look down upon the two banks of the river. Everywhere a calm was
reigning, which seemed to promise a day of exquisite beauty. We might
have fancied that we were bent on some peaceful rural work favoured by
a radiant autumn morning. The Marne in this region winds in graceful
curves. It flows limpid and clear through a narrow valley carpeted
with green meadows and bordered, right and left, by gentle hills
dotted with woods. At our feet, peeping from the poplars and beeches
on the bank, we saw the white houses of dainty villages--Chartèves,
Jaulgonne, Varennes, and Barzy.

I directed my attention more particularly towards Jaulgonne, because
it was in that direction that the attempt to cross the river would be
made. The heights immediately above Jaulgonne rise steeply on the
north bank, and almost stand in the river. On the other hand, to the
south, on our side, the left bank of the Marne is bordered by
extensive meadows crossed by the railway and the high-road to Épernay.
The position therefore would have been very strong for the Germans, if
they had crossed to the other side of the river, for we should have
been obliged, before we could reach the bridge, to traverse a vast
open expanse which they could have kept under the fire of their
artillery. My Chasseurs, prompt to grasp the reason of things,
scrutinised the opposite bank no less intently than I. No movement
could be seen; nothing suggested the presence of troops among the
russet thickets which covered the sides of the silent hill. Could
they have already retired farther off? Could they have abandoned this
formidable position without any attempt to defend it?

At that moment one of my Chasseurs appeared, coming by the steep path
which led from the road to the wooded ridge on which we were. His
horse was panting, for the declivity was stiff, and he had had to