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diff --git a/13851-0.txt b/13851-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..be055b9 --- /dev/null +++ b/13851-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,24148 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13851 *** + +The Downfall + +(LA DÉBÂCLE) + +(The Smash-up) + +by Émile Zola + +Translated By E. P. Robins + + +Contents + + PART FIRST + I. + II. + III. + IV. + V. + VI. + VII. + VIII. + + PART SECOND + I. + II. + III. + IV. + V. + VI. + VII. + VIII. + + PART THIRD + I. + II. + III. + IV. + V. + VI. + VII. + VIII. + + + + +THE DOWNFALL + + + + +PART FIRST + + + + +I. + + +In the middle of the broad, fertile plain that stretches away in the +direction of the Rhine, a mile and a quarter from Mülhausen, the camp +was pitched. In the fitful light of the overcast August day, beneath +the lowering sky that was filled with heavy drifting clouds, the long +lines of squat white shelter-tents seemed to cower closer to the +ground, and the muskets, stacked at regular intervals along the +regimental fronts, made little spots of brightness, while over all the +sentries with loaded pieces kept watch and ward, motionless as statues, +straining their eyes to pierce the purplish mists that lay on the +horizon and showed where the mighty river ran. + +It was about five o’clock when they had come in from Belfort; it was +now eight, and the men had only just received their rations. There +could be no distribution of wood, however, the wagons having gone +astray, and it had therefore been impossible for them to make fires and +warm their soup. They had consequently been obliged to content +themselves as best they might, washing down their dry hard-tack with +copious draughts of brandy, a proceeding that was not calculated +greatly to help their tired legs after their long march. Near the +canteen, however, behind the stacks of muskets, there were two soldiers +pertinaciously endeavoring to elicit a blaze from a small pile of green +wood, the trunks of some small trees that they had chopped down with +their sword-bayonets, and that were obstinately determined not to burn. +The cloud of thick, black smoke, rising slowly in the evening air, +added to the general cheerlessness of the scene. + +There were but twelve thousand men there, all of the 7th corps that the +general, Felix Douay, had with him at the time. The 1st division had +been ordered to Froeschwiller the day before; the 3d was still at +Lyons, and it had been decided to leave Belfort and hurry to the front +with the 2d division, the reserve artillery, and an incomplete division +of cavalry. Fires had been seen at Lorrach. The _sous-préfet_ at +Schelestadt had sent a telegram announcing that the Prussians were +preparing to pass the Rhine at Markolsheim. The general did not like +his unsupported position on the extreme right, where he was cut off +from communication with the other corps, and his movement in the +direction of the frontier had been accelerated by the intelligence he +had received the day before of the disastrous surprise at Wissembourg. +Even if he should not be called on to face the enemy on his own front, +he felt that he was likely at any moment to be ordered to march to the +relief of the 1st corps. There must be fighting going on, away down the +river near Froeschwiller, on that dark and threatening Saturday, that +ominous 6th of August; there was premonition of it in the sultry air, +and the stray puffs of wind passed shudderingly over the camp as if +fraught with tidings of impending evil. And for two days the division +had believed that it was marching forth to battle; the men had expected +to find the Prussians in their front, at the termination of their +forced march from Belfort to Mülhausen. + +The day was drawing to an end, and from a remote corner of the camp the +rattling drums and the shrill bugles sounded retreat, the sound dying +away faintly in the distance on the still air of evening. Jean +Macquart, who had been securing the tent and driving the pegs home, +rose to his feet. When it began to be rumored that there was to be war +he had left Rognes, the scene of the bloody drama in which he had lost +his wife, Françoise and the acres that she brought him; he had +re-enlisted at the age of thirty-nine, and been assigned to the 106th +of the line, of which they were at that time filling up the _cadres_, +with his old rank of corporal, and there were moments when he could not +help wondering how it ever came about that he, who after Solferino had +been so glad to quit the service and cease endangering his own and +other people’s lives, was again wearing the _capote_ of the infantry +man. But what is a man to do, when he has neither trade nor calling, +neither wife, house, nor home, and his heart is heavy with mingled rage +and sorrow? As well go and have a shot at the enemy, if they come where +they are not wanted. And he remembered his old battle cry: Ah! _bon +sang_! if he had no longer heart for honest toil, he would go and +defend her, his country, the old land of France! + +When Jean was on his legs he cast a look about the camp, where the +summons of the drums and bugles, taken up by one command after another, +produced a momentary bustle, the conclusion of the business of the day. +Some men were running to take their places in the ranks, while others, +already half asleep, arose and stretched their stiff limbs with an air +of exasperated weariness. He stood waiting patiently for roll-call, +with that cheerful imperturbability and determination to make the best +of everything that made him the good soldier that he was. His comrades +were accustomed to say of him that if he had only had education he +would have made his mark. He could just barely read and write, and his +aspirations did not rise even so high as to a sergeantcy. Once a +peasant, always a peasant. + +But he found something to interest him in the fire of green wood that +was still smoldering and sending up dense volumes of smoke, and he +stepped up to speak to the two men who were busying themselves over it, +Loubet and Lapoulle, both members of his squad. + +“Quit that! You are stifling the whole camp.” + +Loubet, a lean, active fellow and something of a wag, replied: + +“It will burn, corporal; I assure you it will—why don’t you blow, you!” + +And by way of encouragement he bestowed a kick on Lapoulle, a colossus +of a man, who was on his knees puffing away with might and main, his +cheeks distended till they were like wine-skins, his face red and +swollen, and his eyes starting from their orbits and streaming with +tears. Two other men of the squad, Chouteau and Pache, the former +stretched at length upon his back like a man who appreciates the +delight of idleness, and the latter engrossed in the occupation of +putting a patch on his trousers, laughed long and loud at the +ridiculous expression on the face of their comrade, the brutish +Lapoulle. + +Jean did not interfere to check their merriment. Perhaps the time was +at hand when they would not have much occasion for laughter, and he, +with all his seriousness and his humdrum, literal way of taking things, +did not consider that it was part of his duty to be melancholy, +preferring rather to close his eyes or look the other way when his men +were enjoying themselves. But his attention was attracted to a second +group not far away, another soldier of his squad, Maurice Levasseur, +who had been conversing earnestly for near an hour with a civilian, a +red-haired gentleman who was apparently about thirty-six years old, +with an intelligent, honest face, illuminated by a pair of big +protruding blue eyes, evidently the eyes of a near-sighted man. They +had been joined by an artilleryman, a quartermaster-sergeant from the +reserves, a knowing, self-satisfied-looking person with brown mustache +and imperial, and the three stood talking like old friends, unmindful +of what was going on about them. + +In the kindness of his heart, in order to save them a reprimand, if not +something worse, Jean stepped up to them and said: + +“You had better be going, sir. It is past retreat, and if the +lieutenant should see you—” Maurice did not permit him to conclude his +sentence: + +“Stay where you are, Weiss,” he said, and turning to the corporal, +curtly added: “This gentleman is my brother-in-law. He has a pass from +the colonel, who is acquainted with him.” + +What business had he to interfere with other people’s affairs, that +peasant whose hands were still reeking of the manure-heap? _He_ was a +lawyer, had been admitted to the bar the preceding autumn, had enlisted +as a volunteer and been received into the 106th without the formality +of passing through the recruiting station, thanks to the favor of the +colonel; it was true that he had condescended to carry a musket, but +from the very start he had been conscious of a feeling of aversion and +rebellion toward that ignorant clown under whose command he was. + +“Very well,” Jean tranquilly replied; “don’t blame me if your friend +finds his way to the guardhouse.” + +Thereon he turned and went away, assured that Maurice had not been +lying, for the colonel, M. de Vineuil, with his commanding, high-bred +manner and thick white mustache bisecting his long yellow face, passed +by just then and saluted Weiss and the soldier with a smile. The +colonel pursued his way at a good round pace toward a farmhouse that +was visible off to the right among the plum trees, a few hundred feet +away, where the staff had taken up their quarters for the night. No one +could say whether the general commanding the 7th corps was there or +not; he was in deep affliction on account of the death of his brother, +slain in the action at Wissembourg. The brigadier, however, +Bourgain-Desfeuilles, in whose command the 106th was, was certain to be +there, brawling as loud as ever, and trundling his fat body about on +his short, pudgy legs, with his red nose and rubicund face, vouchers +for the good dinners he had eaten, and not likely ever to become +top-heavy by reason of excessive weight in his upper story. There was a +stir and movement about the farmhouse that seemed to be momentarily +increasing; couriers and orderlies were arriving and departing every +minute; they were awaiting there, with feverish anxiety of impatience, +the belated dispatches which should advise them of the result of the +battle that everyone, all that long August day, had felt to be +imminent. Where had it been fought? what had been the issue? As night +closed in and darkness shrouded the scene, a foreboding sense of +calamity seemed to settle down upon the orchard, upon the scattered +stacks of grain about the stables, and spread, and envelop them in +waves of inky blackness. It was said, also, that a Prussian spy had +been caught roaming about the camp, and that he had been taken to the +house to be examined by the general. Perhaps Colonel de Vineuil had +received a telegram of some kind, that he was in such great haste. + +Meantime Maurice had resumed his conversation with his brother-in-law +Weiss and his cousin Honoré Fouchard, the quartermaster-sergeant. +Retreat, commencing in the remote distance, then gradually swelling in +volume as it drew near with its blare and rattle, reached them, passed +them, and died away in the solemn stillness of the twilight; they +seemed to be quite unconscious of it. The young man was grandson to a +hero of the Grand Army, and had first seen the light at Chêne-Populeux, +where his father, not caring to tread the path of glory, had held an +ill-paid position as collector of taxes. His mother, a peasant, had +died in giving him birth, him and his twin sister Henriette, who at an +early age had become a second mother to him, and that he was now what +he was, a private in the ranks, was owing entirely to his own +imprudence, the headlong dissipation of a weak and enthusiastic nature, +his money squandered and his substance wasted on women, cards, the +thousand follies of the all-devouring minotaur, Paris, when he had +concluded his law studies there and his relatives had impoverished +themselves to make a gentleman of him. His conduct had brought his +father to the grave; his sister, when he had stripped her of her little +all, had been so fortunate as to find a husband in that excellent young +fellow Weiss, who had long held the position of accountant in the great +sugar refinery at Chêne-Populeux, and was now foreman for M. +Delaherche, one of the chief cloth manufacturers of Sedan. And Maurice, +always cheered and encouraged when he saw a prospect of amendment in +himself, and equally disheartened when his good resolves failed him and +he relapsed, generous and enthusiastic but without steadiness of +purpose, a weathercock that shifted with every varying breath of +impulse, now believed that experience had done its work and taught him +the error of his ways. He was a small, light-complexioned man, with a +high, well-developed forehead, small nose, and retreating chin, and a +pair of attractive gray eyes in a face that indicated intelligence; +there were times when his mind seemed to lack balance. + +Weiss, on the eve of the commencement of hostilities, had found that +there were family matters that made it necessary for him to visit +Mülhausen, and had made a hurried trip to that city. That he had been +able to employ the good offices of Colonel de Vineuil to afford him an +opportunity of shaking hands with his brother-in-law was owing to the +circumstance that that officer was own uncle to young Mme. Delaherche, +a pretty young widow whom the cloth manufacturer had married the year +previous, and whom Maurice and Henriette, thanks to their being +neighbors, had known as a girl. In addition to the colonel, moreover, +Maurice had discovered that the captain of his company, Beaudoin, was +an acquaintance of Gilberte, Delaherche’s young wife; report even had +it that she and the captain had been on terms of intimacy in the days +when she was Mme. Maginot, living at Mézière, wife of M. Maginot, the +timber inspector. + +“Give Henriette a good kiss for me, Weiss,” said the young man, who +loved his sister passionately. “Tell her that she shall have no reason +to complain of me, that I wish her to be proud of her brother.” + +Tears rose to his eyes at the remembrance of his misdeeds. The +brother-in-law, who was also deeply affected, ended the painful scene +by turning to Honoré Fouchard, the artilleryman. + +“The first time I am anywhere in the neighborhood,” he said, “I will +run up to Remilly and tell Uncle Fouchard that I saw you and that you +are well.” + +Uncle Fouchard, a peasant, who owned a bit of land and plied the trade +of itinerant butcher, serving his customers from a cart, was a brother +of Henriette’s and Maurice’s mother. He lived at Remilly, in a house +perched upon a high hill, about four miles from Sedan. + +“Good!” Honoré calmly answered; “the father don’t worry his head a +great deal on my account, but go there all the same if you feel +inclined.” + +At that moment there was a movement over in the direction of the +farmhouse, and they beheld the straggler, the man who had been arrested +as a spy, come forth, free, accompanied only by a single officer. He +had likely had papers to show, or had trumped up a story of some kind, +for they were simply expelling him from the camp. In the darkening +twilight, and at the distance they were, they could not make him out +distinctly, only a big, square-shouldered fellow with a rough shock of +reddish hair. And yet Maurice gave vent to an exclamation of surprise. + +“Honoré! look there. If one wouldn’t swear he was the Prussian—you +know, Goliah!” + +The name made the artilleryman start as if he had been shot; he +strained his blazing eyes to follow the receding shape. Goliah +Steinberg, the journeyman butcher, the man who had set him and his +father by the ears, who had stolen from him his Silvine; the whole +base, dirty, miserable story, from which he had not yet ceased to +suffer! He would have run after, would have caught him by the throat +and strangled him, but the man had already crossed the line of stacked +muskets, was moving off and vanishing in the darkness. + +“Oh!” he murmured, “Goliah! no, it can’t be he. He is down yonder, +fighting on the other side. If I ever come across him—” + +He shook his fist with an air of menace at the dusky horizon, at the +wide empurpled stretch of eastern sky that stood for Prussia in his +eyes. No one spoke; they heard the strains of retreat again, but very +distant now, away at the extreme end of the camp, blended and lost +among the hum of other indistinguishable sounds. + +“_Fichtre_!” exclaimed Honoré, “I shall have the pleasure of sleeping +on the soft side of a plank in the guard-house unless I make haste back +to roll-call. Good-night—adieu, everybody!” + +And grasping Weiss by both his hands and giving them a hearty squeeze, +he strode swiftly away toward the slight elevation where the guns of +the reserves were parked, without again mentioning his father’s name or +sending any word to Silvine, whose name lay at the end of his tongue. + +The minutes slipped away, and over toward the left, where the 2d +brigade lay, a bugle sounded. Another, near at hand, replied, and then +a third, in the remote distance, took up the strain. Presently there +was a universal blaring, far and near, throughout the camp, whereon +Gaude, the bugler of the company, took up his instrument. He was a +tall, lank, beardless, melancholy youth, chary of his words, saving his +breath for his calls, which he gave conscientiously, with the vigor of +a young hurricane. + +Forthwith Sergeant Sapin, a ceremonious little man with large vague +eyes, stepped forward and began to call the roll. He rattled off the +names in a thin, piping voice, while the men, who had come up and +ranged themselves in front of him, responded in accents of varying +pitch, from the deep rumble of the violoncello to the shrill note of +the piccolo. But there came a hitch in the proceedings. + +“Lapoulle!” shouted the sergeant, calling the name a second time with +increased emphasis. + +There was no response, and Jean rushed off to the place where Private +Lapoulle, egged on by his comrades, was industriously trying to fan the +refractory fuel into a blaze; flat on his stomach before the pile of +blackening, spluttering wood, his face resembling an underdone +beefsteak, the warrior was now propelling dense clouds of smoke +horizontally along the surface of the plain. + +“Thunder and ouns! Quit that, will you!” yelled Jean, “and come and +answer to your name.” + +Lapoulle rose to his feet with a dazed look on his face, then appeared +to grasp the situation and yelled: “Present!” in such stentorian tones +that Loubet, pretending to be upset by the concussion, sank to the +ground in a sitting posture. Pache had finished mending his trousers +and answered in a voice that was barely audible, that sounded more like +the mumbling of a prayer. Chouteau, not even troubling himself to rise, +grunted his answer unconcernedly and turned over on his side. + +Lieutenant Rochas, the officer of the guard, was meantime standing a +few steps away, motionlessly awaiting the conclusion of the ceremony. +When Sergeant Sapin had finished calling the roll and came up to report +that all were present, the officer, with a glance at Weiss, who was +still conversing with Maurice, growled from under his mustache: + +“Yes, and one over. What is that civilian doing here?” + +“He has the colonel’s pass, Lieutenant,” explained Jean, who had heard +the question. + +Rochas made no reply; he shrugged his shoulders disapprovingly and +resumed his round among the company streets while waiting for taps to +sound. Jean, stiff and sore after his day’s march, went and sat down a +little way from Maurice, whose murmured words fell indistinctly upon +his unlistening ear, for he, too, had vague, half formed reflections of +his own that were stirring sluggishly in the recesses of his muddy, +torpid mind. + +Maurice was a believer in war in the abstract; he considered it one of +the necessary evils, essential to the very existence of nations. This +was nothing more than the logical sequence of his course in embracing +those theories of evolution which in those days exercised such a potent +influence on our young men of intelligence and education. Is not life +itself an unending battle? Does not all nature owe its being to a +series of relentless conflicts, the survival of the fittest, the +maintenance and renewal of force by unceasing activity; is not death a +necessary condition to young and vigorous life? And he remembered the +sensation of gladness that had filled his heart when first the thought +occurred to him that he might expiate his errors by enlisting and +defending his country on the frontier. It might be that France of the +plebiscite, while giving itself over to the Emperor, had not desired +war; he himself, only a