The horses of the Russians reared as the bullets rained about them; it was frightful to hear the noise of the horses galloping at the top of their speed in order to cross the ravine; the soldiers did not utter a single cry, in accordance with the orders of the commander; on all sides the men fell, and the shock was awful. The Turks retreated a little and finally took a better station a mile from the city, in order to use their artillery. Almost all the Russians had been killed, and, reassembling his men, the commander found that he had but eighty left; the fate of the entire Russian army depended upon him, and nevertheless the Turks were not beaten. The horses that had lost their riders were well trained; they grouped themselves together, and it was easy to collect them. Then a thought entered the commander's head; he ordered the dead riders to be tied to their horses; this was a terrible task for the few soldiers who remained; they asked each other if their commander had become mad. Then Serge put himself once more at the head of his squadron, composed of a few living soldiers and of many dead ones. He gave the command to charge. The Turks, who thought that their enemy had been conquered, were greatly troubled by this new attack; but when, at last, they saw that the Russian cavalry was an army of ghosts, as it seemed, they turned and fled. The day was won; but only a few horsemen remained. The bell of the village church was rung. The commanding general of the Russian army arrived; by the devotion of that regiment the victory was assured to the Russians.

LE PETIT HOMME ROUGE.

THE queen, Marie Antoinette, had left the palace of Versailles on a dark, rainy day, and had come to the Tuileries with the king and the dauphin. There they saw that awful figure which he who knows the history of France cannot mistake. The legend relates that when the monarchy is in danger, a little man, clothed in red, wanders around the halls of the palace; and it is a fact, for many people have seen him. On arriving, the royal family found that the apartments had not been warmed, and that everything was in disorder. Accustomed to the luxury of Versailles, the dauphin was frightened by the confusion, and he murmured: "These rooms are very ugly, mamma." The servants had hastily prepared the beds, and the dauphin went to bed and soon fell asleep. The great king Louis XIV had slept in those rooms, and the queen said rightly that one ought not to be more fastidious than he. Marie Antoinette feared that an assassin might be lurking in the dark apartments, so she called one of her maids of honor and together they went through the rooms. The queen gave a candlestick to her friend, and took one herself. In the direction of the marshals' hall there was nothing to fear, for the Swiss guards were encamped there; it was a magnificent moonlight night, but the queen's fingers trembled a little. She was not afraid, but during her short stays in Paris she had never been so far in the palace. She gave a glance at the great trees and at the Seine, which was visible through the windows. They opened the door which leads into the Louvre, and a shudder seized both the women as they thought of the forbidding legend of the ghosts which stalked through the palace. The key did not turn easily in the lock, but when the door was opened a gust of wind almost extinguished the candles. The darkness was terrifying, and the queen said: "If they had placed a guard here he could tell us to what point this corridor can take us. But there are no guards, so let us see; it is not necessary to call the guards." They wandered about some time in the old Gothic halls; finally they stopped, and the queen said: "This is the old palace." The maid heard a slight noise, and on turning around she saw a strange form, clad in the manner of a man of the fifteenth century; he was dressed in red. The ladies could not restrain a cry, and hearing this the form disappeared all of a sudden. They remained motionless for several minutes. Then the queen said: "Heaven wanted to warn me of the danger which threatens the monarchy. Let us go back. For myself, I am not afraid, but the king—they will kill him." And they returned to the room where the child was sleeping. The little red man has not been seen since.

LA BATAILLE DE FRŒSCHWILLER.

THE general had set up his headquarters in a little house which resembled a thatched-roof-hut. He was extremely tired, and he threw himself on the bed without undressing and fell asleep. Suddenly in the distance we heard the galloping of a horse; soon an aide of the commanding general appeared, crying out: "Please awaken the general; I have orders for him."

Our general soon got up and read the dispatches by the light of a lantern which a soldier held, motionless, at a few steps from his officer. It was impossible to know the meaning of the orders from the general's expression as he read them. Soon, however, he turned to us and said: "My troops will give battle to the enemy to-morrow morning, if I am not mistaken. The news which I have received will force us to move forward immediately."

He called his officers and gave his orders, some verbal, others written; the map of the country was under his eyes, and he spoke in a low voice with several officers. Then the drums beat, and in less than an hour our division had folded its tents, eaten its morning soup, and had arrived at the place where it was to go. This time the general was not mistaken; we were going to be present at our first battle. Five minutes afterwards there was a lively cannonade, and the battle had commenced. I cannot give you the details of that memorable day; I relate a few incidents as I remember them. We received the order to advance; the noise of the guns deafened our ears; the air was saturated with the odor of powder; it was like a burning furnace when we charged over the plain; we passed the fire of the enemy's batteries in the midst of all this noise. I heard some one cry "Captain!" At the foot of an oak tree one of my comrades was wounded and dying. His terrible suffering hindered him from speaking; his only question was, "Is the battle lost or won?"

The bullets were whistling about our ears; we were going to charge with fixed bayonets. It was a hand-to-hand struggle, and men were falling on all sides, but we were forced to beat a retreat.

* * *

It was about twelve o'clock; I drank a swallow of water while waiting for new orders. It would be difficult for you to appreciate my feelings. I saw by my field-glass that the Germans were much more numerous than the French. Then came other hasty orders; we were tired to death, but the enemy were fresh. Everybody was very anxious. I approached the general; while I was speaking with him a shell burst at our feet, a bit of it struck me in the face, and my horse reared and set off at a great gallop in spite of my efforts to hold him back.