صفحة 771 من 3800

The troops of the vanguard were stationed before Wischau, within

sight of the enemy's lines, which all day long had yielded ground

to us at the least firing. The Emperor's gratitude was announced

to the vanguard, rewards were promised, and the men received a

double ration of vodka. The campfires crackled and the soldiers'

songs resounded even more merrily than on the previous night.

Denisov celebrated his promotion to the rank of major, and

Rostov, who had already drunk enough, at the end of the feast

proposed the Emperor's health. "Not 'our Sovereign, the Emperor,'

as they say at official dinners," said he, "but the health of our

Sovereign, that good, enchanting, and great man! Let us drink to

his health and to the certain defeat of the French!"