The boy inclined his head towards him, and making a speaking-trumpet of his hand, replied, “Two men on horseback, on the white road.”

“At what distance from here?”

“Half a mile.”

“Are they moving?”

“They are standing still.”

“What else do you see?” asked the officer, after a momentary silence. “Look to the right.” The boy looked to the right.

Then he said: “Near the cemetery, among the trees, there is something glittering. It seems to be bayonets.”

“Do you see men?”

“No. They must be concealed in the grain.”

At that moment a sharp whiz of a bullet passed high up in the air, and died away in the distance, behind the house.