"'General, what we are about to undertake, or rather, what _you_ mean to undertake, is not reasonable. Let us stop and wait till our men come up. Besides, the look of the ground indicates that there is a plateau behind the house, and we shall perhaps find the enemy there drawn up ready for battle.' "'All right, my boy; go and see if it is so,' he said. 'Our horses can get their breath in the meantime.' "I dismounted and walked round the inn, where I soon discovered three trim squadrons all drawn up ready for battle, about two hundred paces off. I returned to tell the general, who, without a word in reply, set off riding in the direction of the enemy's squadrons. I remounted my horse and followed him. "He had hardly gone a hundred yards before he came within earshot of the enemy. The commanding officer recognised him, and addressed him in French. "'Oh! so it is you, you black devil!' he said to us. "_Schwartz Teufel_ was the Austrians' nickname for the general. "'Come on a hundred paces, you scurvy knave,' said the general, 'and I shall make it two hundred.' "And with this reply, he put his horse to a gallop. "All this time I was yelling like a demon, following the general, whom I dared not leave, 'Here, dragoons, come on!' "The enemy accordingly expected to see a considerable force appear at any moment, and, with their commanding officer at their head, they turned and fled. "The general was on the point of pursuing them single-handed, but I caught hold of his horse by the bridle and compelled him to wait till our forces could come up and occupy the position just vacated by the enemy. "But when we were once more rejoined, there was no holding the general back, and we set off again to chase the Austrians. I managed, however, this time to arrange that our skirmishers should go in front, as the road was very uneven. "The skirmishers went on ahead, and we made good use of the time to breathe our horses. "In an hour's time we heard firing, which indicated that our men were at close quarters with the Austrians. The general sent me ahead to see what it meant. "I returned in ten minutes. "'Well!' said the general, I what is going on down there?' "'The enemy is engaging us, General, but one of our soldiers who speaks German told me it was only a ruse to induce us to cross the bridge of Clausen. The bridge crossed, the enemy intends to take its revenge.' "'Ah! that is his dodge, is it?' said the general. 'Very well! we will go and have a look. Forward--dragoons!' "And at the head of our fifty or sixty men we again charged the enemy. "We reached the famous bridge; there was only just room for three horses to cross abreast, and not the slightest suggestion of a parapet.