Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 4.djvu/358

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328 THE CANNONADE 01' CHAP, shelter the horses; but the Admiral rode quietly • on under a heavy fire, and commented as he went on the plans of the Allied army. In this part of his ride, the aide-de-camp wondered to find that the round-shot, humming loud through the air, and ploughing the earth on all sides, yet always left space for three horsemen to pass on unhurt in the storm ; and he got to imagine at last that Fate and a 'happy star' had made sacred the life of his chief After changing the position of the 'Moscow' battalions, by moving them to a ground where they would be sheltered from the enemy's lire, Korniloff passed the dock-bridge and began to ascend the western slope of the Malakolf. When he came near the seamen on duty in that part of the field, they began to greet him with loud cheers ; but Korniloff stopped them. He point- ed to the crest of Mount Eodolph, where all was now hushed, and said to his people, 'When the ' English batteries are as silent as the French ' yonder, then, and not till then, we will cheer.' his presence Koruiloff asceudcd the Malakoff Hill from the side of the Karabel suburb, and gained the right Hank of the entrenchment which covered the front of the tower. He quitted his saddle and began to go through the batteries on foot. The fire was very heavy. When Korniloff reached the tower, he found that its guns had been silenced and de- serted; but Admiral Istomin still answered the English by a well-sustained fire from the earth- works which covered and (lanked the stone build-