‘A sargint,’ cried Larry to Jack, ‘an’ orderly to the colonel! Faix, the ould dad’ll burst hisself wid joy.’ The march was soon continued, the men being in most excellent spirits. Later on in the day they passed Sebastopol, which they saw on their right. None who then gazed on the fortifications ever dreamed of the many, many weary months that would elapse, of the untold sufferings they would have to endure, of the titanic struggle that would take place on the very plain they were then crossing, or of the thousands of lives that would be lost ere the British flag waved over that grim fortress. The troops made a tremendous march; never halting till, after sunset, they reached the little hamlet of Tractir on the Tchernaya, where they halted for the night. The next morning the march was resumed, and, crossing the Tchernaya, the column, led by Lord Raglan, descended into the plain. They marched on, with only one trifling hindrance from an old castle which stood on the heights, mounting a few old guns. The place was summoned, and at once surrendered, when the troops took possession of it, and then marched at once upon Balaclava. The thunder from guns in the little harbour announced the fact that the fleet had arrived, and the water was soon covered with British boats as the town was filled with British soldiers. The cavalry were encamped outside the town, the infantry being accommodated in and around the place. All that day and the next stragglers kept coming in, till General Cathcart arriving safely with the rear-guard completed the success of the famous ‘flank march.’ CHAPTER XXIX. THE BEGINNING OF THE SIEGE. Balaclava itself Jack found but a small, uninteresting place; but the harbour was remarkable, insomuch that looking down upon it from the precipitous hills by which it was surrounded, it looked like a small mountain-lake, the entrance being completely masked by a projecting headland. A vessel might sail past the entrance a hundred times without suspecting the existence of a harbour. Once inside, however, the biggest vessels could ride securely at anchor within a stone’s-throw of the shore, which rose abruptly from the water’s edge, leaving only a narrow ledge on which the town was built. The little valley leading from the plain to the head of the harbour was full of gardens, vineyards, and orchards. The streets of the town itself were narrow and crooked; the houses built of loose stones, with wooden verandas and balconies. There were, however, one or two public buildings which were soon turned to account as hospitals and so on. The town of Sebastopol seemed to lie at the feet of the Allies, and many wondered why they did not walk in and drive out the Russian garrison; but these forgot that the town was dominated by the forts and by the ships in the harbour, and that although the Allies might get in easily enough they would be unable to remain there.