"
"No; by this time the divisional orders will be published, and
everyone will know it in an hour or two. There is really no secret
about it, lads. If there had been the colonel wouldn't have told me,
and I shouldn't have told you. See, the news is circulating already."
A change was indeed taking place in the position of the scene. The
loungers were gathering in little groups, talking eagerly and
excitedly. The orders for the concentration of the divisions had
become known, though as yet all were in ignorance as to the reason for
their issue. The three officers joined some of the groups and listened
to the talk. The general idea was that the duke had heard that the
French were gathering for an attack, and these measures were merely
precautionary. It might be days yet before the affair really began.
Still it was important news; and there were pale faces among the
ladies at this sudden reminder that the assembly at Brussels was not a
mere holiday gathering, but that war, grim, earnest, and terrible, was
impending.
"We had better be getting back to our quarters," Captain O'Connor
said. "Everything will have to be packed up this evening."
"But does this mean that the troops are to be under arms all night?"
Stapleton asked.
"That it does, Stapleton. Of course they won't be kept standing in
line; but when troops are ordered to be in readiness to march at a
moment's notice, on such a business as this, it means that they will
all be assembled.
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