then one of the men, who appeared to be the leader, shouted
an order, and they rushed impetuously forward. The front line at
once opened fire. Many of the peasants dropped, while the others
hesitated a little, and so gave the men who had first fired time to
reload; but, urged on by the shouts of their leaders, the peasants
again rushed forward.

"Fire a volley, and then fix bayonets!" Hector shouted. The fifty
muskets flashed out, and as the peasants were but fifteen yards
away every shot told, and their front rank was completely swept
away.

"Every other man in the second line fire!" Hector ordered, and
twenty-five shots added to the confusion among the peasants. The
slaughter, however, only had the effect of maddening the great
crowd, who numbered upwards of two thousand, and with a howl of
fury they rushed forward again. Hector waited until they almost
touched the row of bayonets, and then gave the order for the
remaining men to fire and all to fix bayonets. The instant this
was done he shouted "Charge!" for he saw that while standing quiet
his men were no match for the peasants, whose long poles with
the scythes at the end gave them great advantage over the shorter
weapons of the soldiers. With a cheer the latter threw themselves
upon their opponents, their close formation and more handy
weapons depriving their enemies of this advantage. Thrusting and
overthrowing all in front of them, the line burst its way through
the mob, the little party of cavalry charging furiously whenever
the peasants endeavoured to fall upon their rear, and the latter,
boldly as they fought against the infantry, shrank back before
the flashing swords and the weight of horses and riders.