week previously, had declared it to be a +culpable and idiotic measure. There were long discussions concerning +the right of a German prince to occupy the throne of Spain; as the +question gradually became more and more intricate and muddled it seemed +as if everyone must be wrong, no one right; so that it was impossible +to tell from which side the provocation came, and the only part of the +entire business that was clear to the eyes of all was the inevitable, +the fatal law which at a given moment hurls nation against nation. Then +Paris was convulsed from center to circumference; he remembered that +burning summer’s night, the tossing, struggling human tide that filled +the boulevards, the bands of men brandishing torches before the Hôtel +de Ville, and yelling: “On to Berlin! on to Berlin!” and he seemed to +hear the strains of the Marseillaise, sung by a beautiful, stately +woman with the face of a queen, wrapped in the folds of a flag, from +her elevation on the box of a coach. Was it all a lie, was it true that +the heart of Paris had not beaten then? And then, as was always the +case with him, that condition of nervous excitation had been succeeded +by long hours of doubt and disgust; there were all the small annoyances +of the soldier’s life; his arrival at the barracks, his examination by +the adjutant, the fitting of his uniform by the gruff sergeant, the +malodorous bedroom with its fetid air and filthy floor, the horseplay +and coarse language of his new comrades, the merciless drill that +stiffened his limbs and benumbed his brain. In a week’s time, however, +he had conquered his first squeamishness, and from that time forth was +comparatively contented with his lot; and when the regiment was at last +ordered forward to Belfort the fever of enthusiasm had again taken +possession of him. + +For the first few days after they took the field Maurice was convinced +that their success was absolutely certain. The Emperor’s plan appeared +to him perfectly clear: he would advance four hundred thousand men to +the left bank of the Rhine, pass the river before the Prussians had +completed their preparations, separate northern and southern Germany by +a vigorous inroad, and by means of a brilliant victory or two compel +Austria and Italy to join hands immediately with France. Had there not +been a short-lived rumor that that 7th corps of which his regiment +formed a part was to be embarked at Brest and landed in Denmark, where +it would create a diversion that would serve to neutralize one of the +Prussian armies? They would be taken by surprise; the arrogant nation +would be overrun in every direction and crushed utterly within a few +brief weeks. It would be a military picnic, a holiday excursion from +Strasbourg to Berlin. While they were lying inactive at Belfort, +however, his former doubts and fears returned to him. To the 7th corps +had been assigned the duty of guarding the entrance to the Black +Forest; it had reached its position in a state of confusion that +exceeded imagination, deficient in men, material, everything. The 3d +division was in Italy; the 2d cavalry brigade had been halted at Lyons +to check a threatened rising among the people there, and three +batteries had straggled off in some direction—where, no one could say. +Then their destitution in the way of stores and supplies was something +wonderful; the depots at Belfort, which were to have furnished +everything, were empty; not a sign of a tent, no mess-kettles, no +flannel belts, no hospital supplies, no farriers’ forges, not even a +horse-shackle. The quartermaster’s and medical departments were without +trained assistants. At the very last moment it was discovered that +thirty thousand rifles were practically useless owing to the absence of +some small pin or other interchangeable mechanism about the +breech-blocks, and the officer who posted off in hot haste to Paris +succeeded with the greatest difficulty in securing five thousand of the +missing implements. Their inactivity, again, was another matter that +kept him on pins and needles; why did they idle away their time for two +weeks? why did they not advance? He saw clearly that each day of delay +was a mistake that could never be repaired, a chance of victory gone. +And if the plan of campaign that he had dreamed of was clear and +precise, its manner of execution was most lame and impotent, a fact of +which he was to learn a great deal more later on and of which he had +then only a faint and glimmering perception: the seven army corps +dispersed along the extended frontier line _en échelon_, from Metz to +Bitche and from Bitche to Belfort; the many regiments and squadrons +that had been recruited up to only half-strength or less, so that the +four hundred and thirty thousand men on paper melted away to two +hundred and thirty thousand at the outside; the jealousies among the +generals, each of whom thought only of securing for himself a marshal’s +baton, and gave no care to supporting his neighbor; the frightful lack +of foresight, mobilization and concentration being carried on +simultaneously in order to gain time, a process that resulted in +confusion worse confounded; a system, in a word, of dry rot and slow +paralysis, which, commencing with the head, with the Emperor himself, +shattered in health and lacking in promptness of decision, could not +fail ultimately to communicate itself to the whole army, disorganizing +it and annihilating its efficiency, leading it into disaster from which +it had not the means of extricating itself. And yet, over and above the +dull misery of that period of waiting, in the intuitive, shuddering +perception of what must infallibly happen, his certainty that they must +be victors in the end remained unimpaired. + +On the 3d of August the cheerful news had been given to the public of +the victory of Sarrebruck, fought and won the day before. It could +scarcely be called a great victory, but the columns of the newspapers +teemed with enthusiastic gush; the invasion of Germany was begun, it +was the first step in their glorious march to triumph, and the little +Prince Imperial, who had coolly stooped and picked up a bullet from the +battlefield, then commenced to be celebrated in legend. Two days later, +however, when intelligence came of the surprise and defeat at +Wissembourg, every mouth was opened to emit a cry of rage and distress. +That five thousand men, caught in a trap, had faced thirty-five +thousand Prussians all one long summer day, that was not a circumstance +to daunt the courage of anyone; it simply called for vengeance. Yes, +the leaders had doubtless been culpably lacking in vigilance and were +to be censured for their want of foresight, but that would soon be +mended; MacMahon had sent for the 1st division of the 7th corps, the +1st corps would be supported by the 5th, and the Prussians must be +across the Rhine again by that time, with the bayonets of our infantry +at their backs to accelerate their movement. And so, beneath the deep, +dim vault of heaven, the thought of the battle that must have raged +that day, the feverish impatience with which the tidings were awaited, +the horrible feeling of suspense that pervaded the air about them, +spread from man to man and became each minute more tense and +unendurable. + +Maurice was just then saying to Weiss: + +“Ah! we have certainly given them a righteous good drubbing to-day.” + +Weiss made no reply save to nod his head with an air of anxiety. His +gaze was directed toward the Rhine, on that Orient region where now the +night had settled down in earnest, like a wall of blackness, concealing +strange forms and shapes of mystery. The concluding strains of the +bugles for roll-call had been succeeded by a deep silence, which had +descended upon the drowsy camp and was only broken now and then by the +steps and voices of some wakeful soldiers. A light had been lit—it +looked like a twinkling star—in the main room of the farmhouse where +the staff, which is supposed never to sleep, was awaiting the telegrams +that came in occasionally, though as yet they were undecided. And the +green wood fire, now finally left to itself, was still emitting its +funereal wreaths of dense black smoke, which drifted in the gentle +breeze over the unsleeping farmhouse, obscuring the early stars in the +heavens above. + +“A drubbing!” Weiss at last replied, “God grant it may be so!” + +Jean, still seated a few steps away, pricked up his ears, while +Lieutenant Rochas, noticing that the wish was attended by a doubt, +stopped to listen. + +“What!” Maurice rejoined, “have you not confidence? can you believe +that defeat is possible?” + +His brother-in-law silenced him with a gesture; his hands were +trembling with agitation, his kindly pleasant face was pale and bore an +expression of deep distress. + +“Defeat, ah! Heaven preserve us from that! You know that I was born in +this country; my grandfather and grandmother were murdered by the +Cossacks in 1814, and whenever I think of invasion it makes me clench +my fist and grit my teeth; I could go through fire and flood, like a +trooper, in my shirt sleeves! Defeat—no, no! I cannot, I will not +believe it possible.” + +He became calmer, allowing his arms to fall by his side in +discouragement. + +“But my mind is not easy, do you see. I know Alsace; I was born there; +I am just off a business trip through the country, and we civilians +have opportunities of seeing many things that the generals persist in +ignoring, although they have them thrust beneath their very eyes. Ah, +_we_ wanted war with Prussia as badly as anyone; for a long, long time +we have been waiting patiently for a chance to pay off old scores, but +that did not prevent us from being on neighborly terms with the people +in Baden and Bavaria; every one of us, almost, has friends or relatives +across the Rhine. It was our belief that they felt like us and would +not be sorry to humble the intolerable insolence of the Prussians. And +now, after our long period of uncomplaining expectation, for the past +two weeks we have seen things going from bad to worse, and it vexes and +terrifies us. Since the declaration of war the enemy’s horse have been +suffered to come among us, terrorizing the villages, reconnoitering the +country, cutting the telegraph wires. Baden and Bavaria are rising; +immense bodies of troops are being concentrated in the Palatinate; +information reaches us from every quarter, from the great fairs and +markets, that our frontier is threatened, and when the citizens, the +mayors of the communes, take the alarm at last and hurry off to tell +your officers what they know, those gentlemen shrug their shoulders and +reply: Those things spring from the imagination of cowards; there is no +enemy near here. And when there is not an hour to lose, days and days +are wasted. What are they waiting for? To give the whole German nation +time to concentrate on the other bank of the river?” + +His words were uttered in a low, mournful, voice, as if he were +reciting to himself a story that had long occupied his thoughts. + +“Ah! Germany, I know her too well; and the terrible part of the +business is that you soldiers seem to know no more about her than you +do about China. You must remember my cousin Gunther, Maurice, the young +man, who came to pay me a flying visit at Sedan last spring. His mother +is a sister of my mother, and married a Berliner; the young man is a +German out and out; he detests everything French. He is a captain in +the 5th Prussian corps. I accompanied him to the railway station that +night, and he said to me in his sharp, peremptory way: ‘If France +declares war on us, she will be soundly whipped!’ I can hear his words +ringing in my ears yet.” + +Forthwith, Lieutenant Rochas, who had managed to contain himself until +then, not without some difficulty, stepped forward in a towering rage. +He was a tall, lean individual of about fifty, with a long, +weather-beaten, and wrinkled face; his inordinately long nose, curved +like the beak of a bird of prey, over a strong but well-shaped mouth, +concealed by a thick, bristling mustache that was beginning to be +touched with silver. And he shouted in a voice of thunder: + +“See here, you, sir! what yarns are those that you are retailing to +dishearten my men?” + +Jean did not interfere with his opinion, but he thought that the last +speaker was right, for he, too, while beginning to be conscious of the +protracted delay, and the general confusion in their affairs, had never +had the slightest doubt about that terrible thrashing they were certain +to give the Prussians. There could be no question about the matter, for +was not that the reason of their being there? + +“But I am not trying to dishearten anyone, Lieutenant,” Weiss answered +in astonishment. “Quite the reverse; I am desirous that others should +know what I know, because then they will be able to act with their eyes +open. Look here! that Germany of which we were speaking—” + +And he went on in his clear, demonstrative way to explain the reason of +his fears: how Prussia had increased her resources since Sadowa; how +the national movement had placed her at the head of the other German +states, a mighty empire in process of formation and rejuvenation, with +the constant hope and desire for unity as the incentive to their +irresistible efforts; the system of compulsory military service, which +made them a nation of trained soldiers, provided with the most +effective arms of modern invention, with generals who were masters in +the art of strategy, proudly mindful still of the crushing defeat they +had administered to Austria; the intelligence, the moral force that +resided in that army, commanded as it was almost exclusively by young +generals, who in turn looked up to a commander-in-chief who seemed +destined to revolutionize the art of war, whose prudence and foresight +were unparalleled, whose correctness of judgment was a thing to wonder +at. And in contrast to that picture of Germany he pointed to France: +the Empire sinking into senile decrepitude, sanctioned by the +plebiscite, but rotten at its foundation, destroying liberty, and +therein stifling every idea of patriotism, ready to give up the ghost +as soon as it should cease to satisfy the unworthy appetites to which +it had given birth; then there was the army, brave, it was true, as was +to be expected from men of their race, and covered with Crimean and +Italian laurels, but vitiated by the system that permitted men to +purchase substitutes for a money consideration, abandoned to the +antiquated methods of African routine, too confident of victory to keep +abreast with the more perfect science of modern times; and, finally, +the generals, men for the most part not above mediocrity, consumed by +petty rivalries, some of them of an ignorance beyond all belief, and at +their head the Emperor, an ailing, vacillating man, deceiving himself +and everyone with whom he had dealings in that desperate venture on +which they were embarking, into which they were all rushing blindfold, +with no preparation worthy of the name, with the panic and confusion of +a flock of sheep on its way to the shambles. + +Rochas stood listening, open-mouthed, and with staring eyes; his +terrible nose dilated visibly. Then suddenly his lantern jaws parted to +emit an obstreperous, Homeric peal of laughter. + +“What are you giving us there, you? what do you mean by all that silly +lingo? Why, there is not the first word of sense in your whole +harangue—it is too idiotic to deserve an answer. Go and tell those +things to the recruits, but don’t tell them to me; no! not to me, who +have seen twenty-seven years of service.” + +And he gave himself a thump on the breast with his doubled fist. He was +the son of a master mason who had come from Limousin to Paris, where +the son, not taking kindly to the paternal handicraft, had enlisted at +the age of eighteen. He had been a soldier of fortune and had carried +the knapsack, was corporal in Africa, sergeant in the Crimea, and after +Solferino had been made lieutenant, having devoted fifteen years of +laborious toil and heroic bravery to obtaining that rank, and was so +illiterate that he had no chance of ever getting his captaincy. + +“You, sir, who think you know everything, let me tell you a thing you +don’t know. Yes, at Mazagran I was scarce nineteen years old, and there +were twenty-three of us, not a living soul more, and for more than four +days we held out against twelve thousand Arabs. Yes, indeed! for years +and years, if you had only been with us out there in Africa, sir, at +Mascara, at Biskra, at Dellys, after that in Grand Kabylia, after that +again at Laghouat, you would have seen those dirty niggers run like +deer as soon as we showed our faces. And at Sebastopol, sir, _fichtre_! +you wouldn’t have said it was the pleasantest place in the world. The +wind blew fit to take a man’s hair out by the roots, it was cold enough +to freeze a brass monkey, and those beggars kept us on a continual +dance with their feints and sorties. Never mind; we made them dance in +the end; we danced them into the big hot frying pan, and to quick +music, too! And Solferino, you were not there, sir! then why do you +speak of it? Yes, at Solferino, where it was so hot, although I suppose +more rain fell there that day than you have seen in your whole life, at +Solferino, where we had our little brush with the Austrians, it would +have warmed your heart to see how they vanished before our bayonets, +riding one another down in their haste to get away from us, as if their +coat tails were on fire!” + +He laughed the gay, ringing laugh of the daredevil French soldier; he +seemed to expand and dilate with satisfaction. It was the old story: +the French trooper going about the world with his girl on his arm and a +glass of good wine in his hand; thrones upset and kingdoms conquered in +the singing of a merry song. Given a corporal and four men, and great +armies would bite the dust. His voice suddenly sank to a low, rumbling +bass: + +“What! whip France? We, whipped by those Prussian pigs, we!” He came up +to Weiss and grasped him violently by the lapel of his coat. His entire +long frame, lean as that of the immortal Knight Errant, seemed to +breathe defiance and unmitigated contempt for the foe, whoever he might +be, regardless of time, place, or any other circumstance. “Listen to +what I tell you, sir. If the Prussians dare to show their faces here, +we will kick them home again. You hear me? we will kick them from here +to Berlin.” His bearing and manner were superb; the serene tranquillity +of the child, the candid conviction of the innocent who knows nothing +and fears nothing. “_Parbleu_! it is so, because it is so, and that’s +all there is about it!” + +Weiss, stunned and almost convinced, made haste to declare that he +wished for nothing better. As for Maurice, who had prudently held his +tongue, not venturing to express an opinion in presence of his superior +officer, he concluded by joining in the other’s merriment; he warmed +the cockles of his heart, that devil of a man, whom he nevertheless +considered rather stupid. Jean, too, had nodded his approval at every +one of the lieutenant’s assertions. He had also been at Solferino, +where it rained so hard. And that showed what it was to have a tongue +in one’s head and know how to use it. If all the leaders had talked +like that they would not be in such a mess, and there would be +camp-kettles and flannel belts in abundance. + +It was quite dark by this time, and Rochas continued to gesticulate and +brandish his long arms in the obscurity. His historical studies had +been confined to a stray volume of Napoleonic memoirs that had found +its way to his knapsack from a peddler’s wagon. His excitement refused +to be pacified and all his book-learning burst from his lips in a +torrent of eloquence: + +“We flogged the Austrians at Castiglione, at Marengo, at Austerlitz, at +Wagram; we flogged the Prussians at Eylau, at Jena, at Lutzen; we +flogged the Russians at Friedland, at Smolensk and at the Moskowa; we +flogged Spain and England everywhere; all creation flogged, flogged, +flogged, up and down, far and near, at home and abroad, and now you +tell me that it is we who are to take the flogging! Why, pray tell me? +How? Is the world coming to an end?” He drew his tall form up higher +still and raised his arm aloft, like the staff of a battle-flag. “Look +you, there has been a fight to-day, down yonder, and we are waiting for +the news. Well! I will tell you what the news is—I will tell you, I! We +have flogged the Prussians, flogged them until they didn’t know whether +they were a-foot or a-horseback, flogged them to powder, so that they +had to be swept up in small pieces!” + +At that moment there passed over the camp, beneath the somber heavens, +a loud, wailing cry. Was it the plaint of some nocturnal bird? Or was +it a mysterious voice, reaching them from some far-distant