StfO ADVANCE TU THE BELliEU. CHAPTER IV. CHAP. On the morning of tliu 2od of Septeml>ci' the '. Allies once more marched foiward ; and moving theKatcC ^^^ the way along ground thickly strewn with arms and accoutrements — the signs of the enemy's haste to retreat — they descended at longtli into The village the vallcy of the Katcha. The English were oil its -^ . banks. quartered atnid the gardens and vineyards of a village all smiling with signs of plenty ; for although in broken furniture and emptied chests, there were traces of Cossack spoilers, and although, in their terror, the villagers had fled, still the happy-looking cottages, with their trcl- lised and welcoming porches, the clierished fruit- trees and especially the abounding clusters of the vine, all seemed to speak of content and rewarded industry. Tiir- peoiiio Though the villagers had lied they had not gone viiiaye. far. A kuot of Englishmen inclined to ramble into the country had chosen the road leading east- ward as the one most likely to withdraw them from the familiar scenes of the camp. When they had gone some way in this direction, they saw
