“Oh, I don’t know,” said Marcus, peevishly. “I should have thought he ought to snatch a little sleep whenever he could.”
“That’s right,” said the old soldier, grumpily. “But he can’t now.”
“Why?” said Marcus, with a yawn.
“Because the foot soldiers are starting now, and the horse went scouting on ten minutes ago. I wonder we haven’t got our orders before this.”
“Why, we shouldn’t have been ready if they had come,” said Marcus.
“No,” growled Serge. “We with the chariots are horribly slow. It’s all through having to depend upon these driver fellows and our horses having to drag a clumsy car at their heels. Now look here, I am beginning to think that the enemy’s afoot coming down to surprise us, and, if so, we with the chariots shall have our turn.”
“What makes you think that?” cried Marcus, shaking off his drowsiness at these words.
“I don’t know, boy, only I do. In with you. Now we are off.”
The driver was already in his place as Marcus sprang into the chariot, and seized one of the throwing spears, to be followed directly by Serge; for an order rang out, there was a peculiar sound as the horses started at the first shaking of their reins and the guttural cries of their drivers, and then, in a fairly well-kept line, some twenty of the war-like cars, drawn by their snorting horses, advanced in line over the moderately smooth plain in the direction already taken by the foot and horse. But as they nearly came within touch, the mounted figure of the captain was seen facing them in front, where he sat ready to give a fresh order, when the line of chariots broke, as it were, in two, half passing him to left, the other half to right, to take up position on the flanks of the infantry, which was about a couple of hundred yards in advance.
The next minute from out of the darkness ahead there came faintly the sound of shouts, accompanied by the beating of hoofs, and a horseman tore up to the captain, to make some communication which caused him to set spurs to his horse and gallop forward, while Marcus, as his chariot rolled on, rested his hand on the front and peered forward over his horses’ heads into the bank of gloom which now grew more and more alive with sound.