Pagina 526 di 3800

Prince Bagration screwed up his eyes, looked round, and, seeing

the cause of the confusion, turned away with indifference, as if

to say, "Is it worth while noticing trifles?" He reined in his

horse with the care of a skillful rider and, slightly bending

over, disengaged his saber which had caught in his cloak. It was

an old-fashioned saber of a kind no longer in general use. Prince

Andrew remembered the story of Suvorov giving his saber to

Bagration in Italy, and the recollection was particularly

pleasant at that moment. They had reached the battery at which

Prince Andrew had been when he examined the battlefield.

"Whose company?" asked Prince Bagration of an artilleryman

standing by the ammunition wagon.

He asked, "Whose company?" but he really meant, "Are you

frightened here?" and the artilleryman understood him.

"Captain Tushin's, your excellency!" shouted the red-haired,

freckled gunner in a merry voice, standing to attention.