Protestantism in the Waldensian Valleys - James Aitken Wylie

movement along the banks of the Pelice, stole
silently through the meadows and orchards, and,
advancing from the opposite quarter, attacked the
Vaudois in the rear. They faced round, pierced the
ranks of their assailants, and made good their
retreat to the hills, leaving La Torre in the hands of
the enemy. The Vaudois had lost only three men in
all that fighting. It was now between two and three
o'clock on Sunday morning, and though the hour
was early, the Romanists repaired in a body to the
church and chanted a Te Deum.[10] The day was
Palm-Sunday, and in this fashion did the Roman
Church, by her soldiers, celebrate that great festival
of love and goodwill in the Waldensian Valleys.
The Vaudois were once more on their
mountains. Their families had been previously
transported to their natural fastnesses. Their
sentinels kept watch night and day along the
frontier heights. They could see the movements of
Pianeza's army on the plains beneath. They beheld
their orchards falling by the axes, and their
dwellings being consumed by the torches of the
soldiers. On Monday the 19th, and Tuesday the
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