Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 3.djvu/58

 32 BATTLE OF THE ALMA. CIIAP. apcl though some men lay prostrate under the . burning sun, with little thought except of fatigue, there were others who keenly scanned the ground before' them, well knowing that now at last the long-expected conflict would begin. They could make out the course of the river from the dark belt of gardens and vineyards which marked its banks ; and men with good eyes could descry a slight seam running across a rising-ground beyond the river, and could see, too, some dark squares or oblongs, encroaching like small patches of cul- ture upon the broad downs. The seam was the Great liedoubt ; the square-looking marks that stained the green sides of the hills vvere au army in order of battle. That 20th of September on the Alma was like some remembered day of June in England, for the sun was unclouded, and the soft breeze of the morning had lulled to a breath at noontide, and was creeping faintly along the hills. It was then tliat in the Allied armies there occurred a singular pause of sound — a pause so general as to have been observed and remembered by many in re- mote parts of the ground, and so marked that its interruption by the mere neighing of an angry horse seized the attention of thousands ; and although this strange silence was the mere result of weariness and chance, it seemed to carry a meaning ; for it was now that, after near forty years of peace, the great nations of Europe were once more meeting for battle. Even after the sailing of the expedition, the