He made a detour so as to come up at the back of the hill, and when he reached the top he stood looking down upon the line of works.
They were nearly half a mile distant.

The intervening ground had already been stripped of its hedges, and the trees cut down to form gabions, fascines, and platforms for the cannon.

Thousands of men were at work; but in some parts they were clustered much more thickly than in others, and Vincent had no difficulty in determining where the principal batteries were in course of construction along this portion of the position.

He was still gazing intently when two horsemen rode up from behind.
"Hallo, you, sir! What are you looking at ?" one of them asked sharply.
"What are you spying about here ?" Vincent turned slowly round with a silly smile on his lips.
"I am spying all them chaps at work," he said.

"It reminds me for all the world of an ant-hill.