noon
A Russian quick-fire gun or two was emplaced in that vicinity , and two batteries of bigger bores -LRB- that the correspondents knew of -RRB- were higher on either side . Infantry intrenchments that looked like mole tracks from the distance corrugated the slopes in lateral lines , and roads came down to the two bridges that spanned the swift stream , less than a mile apart . The morning was spent in artillery dueling . The Russians seemed partly silenced at noon . At no time was their attack cocky and confident . The Germans determined to cross in the early afternoon . This movement was not answered by excessive firing .