"They may as well take their arms; not for use, but to give them the
appearance of two men from the camp who had come down to make purchases in
the city."
Daylight was just breaking as the three crossed the bridge of boats into
the town, and passed through it up the hill to the great camp that had
been established there. It covered a large extent of ground, and contained
tents sufficient for the whole of the 50,000 men assembled. A short
distance away was the line of intrenchments on which the peasants had been
for some weeks engaged. They consisted of forts crowning a succession of
rounded hills, and connected by earthen ramparts, loopholed houses,
ditches, and an abattis of felled trees. No less than two hundred guns
were in place on the forts. It was a position that two thousand good
troops should have been able to hold against an army.
"It is a strong position," Terence said to the two men with him.
"Yes, the French can never pass that," one of them said, exultingly.
"That we shall see. They ought not to, certainly, but whether they will or
not is another matter."
They wandered about for a couple of hours. Once one of the Portuguese
joined a group of peasants, and learned from them something of the state
of things in the town, representing that they had but just arrived.
"You are lucky.
Pages:
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387