teddy galloped up to them and threw himself off his horse. one glance at the advancing wave of wooden soldiers showed him what the position was. there was no time to explain what he had been doing. every moment was of value. “there’s cavalry and infantry coming up,” he said to colonel jim. “we can make a stand here. better send one of your men back to hurry up the guns.”
but there was no necessity to do this, for as teddy was speaking they could hear the noise of horses trotting along through the wood, and almost immediately a lot of lead soldiers made their appearance, and came rapidly towards them. they were lancers, on bright bay horses, and very smart they looked with the little flags fluttering at the tops of their lances.
the colonel of the regiment rode at the head of them. he came up to colonel jim, and saluted. “just in time, eh, sir?” he said. colonel jim saluted,[pg 228] too, and said, “are your men ready for a charge, sir? if so, we can keep them off till the guns come up.”
the colonel of the lancer regiment threw one glance[pg 229] at the approaching wooden soldiers. there were thousands and thousands of them, and only a few of his men could come up at a time, by the narrow road through the wood. but odds did not daunt him, and he at once gave the order to charge.
the lancers who had gathered at the edge of the wood immediately charged down the hill, shouting and singing in the most gallant fashion, the colonel at their head; and the others who were coming up behind quickened their pace and followed them. they spread out as they got into the open, so as to charge the whole front of the wooden infantry. colonel jim held his own little troop back, partly out of politeness to the colonel of lancers, partly because their horses were blown.
it had all happened so quickly that peggy had not had time to be frightened yet. but the noise of the horses galloping and the men shouting got louder and louder, and the wooden soldiers had now got so near that their shouts could be heard too, as they stood to receive the shock of the cavalry. she suddenly shrieked, and clung to wooden. “oh, they’re not going to kill each other, are they?” she cried. “do let’s go away!”
wooden soothed her. “of course they’re not going[pg 230] to kill each other, dear,” she said. “soldiers don’t do that in toyland. they only knock each other down; and whichever side knocks most down wins.”
this relieved peggy’s fears a little, and in any case she was in the thick of it now, and had to see it through. she was really a plucky little girl, and by the time the cavalry got to the bottom of the hill she had partly recovered from her fright, and did not shut her eyes.
the cavalry rode gallantly at the thick mass of soldiers, with their lances levelled, and whenever they hit a wooden soldier, down he went. the wooden soldiers fired their rifles at them as they came down the hill, and knocked over a few. but the bullets, which were small peas, of a kind grown specially for rifle ammunition, were not big enough to do much damage against men and horses coming so fast. it was only when several bullets hit the same soldier, or his horse, that they were knocked over. but the foot-soldiers left off firing and began to use their bayonets when the cavalry got amongst them, and then they did knock over a large number of men and horses, though not nearly so many as the lancers knocked over of them.
it was most fascinating to watch. the lancers went on and on through the masses of infantry, and wherever they went, down fell heaps of wooden soldiers.[pg 231] and when they were knocked down they lay quite still on the ground, and took no further interest in the proceedings. but the farther in the lancers went the less they became, as men and horses were bowled over in their turn. it was just as if they were being swallowed up in the great mass of red and white, and there were so many of the wooden soldiers that it soon became plain that in a short time the lancers would all disappear.
peggy watched the colonel, who was always in front, fight his way steadily on, dealing lightning blows to right and left of him. but at last he went down, and the red coats were almost as thick as before, and still more were always coming up from the fort.
it was then that colonel jim rallied his little troop for a last gallant charge. teddy had galloped back through the wood, while the lancers were charging, to hurry up the guns. he now came tearing back, and said to colonel jim in a hurried voice, “the guns will be here in a couple of minutes. if you can keep them back till then we shall have them beaten.”
“i’ll try,” said colonel jim, looking at his little troop, which seemed almost nothing at all compared to the masses of soldiers advancing on them; and then he gave the word to charge.
