Night settled down in mist and fog and gloom, hiding the horrors on those blood-stained slopes. By eight o’clock the last gun had passed back into the Russian lines of defence. The great battle of Inkermann was lost--and won! CHAPTER XXXVII. MISERIES ACCUMULATE When Jack got back to the lines of his regiment he found that Will, not much the worse for his broken head, had already returned. It was more than likely that the timely warning they had been able to give the picket of the 41st saved a surprise on the part of the Russians which might have been most awkward for the British. Jack and Will had, however, been ‘absent without leave;’ and though in their own regiment the part they had played became known, yet no official mention was made of it, for awkward questions might have been asked. The next morning was bright and cold, and the whole of the battlefield could be seen. It was then, and only then, that the terrible nature of the struggle of the day before could be realised; and it was seen that the fog, though most confusing at the time, had yet been a blessing, for it had prevented the British from being disheartened by the tens of thousands who had been pitted against them, and the Russians from discovering the mere handful of British by whom they were opposed. Early in the morning shoals of people from Balaclava--Greeks, Armenians, Turks, sailors from the fleet, and others--came to visit the battlefield, taking medals, ribbons, crucifixes, chains, and so on as mementos of the great fight. To prevent this the cavalry were ordered to turn out as patrols, and to keep every one off the battlefield but those engaged there. All day long Jack and Will were thus engaged, and a terrible duty it was. ‘It’s worse than fighting,’ said Jack. ‘Just look there, Will, where we fought so long at the Sandbag Battery. The dead are literally in heaps--see, eight deep! English, Russians, and French, all one on top of the other!’ The groans and cries of the wounded as they were borne past were heart-rending. The Russians lay around in thousands, and it seemed as if the task of gathering them in would never finish. The wounded were seen to first, being carried to the hospital tents. The dead Russians were placed side by side in long trenches. Even while thus engaged, the enemy on several occasions opened fire from Sebastopol on the burying-parties, much to the indignation of officers and men. On the second day Jack’s regiment had to go down to Balaclava for stores. Near the town they heard the cheery tones of a band playing ‘Cheer, boys, cheer!’ the words of which the men were singing, and saw an infantry regiment, just landed, marching up to the front.