field of +carnage, ominous of disaster? The whole camp shuddered, lying there in +the shadows, and the strained, tense sensation of expectant anxiety +that hung, miasma-like, in the air became more strained, more feverish, +as they waited for telegrams that seemed as if they would never come. +In the distance, at the farmhouse, the candle that lighted the dreary +watches of the staff burned up more brightly, with an erect, +unflickering flame, as if it had been of wax instead of tallow. + +But it was ten o’clock, and Gaude, rising to his feet from the ground +where he had been lost in the darkness, sounded taps, the first in all +the camp. Other bugles, far and near, took up the strain, and it passed +away in the distance with a dying, melancholy wail, as if the angel of +slumber had already brushed with his wings the weary men. And Weiss, +who had lingered there so late, embraced Maurice affectionately; +courage, and hope! he would kiss Henriette for her brother and would +have many things to tell uncle Fouchard when they met. Then, just as he +was turning to go, a rumor began to circulate, accompanied by the +wildest excitement. A great victory had been won by Marshal MacMahon, +so the report ran; the Crown Prince of Prussia a prisoner, with +twenty-five thousand men, the enemy’s army repulsed and utterly +destroyed, its guns and baggage abandoned to the victors. + +“Didn’t I tell you so!” shouted Rochas, in his most thundering voice. +Then, running after Weiss, who, light of heart, was hastening to get +back to Mülhausen: “To Berlin, sir, and we’ll kick them every step of +the way!” + +A quarter of an hour later came another dispatch, announcing that the +army had been compelled to evacuate Woerth and was retreating. Ah, what +a night was that! Rochas, overpowered by sleep, wrapped his cloak about +him, threw himself down on the bare ground, as he had done many a time +before. Maurice and Jean sought the shelter of the tent, into which +were crowded, a confused tangle of arms and legs, Loubet, Chouteau, +Pache, and Lapoulle, their heads resting on their knapsacks. There was +room for six, provided they were careful how they disposed of their +legs. Loubet, by way of diverting his comrades and making them forget +their hunger, had labored for some time to convince Lapoulle that there +was to be a ration of poultry issued the next morning, but they were +too sleepy to keep up the joke; they were snoring, and the Prussians +might come, it was all one to them. Jean lay for a moment without +stirring, pressing close against Maurice; notwithstanding his fatigue +he was unable to sleep; he could not help thinking of the things that +gentleman had said, how all Germany was up in arms and preparing to +pour her devastating hordes across the Rhine; and he felt that his +tent-mate was not sleeping, either—was thinking of the same things as +he. Then the latter turned over impatiently and moved away, and the +other understood that his presence was not agreeable. There was a lack +of sympathy between the peasant and the man of culture, an enmity of +caste and education that amounted almost to physical aversion. The +former, however, experienced a sensation of shame and sadness at this +condition of affairs; he shrinkingly drew in his limbs so as to occupy +as small a space as possible, endeavoring to escape from the hostile +scorn that he was vaguely conscious of in his neighbor. But although +the night wind without had blown up chill, the crowded tent was so +stifling hot and close that Maurice, in a fever of exasperation, raised +the flap, darted out, and went and stretched himself on the ground a +few steps away. That made Jean still more unhappy, and in his +half-sleeping, half-waking condition he had troubled dreams, made up of +a regretful feeling that no one cared for him, and a vague apprehension +of impending calamity of which he seemed to hear the steps approaching +with measured tread from the shadowy, mysterious depths of the unknown. + +Two hours passed, and all the camp lay lifeless, motionless under the +oppression of the deep, weird darkness, that was instinct with some +dreadful horror as yet without a name. Out of the sea of blackness came +stifled sighs and moans; from an invisible tent was heard something +that sounded like the groan of a dying man, the fitful dream of some +tired soldier. Then there were other sounds that to the strained ear +lost their familiarity and became menaces of approaching evil; the +neighing of a charger, the clank of a sword, the hurrying steps of some +belated prowler. And all at once, off toward the canteens, a great +light flamed up. The entire front was brilliantly illuminated; the +long, regularly aligned array of stacks stood out against the darkness, +and the ruddy blaze, reflected from the burnished barrels of the +rifles, assumed the hue of new-shed blood; the erect, stern figures of +the sentries became visible in the fiery glow. Could it be the enemy, +whose presence the leaders had been talking of for the past two days, +and on whose trail they had come out from Belfort to Mülhausen? Then a +shower of sparks rose high in the air and the conflagration subsided. +It was only the pile of green wood that had been so long the object of +Loubet’s and Lapoulle’s care, and which, after having smoldered for +many hours, had at last flashed up like a fire of straw. + +Jean, alarmed by the vivid light, hastily left the tent and was near +falling over Maurice, who had raised himself on his elbow. The darkness +seemed by contrast more opaque than it had been before, and the two men +lay stretched on the bare ground, a few paces from each other. All that +they could descry before them in the dense shadows of the night was the +window of the farm-house, faintly illuminated by the dim candle, which +shone with a sinister gleam, as if it were doing duty by the bedside of +a corpse. What time was it? two o’clock, or three, perhaps. It was +plain that the staff had not made acquaintance with their beds that +night. They could hear Bourgain-Desfeuilles’ loud, disputatious voice; +the general was furious that his rest should be broken thus, and it +required many cigars and toddies to pacify him. More telegrams came in; +things must be going badly; silhouettes of couriers, faintly drawn +against the uncertain sky line, could be descried, galloping madly. +There was the sound of scuffling steps, imprecations, a smothered cry +as of a man suddenly stricken down, followed by a blood-freezing +silence. What could it be? Was it the end? A breath, chill and icy as +that from the lips of death, had passed over the camp that lay lost in +slumber and agonized expectation. + +It was at that moment that Jean and Maurice recognized in the tall, +thin, spectral form that passed swiftly by, their colonel, de Vineuil. +He was accompanied by the regimental surgeon, Major Bouroche, a large +man with a leonine face They were conversing in broken, unfinished +sentences, whisperingly, such a conversation as we sometimes hear in +dreams. + +“It came by the way of Basle. Our 1st division all cut to pieces. The +battle lasted twelve hours; the whole army is retreating—” + +The colonel’s specter halted and called by name another specter, which +came lightly forward; it was an elegant ghost, faultless in uniform and +equipment. + +“Is that you, Beaudoin?” + +“Yes, Colonel.” + +“Ah! bad news, my friend, terrible news! MacMahon beaten at +Froeschwiller, Frossard beaten at Spickeren, and between them de +Failly, held in check where he could give no assistance. At +Froeschwiller it was a single corps against an entire army; they fought +like heroes. It was a complete rout, a panic, and now France lies open +to their advance—” + +His tears choked further utterance, the words came from his lips +unintelligible, and the three shadows vanished, swallowed up in the +obscurity. + +Maurice rose to his feet; a shudder ran through his frame. + +“Good God!” he stammeringly exclaimed. + +And he could think of nothing else to say, while Jean, in whose bones +the very marrow seemed to be congealing, murmured in his resigned +manner: + +“Ah, worse luck! The gentleman, that relative of yours, was right all +the same in saying that they are stronger than we.” + +Maurice was beside himself, could have strangled him. The Prussians +stronger than the French! The thought made his blood boil. The peasant +calmly and stubbornly added: + +“That don’t matter, mind you. A man don’t give up whipped at the first +knock-down he gets. We shall have to keep hammering away at them all +the same.” + +But a tall figure arose before them. They recognized Rochas, still +wrapped in his long mantle, whom the fugitive sounds about him, or it +may have been the intuition of disaster, had awakened from his uneasy +slumber. He questioned them, insisted on knowing all. When he was +finally brought, with much difficulty, to see how matters stood, +stupor, immense and profound, filled his boyish, inexpressive eyes. +More than ten times in succession he repeated: + +“Beaten! How beaten? Why beaten?” + +And that was the calamity that had lain hidden in the blackness of that +night of agony. And now the pale dawn was appearing at the portals of +the east, heralding a day heavy with bitterest sorrow and striking +white upon the silent tents, in one of which began to be visible the +ashy faces of Loubet and Lapoulle, of Chouteau and of Pache, who were +snoring still with wide-open mouths. Forth from the thin mists that +were slowly creeping upward from the river off yonder in the distance +came the new day, bringing with it mourning and affliction. + + + + +II. + + +About eight o’clock the sun dispersed the heavy clouds, and the broad, +fertile plain about Mülhausen lay basking in the warm, bright light of +a perfect August Sunday. From the camp, now awake and bustling with +life, could be heard the bells of the neighboring parishes, pealing +merrily in the limpid air. The cheerful Sunday following so close on +ruin and defeat had its own gayety, its sky was as serene as on a +holiday. + +Gaude suddenly took his bugle and gave the call that announced the +distribution of rations, whereat Loubet appeared astonished. What was +it? What did it mean? Were they going to give out chickens, as he had +promised Lapoulle the night before? He had been born in the Halles, in +the Rue de la Cossonerie, was the unacknowledged son of a small +huckster, had enlisted “for the money there was in it,” as he said, +after having been a sort of Jack-of-all-trades, and was now the +gourmand, the epicure of the company, continually nosing after +something good to eat. But he went off to see what was going on, while +Chouteau, the company artist, house-painter by trade at Belleville, +something of a dandy and a revolutionary republican, exasperated +against the government for having called him back to the colors after +he had served his time, was cruelly chaffing Pache, whom he had +discovered on his knees, behind the tent, preparing to say his prayers. +There was a pious man for you! Couldn’t he oblige him, Chouteau, by +interceding with God to give him a hundred thousand francs or some such +small trifle? But Pache, an insignificant little fellow with a head +running up to a point, who had come to them from some hamlet in the +wilds of Picardy, received the other’s raillery with the uncomplaining +gentleness of a martyr. He was the butt of the squad, he and Lapoulle, +the colossal brute who had got his growth in the marshes of the +Sologne, so utterly ignorant of everything that on the day of his +joining the regiment he had asked his comrades to show him the King. +And although the terrible tidings of the disaster at Froeschwiller had +been known throughout the camp since early morning, the four men +laughed, joked, and went about their usual tasks with the indifference +of so many machines. + +But there arose a murmur of pleased surprise. It was occasioned by +Jean, the corporal, coming back from the commissary’s, accompanied by +Maurice, with a load of firewood. So, they were giving out wood at +last, the lack of which the night before had deprived the men of their +soup! Twelve hours behind time, only! + +“Hurrah for the commissary!” shouted Chouteau. + +“Never mind, so long as it is here,” said Loubet. “Ah! won’t I make you +a bully _pot-au-feu_!” + +He was usually quite willing to take charge of the mess arrangements, +and no one was inclined to say him nay, for he cooked like an angel. On +those occasions, however, Lapoulle would be given the most +extraordinary commissions to execute. + +“Go and look after the champagne—Go out and buy some truffles—” + +On that morning a queer conceit flashed across his mind, such a conceit +as only a Parisian _gamin_ contemplating the mystification of a +greenhorn is capable of entertaining: + +“Look alive there, will you! Come, hand me the chicken.” + +“The chicken! what chicken, where?” + +“Why, there on the ground at your feet, stupid; the chicken that I +promised you last night, and that the corporal has just brought in.” + +He pointed to a large, white, round stone, and Lapoulle, speechless +with wonder, finally picked it up and turned it about between his +fingers. + +“A thousand thunders! Will you wash the chicken! More yet; wash its +claws, wash its neck! Don’t be afraid of the water, lazybones!” + +And for no reason at all except the joke of it, because the prospect of +the soup made him gay and sportive, he tossed the stone along with the +meat into the kettle filled with water. + +“That’s what will give the bouillon a flavor! Ah, you didn’t know that, +_sacrée andouille_! You shall have the pope’s nose; you’ll see how +tender it is.” + +The squad roared with laughter at sight of Lapoulle’s face, who +swallowed everything and was licking his chops in anticipation of the +feast. That funny dog, Loubet, he was the man to cure one of the dumps +if anybody could! And when the fire began to crackle in the sunlight, +and the kettle commenced to hum and bubble, they ranged themselves +reverently about it in a circle with an expression of cheerful +satisfaction on their faces, watching the meat as it danced up and down +and sniffing the appetizing odor that it exhaled. They were as hungry +as a pack of wolves, and the prospect of a square meal made them +forgetful of all beside. They had had to take a thrashing, but that was +no reason why a man should not fill his stomach. Fires were blazing and +pots were boiling from one end of the camp to the other, and amid the +silvery peals of the bells that floated from Mülhausen steeples mirth +and jollity reigned supreme. + +But just as the clocks were on the point of striking nine a commotion +arose and spread among the men; officers came running up, and +Lieutenant Rochas, to whom Captain Beaudoin had come and communicated +an order, passed along in front of the tents of his platoon and gave +the command: + +“Pack everything! Get yourselves ready to march!” + +“But the soup?” + +“You will have to wait for your soup until some other day; we are to +march at once.” + +Gaude’s bugle rang out in imperious accents. Then everywhere was +consternation; dumb, deep rage was depicted on every countenance. What, +march on an empty stomach! Could they not wait a little hour until the +soup was ready! The squad resolved that their bouillon should not go to +waste, but it was only so much hot water, and the uncooked meat was +like leather to their teeth. Chouteau growled and grumbled, almost +mutinously. Jean had to exert all his authority to make the men hasten +their preparations. What was the great urgency that made it necessary +for them to hurry off like that? What good was there in hazing people +about in that style, without giving them time to regain their strength? +And Maurice shrugged his shoulders incredulously when someone said in +his hearing that they were about to march against the Prussians and +settle old scores with them. In less than fifteen minutes the tents +were struck, folded, and strapped upon the knapsacks, the stacks were +broken, and all that remained of the camp was the dying embers of the +fires on the bare ground. + +There were reasons, of importance that had induced General Douay’s +determination to retreat immediately. The despatch from the +_sous-préfet_ at Schelestadt, now three days old, was confirmed; there +were telegrams that the fires of the Prussians, threatening +Markolsheim, had again been seen, and again, another telegram informed +them that one of the enemy’s army corps was crossing the Rhine at +Huningue: the intelligence was definite and abundant; cavalry and +artillery had been sighted in force, infantry had been seen, hastening +from every direction to their point of concentration. Should they wait +an hour the enemy would surely be in their rear and retreat on Belfort +would be impossible. And now, in the shock consequent on defeat, after +Wissembourg and Froeschwiller, the general, feeling himself unsupported +in his exposed position at the front, had nothing left to do but fall +back in haste, and the more so that what news he had received that +morning made the situation look even worse than it had appeared the +night before. + +The staff had gone on ahead at a sharp trot, spurring their horses in +the fear lest the Prussians might get into Altkirch before them. +General Bourgain-Desfeuilles, aware that he had a hard day’s work +before him, had prudently taken Mülhausen in his way, where he +fortified himself with a copious breakfast, denouncing in language more +forcible than elegant such hurried movements. And Mülhausen watched +with sorrowful eyes the officers trooping through her streets; as the +news of the retreat spread the citizens streamed out of their houses, +deploring the sudden departure of the army for whose coming they had +prayed so earnestly: they were to be abandoned, then, and all the +costly merchandise that was stacked up in the railway station was to +become the spoil of the enemy; within a few hours their pretty city was +to be in the hands of foreigners? The inhabitants of the villages, too, +and of isolated houses, as the staff clattered along the country roads, +planted themselves before their doors with wonder and consternation +depicted on their faces. What! that army, that a short while before +they had seen marching forth to battle, was now retiring without having +fired a shot? The leaders were gloomy, urged their chargers forward and +refused to answer questions, as if ruin and disaster were galloping at +their heels. It was true, then, that the Prussians had annihilated the +army and were streaming into France from every direction, like the +angry waves of a stream that had burst its barriers? And already to the +frightened peasants the air seemed filled with the muttering of distant +invasion, rising louder and more threatening at every instant, and +already they were beginning to forsake their little homes and huddle +their poor belongings into farm-carts; entire families might be seen +fleeing in single file along the roads that were choked with the +retreating cavalry. + +In the hurry and confusion of the movement the 106th was brought to a +halt at the very first kilometer of their march, near the bridge over +the canal of the Rhone and Rhine. The order of march had been badly +planned and still more badly executed, so that the entire 2d division +was collected there in a huddle, and the way was so narrow, barely more +than sixteen feet in width, that the passage of the troops was +obstructed. + +Two hours elapsed, and still the 106th stood there watching the +seemingly endless column that streamed along before their eyes. In the +end the men, standing at rest with ordered arms, began to become +impatient. Jean’s squad, whose position happened to be opposite a break +in the line of poplars where the sun had a fair chance at them, felt +themselves particularly aggrieved. + +“Guess we must be the rear-guard,” Loubet observed with good-natured +raillery. + +But Chouteau scolded: “They don’t value us at a brass farthing, and +that’s why they let us wait this way. We were here first; why didn’t we +take the road while it was empty?” + +And as they began to discern more clearly beyond the canal, across the +wide fertile plain, along the level roads lined with hop-poles and +fields of ripening grain, the movement of the troops retiring along the +same way by which they had advanced but yesterday, gibes and jeers rose +on the air in a storm of angry ridicule. + +“Ah, we are taking the back track,” Chouteau continued. “I wonder if +that is the advance against the enemy that they have been dinning in +our ears of late! Strikes me as rather queer! No sooner do we get into +camp than we turn tail and make off, never even stopping to taste our +soup.” + +The derisive laughter became louder, and Maurice, who was next to +Chouteau in the ranks, took sides with him. Why could they not have +been allowed to cook their soup and eat it in peace, since