Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 5.djvu/121

 THE BATTLE OF BALACLAVA. 99 /alley beneath, and they seemed to be playing chap. parade. At the moment I speak of, the troop 1__ officers of the Greys were still facing their men ; and their drill rules, it seems, had declared that they must continue to do so till the major of the regiment should at length bring them round by giving the order, 'Eyes right!' Not yet would the Greys consent to be disturbed in their cere- monies by the descending column. It was with seeming confidence that Scarlett sat eyeing the approach of the Eussian mass, whilst the three squadrons ranging behind him went composedly on with the work of dressing and re -dressing their front; yet the moment seemed near when, from the great depth of the column and the incline of the ground, the front ranks of the Eussians would have less to dread from their foe than from the weight of their own troops behind them ; and unless the descent of the column should be presently stayed, even the enemy himself (though by chance his foremost squadrons should falter) might hardly have any choice left but to come sweeping down like a torrent, and overwhelming all mortal resistance. But before the moment had come when the enemy, whether liking it or not, would find him- self condemned to charge home, he began, as it their siark seemed, to falter. He slackened the pace. He still slackened — his trumpets were sounding — he their halt, slackened, and came to a halt. Our cavalry -men, so far as I know, have failed to hit on any solution of what they regard as a