The heirs had
taken especial care to be on the spot at the moment of their decease, to
take possession of all that the poor wretches had to bequeath. The
mortality among the horses had been still greater: you met with their
carcasses almost at every step; and, which way soever you turned your
eyes, you beheld a still greater number which Death had so firmly seized
in his iron grasp, that they inclined their heads to the ground, and
fell, in a few minutes, to rise no more! Scarcely was there sufficient
room on the high road for a slender pedestrian to find a passage. All
the fields were covered with troops and baggage. Even on the place of
execution they had erected bivouacs, and not the most inconvenient,
because they were there less crowded than in other places. Except single
musket-shots, nothing was to be heard but incessant cries of _Serrez!
Serrez!_ (Closer! Closer!)--The dice yet lay in the box, and were not
destined to be thrown that day. It was probably spent in reconnoitring,
in order to make up the parties for the grand game in which empires were
the stake. The preparations for the defence of the city became more
serious and alarming. The exterior avenues had been previously
palisaded, and provided with _chevaux de frise_; but the greater part of
them were completely closed up. Loop-holes were formed in every wall,
and _tirailleurs_ posted behind them.
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