they had +done nothing for the last two hours but stand there in the road like so +many sticks? Their hunger was making itself felt again; they had a +resentful recollection of the savory contents of the kettle dumped out +prematurely upon the ground, and they could see no necessity for this +headlong retrograde movement, which appeared to them idiotic and +cowardly. What chicken-livers they must be, those generals! + +But Lieutenant Rochas came along and blew up Sergeant Sapin for not +keeping his men in better order, and Captain Beaudoin, very prim and +starchy, attracted by the disturbance, appeared upon the scene. + +“Silence in the ranks!” + +Jean, an old soldier of the army of Italy who knew what discipline was, +looked in silent amazement at Maurice, who appeared to be amused by +Chouteau’s angry sneers; and he wondered how it was that a _monsieur_, +a young man of his acquirements, could listen approvingly to +things—they might be true, all the same—but that should not be blurted +out in public. The army would never accomplish much, that was certain, +if the privates were to take to criticizing the generals and giving +their opinions. + +At last, after another hour’s waiting, the order was given for the +106th to advance, but the bridge was still so encumbered by the rear of +the division that the greatest confusion prevailed. Several regiments +became inextricably mingled, and whole companies were swept away and +compelled to cross whether they would or no, while others, crowded off +to the side of the road, had to stand there and mark time; and by way +of putting the finishing touch to the muddle; a squadron of cavalry +insisted on passing, pressing back into the adjoining fields the +stragglers that the infantry had scattered along the roadside. At the +end of an hour’s march the column had entirely lost its formation and +was dragging its slow length along, a mere disorderly rabble. + +Thus it happened that Jean found himself away at the rear, lost in a +sunken road, together with his squad, whom he had been unwilling to +abandon. The 106th had disappeared, nor was there a man or an officer +of their company in sight. About them were soldiers, singly or in +little groups, from all the regiments, a weary, foot-sore crew, knocked +up at the beginning of the retreat, each man straggling on at his own +sweet will whithersoever the path that he was on might chance to lead +him. The sun beat down fiercely, the heat was stifling, and the +knapsack, loaded as it was with the tent and implements of every +description, made a terrible burden on the shoulders of the exhausted +men. To many of them the experience was an entirely new one, and the +heavy great-coats they wore seemed to them like vestments of lead. The +first to set an example for the others was a little pale faced soldier +with watery eyes; he drew beside the road and let his knapsack slide +off into the ditch, heaving a deep sigh as he did so, the long drawn +breath of a dying man who feels himself coming back to life. + +“There’s a man who knows what he is about,” muttered Chouteau. + +He still continued to plod along, however, his back bending beneath its +weary burden, but when he saw two others relieve themselves as the +first had done he could stand it no longer. “Ah! _zut_!” he exclaimed, +and with a quick upward jerk of the shoulder sent his kit rolling down +an embankment. Fifty pounds at the end of his backbone, he had had +enough of it, thank you! He was no beast of burden to lug that load +about. + +Almost at the same moment Loubet followed his lead and incited Lapoulle +to do the same. Pache, who had made the sign of the cross at every +stone crucifix they came to, unbuckled the straps and carefully +deposited his load at the foot of a low wall, as if fully intending to +come back for it at some future time. And when Jean turned his head for +a look at his men he saw that every one of them had dropped his burden +except Maurice. + +“Take up your knapsacks unless you want to have me put under arrest!” + +But the men, although they did not mutiny as yet, were silent and +looked ugly; they kept advancing along the narrow road, pushing the +corporal before them. + +“Will you take up your knapsacks! if you don’t I will report you.” + +It was as if Maurice had been lashed with a whip across the face. +Report them! that brute of a peasant would report those poor devils for +easing their aching shoulders! And looking Jean defiantly in the face, +he, too, in an impulse of blind rage, slipped the buckles and let his +knapsack fall to the road. + +“Very well,” said the other in his quiet way, knowing that resistance +would be of no avail, “we will settle accounts to-night.” + +Maurice’s feet hurt him abominably; the big, stiff shoes, to which he +was not accustomed, had chafed the flesh until the blood came. He was +not strong; his spinal column felt as if it were one long raw sore, +although the knapsack that had caused the suffering was no longer +there, and the weight of his piece, which he kept shifting from one +shoulder to the other, seemed as if it would drive all the breath from +his body. Great as his physical distress was, however, his moral agony +was greater still, for he was in the depths of one of those fits of +despair to which he was subject. At Paris the sum of his wrongdoing had +been merely the foolish outbreaks of “the other man,” as he put it, of +his weak, boyish nature, capable of more serious delinquency should he +be subjected to temptation, but now, in this retreat that was so like a +rout, in which he was dragging himself along with weary steps beneath a +blazing sun, he felt all hope and courage vanishing from his heart, he +was but a beast in that belated, straggling herd that filled the roads +and fields. It was the reaction after the terrible disasters at +Wissembourg and Froeschwiller, the echo of the thunder-clap that had +burst in the remote distance, leagues and leagues away, rattling at the +heels of those panic-stricken men who were flying before they had ever +seen an enemy. What was there to hope for now? Was it not all ended? +They were beaten; all that was left them was to lie down and die. + +“It makes no difference,” shouted Loubet, with the _blague_ of a child +of the Halles, “but this is not the Berlin road we are traveling, all +the same.” + +To Berlin! To Berlin! The cry rang in Maurice’s ears, the yell of the +swarming mob that filled the boulevards on that midsummer night of +frenzied madness when he had determined to enlist. The gentle breeze +had become a devastating hurricane; there had been a terrific +explosion, and all the sanguine temper of his nation had manifested +itself in his absolute, enthusiastic confidence, which had vanished +utterly at the very first reverse, before the unreasoning impulse of +despair that was sweeping him away among those vagrant soldiers, +vanquished and dispersed before they had struck a stroke. + +“This confounded blunderbuss must weigh a ton, I think,” Loubet went +on. “This is fine music to march by!” And alluding to the sum he +received as substitute: “I don’t care what people say, but fifteen +hundred ‘balls’ for a job like this is downright robbery. Just think of +the pipes he’ll smoke, sitting by his warm fire, the stingy old miser +in whose place I’m going to get my brains knocked out!” + +“As for me,” growled Chouteau, “I had finished my time. I was going to +cut the service, and they keep me for their beastly war. Ah! true as I +stand here, I must have been born to bad luck to have got myself into +such a mess. And now the officers are going to let the Prussians knock +us about as they please, and we’re dished and done for.” He had been +swinging his piece to and fro in his hand; in his discouragement he +gave it a toss and landed it on the other side of the hedge. “Eh! get +you gone for a dirty bit of old iron!” + +The musket made two revolutions in the air and fell into a furrow, +where it lay, long and motionless, reminding one somehow of a corpse. +Others soon flew to join it, and presently the field was filled with +abandoned arms, lying in long winrows, a sorrowful spectacle beneath +the blazing sky. It was an epidemic of madness, caused by the hunger +that was gnawing at their stomach, the shoes that galled their feet, +their weary march, the unexpected defeat that had brought the enemy +galloping at their heels. There was nothing more to be accomplished; +their leaders were looking out for themselves, the commissariat did not +even feed them; nothing but weariness and worriment; better to leave +the whole business at once, before it was begun. And what then? why, +the musket might go and keep the knapsack company; in view of the work +that was before them they might at least as well keep their arms free. +And all down the long line of stragglers that stretched almost far as +the eye could reach in the smooth and fertile country the muskets flew +through the air to the accompaniment of jeers and laughter such as +would have befitted the inmates of a lunatic asylum out for a holiday. + +Loubet, before parting with his, gave it a twirl as a drum-major does +his cane. Lapoulle, observing what all his comrades were doing, must +have supposed the performance to be some recent innovation in the +manual, and followed suit, while Pache, in the confused idea of duty +that he owed to his religious education, refused to do as the rest were +doing and was loaded with obloquy by Chouteau, who called him a +priest’s whelp. + +“Look at the sniveling papist! And all because his old peasant of a +mother used to make him swallow the holy wafer every Sunday in the +village church down there! Be off with you and go serve mass; a man who +won’t stick with his comrades when they are right is a poor-spirited +cur.” + +Maurice toiled along dejectedly in silence, bowing his head beneath the +blazing sun. At every step he took he seemed to be advancing deeper +into a horrid, phantom-haunted nightmare; it was as if he saw a +yawning, gaping gulf before him toward which he was inevitably tending; +it meant that he was suffering himself to be degraded to the level of +the miserable beings by whom he was surrounded, that he was +prostituting his talents and his position as a man of education. + +“Hold!” he said abruptly to Chouteau, “what you say is right; there is +truth in it.” + +And already he had deposited his musket upon a pile of stones, when +Jean, who had tried without success to check the shameful proceedings +of his men, saw what he was doing and hurried toward him. + +“Take up your musket, at once! Do you hear me? take it up at once!” + +Jean’s face had flushed with sudden anger. Meekest and most pacific of +men, always prone to measures of conciliation, his eyes were now +blazing with wrath, his voice spoke with the thunders of authority. His +men had never before seen him in such a state, and they looked at one +another in astonishment. + +“Take up your musket at once, or you will have me to deal with!” + +Maurice was quivering with anger; he let fall one single word, into +which he infused all the insult that he had at command: + +“Peasant!” + +“Yes, that’s just it; I am a peasant, while you, you, are a gentleman! +And it is for that reason that you are a pig! Yes! a dirty pig! I make +no bones of telling you of it.” + +Yells and cat-calls arose all around him, but the corporal continued +with extraordinary force and dignity: + +“When a man has learning he shows it by his actions. If we are brutes +and peasants, you owe us the benefit of your example, since you know +more than we do. Take up your musket, or _Nom de Dieu!_ I will have you +shot the first halt we make.” + +Maurice was daunted; he stooped and raised the weapon in his hand. +Tears of rage stood in his eyes. He reeled like a drunken man as he +labored onward, surrounded by his comrades, who now were jeering at him +for having yielded. Ah, that Jean! he felt that he should never cease +to hate him, cut to the quick as he had been by that bitter lesson, +which he could not but acknowledge he had deserved. And when Chouteau, +marching at his side, growled: “When corporals are that way, we just +wait for a battle and blow a hole in ’em,” the landscape seemed red +before his eyes, and he had a distinct vision of himself blowing Jean’s +brains out from behind a wall. + +But an incident occurred to divert their thoughts; Loubet noticed that +while the dispute was going on Pache had also abandoned his musket, +laying it down tenderly at the foot of an embankment. Why? What were +the reasons that had made him resist the example of his comrades in the +first place, and what were the reasons that influenced him now? He +probably could not have told himself, nor did he trouble his head about +the matter, chuckling inwardly with silent enjoyment, like a schoolboy +who, having long been held up as a model for his mates, commits his +first offense. He strode along with a self-contented, rakish air, +swinging his arms; and still along the dusty, sunlit roads, between the +golden grain and the fields of hops that succeeded one another with +tiresome monotony, the human tide kept pouring onward; the stragglers, +without arms or knapsacks, were now but a shuffling, vagrant mob, a +disorderly array of vagabonds and beggars, at whose approach the +frightened villagers barred their doors. + +Something that happened just then capped the climax of Maurice’s +misery. A deep, rumbling noise had for some time been audible in the +distance; it was the artillery, that had been the last to leave the +camp and whose leading guns now wheeled into sight around a bend in the +road, barely giving the footsore infantrymen time to seek safety in the +fields. It was an entire regiment of six batteries, and came up in +column, in splendid order, at a sharp trot, the colonel riding on the +flank at the center of the line, every officer at his post. The guns +went rattling, bounding by, accurately maintaining their prescribed +distances, each accompanied by its caisson, men and horses, beautiful +in the perfect symmetry of its arrangement; and in the 5th battery +Maurice recognized his cousin Honoré. A very smart and soldierly +appearance the quartermaster-sergeant presented on horseback in his +position on the left hand of the forward driver, a good-looking +light-haired man, Adolphe by name, whose mount was a sturdy chestnut, +admirably matched with the mate that trotted at his side, while in his +proper place among the six men who were seated on the chests of the gun +and its caisson was the gunner, Louis, a small, dark man, Adolphe’s +comrade; they constituted a team, as it is called, in accordance with +the rule of the service that couples a mounted and an unmounted man +together. They all appeared bigger and taller to Maurice, somehow, than +when he first made their acquaintance at the camp, and the gun, to +which four horses were attached, followed by the caisson drawn by six, +seemed to him as bright and refulgent as a sun, tended and cherished as +it was by its attendants, men and animals, who closed around it +protectingly as if it had been a living sentient relative; and then, +besides, the contemptuous look that Honoré, astounded to behold him +among that unarmed rabble, cast on the stragglers, distressed him +terribly. And now the tail end of the regiment was passing, the +_matériel_ of the batteries, prolonges, forges, forage-wagons, +succeeded by the rag-tag, the spare men and horses, and then all +vanished in a cloud of dust at another turn in the road amid the +gradually decreasing clatter of hoofs and wheels. + +“_Pardi_!” exclaimed Loubet, “it’s not such a difficult matter to cut a +dash when one travels with a coach and four!” + +The staff had found Altkirch free from the enemy; not a Prussian had +shown his face there yet. It had been the general’s wish, not knowing +at what moment they might fall upon his rear, that the retreat should +be continued to Dannemarie, and it was not until five o’clock that the +heads of columns reached that place. Tents were hardly pitched and +fires lighted at eight, when night closed in, so great was the +confusion of the regiments, depleted by the absence of the stragglers. +The men were completely used up, were ready to drop with fatigue and +hunger. Up to eight o’clock soldiers, singly and in squads, came +trailing in, hunting for their commands; all that long train of the +halt, the lame, and the disaffected that we have seen scattered along +the roads. + +As soon as Jean discovered where his regiment lay he went in quest of +Lieutenant Rochas to make his report. He found him, together with +Captain Beaudoin, in earnest consultation with the colonel at the door +of a small inn, all of them anxiously waiting to see what tidings +roll-call would give them as to the whereabouts of their missing men. +The moment the corporal opened his mouth to address the lieutenant, +Colonel Vineuil, who heard what the subject was, called him up and +compelled him to tell the whole story. On his long, yellow face, where +the intensely black eyes looked blacker still contrasted with the thick +snow-white hair and the long, drooping mustache, there was an +expression of patient, silent sorrow, and as the narrative proceeded, +how the miserable wretches deserted their colors, threw away arms and +knapsacks, and wandered off like vagabonds, grief and shame traced two +new furrows on his blanched cheeks. + +“Colonel,” exclaimed Captain Beaudoin, in his incisive voice, not +waiting for his superior to give an opinion, “it will best to shoot +half a dozen of those wretches.” + +And the lieutenant nodded his head approvingly. But the colonel’s +despondent look expressed his powerlessness. + +“There are too many of them. Nearly seven hundred! how are we to go to +work, whom are we to select? And then you don’t know it, but the +general is opposed. He wants to be a father to his men, says he never +punished a soldier all the time he was in Africa. No, no; we shall have +to overlook it. I can do nothing. It is dreadful.” + +The captain echoed: “Yes, it is dreadful. It means destruction for us +all.” + +Jean was walking off, having said all he had to say, when he heard +Major Bouroche, whom he had not seen where he was standing in the +doorway of the inn, growl in a smothered voice: “No more punishment, an +end to discipline, the army gone to the dogs! Before a week is over the +scoundrels will be ripe for kicking their officers out of camp, while +if a few of them had been made an example of on the spot it might have +brought the remainder to their senses.” + +No one was punished. Some officers of the rear-guard that was +protecting the trains had been thoughtful enough to collect the muskets +and knapsacks scattered along the road. They were almost all recovered, +and by daybreak the men were equipped again, the operation being +conducted very quietly, as if to hush the matter up as much as +possible. Orders were given to break camp at five o’clock, but reveille +sounded at four and the retreat to Belfort was hurriedly continued, for +everyone was certain that the Prussians were only two or three leagues +away. Again there was nothing to eat but dry biscuit, and as a +consequence of their brief, disturbed rest and the lack of something to +warm their stomachs the men were weak as cats. Any attempt to enforce +discipline on the march that morning was again rendered nugatory by the +manner of their departure. + +The day was worse than its predecessor, inexpressibly gloomy and +disheartening. The aspect of the landscape had changed, they were now +in a rolling country where the roads they were always alternately +climbing and descending were bordered with woods of pine and hemlock, +while the narrow gorges were golden with tangled thickets of broom. But +panic and terror lay heavy on the fair land that slumbered there +beneath the bright sun of August, and had been hourly gathering +strength since the preceeding day. A fresh dispatch, bidding the mayors +of communes warn the people that they would do well to hide their +valuables, had excited universal consternation. The enemy was at hand, +then! Would time be given them to make their escape? And to all it +seemed that the roar of invasion was ringing in their ears, coming +nearer and nearer, the roar of the rushing torrent that, starting from +Mülhausen, had grown louder and more ominous as it advanced, and to +which every village that it encountered in its course contributed its +own alarm amid the sound of wailing and lamentation. + +Maurice stumbled along as best he might, like a man walking in a dream; +his feet were bleeding, his shoulders sore with the weight of gun and +knapsack. He had ceased to think, he advanced automatically into the +vision of horrors that lay before his eyes; he had ceased to be +conscious even of the shuffling tramp of the comrades around him, and +the only thing that was not dim and unreal to his sense was Jean, +marching at his side and