A door of communication leading into the kitchen of the cottage had been torn from its hinges, and used to carry the men wounded in the skirmish from the field.

They were now comfortably laid at rest in the kitchen, under the care of the French surgeon and the English nurse attached to the ambulance.

A piece of coarse canvas screened the opening between the two rooms in place of the door.

A second door, leading from the bed-chamber into the yard, was locked; and the wooden shutter protecting the one window of the room was carefully barred.

Sentinels, doubled in number, were placed at all the outposts.
The French commander had neglected no precaution which could reasonably insure for himself and for his men a quiet and comfortable night.
Still absorbed in his perusal of the dispatches, and now and then making notes of what he read by the help of writing materials placed at his side, Captain Arnault was interrupted by the appearance of an intruder in the room.