Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol 6.djvu/249

 THE MAIN FIGHT. 205 slosing that blank, dazed look which our people chap. had observed long before in the soldiery of other ^' Russian battalions. 2dPerfod Into the thick of the mass thus advancing the The iire of Fusiliers strove to pour a fire which should be Fusiiicrs ceaseless and rapid, yet sure. No longer new to battle, they at this time toiled less like hot combatants than careful, intelligent workmen. When a soldier, displaced by some chance from his own company, came ready to lend his aid in another part of the line, he was not always asked to ' fall in,' but more often to help towards the business of quick firing in a less formal yet workmanlike fashion.* He would so take his turn with another man near as that the one who was ready to fire should be for the moment in front, and the one who was loading in rear. Elsewhere, men resorted to 'division of labour,' and so ordered the work as that some should always be loading, and others constantly firing. Here and there along the whole line, there were little knots toiling thus in friendly, irregular con- cert. When the assailing force had drawn near, a man choosing to listen, they say, could hear through the din of the fight that rewarding sound of the ' thud ' which showed him where the ball from his strong-shooting rifle had ended its flight. Our soldiery, conscious of their power, and un- derstanding the purpose of their toil, worked on this was one of the ways in which a man might becoma ' di«« ' placed, '
 * Soldiers had been suffered to attend to the wounded, and