Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 3.djvu/109

BATTLE OF THE ALMA. 83 He had been riding slowly upon the ground chap. between the Great Causeway and the left of the ' French army ; but he now stopped his horse, and order for the cavalcade which had trailed in his wake of the ehk- , ,, , . , lishinfiinliA whilst he moved then gathered more closely around him. There were altogether some twenty horsemen ; and although with several of tliem Lord Eaglan from time to time talked gaily, yet, so far as concerned the duty of taking tliought how best to conduct the action, he was like a man riding in mere solitude ; for it was not his custom to seek counsel, and the men around him so held their chief in honour that none of them would have liked to assail him with question or advice. Still, any one there could see that, be- sides Lord liaglan himself, there was one man of the Headquarter Staff whose mind was engaged in the business of the hour. We saw that General Airey had already begun to wield great power in the P]nglisli army. With the power was its bur- then. Whilst most of the other men on the Headquarter Staff seemed to be merely spectators or messengers, there was care, vexing care, on the lean, eager, imperious features of the Quarter- master-General. He was not simply impatient of the delay ; he judged it to be a great evil. It was to him that Lord Eaglan now spoke some five words. Whatever it was that was said, it lit the face of the hearer, and turned his look of care into sunshine. The horsemen in the sur- Britisli troops which Lord Raglan avowed to nip on the evening of tho action.