[pg 232]
it was a desperate effort. the shock of the lancers’ charge had now spent itself. the wooden soldiers, who had been kept back by it for a time which was short measured by minutes, but of inestimable value to the defenders of the wood, were now forming at the foot of the hill. if they succeeded in getting to the top of it, the little party in the wood would be surrounded and taken prisoners. could colonel jim’s handful of men save them?
the troopers were given instructions to form themselves into a line at the edge of the wood, and then to charge down the hill all together. they rode out of the shelter of the trees, and formed their line with as much coolness as if they were on parade. the foot-soldiers began firing again, and the bullets pattered on their cuirasses like hail, but had no effect upon these heroes, except to sting them up when they caught them in their faces, and to make their horses restive. peggy could hear the bullets whistling and pattering amongst the leaves of the trees over her head, but she and the dolls had been withdrawn a little into the wood. owing to the angle at which the wooden soldiers fired, there was no danger for them as long as the firing was from the bottom of the hill.
it took the life-guardsmen a very short time to form[pg 233] into line, and, as the wooden soldiers had halted to fire at them, the time was not wasted. the moment they were in line, colonel jim, who was in the middle, slightly in advance of the rest, gave the word to charge.
down swept the splendid little band, in an irresistible charge. it was no good firing at them any longer, and the wooden soldiers stood with bayonets fixed to receive the shock. wooden’s aunt, who had been getting more and more excited at what was happening, ran forward to the edge of the wood to watch, and peggy and the others went with her.
the sudden leaving off of the firing made a lull, in which the noise of the horses’ hoofs could be heard thundering down the hill. when they reached the bottom, the shock of the encounter was just like hammer blows, as wood met metal.
the front line of wooden soldiers seemed to waver a little as the horsemen approached them. and no wonder! the wooden soldiers were brave enough, and they did not yet know that they were fighting in a bad cause, so there was nothing to make them cowards. but the first line of them, at least, must have known that they would all go down before the irresistible charge, and it spoke well for them that they stood and waited for it, instead of running away.
[pg 234]
it was not only the front line that went down under the weight, but the second and third. it really looked for a moment as if that single line of heavy cavalry would push the opposing host back all by itself. and, so far, not a single man or horse of them had fallen.
but the impetus of the furious charge was bound to spend itself. a life-guardsman went down, and then another. but still they struggled on, colonel jim in front of them fighting desperately, as the colonel of the lancers had done. it was no longer a line of steel destroying everything in front of it as it swept on, but a few scattered horsemen, fighting gloriously against overwhelming odds.
but still they did advance, and for every horse and rider that went down a score or more of foot soldiers bit the dust.
“they’ll do it! they’ll do it!” yelled wooden’s aunt, dancing about in a state of tremendous excitement.
teddy, sitting on his horse, was no less excited. “they’re giving way!” he cried. and peggy distinctly saw a quiver run through the mass of wooden soldiers, like wind passing over a field of corn.
at this very moment there was a roar and a rumble from the wood behind, and the artillery came galloping[pg 235] up, just in the nick of time. a great shout was raised, which struck terror into the hearts of the wooden soldiers down below. before the first gun could be unlimbered and pointed at them, the great mass of red coats turned and broke. colonel jim, and all that was left of his little troop, took up the shout, and redoubled their efforts. they had it all their own way now. the enemy was flying, and not one wooden soldier tried to knock them down any more, but only to escape their blows, and get back in safety to the fort.
the big guns got to work. one of them was quite near to where peggy and the woodens were standing. it was quickly loaded with gunpowder and an enormous pea. she stopped her ears as it was fired, but the noise was not so bad as if it had been a real gun. she distinctly saw the great pea fall in the middle of the fleeing army, and then go bowling along, knocking over lots of soldiers before its force had spent itself.
orders soon came, however, for the artillery to cease firing. more regiments of cavalry were coming up through the wood. as they arrived they were sent down to pursue the wooden soldiers, and also to ride round them, and cut them off from the fort. there was no necessity to knock down any more of them. if they were surrounded they would be obliged to surrender,[pg 237] and this would come to the same thing. the guns would be wanted to reduce the fort, and, until further supplies of ammunition came up, they did not want to waste it.
it was a pretty sight to see the cavalry galloping over the downs, outflanking the flying red coats, and presently getting between them and the fort. but a good many wooden soldiers who had only got a little way out when the rout began had already succeeded in making their way back. there would be plenty to defend the fort, if selim should decide to try to hold it.