enduring the same fatigue and horrible +distress. It was lamentable to behold the villages they passed through, +a sight to make a man’s heart bleed with anguish. No sooner did the +inhabitants catch sight of the troops retreating in disorderly array, +with haggard faces and bloodshot eyes, than they bestirred themselves +to hasten their flight. They who had been so confident only a short +half month ago, those men and women of Alsace, who smiled when war was +mentioned, certain that it would be fought out in Germany! And now +France was invaded, and it was among them, above their abodes, in their +fields, that the tempest was to burst, like one of those dread +cataclysms that lay waste a province in an hour when the lightnings +flash and the gates of heaven are opened! Carts were backed up against +doors and men tumbled their furniture into them in wild confusion, +careless of what they broke. From the upper windows the women threw out +a last mattress, or handed down the child’s cradle, that they had been +near forgetting, whereon baby would be tucked in securely and hoisted +to the top of the load, where he reposed serenely among a grove of legs +of chairs and upturned tables. At the back of another cart was the +decrepit old grandfather tied with cords to a wardrobe, and he was +hauled away for all the world as if he had been one of the family +chattels. Then there were those who did not own a vehicle, so they +piled their household goods haphazard on a wheelbarrow, while others +carried an armful of clothing, and others still had thought only of +saving the clock, which they went off pressing to their bosom as if it +had been a darling child. They found they could not remove everything, +and there were chairs and tables, and bundles of linen too heavy to +carry, lying abandoned in the gutter, Some before leaving had carefully +locked their dwellings, and the houses had a deathlike appearance, with +their barred doors and windows, but the greater number, in their haste +to get away and with the sorrowful conviction that nothing would escape +destruction, had left their poor abodes open, and the yawning apertures +displayed the nakedness of the dismantled rooms; and those were the +saddest to behold, with the horrible sadness of a city upon which some +great dread has fallen, depopulating it, those poor houses opened to +the winds of heaven, whence the very cats had fled as if forewarned of +the impending doom. At every village the pitiful spectacle became more +heartrending, the number of the fugitives was greater, as they clove +their way through the ever thickening press, with hands upraised, amid +oaths and tears. + +But in the open country as they drew near Belfort, Maurice’s heart was +still more sorely wrung, for there the homeless fugitives were in +greater numbers and lined the borders of the road in an unbroken +cortége. Ah! the unhappy ones, who had believed that they were to find +safety under the walls of the fortifications! The father lashed the +poor old nag, the mother followed after, leading her crying children by +the hand, and in this way entire families, sinking beneath the weight +of their burdens, were strung along the white, blinding road in the +fierce sunlight, where the tired little legs of the smaller children +were unable to keep up with the headlong flight. Many had taken off +their shoes and were going barefoot so as to get over the ground more +rapidly, and half-dressed mothers gave the breast to their crying +babies as they strode along. Affrighted faces turned for a look +backward, trembling hands were raised as if to shut out the horizon +from their sight, while the gale of panic tumbled their unkempt locks +and sported with their ill-adjusted garments. Others there were, +farmers and their men, who pushed straight across the fields, driving +before them their flocks and herds, cows, oxen, sheep, horses, that +they had driven with sticks and cudgels from their stables; these were +seeking the shelter of the inaccessible forests, of the deep valleys +and the lofty hill-tops, their course marked by clouds of dust, as in +the great migrations of other days, when invaded nations made way +before their barbarian conquerors. They were going to live in tents, in +some lonely nook among the mountains, where the enemy would never +venture to follow them; and the bleating and bellowing of the animals +and the trampling of their hoofs upon the rocks grew fainter in the +distance, and the golden nimbus that overhung them was lost to sight +among the thick pines, while down in the road beneath the tide of +vehicles and pedestrians was flowing still as strong as ever, blocking +the passage of the troops, and as they drew near Belfort the men had to +be brought to a halt again and again, so irresistible was the force of +that torrent of humanity. + +It was during one of those short halts that Maurice witnessed a scene +that was destined to remain indelibly impressed upon his memory. + +Standing by the road-side was a lonely house, the abode of some poor +peasant, whose lean acres extended up the mountainside in the rear. The +man had been unwilling to leave the little field that was his all and +had remained, for to go away would have been to him like parting with +life. He could be seen within the low-ceiled room, sitting stupidly on +a bench, watching with dull, lack-luster eyes the passing of the troops +whose retreat would give his ripe grain over to be the spoil of the +enemy. Standing beside him was his wife, still a young woman, holding +in her arms a child, while another was hanging by her skirts; all three +were weeping bitterly. Suddenly the door was thrown open with violence +and in its enframement appeared the grandmother, a very old woman, tall +and lean of form, with bare, sinewy arms like knotted cords that she +raised above her head and shook with frantic gestures. Her gray, scanty +locks had escaped from her cap and were floating about her skinny face, +and such was her fury that the words she shouted choked her utterance +and came from her lips almost unintelligible. + +At first the soldiers had laughed. Wasn’t she a beauty, the old crazy +hag! Then words reached their ears; the old woman was screaming: + +“Scum! Robbers! Cowards! Cowards!” + +With a voice that rose shriller and more piercing still she kept +lashing them with her tongue, expectorating insult on them, and +taunting them for dastards with the full force of her lungs. And the +laughter ceased, it seemed as if a cold wind had blown over the ranks. +The men hung their heads, looked any way save that. + +“Cowards! Cowards! Cowards!” + +Then all at once her stature seemed to dilate; she drew herself up, +tragic in her leanness, in her poor old apology for a gown, and +sweeping the heavens with her long arm from west to east, with a +gesture so broad that it seemed to fill the dome: + +“Cowards, the Rhine is not there! The Rhine lies yonder! Cowards, +cowards!” + +They got under way again at last, and Maurice, whose look just then +encountered Jean’s, saw that the latter’s eyes were filled with tears, +and it did not alleviate his distress to think that those rough +soldiers, compelled to swallow an insult that they had done nothing to +deserve, were shamed by it. He was conscious of nothing save the +intolerable aching in his poor head, and in after days could never +remember how the march of that day ended, prostrated as he was by his +terrible suffering, mental and physical. + +The 7th corps had spent the entire day in getting over the fourteen or +fifteen miles between Dannemarie and Belfort, and it was night again +before the troops got settled in their bivouacs under the walls of the +town, in the very same place whence they had started four days before +to march against the enemy. Notwithstanding the lateness of the hour +and their spent condition, the men insisted on lighting fires and +making soup; it was the first time since their departure that they had +had an opportunity to put warm food into their stomachs, and seated +about the cheerful blaze in the cool air of evening they were dipping +their noses in the porringers and grunting inarticulately in token of +satisfaction when news came in that burst upon the camp like a +thunderbolt, dumfoundering everyone. Two telegrams had just been +received: the Prussians had not crossed the Rhine at Markolsheim, and +there was not a single Prussian at Huningue. The passage of the Rhine +at Markolsheim and the bridge of boats constructed under the electric +light had existed merely in imagination, were an unexplained, +inexplicable nightmare of the préfet at Schelestadt; and as for the +army corps that had menaced Huningue, that famous corps of the Black +Forest, that had made so much talk, it was but an insignificant +detachment of Wurtemburgers, a couple of battalions of infantry and a +squadron of cavalry, which had maneuvered with such address, marching +and countermarching, appearing in one place and then suddenly popping +up in another at a distance, as to gain for themselves the reputation +of being thirty or forty thousand strong. And to think that that +morning they had been near blowing up the viaduct at Dannemarie! Twenty +leagues of fertile country had been depopulated by the most idiotic of +panics, and at the recollection of what they had seen during their +lamentable day’s march, the inhabitants flying in consternation to the +mountains, driving their cattle before them; the press of vehicles, +laden with household effects, streaming cityward and surrounded by +bands of weeping women and children, the soldiers waxed wroth and gave +way to bitter, sneering denunciation of their leaders. + +“Ah! it is too ridiculous too talk about!” sputtered Loubet, not +stopping to empty his mouth, brandishing his spoon. “They take us out +to fight the enemy, and there’s not a soul to fight with! Twelve +leagues there and twelve leagues back, and not so much as a mouse in +front of us! All that for nothing, just for the fun of being scared to +death!” + +Chouteau, who was noisily absorbing the last drops in his porringer, +bellowed his opinion of the generals, without mentioning names: + +“The pigs! what miserable boobies they are, _hein_! A pretty pack of +dunghill-cocks the government has given us as commanders! Wonder what +they would do if they had an army actually before them, if they show +the white feather this way when there’s not a Prussian in sight, +_hein_!—Ah no, not any of it in mine, thank you; soldiers don’t obey +such pigeon-livered gentlemen.” + +Someone had thrown another armful of wood on the fire for the +pleasurable sensation of comfort there was in the bright, dancing +flame, and Lapoulle, who was engaged in the luxurious occupation of +toasting his shins, suddenly went off into an imbecile fit of laughter +without in the least understanding what it was about, whereon Jean, who +had thus far turned a deaf ear to their talk, thought it time to +interfere, which he did by saying in a fatherly way: + +“You had better hold your tongue, you fellows! It might be the worse +for you if anyone should hear you.” + +He himself, in his untutored, common-sense way of viewing things, was +exasperated by the stupid incompetency of their commanders, but then +discipline must be maintained, and as Chouteau still kept up a low +muttering he cut him short: + +“Be silent, I say! Here is the lieutenant: address yourself to him if +you have anything to say.” + +Maurice had listened in silence to the conversation from his place a +little to one side. Ah, truly, the end was near! Scarcely had they made +a beginning, and all was over. That lack of discipline, that seditious +spirit among the men at the very first reverse, had already made the +army a demoralized, disintegrated rabble that would melt away at the +first indication of catastrophe. There they were, under the walls of +Belfort, without having sighted a Prussian, and they were whipped. + +The succeeding days were a period of monotony, full of uncertainty and +anxious forebodings. To keep his troops occupied General Douay set them +to work on the defenses of the place, which were in a state of +incompleteness; there was great throwing up of earth and cutting +through rock. And not the first item of news! Where was MacMahon’s +army? What was going on at Metz? The wildest rumors were current, and +the Parisian journals, by their system of printing news only to +contradict it the next day, kept the country in an agony of suspense. +Twice, it was said, the general had written and asked for instructions, +and had not even received an answer. On the 12th of August, however, +the 7th corps was augmented by the 3d division, which landed from +Italy, but there were still only two divisions for duty, for the 1st +had participated in the defeat at Froeschwiller, had been swept away in +the general rout, and as yet no one had learned where it had been +stranded by the current. After a week of this abandonment, of this +entire separation from the rest of France, a telegram came bringing +them the order to march. The news was well received, for anything was +preferable to the prison life they were leading in Belfort. And while +they were getting themselves in readiness conjecture and surmise were +the order of the day, for no one as yet knew what their destination was +to be, some saying that they were to be sent to the defense of +Strasbourg, while others spoke with confidence of a bold dash into the +Black Forest that was to sever the Prussian line of communication. + +Early the next morning the 106th was bundled into cattle-cars and +started off among the first. The car that contained Jean’s squad was +particularly crowded, so much so that Loubet declared there was not +even room in it to sneeze. It was a load of humanity, sent off to the +war just as a load of sacks would have been dispatched to the mill, +crowded in so as to get the greatest number into the smallest space, +and as rations had been given out in the usual hurried, slovenly manner +and the men had received in brandy what they should have received in +food, the consequence was that they were all roaring drunk, with a +drunkenness that vented itself in obscene songs, varied by shrieks and +yells. The heavy train rolled slowly onward; pipes were alight and men +could no longer see one another through the dense clouds of smoke; the +heat and odor that emanated from that mass of perspiring human flesh +were unendurable, while from the jolting, dingy van came volleys of +shouts and laughter that drowned the monotonous rattle of the wheels +and were lost amid the silence of the deserted fields. And it was not +until they reached Langres that the troops learned that they were being +carried back to Paris. + +“Ah, _nom de Dieu!_” exclaimed Chouteau, who already, by virtue of his +oratorical ability, was the acknowledged sovereign of his corner, “they +will station us at Charentonneau, sure, to keep old Bismarck out of the +Tuileries.” + +The others laughed loud and long, considering the joke a very good one, +though no one could say why. The most trivial incidents of the journey, +however, served to elicit a storm of yells, cat-calls, and laughter: a +group of peasants standing beside the roadway, or the anxious faces of +the people who hung about the way-stations in the hope of picking up +some bits of news from the passing trains, epitomizing on a small scale +the breathless, shuddering alarm that pervaded all France in the +presence of invasion. And so it happened that as the train thundered +by, a fleeting vision of pandemonium, all that the good burghers +obtained in the way of intelligence was the salutations of that cargo +of food for powder as it hurried onward to its destination, fast as +steam could carry it. At a station where they stopped, however, three +well-dressed ladies, wealthy bourgeoises of the town, who distributed +cups of bouillon among the men, were received with great respect. Some +of the soldiers shed tears, and kissed their hands as they thanked +them. + +But as soon as they were under way again the filthy songs and the wild +shouts began afresh, and so it went on until, a little while after +leaving Chaumont, they met another train that was conveying some +batteries of artillery to Metz. The locomotives slowed down and the +soldiers in the two trains fraternized with a frightful uproar. The +artillerymen were also apparently very drunk; they stood up in their +seats, and thrusting hands and arms out of the car-windows, gave this +cry with a vehemence that silenced every other sound: + +“To the slaughter! to the slaughter! to the slaughter!” + +It was as if a cold wind, a blast from the charnel-house, had swept +through the car. Amid the sudden silence that descended on them +Loubet’s irreverent voice was heard, shouting: + +“Not very cheerful companions, those fellows!” + +“But they are right,” rejoined Chouteau, as if addressing some +pot-house assemblage; “it is a beastly thing to send a lot of brave +boys to have their brains blown out for a dirty little quarrel about +which they don’t know the first word.” + +And much more in the same strain. He was the type of the Belleville +agitator, a lazy, dissipated mechanic, perverting his fellow workmen, +constantly spouting the ill-digested odds and ends of political +harangues that he had heard, belching forth in the same breath the +loftiest sentiments and the most asinine revolutionary clap-trap. He +knew it all, and tried to inoculate his comrades with his ideas, +especially Lapoulle, of whom he had promised to make a lad of spirit. + +“Don’t you see, old man, it’s all perfectly simple. If Badinguet and +Bismarck have a quarrel, let ’em go to work with their fists and fight +it out and not involve in their row some hundreds of thousands of men +who don’t even know one another by sight and have not the slightest +desire to fight.” + +The whole car laughed and applauded, and Lapoulle, who did not know who +Badinguet[1] was, and could not have told whether it was a king or an +emperor in whose cause he was fighting, repeated like the gigantic baby +that he was: + + [1] Napoleon III. + + +“Of course, let ’em fight it out, and take a drink together afterward.” + +But Chouteau had turned to Pache, whom he now proceeded to take in +hand. + +“You are in the same boat, you, who pretend to believe in the good God. +He has forbidden men to fight, your good God has. Why, then, are you +here, you great simpleton?” + +“_Dame_!” Pache doubtfully replied, “it is not for any pleasure of mine +that I am here—but the gendarmes—” + +“Oh, indeed, the gendarmes! let the gendarmes go milk the ducks!—say, +do you know what we would do, all of us, if we had the least bit of +spirit? I’ll tell you; just the minute that they land us from the cars +we’d skip; yes, we’d go straight home, and leave that pig of a +Badinguet and his gang of two-for-a-penny generals to settle accounts +with their beastly Prussians as best they may!” + +There was a storm of bravos; the leaven of perversion was doing its +work and it was Chouteau’s hour of triumph, airing his muddled theories +and ringing the changes on the Republic, the Rights of Man, the +rottenness of the Empire, which must be destroyed, and the treason of +their commanders, who, as it had been proved, had sold themselves to +the enemy at the rate of a million a piece. _He_ was a revolutionist, +he boldly declared; the others could not even say that they were +republicans, did not know what their opinions were, in fact, except +Loubet, the concocter of stews and hashes, and _he_ had an opinion, for +he had been for soup, first, last, and always; but they all, carried +away by his eloquence, shouted none the less lustily against the +Emperor, their officers, the whole d——d shop, which they would leave +the first chance they got, see if they wouldn’t! And Chouteau, while +fanning the flame of their discontent, kept an eye on Maurice, the fine +gentleman, who appeared interested and whom he was proud to have for a +companion; so that, by way of inflaming _his_ passions also, it +occurred to him to make an attack on Jean, who had thus far been +tranquilly watching the proceedings out of his half-closed eyes, +unmoved among the general uproar. If there was any remnant of +resentment in the bosom of the volunteer since the time when the +corporal had inflicted such a bitter humiliation on him by forcing him +to resume his abandoned musket, now was a fine chance to set the two +men by the ears. + +“I know some folks who talk of shooting us,” Chouteau continued, with +an ugly look at Jean; “dirty, miserable skunks, who treat us worse than +beasts, and, when a man’s back is broken with the weight of his +knapsack and Brownbess, _aïe_! _aïe_! object to his planting them in +the fields to see if a new crop will grow from them. What do you +suppose they would say, comrades, _hein_! now that we are masters, if +we should pitch them all out upon the track, and teach them better +manners? That’s the way to do, _hein_! We’ll show ’em that we won’t be +bothered any longer with their mangy wars. Down with Badinguet’s +bed-bugs! Death to the curs who want to make us fight!” + +Jean’s face was aflame with the crimson tide that never failed to rush +to his cheeks in his infrequent fits of anger. He rose, wedged in +though as he was between his neighbors as firmly as in a vise, and his +blazing eyes and doubled fists had such a look of business about them +that the other quailed. + +“_Tonnerre de Dieu!