“There is no general advance,” said he; “but I’m not going back.”

“The Duke of Wellington has won a great victory,” cried the aide-de-camp, in a solemn voice; and then, his feelings getting the better of him, he added, “if the damned fool would only push on!”—­which set us all laughing in the flank company.

But now anyone could see that the French army was breaking up.  The columns and squadrons which had stood so squarely all day were now all ragged at the edges; and where there had been thick fringes of skirmishers in front, there were now a spray of stragglers in the rear.  The Guard thinned out in front of us as we pushed on, and we found twelve guns looking us in the face, but we were over them in a moment; and I saw our youngest subaltern, next to him who had been killed by the lancer, scribbling great 71’s with a lump of chalk upon them, like the schoolboy that he was.  It was at that moment that we heard a roar of cheering behind us, and saw the whole British army flood over the crest of the ridge, and come pouring down upon the remains of their enemies.  The guns, too, came bounding and rattling forward, and our light cavalry—­as much as was left of it—­kept pace with our brigade upon the right.  There was no battle after that.  The advance went on without a check, until our army stood lined upon the very ground which the French had held in the morning.  Their guns were ours, their foot were a rabble spread over the face of the country, and their gallant cavalry alone was able to preserve some sort of order and to draw off unbroken from the field.  Then at last, just as the night began to gather, our weary and starving men were able to let the Prussians take the job over, and to pile their arms upon the ground that they had won.  That was as much as I saw or can tell you about the Battle of Waterloo, except that I ate a two-pound rye loaf for my supper that night, with as much salt meat as they would let me have, and a good pitcher of red wine, until I had to bore a new hole at the end of my belt, and then it fitted me as tight as a hoop to a barrel.  After that I lay down in the straw where the rest of the company were sprawling, and in less than a minute I was in a dead sleep.

CHAPTER XIV.

THE TALLY OF DEATH.

Day was breaking, and the first grey light had just begun to steal through the long thin slits in the walls of our barn, when someone shook me hard by the shoulder, and up I jumped.  I had the thought in my stupid, sleepy brain that the cuirassiers were upon us, and I gripped hold of a halbert that was leaning against the wall; but then, as I saw the long lines of sleepers, I remembered where I was.  But I can tell you that I stared when I saw that it was none other than Major Elliott that had roused me up.  His face was very grave, and behind him stood two sergeants, with long slips of paper and pencils in their hands.