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forty-horse po ^ or of cordiality . " Kate ! " he exclaimed , " here is our friend H . " Kate threw back her veil , and gave her hand to Captain H . with a smile that made me think of thirty years' back , and—No matter !—of course , she had relinquished my arm to shake hands with the captain , and , somehow or other , they were soon chatting
together apart from the rest . " Can't yon come back with us to dinner ? " exclaimed Sir Arthur ; " we ' ve the yacht down there , and , Achille , we'll have a pleasant evening , and can give you a bed . " " Thank you , " returned the young captain , a gay smile brightening his embrowned cheek ; " I ' m engaged , unfortunately , to the
trenches this evening ; but if nothing happens , I'll see you tomorrow . " The ladies shuddered : that " if , " implied life or death . "We now accompanied General ——— - to the famous picquethouse , in order to have a peep at Sebastopol , as the general informed us no strangers could be permitted past the lines after to-day . Our first glimpse of the famous town disappointed us ; these
earthworks are not imposing m appearance , at least at a distance ; moreover , they have been much knocked about , and have the look of ragged natural ridges , through which , in some unaccountable manner , innumerable great black guns poke their muzzles . The ground between us and them is thickly encumbered with every species of impromptu cover basket-work , filled with earth , & c . & c . The ladies were soon satisfied , and retreated to the rear under escort of the Grerman and the captain .
"We , however , passed on to the picquet-house . It is a small ruin , on the brow of a hill . Its walls afford shelter , and its position a view into the town . It has , therefore , from the commencement of the siege , been a rendezvous for idlers of all sorts . By the aid of a good glass , I saw plainly enough into the town . The suburbs were a mass of ruins ; but some fine solid buildingsone of them I was told was the club-house—appeared intact , as well
as a long line of white walls by the docks . It seems a noble city , and I could not but regret the work of devastation . The Malakoff is a circular tower , faced with massive earthworks to the left , towards the sea opposite the position of our gallant allies , and crowned by a flagstaff : I took but a cursory glance at it .
In the first place , I fancied Greneral , with all his politeness , wanted to get rid of us ; and , secondly , the constant banging and rushing of all kinds of explosive missiles , do not tend to improve a peaceable old Londoner ' s taste for sight-seeing . In short , I was glad enough to be back with my fair friends , who by this time had discovered various acquaintances amid the combatants , and were the centre of an admiring group . Some French militaires , in their smart , full , red trowsers , tight waist-belts , and fierce little peaky caps , were being introduced as we
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Untitled Article
forty-horse po ^ or of cordiality . " Kate ! " he exclaimed , " here is our friend H . " Kate threw back her veil , and gave her hand to Captain H . with a smile that made me think of thirty years' back , and—No matter !—of course , she had relinquished my arm to shake hands with the captain , and , somehow or other , they were soon chatting
together apart from the rest . " Can't yon come back with us to dinner ? " exclaimed Sir Arthur ; " we ' ve the yacht down there , and , Achille , we'll have a pleasant evening , and can give you a bed . " " Thank you , " returned the young captain , a gay smile brightening his embrowned cheek ; " I ' m engaged , unfortunately , to the
trenches this evening ; but if nothing happens , I'll see you tomorrow . " The ladies shuddered : that " if , " implied life or death . "We now accompanied General ——— - to the famous picquethouse , in order to have a peep at Sebastopol , as the general informed us no strangers could be permitted past the lines after to-day . Our first glimpse of the famous town disappointed us ; these
earthworks are not imposing m appearance , at least at a distance ; moreover , they have been much knocked about , and have the look of ragged natural ridges , through which , in some unaccountable manner , innumerable great black guns poke their muzzles . The ground between us and them is thickly encumbered with every species of impromptu cover basket-work , filled with earth , & c . & c . The ladies were soon satisfied , and retreated to the rear under escort of the Grerman and the captain .
"We , however , passed on to the picquet-house . It is a small ruin , on the brow of a hill . Its walls afford shelter , and its position a view into the town . It has , therefore , from the commencement of the siege , been a rendezvous for idlers of all sorts . By the aid of a good glass , I saw plainly enough into the town . The suburbs were a mass of ruins ; but some fine solid buildingsone of them I was told was the club-house—appeared intact , as well
as a long line of white walls by the docks . It seems a noble city , and I could not but regret the work of devastation . The Malakoff is a circular tower , faced with massive earthworks to the left , towards the sea opposite the position of our gallant allies , and crowned by a flagstaff : I took but a cursory glance at it .
In the first place , I fancied Greneral , with all his politeness , wanted to get rid of us ; and , secondly , the constant banging and rushing of all kinds of explosive missiles , do not tend to improve a peaceable old Londoner ' s taste for sight-seeing . In short , I was glad enough to be back with my fair friends , who by this time had discovered various acquaintances amid the combatants , and were the centre of an admiring group . Some French militaires , in their smart , full , red trowsers , tight waist-belts , and fierce little peaky caps , were being introduced as we