When first we arrived at the foot of the wall the breach was crowded by arquebusiers; but they began to fall back as we climbed over the piles of rubbish, and when we were near the top only five or six men remained, of whom one rushed down several steps to meet me, aiming a pistol at me as he came, and firing within three paces. Striking my cuirass on the left side obliquely, the shot glanced off and entered my arm a little above the elbow; but it was a mere flesh wound, and only inconvenient. A blow of my heavy horse sword, however, dashed my adversary's casque down upon his head, broke the fastenings, and brought him on his knee; another blow, before he could ward it off, struck the helmet from his head, and, at the same time, inflicted a deep wound upon his forehead; and as he called out that he would surrender--indeed, he had no choice--I passed him back to the hands of Moric Endem, who followed me close, without seeing anything farther than that he was a young man of good mien. Genissac was now a step or two before me; but, rushing up, I was by his side in a moment, and in another instant we stood together at the top of the breach.
The interior of what was called the Park--a large, open space, forming a sort of Place d'Armes--was now before us, and, to my surprise, I beheld, drawn up on either side, and ready to charge at the moment we descended, a large body of men-at-arms, with their lances levelled, and supported by a considerable force of pike-men and arquebusiers on foot. Our men were rushing up, however, one by one, as fast as they could climb, to our support; Moric Endem, having passed on his prisoner, was close behind us; another slight-looking youth, armed only with a close-covering casque and cuirass, was upon my right, struggling up with difficulty over a steep part of the ruin; and giving him my hand, unfortunately for himself, I drew him up in a moment: Genissac was a little farther on the same side, with four or five of his followers, and, seeing the other infantry regiment coming up, I thought it not at all improbable that we might be able to force an entrance, notwithstanding the strength of the enemy in the Park.
All this was soon done; but I saw, at the very same instant, the regiment behind halt, a small party of horsemen gallop up towards us from our own army at full speed, and the arquebusiers from the Park open a sudden and tremendous fire upon the breach. Three men among us fell at once. Genissac, standing upon a high point of the broken wall, received a shot in his head and fell back, rolling over and over down the heaps of rubbish, writhing in the agonies of death; one of his men fell forward severely wounded, and a shot took the poor youth I had just helped up, and, entering his right side, laid him prostrate across one of my feet.
Still my own followers were coming rapidly up, several of Genissac's people were making their way rapidly to the top; and though it was impossible to face the force in the Park, now that the other regiment had halted, it was quite possible to effect a lodgment on the breach. Turning, therefore, to those who were following, and to the group of officers who had now ridden up to the foot of the wall, and were shouting up loudly to me, though I could not hear a word they said, from the noise of the small arms, I called to them to roll me up gabions and barrels, for that we could certainly effect a lodgment. My words were passed down by those who followed: but D'Andelot, whom I now saw at the head of the officers, shook his clinched fist at me, and shouted to me, as I found, to come down and retreat. The words were passed up to me, and with much regret, I own, I prepared to obey.
"We must retreat, Moric," I said. "We are commanded to retreat!"
But at that moment I heard a voice, which I thought I had heard before, from the casque of the young man who had fallen beside me, and who exclaimed, "Oh, do not leave me here!"
It would have been cruelty to do so, even had it been more difficult and dangerous to rescue him than it was; and, therefore, taking him up in my arms, I carried him down to the spot where D'Andelot stood, and to which several horses had been brought by this time for the purpose of removing the killed and wounded.
"You seem perfectly determined to get yourself killed, Monsieur de Cerons," said D'Andelot. "We only intended a reconnoissance, and poor Genissac has suffered for his folly in changing it into an assault."
"My orders were to storm, sir," I said, "and I have done no more than I was directed to do."
"We were wrong! we were wrong, Monsieur de Cerons!" said that great commander. "We wanted to try you: but Genissac had full orders how to act, and he should have obeyed them. Now take a horse, put yourself at the head of his men too, get them in order, and make the best of your retreat. You are pretty well sheltered here, but you will find the fire somewhat hot in the valley. Don't mind using your legs there, for you have shown sufficiently that it is not bullets you are afraid of."