning to camp. Everyone
felt a sensation of deep relief. Increased precautions were taken,