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How The Brigadier Bore Himself At Waterloo | Arthur Conan Doyle | |
The Story Of The Nine Prussian Horsemen |
Page 6 of 14 |
There were Soult, Lobau, and Bertrand; but, for all their talents, I had rather, when it came to hard knocks, have a single quartermaster-sergeant of Hussars at my side than the three of them put together. There remained the Emperor himself, the coachman, and a valet of the household who had joined us at Charleroi--eight all told; but of the eight only two, the Chasseur and I, were fighting soldiers who could be depended upon at a pinch. A chill came over me as I reflected how utterly helpless we were. At that moment I raised my eyes, and there were the nine Prussian horsemen coming over the hill. On either side of the road at this point are long stretches of rolling plain, part of it yellow with corn and part of it rich grass land watered by the Sambre. To the south of us was a low ridge, over which was the road to France. Along this road the little group of cavalry was riding. So well had Count Stein obeyed his instructions that he had struck far to the south of us in his determination to get ahead of the Emperor. Now he was riding from the direction in which we were going-- the last in which we could expect an enemy. When I caught that first glimpse of them they were still half a mile away. "Sire!" I cried, "the Prussians!" They all started and stared. It was the Emperor who broke the silence. "Who says they are Prussians?" "I do, Sire--I, Etienne Gerard!" Unpleasant news always made the Emperor furious against the man who broke it. He railed at me now in the rasping, croaking, Corsican voice which only made itself heard when he had lost his self-control. |
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The Adventures of Gerard Arthur Conan Doyle |
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