In the track of the troops, a tale

by R.M. Ballantyne

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1878 ... or permitted only a faint ray to escape now and then, like a gleam of hope from the battlements of heaven. I wandered from one fire to another to observe the conduct of the men in bivouac. They were generally light-hearted, being very young and hopeful. Evidently their great desire was to meet with the enemy. "Whatever thoughts they might have had of home they did not at that time express them aloud. Some among them, however, were grave and sad; a few were stern--almost sulky. Such was Dobri Petroff that night. Eound his fire, among others, stood Sergeant Gotsuchakoff and Corporal Shoveloff. "Come, scout," said the corporal, slapping Petroff heartily on the shoulder, "don't be down-hearted, man. That pretty little sweetheart you left behind you will never forsake such a strapping fellow as you; she will wait till you return crowned with laurels." Petroff was well aware that Corporal Shoveloff, knowing nothing of his private history, had made a mere guess at the "little sweetheart," and having no desire to be communicative, met him in his own vein. "It's not that, corporal," he said, with a serious yet anxious air, which attracted the attention of the surrounding soldiers, "it's not that which troubles me. I 'm as sure of the pretty little sweetheart as I am that the sun will rise to-morrow; but there's my dear old mother that lost a leg last Christmas by the overturning of a sledge, an' my old father who's been bedridden for the last quarter of a century, and the brindled cow that's just recovering from the measles. How they are all to get on without me, and nobody left to look after them but an old sister as tall as myself, and in the last stages of a decline--" At this point the scout, as Corporal Sh...

86 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1878

About the author

R. M. Ballantyne was a Scottish writer of juvenile fiction.

Born Robert Michael Ballantyne in Edinburgh, he was part of a famous family of printers and publishers. At the age of 16 he went to Canada and where he served for six years with the Hudson's Bay Company. He returned to Scotland in 1847, and published his first book the following year, Hudson's Bay: or Life in the Wilds of North America. For some time he was employed by Messrs Constable, the publishers, but in 1856 he gave up business for literature, and began the series of adventure stories for the young with which his name is popularly associated.