About four o'clock
He felt an aching desire to discharge his piece once , if no more , to relieve the tension of his nerves . Since the day , near six weeks ago , when he had enlisted in a fit of enthusiasm , supposing that he would surely have to face the foe in a day or two , all that he had done had been to tramp up and down the country on his poor , sore feet -- the feet of a man who had lived in luxury , far from the battle-field ; and so , among all those impatient watchers , there was none who watched more impatiently than he the Grand-Pre road , extending straight away to a seemingly infinite distance between two rows of handsome trees . Beneath him was unrolled the panorama of the valley ; the Aisne was , like a silver ribbon , flowing between its willows and poplars , and ever his gaze returned , solicited by an irresistible attraction , to that road down yonder that stretched away , far as the eye could see , to the horizon . About four o'clock the 4th hussars returned , having made a wide circuit in the country round about , and stories , which grew as they were repeated , began to circulate of conflicts with uhlans , tending to confirm the confident belief which everyone had that an attack was imminent . Two hours later a courier came galloping in , breathless with terror , to announce that General Bordas had positive information that the enemy were on the Vouziers road , and dared not leave Grand-Pre . It was evident that that could not be true , since the courier had just passed over the road unharmed , but no one could tell at what moment it might be the case , and General Dumont , commanding the division , set out at once with his remaining brigade to bring off his other brigade that was in difficulty . The sun went down behind Vouziers and the roofs of the town were sharply profiled in black against a great red cloud .