_ will you be silent, pig! For hours I have sat here +without saying anything, because we have no longer any leaders, and I +could not even send you to the guard-house. Yes, there’s no doubt of +it, it would be a good thing to shoot such men as you and rid the +regiment of the vermin. But see here, as there’s no longer any +discipline, I will attend to your case myself. There’s no corporal here +now, but a hard-fisted fellow who is tired of listening to your jaw, +and he’ll see if he can’t make you keep your potato-trap shut. Ah! you +d——d coward! You won’t fight yourself and you want to keep others from +fighting! Repeat your words once and I’ll knock your head off!” + +By this time the whole car, won over by Jean’s manly attitude, had +deserted Chouteau, who cowered back in his seat as if not anxious to +face his opponent’s big fists. + +“And I care no more for Badinguet than I do for you, do you understand? +I despise politics, whether they are republican or imperial, and now, +as in the past, when I used to cultivate my little farm, there is but +one thing that I wish for, and that is the happiness of all, peace and +good-order, freedom for every man to attend to his affairs. No one +denies that war is a terrible business, but that is no reason why a man +should not be treated to the sight of a firing-party when he comes +trying to dishearten people who already have enough to do to keep their +courage up. Good Heavens, friends, how it makes a man’s pulses leap to +be told that the Prussians are in the land and that he is to go help +drive them out!” + +Then, with the customary fickleness of a mob, the soldiers applauded +the corporal, who again announced his determination to thrash the first +man of his squad who should declare non-combatant principles. Bravo, +the corporal! they would soon settle old Bismarck’s hash! And, in the +midst of the wild ovation of which he was the object, Jean, who had +recovered his self-control, turned politely to Maurice and addressed +him as if he had not been one of his men: + +“Monsieur, you cannot have anything in common with those poltroons. +Come, we haven’t had a chance at them yet; we are the boys who will +give them a good basting yet, those Prussians!” + +It seemed to Maurice at that moment as if a ray of cheering sunshine +had penetrated his heart. He was humiliated, vexed with himself. What! +that man was nothing more than an uneducated rustic! And he remembered +the fierce hatred that had burned in his bosom the day he was compelled +to pick up the musket that he had thrown away in a moment of madness. +But he also remembered his emotion at seeing the two big tears that +stood in the corporal’s eyes when the old grandmother, her gray hairs +streaming in the wind, had so bitterly reproached them and pointed to +the Rhine that lay beneath the horizon in the distance. Was it the +brotherhood of fatigue and suffering endured in common that had served +thus to dissipate his wrathful feelings? He was Bonapartist by birth, +and had never thought of the Republic except in a speculative, dreamy +way; his feeling toward the Emperor, personally, too, inclined to +friendliness, and he was favorable to the war, the very condition of +national existence, the great regenerative school of nationalities. +Hope, all at once, with one of those fitful impulses of the +imagination, that were common in his temperament, revived in him, while +the enthusiastic ardor that had impelled him to enlist one night again +surged through his veins and swelled his heart with confidence of +victory. + +“Why, of course, Corporal,” he gayly replied, “we shall give them a +basting!” + +And still the car kept rolling onward with its load of human freight, +filled with reeking smoke of pipes and emanations of the crowded men, +belching its ribald songs and drunken shouts among the expectant +throngs of the stations through which it passed, among the rows of +white-faced peasants who lined the iron-way. On the 20th of August they +were at the Pantin Station in Paris, and that same evening boarded +another train which landed them next day at Rheims _en route_ for the +camp at Châlons. + + + + +III. + + +Maurice was greatly surprised when the 106th, leaving the cars at +Rheims, received orders to go into camp there. So they were not to go +to Châlons, then, and unite with the army there? And when, two hours +later, his regiment had stacked muskets a league or so from the city +over in the direction of Courcelles, in the broad plain that lies along +the canal between the Aisne and Marne, his astonishment was greater +still to learn that the entire army of Châlons had been falling back +all that morning and was about to bivouac at that place. From one +extremity of the horizon to the other, as far as Saint Thierry and +Menvillette, even beyond the Laon road, the tents were going up, and +when it should be night the fires of four army-corps would be blazing +there. It was evident that the plan now was to go and take a position +under the walls of Paris and there await the Prussians; and it was +fortunate that that plan had received the approbation of the +government, for was it not the wisest thing they could do? + +Maurice devoted the afternoon of the 21st to strolling about the camp +in search of news. The greatest freedom prevailed; discipline appeared +to have been relaxed still further, the men went and came at their own +sweet will. He found no obstacle in the way of his return to the city, +where he desired to cash a money-order for a hundred francs that his +sister Henriette had sent him. While in a café he heard a sergeant +telling of the disaffection that existed in the eighteen battalions of +the garde mobile of the Seine, which had just been sent back to Paris; +the 6th battalion had been near killing their officers. Not a day +passed at the camp that the generals were not insulted, and since +Froeschwiller the soldiers had ceased to give Marshal MacMahon the +military salute. The café resounded with the sound of voices in excited +conversation; a violent dispute arose between two sedate burghers in +respect to the number of men that MacMahon would have at his disposal. +One of them made the wild assertion that there would be three hundred +thousand; the other, who seemed to be more at home upon the subject, +stated the strength of the four corps: the 12th, which had just been +made complete at the camp with great difficulty with the assistance of +provisional regiments and a division of infanterie de marine; the 1st, +which had been coming straggling in in fragments ever since the 14th of +the month and of which they were doing what they could to perfect the +organization; the 5th, defeated before it had ever fought a battle, +swept away and broken up in the general panic, and finally, the 7th, +then landing from the cars, demoralized like all the rest and minus its +1st division, of which it had just recovered the remains at Rheims; in +all, one hundred and twenty thousand at the outside, including the +cavalry, Bonnemain’s and Margueritte’s divisions. When the sergeant +took a hand in the quarrel, however, speaking of the army in terms of +the utmost contempt, characterizing it as a ruffianly rabble, with no +_esprit de corps_, with nothing to keep it together,—a pack of +greenhorns with idiots to conduct them, to the slaughter,—the two +bourgeois began to be uneasy, and fearing there might be trouble +brewing, made themselves scarce. + +When outside upon the street Maurice hailed a newsboy and purchased a +copy of every paper he could lay hands on, stuffing some in his pockets +and reading others as he walked along under the stately trees that line +the pleasant avenues of the old city. Where could the German armies be? +It seemed as if obscurity had suddenly swallowed them up. Two were over +Metz way, of course: the first, the one commanded by General von +Steinmetz, observing the place; the second, that of Prince Frederick +Charles, aiming to ascend the right bank of the Moselle in order to cut +Bazaine off from Paris. But the third army, that of the Crown Prince of +Prussia, the army that had been victorious at Wissembourg and +Froeschwiller and had driven our 1st and 5th corps, where was it now, +where was it to be located amid the tangled mess of contradictory +advices? Was it still in camp at Nancy, or was it true that it had +arrived before Châlons, and was that the reason why we had abandoned +our camp there in such hot haste, burning our stores, clothing, forage, +provisions, everything—property of which the value to the nation was +beyond compute? And when the different plans with which our generals +were credited came to be taken into consideration, then there was more +confusion, a fresh set of contradictory hypotheses to be encountered. +Maurice had until now been cut off in a measure from the outside world, +and now for the first time learned what had been the course of events +in Paris; the blasting effect of defeat upon a populace that had been +confident of victory, the terrible commotions in the streets, the +convoking of the Chambers, the fall of the liberal ministry that had +effected the plebiscite, the abrogation of the Emperor’s rank as +General of the Army and the transfer of the supreme command to Marshal +Bazaine. The Emperor had been present at the camp of Châlons since the +16th, and all the newspapers were filled with a grand council that had +been held on the 17th, at which Prince Napoleon and some of the +generals were present, but none of them were agreed upon the decisions +that had been arrived at outside of the resultant facts, which were +that General Trochu had been appointed governor of Paris and Marshal +MacMahon given the command of the army of Châlons, and the inference +from this was that the Emperor was to be shorn of all his authority. +Consternation, irresolution, conflicting plans that were laid aside and +replaced by fresh ones hour by hour; these were the things that +everybody felt were in the air. And ever and always the question: Where +were the German armies? Who were in the right, those who asserted that +Bazaine had no force worth mentioning in front of him and was free to +make his retreat through the towns of the north whenever he chose to do +so, or those who declared that he was already besieged in Metz? There +was a constantly recurring rumor of a series of engagements that had +raged during an entire week, from the 14th until the 20th, but it +failed to receive confirmation. + +Maurice’s legs ached with fatigue; he went and sat down upon a bench. +Around him the life of the city seemed to be going on as usual; there +were nursemaids seated in the shade of the handsome trees watching the +sports of their little charges, small property owners strolled +leisurely about the walks enjoying their daily constitutional. He had +taken up his papers again, when his eyes lighted on an article that had +escaped his notice, the “leader” in a rabid republican sheet; then +everything was made clear to him. The paper stated that at the council +of the 17th at the camp of Châlons the retreat of the army on Paris had +been fully decided on, and that General Trochu’s appointment to the +command of the city had no other object than to facilitate the +Emperor’s return; but those resolutions, the journal went on to say, +were rendered unavailing by the attitude of the Empress-regent and the +new ministry. It was the Empress’s opinion that the Emperor’s return +would certainly produce a revolution; she was reported to have said: +“He will never reach the Tuileries alive.” Starting with these premises +she insisted with the utmost urgency that the army should advance, at +every risk, whatever might be the cost of human life, and effect a +junction with the army of Metz, in which course she was supported +moreover by General de Palikao, the Minister of War, who had a plan of +his own for reaching Bazaine by a rapid and victorious march. And +Maurice, letting his paper fall from his hand, his eyes bent on space, +believed that he now had the key to the entire mystery; the two +conflicting plans, MacMahon’s hesitation to undertake that dangerous +flank movement with the unreliable army at his command, the impatient +orders that came to him from Paris, each more tart and imperative than +its predecessor, urging him on to that mad, desperate enterprise. Then, +as the central figure in that tragic conflict, the vision of the +Emperor suddenly rose distinctly before his inner eyes, deprived of his +imperial authority, which he had committed to the hands of the +Empress-regent, stripped of his military command, which he had +conferred on Marshal Bazaine; a nullity, the vague and unsubstantial +shadow of an emperor, a nameless, cumbersome nonentity whom no one knew +what to do with, whom Paris rejected and who had ceased to have a +position in the army, for he had pledged himself to issue no further +orders. + +The next morning, however, after a rainy night through which he slept +outside his tent on the bare ground, wrapped in his rubber blanket, +Maurice was cheered by the tidings that the retreat on Paris had +finally carried the day. Another council had been held during the +night, it was said, at which M. Rouher, the former vice-Emperor, had +been present; he had been sent by the Empress to accelerate the +movement toward Verdun, and it would seem that the marshal had +succeeded in convincing him of the rashness of such an undertaking. +Were there unfavorable tidings from Bazaine? no one could say for +certain. But the absence of news was itself a circumstance of evil +omen, and all among the most influential of the generals had cast their +vote for the march on Paris, for which they would be the relieving +army. And Maurice, happy in the conviction that the retrograde movement +would commence not later than the morrow, since the orders for it were +said to be already issued, thought he would gratify a boyish longing +that had been troubling him for some time past, to give the go-by for +one day to soldier’s fare, to wit and eat his breakfast off a cloth, +with the accompaniment of plate, knife and fork, carafe, and a bottle +of good wine, things of which it seemed to him that he had been +deprived for months and months. He had money in his pocket, so off he +started with quickened pulse, as if going out for a lark, to search for +a place of entertainment. + +It was just at the entrance of the village of Courcelles, across the +canal, that he found the breakfast for which his mouth was watering. He +had been told the day before that the Emperor had taken up his quarters +in one of the houses of the village, and having gone to stroll there +out of curiosity, now remembered to have seen at the junction of the +two roads this little inn with its arbor, the trellises of which were +loaded with big clusters of ripe, golden, luscious grapes. There was an +array of green-painted tables set out in the shade of the luxuriant +vine, while through the open door of the vast kitchen he had caught +glimpses of the antique clock, the colored prints pasted on the walls, +and the comfortable landlady watching the revolving spit. It was +cheerful, smiling, hospitable; a regular type of the good old-fashioned +French hostelry. + +A pretty, white-necked waitress came up and asked him with a great +display of flashing teeth: + +“Will monsieur have breakfast?” + +“Of course I will! Give me some eggs, a cutlet, and cheese. And a +bottle of white wine!” + +She turned to go; he called her back. “Tell me, is it not in one of +those houses that the Emperor has his quarters?” + +“There, monsieur, in that one right before you. Only you can’t see it, +for it is concealed by the high wall with the overhanging trees.” + +He loosed his belt so as to be more at ease in his capote, and entering +the arbor, chose his table, on which the sunlight, finding its way here +and there through the green canopy above, danced in little golden +spangles. And constantly his thoughts kept returning to that high wall +behind which was the Emperor. A most mysterious house it was, indeed, +shrinking from the public gaze, even its slated roof invisible. Its +entrance was on the other side, upon the village street, a narrow +winding street between dead-walls, without a shop, without even a +window to enliven it. The small garden in the rear, among the sparse +dwellings that environed it, was like an island of dense verdure. And +across the road he noticed a spacious courtyard, surrounded by sheds +and stables, crowded with a countless train of carriages and +baggage-wagons, among which men and horses, coming and going, kept up +an unceasing bustle. + +“Are those all for the service of the Emperor?” he inquired, meaning to +say something humorous to the girl, who was laying a snow-white cloth +upon the table. + +“Yes, for the Emperor himself, and no one else!” she pleasantly +replied, glad of a chance to show her white teeth once more; and then +she went on to enumerate the suite from information that she had +probably received from the stablemen, who had been coming to the inn to +drink since the preceding day; there were the staff, comprising +twenty-five officers, the sixty cent-gardes and the half-troop of +guides for escort duty, the six gendarmes of the provost-guard; then +the household, seventy-three persons in all, chamberlains, attendants +for the table and the bedroom, cooks and scullions; then four +saddle-horses and two carriages for the Emperor’s personal use, ten +horses for the equerries, eight for the grooms and outriders, not +mentioning forty-seven post-horses; then a _char à banc_ and twelve +baggage wagons, two of which, appropriated to the cooks, had +particularly excited her admiration by reason of the number and variety +of the utensils they contained, all in the most splendid order. + +“Oh, sir, you never saw such stew-pans! they shone like silver. And all +sorts of dishes, and jars and jugs, and lots of things of which it +would puzzle me to tell the use! And a cellar of wine, claret, +burgundy, and champagne—yes! enough to supply a wedding feast.” + +The unusual luxury of the snowy table-cloth and the white wine +sparkling in his glass sharpened Maurice’s appetite; he devoured his +two poached eggs with a zest that made him fear he was developing +epicurean tastes. When he turned to the left and looked out through the +entrance of the leafy arbor he had before him the spacious plain, +covered with long rows of tents: a busy, populous city that had risen +like an exhalation from the stubble-fields between Rheims city and the +canal. A few clumps of stunted trees, three wind-mills lifting their +skeleton arms in the air, were all there was to relieve the monotony of +the gray waste, but above the huddled roofs of Rheims, lost in the sea +of foliage of the tall chestnut-trees, the huge bulk of the cathedral +with its slender spires was profiled against the blue sky, looming +colossal, notwithstanding the distance, beside the modest houses. +Memories of school and boyhood’s days came over him, the tasks he had +learned and recited: all about the _sacre_ of our kings, the _sainte +ampoule_, Clovis, Jeanne d’Arc, all the long list of glories of old +France. + +Then Maurice’s thoughts reverted again to that unassuming bourgeoise +house, so mysterious in its solitude, and its imperial occupant; and +directing his eyes upon the high, yellow wall he was surprised to read, +scrawled there in great, awkward letters, the legend: _Vive Napoléon!