Before the anxious eyes of an army, so near yet so powerless to help,
the Guides commenced their retirement. With the great mountains as an
amphitheatre the drama began to unfold itself before the gaze of waiting
thousands. At first so far away were they, so few, so scattered, and
clad to match the colour of the hills, that only the strongest glasses
could make out the position of the Guides; but apparent to the naked eye
of all was the great straggling mass which was falling with relentless
swiftness, guillotine-like, on the narrow neck of the communications
with the bridge. With cool intrepid courage, with a deliberation which
appeared almost exasperating to the onlookers, Colonel Battye and his
men took up the challenge. Little parties of soldiers could be descried
slowly sauntering back, a few yards only, then disappearing amongst the
rocks with a rattle of rifle-fire. Then back came more little parties of
soldiers, all seemingly sauntering, all with the long sunny day before
them. And after them bounded great waves of men in blue, and men in
white, only to break and stagger back before those little clumps of rock
in which the rearmost soldiers lay. "Get back, get back! Damn you, why
don't you get back?" shouted the spectators on the eastern bank in
impotent excitement. But no word of this reached the Guides on the
slopes of the still far-off mountain-side; nor would they have heeded
had they heard, for they had been born and bred to the two simple
maxims, "Be fiery quick in attack, but deadly slow in retirement.
Pages:
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170