Wishing to find out where the commander in chief was, he rode up to a convoy.

Directly opposite to him came a strange one-horse vehicle, evidently rigged up by soldiers out of any available materials and looking like something between a cart, a cabriolet, and a caleche.

A soldier was driving, and a woman enveloped in shawls sat behind the apron under the leather hood of the vehicle.

Prince Andrew rode up and was just putting his question to a soldier when his attention was diverted by the desperate shrieks of the woman in the vehicle.

An officer in charge of transport was beating the soldier who was driving the woman's vehicle for trying to get ahead of others, and the strokes of his whip fell on the apron of the equipage.