Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 5.djvu/330

 308 THE BATTLE OF BALACLAVA. chap, 'ate scrape. What the devil shall we do ? ' And ' in the next moment Lord George seems to have perceived that the answer to the question he had put should be elicited from some one entitled to command. It was evidently with that purpose in his mind, and not from any notion of indulging in irony, that Lord George then asked the same question which had been put once before, but on the other side of the valley — the question of 'Where is ' Lord Cardigan ? ' Whatever were the terms of the answer elicited from Major Low, it became plain that for the moment, at all events, no guid- ance was to be had from the General commanding the Brigade, and that the emergency must be met without the aid of Lord Cardigan.* Lord George Paget was the senior officer present ; and the few rapid words which he and Colonel Douglas found time to exchange were enough to prove them agreed upon the course that ought to be taken. It was determined that, with the whole of the little band which had been formed from the rem- nants of the two united regiments, our men should endeavour as best they could to break through the newly-interposed force of Russian Lancers, and should do this without persisting in the at- tempt to oppose a front to the cavalry advancing from the opposite direction. Our men well under- stood the predic: jient in which they stood ; and not yet obtained sufficing proof; but its alleged tenor will be »>nn(l in the affidavits of FMden and David Thomas.
 * Of the purport of the answer given to this question I have