At last the dawn appeared with weary slowness.

This again was a terribly anxious moment.
The gentlemen, at the first ray of light, expected to see an army drawn up in line before the town.

It so happened that day that the dawn was lazy and lingered awhile on the edge of the horizon.

With outstretched necks and fixed gaze, the party on the terrace peered anxiously into the misty expanse.

In the uncertain light they fancied they caught glimpses of colossal profiles, the plain seemed to be transformed into a lake of blood, the rocks looked like corpses floating on its surface, and the clusters of trees took the forms of battalions drawn up and threatening attack.