comrades, and there were such a number of them that they blocked the
road. Those faces tied up with bandages clotted with perspiration,
dust, and blood; those coats hanging open; those shirts torn, and
showing lint and bandages reddened with blood; those poor bandaged
feet that had to be kept off the ground--all this made a painful
impression on me. No doubt this was because I was not accustomed to
such sights, for others hardly took any notice of it.

"The ambulance! Where is the ambulance?" cried the men who were
helping them along.

"At the station," answered some soldiers, hardly looking round; "go
straight on, and turn to the left when you get to the market-place."

And the sad procession went its way. I jumped the ditch at the side of
the road, and struck across the fields, spurring straight for General
T. At that moment the rifle fire became more violent. Some forward
movement was certainly beginning, for the infantry sections, that were
lying in cover at the bottom of the valley, began to climb up the
slope of the ridge on which I was galloping. Suddenly my horse swerved
sharply. He had just almost trodden upon a body lying on the other
side of the low wall of loose stones that I had just jumped. I drew
rein. A sob burst from my lips. Oh! I did not expect to see that so
suddenly. A score of corpses lay scattered on that sloping
stubble-field. They were Zouaves. They seemed almost to have been
placed there deliberately, for the bodies were lying at about an equal
distance from one another. They must have fallen there the day before
during an attack, and night had come before it had been possible to
bury them. Their rifles were still by their side, with the bayonets
fixed. The one nearest to us was lying with his face to the ground and