Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol 6.djvu/139

THE MAIN FIOIIT. 95 Many able officers — as, for examyjle, Major Thornton Grant, the Mield-officer ' in command, Captain Sargent, Bellairs, Carmichael, Morgan (of the 95th)— were with the pickets that night ; and the thickness of the atmosphere was regarded as furnishing reason for increased care. Indeed, Captain Sargent of the 95th thought the night so good a one for an attempted surprise by the enemy, and besides was so strongly impressed by that rumbling sound of wheels which will be presently mentioned, that he not only caused his men to reload their wetted rifles, but saw to the doing of this with his own eyes — nay, aided it with his own hands ; and the tension caused by his vigilance became so great, that the accidental discharge of a rifle by a bungling soldier of the 95th Regiment created an unusual stir, and sharpened yet further the sensitive watchfulness of the picket. Still, the keenest observer, that night, could see nothing worth mark through a curtain of mist or drizzling rain. There, however, were sounds of which we now know the meaning. Bellairs, it seems, only recognised the striking of the gongs on board ships of war ; but at 4 o'clock in the morning many — even amongst those in camp — heard peals ringing out from the churches. None judged that the Sunday bells had any war- like significance ; but whilst listening some hours after midnight, several officers and men, and in particular Captain Sargent, were able to hear a low, continuous sound, which imported the move- ment of wheeled carriages in the direction of t Period