and grim, they clench their teeth, and hold their post and die like men.' Twenty times were the squares broken and reformed, and twelve thousand brave Englishmen fell. Cousin Hans could understand how Wellington wept when he said, 'Night or Blucher!'"
IV.
NAPOLEON IN RETREAT.
And quite as vivid is the remainder of the picture—the picture of Napoleon in retreat:
"The captain had in the meantime left Belle-Alliance, and was spying around in the grass behind the bench, while he continued his exposition, which grew more and more vivid: 'Wellington was now in reality beaten, and a total defeat was inevitable,' cried the captain in a sombre voice, 'when this fellow appeared on the scene!' And as he said this, he kicked the stone which Cousin Hans had seen him concealing, so that it rolled in upon the field of battle. 'Now or never,' thought Cousin Hans. 'Blucher!' he cried. 'Exactly!' answered the captain, 'it's the old werewolf Blucher, who comes marching upon the field with his Prussians.' So Grouchy never came; there was Napoleon, deprived of his whole right wing, and facing 150,000 men. But with never-failing coolness he gives his orders for a great change of front. But it was too late, and the odds were too vast. Wellington, who by Blucher's arrival was enabled to bring his reserve into play, now ordered
