The Opposite House: A Novel — page 193: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

188 Lhe Opposite Flouse. help ; yonder flamed the cruel torch swung by the fleshless hand of war. Here, too, in the little woodland meadow flames were blazing, but the light they shed was peaceful, and the scene which they illumined was full of re- pose—the bivouac of the hussars. The guards paced to and fro; theirsteps died away on the moss- covered ground, and nothing was heard save the clank of the sabers when their wearers passed over projecting roots, or the loose stones grated under their tread. The men, worn out by the long ride, lay sleeping heavily on wretched beds made of scanty bundles of rain-soaked straw, with their cloaks wrapped about them. ‘They were sturdy Germans, among them many members of the Landwehr, called to arms from the most varied trades, and lulled to sweet dreams of their native land by the spicy odor of the surrounding forest. The officers were gathered around one of the fires. A flask was passed from hand to hand, and in the midst of the circle was spread a chart of the country, which was eagerly discussed and studied, and frequently crossed with colored pencil-marks. The adjutant was silently tracing upon the chart an almost imperceptible path through the moun- tains. “Poor fellow!” he murmured under his breath. CoOmiclbooolk<s