'My word, Good,' said I, when I saw them, 'you will catch it
tomorrow when those gentlemen charge!' whereat Good not unnaturally
looked rather anxious.
All day we watched and waited, but nothing happened, and at last
night fell, and a thousand watch-fires twinkled brightly on the
slopes, to wane and die one by one like the stars they resembled.
As the hours wore on, the silence gradually gathered more deeply
over the opposing hosts.
It was a very wearying night, for in addition to the endless
things that had to be attended to, there was our gnawing suspense
to reckon with. The fray which tomorrow would witness would
be so vast, and the slaughter so awful, that stout indeed must
the heart have been that was not overwhelmed at the prospect.
And when I thought of all that hung upon it, I own I felt ill,
and it made me very sad to reflect that these mighty forces were
gathered for destruction, simply to gratify the jealous anger
of a woman. This was the hidden power which was to send those
dense masses of cavalry, flashing like human thunderbolts across
the plain, and to roll together the fierce battalions as clouds
when hurricane meets hurricane. It was a dreadful thought, and
set one wondering about the responsibilities of the great ones
of the earth.
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