Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 4.djvu/475

 THE CANNONADE STILL MAINTAINED. 445 Every clay from this time until the evening of chap, the 25th of October the fire of the Allies was con- ^ " tinned, but every dav also it was encountered bv Thesix sno- ' J ^ -J cessive day-; Todleben M-ith a ceaseless energy. His defence of ^/hTTfoT'^' the place would be weakly, nay, almost wrongly, 'ip^hoe'r described by calling it ' obstinate ; ' for, united to all the gifts which the di-fender of a beleaguered fortress should possess, he had a rare flexibility of mind, which enabled him to bend his vast powers to every changing phase of the conflict. Far from offering to the foe a resistance of the kind which the English call ' dogged,' he was enterprising, disturbing, aggressive. If there could be little rest for a garrison living within the range of such energies, there was now even less on Mount Eodolph, where the French, with their magazines too often exploding, and their batteries too often enfiladed by new works thrown up for the pur- pose, were undergoing a trial of such a kind as might tend to make them distrustful of their own engineers. They hardly at the time understood the true root of the evils which beset them, but that which really stood in their path was warlike genius. Under the direction of this great volunteer, the Russians, though suffering carnage, could stead- fastly hold their ground. By fighting their bat- teries in the day-time with unsparing valour, and achieving at night immense labours, they were able to present to the besiegers every morning a line of defence which was not only strong and unbroken, but even augmented in strength ; and