Louis was as resolute to defend and
keep the place as the Allies were to take it. The actual investment of
the town was placed in the hands of Eugene, whose men had by this time
arrived, while Marlborough covered him. The siege train brought up by
the Duke and his generals stretched to a distance of thirteen miles.
Berwick and Vendome were at no great distance away.
The siege of Lille lasted a full two months, and few military
operations have produced more splendid examples of individual dash and
courage.
Blackett and his friend found themselves one day taking part in a
risky bit of business. Throughout the siege there had been some
difficulty in procuring provisions for the Allies, and supplies were
drawn from Ostend. On this occasion an expected convoy had not arrived
to time, and a reconnoitring party had accordingly been sent out to
glean tidings of it. From a wooded knoll a glimpse of the missing
train was caught, and at the same moment a large body of French was
perceived approaching from the opposite direction. The Frenchmen had
not yet seen the convoy, being distant from it some miles, the
intervening country thickly studded with plantations. But in half an
hour the two bodies would have met, and the provisions sorely needed
would have fallen into the enemy's hands.
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