Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol 6.djvu/325

 THE MAIN FIGHT. 281 seized and pursued their false victory, we before c ii a p. had the means of observing that Percy Herbert's ^^' rough prophecy was destined to receive its fulfil- 2d Perwd nient ; and, so far as concerned that small remnant upon'the of troops M'hich fovight round the colours, the Duke tiie men of Cambridge had been already prepared by Cap- colonic. tain Burnaby himself for the joyful sight now awaiting him.* Still His Eoyal Highness was not a man so constituted as to be able to gaze with restrained emotion when he saw, coming out of the dimness and slowly approaching him, a little body of unformed soldiery — mainly Bearskins — but a few of the Line — and with them two stand- ards, the colours of the Grenadier Guards. The apostrophe that broke from his lips was marked with religious fervour, and indeed he half bor- rowed church language for the utterance of his soldierly joy. But the Duke, if more vehement than others, was not alone in his rapture. From all — and many stood near — there was an outburst of admiration and praise and thankfulness, to greet the small band of Guardsmen and other intermixed soldiery coming quietly in with the colours, and driving before them the prisoners they had been able to take whilst fighting their way home from the Battery. ceased to move in the exact wake of the troops with the Lolours, and came in by a route further west, which brougnt him into contact with the Duke of Carabi-idge. He apprised H.R. H. of the safety of the colours, and showed him the part of the field in which they might be met.
 * After the retreat of the Okhotsk battalions, Buriiahy