necessary as a measure of relief for the men's pent-up feelings. So,
then, they were at liberty to shoot at last, they could use up those
cartridges that they had been lugging around with them for the last
month, without ever burning a single one! The effect on Maurice in
particular was electrical; the noise he made had the effect of
dispelling his fear and blunting the keenness of his sensations. The
little wood had resumed its former deserted aspect; not a leaf
stirred, no more Prussians showed themselves; and still they kept on
blazing away as madly as ever at the immovable trees.

Raising his eyes presently Maurice was startled to see Colonel de
Vineuil sitting his big horse at no great distance, man and steed
impassive and motionless as if carved from stone, patient were they
under the leaden hail, with face turned toward the enemy. The entire
regiment was now collected in that vicinity, the other companies being
posted in the adjacent fields; the musketry fire seemed to be drawing
nearer. The young man also beheld the regimental colors a little to
the rear, borne aloft by the sturdy arm of the standard-bearer, but it
was no longer the phantom flag that he had seen that morning, shrouded
in mist and fog; the golden eagle flashed and blazed in the fierce
sunlight, and the tri-colored silk, despite the rents and stains of
many a battle, flaunted its bright hues defiantly to the breeze.
Waving in the breath of the cannon, floating proudly against the blue
of heaven, it shone like an emblem of victory.

And why, now that the day of battle had arrived, should not victory
perch upon that banner? With that reflection Maurice and his
companions kept on industriously wasting their powder on the distant
wood, producing havoc there among the leaves and twigs.