Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 5.djvu/266

 244 THE BATTLE OF BALACLAVA. chap, themselves disabled, were formidable disturbers ' of any regiment which had to encounter them. The extent to which a charger can apprehend the perils of a battle-field may be easily underrated by one who confines his observation to horses still carrying their riders ; for, as long as a troop- horse in action feels the weight and the hand of a master, his deep trust in man keeps him seemingly free from great terror, and he goes through the fight, unless wounded, as though it were a field-day at home ; but the moment that death or a disabling wound deprives him of his rider, he seems all at once to learn what a battle is — to perceive its real dangers with the clearness of a human being, and to be agonised with horror of the fate he may incur for want of a hand to guide him. Careless of the mere thunders of guns he shows plainly enough that he more or less knows the dread accent that is used by missiles of war whilst cutting their way through the air, for as often as these sounds disclose to him the near passage of bullet or round-shot, he shrinks and cringes. His eyeballs protrude. Wild with fright, he still does not most com- monly gallop home into camp. His instinct seems rather to tell him that what safety, if any, there is for him must be found in the ranks ; and he rushes at the first squadron he can find, urging piteously, yet with violence, that he too by right is a troop-horse — that he too is willing to charge, but not to be left behind — that he must and he will ' fall in.' Sometimes a riderless charger thus