Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 3.djvu/287

 r.ATTLE OF THE ALMA. 2G1 ing cloiuls .skimming straiglit u}) the niouiilaiu's CIIAP. side, and their paths are rugged, are steep, yet .^ j their course is smooth, easy, and swift. Smooth- ly, easily, swiftly, the ' BLack AVatcli ' seemed to glide up the hill. A i'cw instants before, and their tartans ranged dark in the valley — now, their })lume3 were on the crest. The small knot of horsemen who had ridden on before them were still there. Any stranger looking into the group might almost be able to know — might know by the mere carriage of the head — that ho in the plain, dark-coloured frock, he whose sword-belt hung crosswise from his shoulder, was the man tkere charged with command ; for in battle, men who have to obey sit erect in their saddles ; he who has on him the care of the fight seems al- ways to fall into the pensive yet eager bend which the Greeks— keen perceivers of truth — used to join with their conception of ][ind brought to bear upon AVar. It is on board ship, perhaps, more commonly than ashore, that people in peace-time have been used to ,see their fate hanging upon the skill of one man. Often, lands- men at sea have watched the skilled, weatherworn sailor when he seems to look through the gale and search deep into the home of the storm. He sees what they cannot see ; he knows what, except from his lips, they never will be able to learn. They stand silent, but they question him with their eyes. So men new to war gaze upon the veteran commander, when, with knitted brow and steady eyes, he measures the enemy's power, and