Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 8.djvu/184

 152 THE APKIL BOMBARDMENT. chap, smooth and face him obliquely he always com- pounds, being ready on even slight challenge to come, as men say, to ' fair terms ' by varying his line of advance, and even if need be, resorting to crooked, to sinuous paths. By dint of simple friction with metal, with earth, with even the soft, yielding air, he adds varied rotatory move- ments to those first enjoined by his mission ; he improves his fell skill as he goes ; he acquires a strange nimbleness, can do more than simply strike, can wrench, can lift, can toss, can almost grasp ; can gather from each conquered hind- rance a new and baneful power ; can be rushing for instance straight on in a horizontal direction, and then — because of some contact — spring up all at once like a tiger intent on the throat of a camel.( 4 ) So far, one may say, his devices are not un- familiar to men versed in war, and some of his changes indeed, as for instance, his flight by ricochet, they can dictate at their own will and pleasure ; but under special conditions, he some- times will toil in a way that is much less com- monly known. When encountering things that are tough (such as gabions or sand-bags well filled) which do much towards obstructing his course, yet have not the required strength of numbers with which to withstand and defeat him, he plays the conqueror over them, he presses them into his service, he compels them to forget their inertness, compels them to fight on his side, and sends them hurled this way