At six o'clock the sergeant entered and examined them.

Then he retired, and came back in another hour with a covered wagon, into which the sick were hoisted and packed like herrings.

All who had power to move their legs were afterwards turned out and treated to a pound and a half of the "King's bread" and a drink of water before starting.

Tristram was one of these.
The fever had relieved him of his companion, and this day he marched with more comfort, albeit his wrists were bound together and a rope of ten yards or more tied him by the waist to a couple of fettered deserters in front.
The weather had lifted somewhat; but the roads were still heavy, and their pace was regulated by the covered wagon, which seemed to loiter malevolently, as if to get every possible jolt out of the rutted highway.

With every jolt came a scream from one or more of the sick men inside.