_ +among the meaningless obscenities traced by schoolboys. Winter’s storms +and summer’s sun had half effaced the lettering; evidently the +inscription was very ancient. How strange, to see upon that wall that +old heroic battle-cry, which probably had been placed there in honor of +the uncle, not of the nephew! It brought all his childhood back to him, +and Maurice was again a boy, scarcely out of his mother’s arms, down +there in distant Chêne-Populeux, listening to the stories of his +grandfather, a veteran of the Grand Army. His mother was dead, his +father, in the inglorious days that followed the collapse of the +empire, had been compelled to accept a humble position as collector, +and there the grandfather lived, with nothing to support him save his +scanty pension, in the poor home of the small public functionary, his +sole comfort to fight his battles o’er again for the benefit of his two +little twin grandchildren, the boy and the girl, a pair of +golden-haired youngsters to whom he was in some sense a mother. He +would place Maurice on his right knee and Henriette on his left, and +then for hours on end the narrative would run on in Homeric strain. + +But small attention was paid to dates; his story was of the dire shock +of conflicting nations, and was not to be hampered by the minute +exactitude of the historian. Successively or together English, +Austrians, Prussians, Russians appeared upon the scene, according to +the then prevailing condition of the ever-changing alliances, and it +was not always an easy matter to tell why one nation received a beating +in preference to another, but beaten they all were in the end, +inevitably beaten from the very commencement, in a whirlwind of genius +and heroic daring that swept great armies like chaff from off the +earth. There was Marengo, the classic battle of the plain, with the +consummate generalship of its broad plan and the faultless retreat of +the battalions by squares, silent and impassive under the enemy’s +terrible fire; the battle, famous in story, lost at three o’clock and +won at six, where the eight hundred grenadiers of the Consular Guard +withstood the onset of the entire Austrian cavalry, where Desaix +arrived to change impending defeat to glorious victory and die. There +was Austerlitz, with its sun of glory shining forth from amid the +wintry sky, Austerlitz, commencing with the capture of the plateau of +Pratzen and ending with the frightful catastrophe on the frozen lake, +where an entire Russian corps, men, guns, horses, went crashing through +the ice, while Napoleon, who in his divine omniscience had foreseen it +all, of course, directed his artillery to play upon the struggling +mass. There was Jena, where so many of Prussia’s bravest found a grave; +at first the red flames of musketry flashing through the October mists, +and Ney’s impatience, near spoiling all until Augereau comes wheeling +into line and saves him; the fierce charge that tore the enemy’s center +in twain, and finally panic, the headlong rout of their boasted +cavalry, whom our hussars mow down like ripened grain, strewing the +romantic glen with a harvest of men and horses. And Eylau, cruel Eylau, +bloodiest battle of them all, where the maimed corpses cumbered the +earth in piles; Eylau, whose new-fallen snow was stained with blood, +the burial-place of heroes; Eylau, in whose name reverberates still the +thunder of the charge of Murat’s eighty squadrons, piercing the Russian +lines in every direction, heaping the ground so thick with dead that +Napoleon himself could not refrain from tears. Then Friedland, the trap +into which the Russians again allowed themselves to be decoyed like a +flock of brainless sparrows, the masterpiece of the Emperor’s +consummate strategy; our left held back as in a leash, motionless, +without a sign of life, while Ney was carrying the city, street by +street, and destroying the bridges, then the left hurled like a +thunderbolt on the enemy’s right, driving it into the river and +annihilating it in that _cul-de-sac_; the slaughter so great that at +ten o’clock at night the bloody work was not completed, most wonderful +of all the successes of the great imperial epic. And Wagram, where it +was the aim of the Austrians to cut us off from the Danube; they keep +strengthening their left in order to overwhelm Masséna, who is wounded +and issues his orders from an open carriage, and Napoleon, like a +malicious Titan, lets them go on unchecked; then all at once a hundred +guns vomit their terrible fire upon their weakened center, driving it +backward more than a league, and their left, terror-stricken to find +itself unsupported, gives way before the again victorious Masséna, +sweeping away before it the remainder of the army, as when a broken +dike lets loose its torrents upon the fields. And finally the Moskowa, +where the bright sun of Austerlitz shone for the last time; where the +contending hosts were mingled in confused _mêlée_ amid deeds of the +most desperate daring: mamelons carried under an unceasing fire of +musketry, redoubts stormed with the naked steel, every inch of ground +fought over again and again; such determined resistance on the part of +the Russian Guards that our final victory was only assured by Murat’s +mad charges, the concentrated fire of our three hundred pieces of +artillery, and the valor of Ney, who was the hero of that most +obstinate of conflicts. And be the battle what it might, ever our flags +floated proudly on the evening air, and as the bivouac fires were +lighted on the conquered field out rang the old battle-cry: _Vive +Napoléon!_ France, carrying her invincible Eagles from end to end of +Europe, seemed everywhere at home, having but to raise her finger to +make her will respected by the nations, mistress of a world that in +vain conspired to crush her and upon which she set her foot. + +Maurice was contentedly finishing his cutlet, cheered not so much by +the wine that sparkled in his glass as by the glorious memories that +were teeming in his brain, when his glance encountered two ragged, +dust-stained soldiers, less like soldiers than weary tramps just off +the road; they were asking the attendant for information as to the +position of the regiments that were encamped along the canal. He hailed +them. + +“Hallo there, comrades, this way! You are 7th corps men, aren’t you?” + +“Right you are, sir; 1st division—at least I am, more by token that I +was at Froeschwiller, where it was warm enough, I can tell you. The +comrade, here, belongs in the 1st corps; he was at Wissembourg, another +beastly hole.” + +They told their story, how they had been swept away in the general +panic, had crawled into a ditch half-dead with fatigue and hunger, each +of them slightly wounded, and since then had been dragging themselves +along in the rear of the army, compelled to lie over in towns when the +fever-fits came on, until at last they had reached the camp and were on +the lookout to find their regiments. + +Maurice, who had a piece of Gruyère before him, noticed the hungry eyes +fixed on his plate. + +“Hi there, mademoiselle! bring some more cheese, will you—and bread and +wine. You will join me, won’t you, comrades? It is my treat. Here’s to +your good health!” + +They drew their chairs up to the table, only too delighted with the +invitation. Their entertainer watched them as they attacked the food, +and a thrill of pity ran through him as he beheld their sorry plight, +dirty, ragged, arms gone, their sole attire a pair of red trousers and +the capote, kept in place by bits of twine and so patched and pieced +with shreds of vari-colored cloth that one would have taken them for +men who had been looting some battle-field and were wearing the spoil +they had gathered there. + +“Ah! _foutre_, yes!” continued the taller of the two as he plied his +jaws, “it was no laughing matter there! You ought to have seen it,—tell +him how it was, Coutard.” + +And the little man told his story with many gestures, describing +figures on the air with his bread. + +“I was washing my shirt, you see, while the rest of them were making +soup. Just try and picture to yourself a miserable hole, a regular +trap, all surrounded by dense woods that gave those Prussian pigs a +chance to crawl up to us before we ever suspected they were there. So, +then, about seven o’clock the shells begin to come tumbling about our +ears. _Nom de Dieu!_ but it was lively work! we jumped for our +shooting-irons, and up to eleven o’clock it looked as if we were going +to polish ’em off in fine style. But you must know that there were only +five thousand of us, and the beggars kept coming, coming as if there +was no end to them. I was posted on a little hill, behind a bush, and I +could see them debouching in front, to right, to left, like rows of +black ants swarming from their hill, and when you thought there were +none left there were always plenty more. There’s no use mincing +matters, we all thought that our leaders must be first-class +nincompoops to thrust us into such a hornet’s nest, with no support at +hand, and leave us to be crushed there without coming to our +assistance. And then our General, Douay,[2] poor devil! neither a fool +nor a coward, that man,—a bullet comes along and lays him on his back. +That ended it; no one left to command us! No matter, though, we kept on +fighting all the same; but they were too many for us, we had to fall +back at last. We held the railway station for a long time, and then we +fought behind a wall, and the uproar was enough to wake the dead. And +then, when the city was taken, I don’t exactly remember how it came +about, but we were upon a mountain, the Geissberg, I think they call +it, and there we intrenched ourselves in a sort of castle, and how we +did give it to the pigs! they jumped about the rocks like kids, and it +was fun to pick ’em off and see ’em tumble on their nose. But what +would you have? they kept coming, coming, all the time, ten men to our +one, and all the artillery they could wish for. Courage is a very good +thing in its place, but sometimes it gets a man into difficulties, and +so, at last, when it got too hot to stand it any longer, we cut and +run. But regarded as nincompoops, our officers were a decided success; +don’t you think so, Picot?” + + [2] This was Abel Douay—not to be confounded with his brother, Félix, + who commanded the 7th corps.—TR. + + +There was a brief interval of silence. Picot tossed off a glass of the +white wine and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. + +“Of course,” said he. “It was just the same at Froeschwiller; the +general who would give battle under such circumstances is a fit subject +for a lunatic asylum. That’s what my captain said, and he’s a little +man who knows what he is talking about. The truth of the matter is that +no one knew anything; we were only forty thousand strong, and we were +surprised by a whole army of those pigs. And no one was expecting to +fight that day; battle was joined by degrees, one portion after another +of our troops became engaged, against the wishes of our commanders, as +it seems. Of course, I didn’t see the whole of the affair, but what I +do know is that the dance lasted by fits and starts all day long; a +body would think it was ended; not a bit of it! away would go the music +more furiously than ever. The commencement was at Woerth, a pretty +little village with a funny clock-tower that looks like a big stove, +owing to the earthenware tiles they have stuck all over it. I’ll be +hanged if I know why we let go our hold of it that morning, for we +broke all our teeth and nails trying to get it back again in the +afternoon, without succeeding. Oh, my children, if I were to tell you +of the slaughter there, the throats that were cut and the brains +knocked out, you would refuse to believe me! The next place where we +had trouble was around a village with the jaw-breaking name of +Elsasshausen. We got a peppering from a lot of guns that banged away at +us at their ease from the top of a blasted hill that we had also +abandoned that morning, why, no one has ever been able to tell. And +there it was that with these very eyes of mine I saw the famous charge +of the cuirassiers. Ah, how gallantly they rode to their death, poor +fellows! A shame it was, I say, to let men and horses charge over +ground like that, covered with brush and furze, cut up by ditches. And +on top of it all, _nom de Dieu!_ what good could they accomplish? But +it was very _chic_ all the same; it was a beautiful sight to see. The +next thing for us to do, shouldn’t you suppose so? was to go and sit +down somewhere and try to get our wind again. They had set fire to the +village and it was burning like tinder, and the whole gang of Bavarian, +Wurtemburgian and Prussian pigs, more than a hundred and twenty +thousand of them there were, as we found out afterward, had got around +into our rear and on our flanks. But there was to be no rest for us +then, for just at that time the fiddles began to play again a livelier +tune than ever around Froeschwiller. For there’s no use talking, +fellows, MacMahon may be a blockhead but he is a brave man; you ought +to have seen him on his big horse, with the shells bursting all about +him! The best thing to do would have been to give leg-bail at the +beginning, for it is no disgrace to a general to refuse to fight an +army of superior numbers, but he, once we had gone in, was bound to see +the thing through to the end. And see it through he did! why, I tell +you that the men down in Froeschwiller were no longer human beings; +they were ravening wolves devouring one another. For near two hours the +gutters ran red with blood. All the same, however, we had to knuckle +under in the end. And to think that after it was all over they should +come and tell us that we had whipped the Bavarians over on our left! By +the piper that played before Moses, if we had only had a hundred and +twenty thousand men, if _we_ had had guns, and leaders with a little +pluck!” + +Loud and angry were the denunciations of Coutard and Picot in their +ragged, dusty uniforms as they cut themselves huge slices of bread and +bolted bits of cheese, evoking their bitter memories there in the shade +of the pretty trellis, where the sun played hide and seek among the +purple and gold of the clusters of ripening grapes. They had come now +to the horrible flight that succeeded the defeat; the broken, +demoralized, famishing regiments flying through the fields, the +highroads blocked with men, horses, wagons, guns, in inextricable +confusion; all the wreck and ruin of a beaten army that pressed on, on, +on, with the chill breath of panic on their backs. As they had not had +wit enough to fall back while there was time and take post among the +passes of the Vosges, where ten thousand men would have sufficed to +hold in check a hundred thousand, they should at least have blown up +the bridges and destroyed the tunnels; but the generals had lost their +heads, and both sides were so dazed, each was so ignorant of the +other’s movements, that for a time each of them was feeling to +ascertain the position of its opponent, MacMahon hurrying off toward +Luneville, while the Crown Prince of Prussia was looking for him in the +direction of the Vosges. On the 7th the remnant of the 1st corps passed +through Saverne, like a swollen stream that carries away upon its muddy +bosom all with which it comes in contact. On the 8th, at Sarrebourg, +the 5th corps came tumbling in upon the 1st, like one mad mountain +torrent pouring its waters into another. The 5th was also flying, +defeated without having fought a battle, sweeping away with it its +commander, poor General de Failly, almost crazy with the thought that +to his inactivity was imputed the responsibility of the defeat, when +the fault all rested in the Marshal’s having failed to send him orders. +The mad flight continued on the 9th and 10th, a stampede in which no +one turned to look behind him. On the 11th, in order to turn Nancy, +which a mistaken rumor had reported to be occupied by the enemy, they +made their way in a pouring rainstorm to Bayon; the 12th they camped at +Haroue, the 13th at Vicherey, and on the 14th were at Neufchâteau, +where at last they struck the railroad, and for three days the work +went on of loading the weary men into the cars that were to take them +to Châlons. Twenty-four hours after the last train rolled out of the +station the Prussians entered the town. “Ah, the cursed luck!” said +Picot in conclusion; “how we had to ply our legs! And we who should by +rights have been in hospital!” + +Coutard emptied what was left in the bottle into his own and his +comrade’s glass. “Yes, we got on our pins, somehow, and are running +yet. Bah! it is the best thing for us, after all, since it gives us a +chance to drink the health of those who were not knocked over.” + +Maurice saw through it all. The sledge hammer blow of Froeschwiller, +following so close on the heels of the idiotic surprise at Wissembourg, +was the lightning flash whose baleful light disclosed to him the entire +naked, terrible truth. We were taken unprepared; we had neither guns, +nor men, nor generals, while our despised foe was an innumerable host, +provided with all modern appliances and faultless in discipline and +leadership. The three German armies had burst apart the weak line of +our seven corps, scattered between Metz and Strasbourg, like three +powerful wedges. We were doomed to fight our battle out unaided; +nothing could be hoped for now from Austria and Italy, for all the +Emperor’s plans were disconcerted by the tardiness of our operations +and the incapacity of the commanders. Fate, even, seemed to be working +against us, heaping all sorts of obstacles and ill-timed accidents in +our path and favoring the secret plan of the Prussians, which was to +divide our armies, throwing one portion back on Metz, where it would be +cut off from France, while they, having first destroyed the other +fragment, should be marching on Paris. It was as plain now as a problem +in mathematics that our defeat would be owing to causes that were +patent to everyone; it was bravery without intelligent guidance pitted +against numbers and cold science. Men might discuss the question as +they would in after days; happen what might, defeat was certain in +spite of everything, as certain and inexorable as the laws of nature +that rule our planet. + +In the midst of his uncheerful revery, Maurice’s eyes suddenly lighted +on the legend scrawled on the wall before him—_Vive Napoléon!_ and a +sensation of intolerable distress seemed to pierce his heart like a red +hot iron. Could it be true, then, that France, whose victories were the +theme of song and story everywhere, the great nation whose drums had +sounded throughout the length and breadth of Europe, had been thrown in +the dust at the first onset by an insignificant race, despised of +everyone? Fifty years had sufficed to compass it; the world had +changed, and defeat most fearful had overtaken those who had been +deemed invincible. He remembered the words that had been uttered by +Weiss his brother-in-law, during that evening of anxiety when they were +at Mülhausen. Yes, he alone of them had been clear of vision, had +penetrated the hidden causes that had long been slowly sapping our +strength, had felt the freshening gale of youth and progress under the +impulse of which Germany was being wafted onward to prosperity and +power. Was not the old warlike age dying and a new one coming to the +front? Woe to that one among the nations which halted in its onward +march! the victory is to those who are with the advance-guard, to those +who are clear of head and strong of body, to the most powerful. + +But just then there came from the smoke-blackened kitchen, where the +walls were bright with the colored prints of Epinal, a sound of voices +and the squalling of a girl who submits, not unwillingly, to be +tousled. It was Lieutenant Rochas, availing himself of his privilege as +a conquering hero, to catch and kiss the pretty waitress. He came out +into the arbor, where he ordered a cup of coffee to be served him, and +as he had heard the concluding words of Picot’s narrative, proceeded to +take a hand in the conversation: + +“Bah! my children, those things that you are speaking of don’t amount +to anything. It is only the beginning of the dance; you will see the +fun commence in earnest presently. _Pardi_! up to the present time they +have been five to our one, but things are going to take a change now; +just put that in your pipe and smoke it. We are three hundred thousand +strong here, and every move we make, which nobody can see through, is +made with the intention of bringing the Prussians down on us, while +Bazaine, who has got his eye on them, will take them in their rear. And +then we’ll smash ’em, _crac_! just as I smash this fly!” + +Bringing his hands together with a sounding clap he caught and crushed +a fly on the wing, and he laughed loud and cheerily, believing with all +his simple soul in the feasibility of a plan that seemed so simple, +steadfast in his faith in the invincibility of French courage. He +good-naturedly informed the two soldiers of the exact position of their +regiments, then lit a cigar and seated himself contentedly before his +_demitasse_. + +“The pleasure was all mine, comrades!” Maurice replied to Coutard and +Picot, who, as they were leaving, thanked him for the cheese and wine. + +He had also called for a cup of coffee and sat watching the Lieutenant, +whose hopefulness had communicated itself to him, a little surprised, +however, to hear him enumerate their strength at three hundred thousand +men, when it was not more than a hundred thousand, and at his +happy-go-lucky way of crushing the Prussians between the two armies of +Châlons and Metz. But then he, too, felt such need of some comforting +illusion! Why should he not continue to