The garrison
was far too weak to hold the place, and the place fell into his hands
almost without a blow. George Fairburn grumbled at his luck, but was
cheered by Matthew's laughing reply, "Don't seek to rush things too
quickly, my dear lad; your time is coming."
It was. After ordering the siege of Traerbach, Marlborough flew back
with a portion of his men to Landau, in his own breathless fashion,
and before many hours were over Fairburn was as keenly interested in
the siege as if he had never scampered all the way to Treves and back
again. A week or two passed by, and still the place held out, though
it was plain the end was near.
One day a sudden assault was planned on a weak spot in the defences, a
spot where some earlier damages had been ineffectively repaired.
George, with a troop of cavalry on foot, under the orders of
Lieutenant Blackett, suddenly started off at the double, spurred by
their officer's "Come along, lads! through or over!" With a roar of
delight the men, mostly young fellows, dashed toward the spot,
regardless of the whistling bullets that flew around. In a breach of
the defences, a place not more than four or five feet wide, stood a
huge Frenchman, whirling his sword over his head. The attackers pulled
up for a moment, all except George, who kept right on, till he was
close upon the big fellow with the sword.
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