“Dear, dear! how slow they are!” cried the eager voice of Airey, the quartermaster-general.

“Look! they are checked!” said another; “they can’t stomach the climb.”

“They have a tough job before them,” said a third.  “It will try them hard.”

That the French were in difficulties was evident, for now an aide-de-camp came galloping from Bosquet with the grave news that the division was in danger.  He was followed by another prominent person on St. Arnaud’s staff, bringing an earnest entreaty that the English should not delay their advance.  A fierce storm of iron hail, moreover, made inaction more and more intolerable.

The time was come!  Lord Raglan turned and spoke five words to General Airey.  The next minute staff-officers were galloping to each division with the glad tidings:  “The line will advance!”

All along it men rose from the ground with a resolute air, fell into their ranks, and then the “Thin Red Line,” having a front of two miles and a depth of two men, marched grandly to the fight.

It is with the doings of the Second Division, or more exactly with Wilders’s brigade of that body, that we are now principally concerned.

The task before it was arduous and full of danger, demanding devoted courage and unflinching hearts.

At the moment of the advance the village immediately in front of them burst into flames—­a fierce conflagration, lighted by the retreating foe.  The dense columns of smoke hid the batteries beyond, and magnified the dangers of attack; the fierce fire narrowed the path of progress and squeezed in the advancing line.  On the left, the Light Division, moving forward with equal determination, still further limited the ground for action; and, thus straitened and compressed, the division marched upon a small front swept by a converging fire.  So cruelly hampered was the Second Division, so stinted in breathing space, that a portion of General Wilders’s command was shut out of the advancing line, and circled round the right of the burning village.

In this way the Royal Picts got divided; part went with the right of the brigade, still under the personal direction of its brigadier; part stuck to the main body, and followed on with the general tide of advance.  With the latter went the headquarters of the regiment; its colonel, colours, and sergeant-major.

They were travelling into the very jaws of death, as it seemed.  Progress was slow, and hindered by many vexatious obstacles—­low walls and brushwood, ruined cottages, and many dangerous pitfalls on the vine-clad slopes—­obstacles that forbade all speed, yet gave no cover from the pitiless fire that searched every corner, and mowed men down like grass.

Casualties were terribly numerous; yet still the line, undaunted but with sadly decreasing numbers, kept on its perilous way.  Presently, having won through the broken ground, a new barrier interposed.  They came upon the rapid river, rushing between steep banks, and deep enough to drown all who risked the fords.  But there was no pause or hesitation; the men plunged bravely into the water, and, battling with the torrent, crossed, not without difficulty and serious loss.