CHAP. VI
5th Period.
not been really much hurt—that they had hardly indeed been attacked—and that their discomfiture was nothing more than the consequence of their leader's mistake, would be to aggravate distrust; whilst any allusion by Bosquet to that facile theory which would cast all blame on the English might deepen the ominous curses of disheartened French troops, and cause them, perhaps, to be followed by that cry of 'treason' which often precedes headlong flight.
If the Russians, disdaining the thorn that had vexed them all day at the Barrier, had come on in their strength against Bosquet's retreating troops, would the French have proved able to recover their confidence in the moment of trial, and to make, after all, a good stand? If not, could Lord Raglan have broken the torrent of Russian battalions by pressing upon it in flank with the few English troops within reach? These are questions inviting surmise, without foreshadowing answers; but at least it may be taken for granted that Bosquet's discomfiture now placed the Allies in jeopardy. The Allies in jeopardy A great change in the state of the battle had been almost suddenly wrought. Little time had yet passed since that moment when the Algerine and the Zonave battalions came bounding into the field with what seemed an evident mission to enter upon the triumph already prepared for them; and now, the French were disclosing—nay, even indicating—a belief that the battle was utterly lost. From what seemed all but contact with
