Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 5.djvu/129

 THE BATTLE <>F BALACLAVA. 107 Scarlett's yearning at this moment was for the chap expected prolongation of his line towards its left, and he compelled himself to give yet some mo- ments for the forming of his 5th Dragoon Guards; but on his right, the one squadron of the Inuis- killings (the squadron which he took to be the whole regiment) was both ready and more than ready. Differing in that respect from the rest of the ' three hundred/ the squadron had a clear front, and the sense of this blessing so inflamed it with warlike desire, that during the moments of delay, Scarlett had to be restraining the line by waving it back with his sword. The squadron chafed proudly at the touch of the curb, and it seemed that if the General were to relax his care for an instant, it would bound forward up the hillside, and spring all alone at the column. The custom of the service requires that an officer who has the immediate command of a body of cavalry engaged in the duty of charging shall be the actual leader of the onslaught in the strictest sense, riding forward at a distance of at least some few yards in advance of his squadrons ; but it must not be supposed that those who originated or sanctioned this practice were acting in con- templation of any such circumstances as those which now existed, or that they ever intended to subject a general officer, or indeed any other human being, to the peculiar species of personal hazard which Scarlett had resolved to confront. A.s tested by its general operation, the practice is not one which unduly exposes the life of the r