hope when all those glorious +memories of the past that he had evoked were still ringing in his ears? +The old inn was so bright and cheerful, with its trellis hung with the +purple grapes of France, ripening in the golden sunlight! And again his +confidence gained a momentary ascendancy over the gloomy despair that +the late events had engendered in him. + +Maurice’s eyes had rested for a moment on an officer of chasseurs +d’Afrique who, with his orderly, had disappeared at a sharp trot around +the corner of the silent house where the Emperor was quartered, and +when the orderly came back alone and stopped with his two horses before +the inn door he gave utterance to an exclamation of surprise: + +“Prosper! Why, I supposed you were at Metz!” + +It was a young man of Remilly, a simple farm-laborer, whom he had known +as a boy in the days when he used to go and spend his vacations with +his uncle Fouchard. He had been drawn, and when the war broke out had +been three years in Africa; he cut quite a dashing figure in his +sky-blue jacket, his wide red trousers with blue stripes and red woolen +belt, with his sun-dried face and strong, sinewy limbs that indicated +great strength and activity. + +“Hallo! it’s Monsieur Maurice! I’m glad to see you!” + +He took things very easily, however, conducting the steaming horses to +the stable, and to his own, more particularly, giving a paternal +attention. It was no doubt his affection for the noble animal, +contracted when he was a boy and rode him to the plow, that had made +him select the cavalry arm of the service. + +“We’ve just come in from Monthois, more than ten leagues at a stretch,” +he said when he came back, “and Poulet will be wanting his breakfast.” + +Poulet was the horse. He declined to eat anything himself; would only +accept a cup of coffee. He had to wait for his officer, who had to wait +for the Emperor; he might be five minutes, and then again he might be +two hours, so his officer had told him to put the horses in the stable. +And as Maurice, whose curiosity was aroused, showed some disposition to +pump him, his face became as vacant as a blank page. + +“Can’t say. An errand of some sort—papers to be delivered.” + +But Rochas looked at the chasseur with an eye of tenderness, for the +uniform awakened old memories of Africa. + +“Eh! my lad, where were you stationed out there?” + +“At Medeah, Lieutenant.” + +Ah, Medeah! And drawing their chairs closer together they started a +conversation, regardless of difference in rank. The life of the desert +had become a second nature, for Prosper, where the trumpet was +continually calling them to arms, where a large portion of their time +was spent on horseback, riding out to battle as they would to the +chase, to some grand battue of Arabs. There was just one soup-basin for +every six men, or tribe, as it was called, and each tribe was a family +by itself, one of its members attending to the cooking, another washing +their linen, the others pitching the tent, caring for the horses, and +cleaning the arms. By day they scoured the country beneath a sun like a +ball of blazing copper, loaded down with the burden of their arms and +utensils; at night they built great fires to drive away the mosquitoes +and sat around them, singing the songs of France. Often it happened +that in the luminous darkness of the night, thick set with stars, they +had to rise and restore peace among their four-footed friends, who, in +the balmy softness of the air, had set to biting and kicking one +another, uprooting their pickets and neighing and snorting furiously. +Then there was the delicious coffee, their greatest, indeed their only, +luxury, which they ground by the primitive appliances of a carbine-butt +and a porringer, and afterward strained through a red woolen sash. But +their life was not one of unalloyed enjoyment; there were dark days, +also, when they were far from the abodes of civilized man with the +enemy before them. No more fires, then; no singing, no good times. +There were times when hunger, thirst and want of sleep caused them +horrible suffering, but no matter; they loved that daring, adventurous +life, that war of skirmishes, so propitious for the display of personal +bravery and as interesting as a fairy tale, enlivened by the _razzias_, +which were only public plundering on a larger scale, and by marauding, +or the private peculations of the chicken-thieves, which afforded many +an amusing story that made even the generals laugh. + +“Ah!” said Prosper, with a more serious face, “it’s different here; the +fighting is done in quite another way.” + +And in reply to a question asked by Maurice, he told the story of their +landing at Toulon and the long and wearisome march to Luneville. It was +there that they first received news of Wissembourg and Froeschwiller. +After that his account was less clear, for he got the names of towns +mixed, Nancy and Saint-Mihiel, Saint-Mihiel and Metz. There must have +been heavy fighting on the 14th, for the sky was all on fire, but all +he saw of it was four uhlans behind a hedge. On the 16th there was +another engagement; they could hear the artillery going as early as six +o’clock in the morning, and he had been told that on the 18th they +started the dance again, more lively than ever. But the chasseurs were +not in it that time, for at Gravelotte on the 16th, as they were +standing drawn up along a road waiting to wheel into column, the +Emperor, who passed that way in a victoria, took them to act as his +escort to Verdun. And a pretty little jaunt it was, twenty-six miles at +a hard gallop, with the fear of being cut off by the Prussians at any +moment! + +“And what of Bazaine?” asked Rochas. + +“Bazaine? they say that he is mightily well pleased that the Emperor +lets him alone.” + +But the Lieutenant wanted to know if Bazaine was coming to join them, +whereon Prosper made a gesture expressive of uncertainty; what did any +one know? Ever since the 16th their time had been spent in marching and +countermarching in the rain, out on reconnoissance and grand-guard +duty, and they had not seen a sign of an enemy. Now they were part of +the army of Châlons. His regiment, together with two regiments of +chasseurs de France and one of hussars, formed one of the divisions of +the cavalry of reserve, the first division, commanded by General +Margueritte, of whom he spoke with most enthusiastic warmth. + +“Ah, the _bougre_! the enemy will catch a Tartar in him! But what’s the +good talking? the only use they can find for us is to send us pottering +about in the mud.” + +There was silence for a moment, then Maurice gave some brief news of +Remilly and uncle Fouchard, and Prosper expressed his regret that he +could not go and shake hands with Honoré, the quartermaster-sergeant, +whose battery was stationed more than a league away, on the other side +of the Laon road. But the chasseur pricked up his ears at hearing the +whinnying of a horse and rose and went out to make sure that Poulet was +not in want of anything. It was the hour sacred to coffee and +_pousse-café_, and it was not long before the little hostelry was full +to overflowing with officers and men of every arm of the service. There +was not a vacant table, and the bright uniforms shone resplendent +against the green background of leaves checkered with spots of +sunshine. Major Bouroche had just come in and taken a seat beside +Rochas, when Jean presented himself with an order. + +“Lieutenant, the captain desires me to say that he wishes to see you at +three o’clock on company business.” + +Rochas signified by a nod of the head that he had heard, and Jean did +not go away at once, but stood smiling at Maurice, who was lighting a +cigarette. Ever since the occurrence in the railway car there had been +a sort of tacit truce between the two men; they seemed to be +reciprocally studying each other, with an increasing interest and +attraction. But just then Prosper came back, a little out of temper. + +“I mean to have something to eat unless my officer comes out of that +shanty pretty quick. The Emperor is just as likely as not to stay away +until dark, confound it all.” + +“Tell me,” said Maurice, his curiosity again getting the better of him, +“isn’t it possible that the news you are bringing may be from Bazaine?” + +“Perhaps so. There was a good deal of talk about him down there at +Monthois.” + +At that moment there was a stir outside in the street, and Jean, who +was standing by one of the doors of the arbor, turned and said: + +“The Emperor!” + +Immediately everyone was on his feet. Along the broad, white road, with +its rows of poplars on either side, came a troop of cent-gardes, spick +and span in their brilliant uniforms, their cuirasses blazing in the +sunlight, and immediately behind them rode the Emperor, accompanied by +his staff, in a wide open space, followed by a second troop of +cent-gardes. + +There was a general uncovering of heads, and here and there a hurrah +was heard; and the Emperor raised his head as he passed; his face +looked drawn, the eyes were dim and watery. He had the dazed appearance +of one suddenly aroused from slumber, smiled faintly at sight of the +cheerful inn, and saluted. From behind them Maurice and Jean distinctly +heard old Bouroche growl, having first surveyed the sovereign with his +practiced eye: + +“There’s no mistake about it, that man is in a bad way.” Then he +succinctly completed his diagnosis: “His jig is up!” + +Jean shook his head and thought in his limited, common sense way: “It +is a confounded shame to let a man like that have command of the army!” +And ten minutes later, when Maurice, comforted by his good breakfast, +shook hands with Prosper and strolled away to smoke more cigarettes, he +carried with him the picture of the Emperor, seated on his easy-gaited +horse, so pale, so gentle, the man of thought, the dreamer, wanting in +energy when the moment for action came. He was reputed to be +good-hearted, capable, swayed by generous and noble thoughts, a silent +man of strong and tenacious will; he was very brave, too, scorning +danger with the scorn of the fatalist for whom destiny has no fears; +but in critical moments a fatal lethargy seemed to overcome him; he +appeared to become paralyzed in presence of results, and powerless +thereafter to struggle against Fortune should she prove adverse. And +Maurice asked himself if his were not a special physiological +condition, aggravated by suffering; if the indecision and increasing +incapacity that the Emperor had displayed ever since the opening of the +campaign were not to be attributed to his manifest illness. That would +explain everything: a minute bit of foreign substance in a man’s +system, and empires totter. + +The camp that evening was all astir with activity; officers were +bustling about with orders and arranging for the start the following +morning at five o’clock. Maurice experienced a shock of surprise and +alarm to learn that once again all their plans were changed, that they +were not to fall back on Paris, but proceed to Verdun and effect a +junction with Bazaine. There was a report that dispatches had come in +during the day from the marshal announcing that he was retreating, and +the young man’s thoughts reverted to the officer of chasseurs and his +rapid ride from Monthois; perhaps he had been the bearer of a copy of +the dispatch. So, then, the opinions of the Empress-regent and the +Council of Ministers had prevailed with the vacillating MacMahon, in +their dread to see the Emperor return to Paris and their inflexible +determination to push the army forward in one supreme attempt to save +the dynasty; and the poor Emperor, that wretched man for whom there was +no place in all his vast empire, was to be bundled to and fro among the +baggage of his army like some worthless, worn-out piece of furniture, +condemned to the irony of dragging behind him in his suite his imperial +household, cent-gardes, horses, carriages, cooks, silver stew-pans and +cases of champagne, trailing his flaunting mantle, embroidered with the +Napoleonic bees, through the blood and mire of the highways of his +retreat. + +At midnight Maurice was not asleep; he was feverishly wakeful, and his +gloomy reflections kept him tossing and tumbling on his pallet. He +finally arose and went outside, where he found comfort and refreshment +in the cool night air. The sky was overspread with clouds, the darkness +was intense; along the front of the line the expiring watch-fires +gleamed with a red and sullen light at distant intervals, and in the +deathlike, boding silence could be heard the long-drawn breathing of +the hundred thousand men who slumbered there. Then Maurice became more +tranquil, and there descended on him a sentiment of brotherhood, full +of compassionate kindness for all those slumbering fellow-creatures, of +whom thousands would soon be sleeping the sleep of death. Brave +fellows! True, many of them were thieves and drunkards, but think of +what they had suffered and the excuse there was for them in the +universal demoralization! The glorious veterans of Solferino and +Sebastopol were but a handful, incorporated in the ranks of the newly +raised troops, too few in number to make their example felt. The four +corps that had been got together and equipped so hurriedly, devoid of +every element of cohesion, were the forlorn hope, the expiatory band +that their rulers were sending to the sacrifice in the endeavor to +avert the wrath of destiny. They would bear their cross to the bitter +end, atoning with their life’s blood for the faults of others, glorious +amid disaster and defeat. + +And then it was that Maurice, there in the darkness that was instinct +with life, became conscious that a great duty lay before him. He ceased +to beguile himself with the illusive prospect of great victories to be +gained; the march to Verdun was a march to death, and he so accepted +it, since it was their lot to die, with brave and cheerful resignation. + + + + +IV. + + +On Tuesday, the 23d of August, at six o’clock in the morning, camp was +broken, and as a stream that has momentarily expanded into a lake +resumes its course again, the hundred and odd thousand men of the army +of Châlons put themselves in motion and soon were pouring onward in a +resistless torrent; and notwithstanding the rumors that had been +current since the preceding day, it was a great surprise to most to see +that instead of continuing their retrograde movement they were leaving +Paris behind them and turning their faces toward the unknown regions of +the East. + +At five o’clock in the morning the 7th corps was still unsupplied with +cartridges. For two days the artillerymen had been working like beavers +to unload the _matériel_, horses, and stores that had been streaming +from Metz into the overcrowded station, and it was only at the very +last moment that some cars of cartridges were discovered among the +tangled trains, and that a detail which included Jean among its numbers +was enabled to bring back two hundred and forty thousand on carts that +they had hurriedly requisitioned. Jean distributed the regulation +number, one hundred cartridges to a man, among his squad, just as +Gaude, the company bugler, sounded the order to march. + +The 106th was not to pass through Rheims, their orders being to turn +the city and debouch into the Châlons road farther on, but on this +occasion there was the usual failure to regulate the order and time of +marching, so that, the four corps having commenced to move at the same +moment, they collided when they came out upon the roads that they were +to traverse in common and the result was inextricable confusion. +Cavalry and artillery were constantly cutting in among the infantry and +bringing them to a halt; whole brigades were compelled to leave the +road and stand at ordered arms in the plowed fields for more than an +hour, waiting until the way should be cleared. And to make matters +worse, they had hardly left the camp when a terrible storm broke over +them, the rain pelting down in torrents, drenching the men completely +and adding intolerably to the weight of knapsacks and great-coats. Just +as the rain began to hold up, however, the 106th saw a chance to go +forward, while some zouaves in an adjoining field, who were forced to +wait yet for a while, amused themselves by pelting one another with +balls of moist earth, and the consequent condition of their uniforms +afforded them much merriment. + +The sun suddenly came shining out again in the clear sky, the warm, +bright sun of an August morning, and with it came returning gayety; the +men were steaming like a wash of linen hung out to dry in the open air: +the moisture evaporated from their clothing in little more time than it +takes to tell it, and when they were warm and dry again, like dogs who +shake the water from them when they emerge from a pond, they chaffed +one another good-naturedly on their bedraggled appearance and the +splashes of mud on their red trousers. Wherever two roads intersected +another halt was necessitated; the last one was in a little village +just beyond the walls of the city, in front of a small saloon that +seemed to be doing a thriving business. Thereon it occurred to Maurice +to treat the squad to a drink, by way of wishing them all good luck. + +“Corporal, will you allow me—” + +Jean, after hesitating a moment, accepted a “pony” of brandy for +himself. Loubet and Chouteau were of the party (the latter had been +watchful and submissive since that day when the corporal had evinced a +disposition to use his heavy fists), and also Pache and Lapoulle, a +couple of very decent fellows when there was no one to set them a bad +example. + +“Your good health, corporal!” said Chouteau in a respectful, whining +tone. + +“Thank you; here’s hoping that you may bring back your head and all +your legs and arms!” Jean politely replied, while the others laughed +approvingly. + +But the column was about to move; Captain Beaudoin came up with a +scandalized look on his face and a reproof at the tip of his tongue, +while Lieutenant Rochas, more indulgent to the small weaknesses of his +men, turned his head so as not to see what was going on. And now they +were stepping out at a good round pace along the Châlons road, which +stretched before them for many a long league, bordered with trees on +either side, undeviatingly straight, like a never-ending ribbon +unrolled between the fields of yellow stubble that were dotted here and +there with tall stacks and wooden windmills brandishing their lean +arms. More to the north were rows of telegraph poles, indicating the +position of other roads, on which they could distinguish the black, +crawling lines of other marching regiments. In many places the troops +had left the highway and were moving in deep columns across the open +plain. To the left and front a cavalry brigade was seen, jogging along +at an easy trot in a blaze of sunshine. The entire wide horizon, +usually so silent and deserted, was alive and populous with those +streams of men, pressing onward, onward, in long drawn, black array, +like the innumerable throng of insects from some gigantic ant-hill. + +About nine o’clock the regiment left the Châlons road and wheeled to +the left into another that led to Suippe, which, like the first, +extended, straight as an arrow’s flight, far as the eye could see. The +men marched at the route-step in two straggling files along either side +of the road, thus leaving the central space free for the officers, and +Maurice could not help noticing their anxious, care-worn air, in +striking contrast with the jollity and good-humor of the soldiers, who +were happy as children to be on the move once more. As the squad was +near the head of the column he could even distinguish the Colonel, M. +de Vineuil, in the distance, and was impressed by the grave earnestness +of his manner, and his tall, rigid form, swaying in cadence to the +motion of his charger. The band had been sent back to the rear, to keep +company with the regimental wagons; it played but once during that +entire campaign. Then came the ambulances and engineer’s train attached +to the division, and succeeding that the corps train, an interminable +procession of forage wagons, closed vans for stores, carts for baggage, +and vehicles of every known description, occupying a space of road +nearly four miles in length, and which, at the infrequent curves in the +highway, they could see winding behind them like the tail of some great +serpent. And last of all, at the extreme rear of the column, came the +herds, “rations on the hoof,” a surging, bleating, bellowing mass of +sheep and oxen, urged on by blows and raising clouds of dust, reminding +one of the old warlike peoples of the East and their migrations. + +Lapoulle meantime would every now and then give a hitch of his +shoulders in an attempt to shift the weight of his knapsack when it +began to be too heavy. The others, alleging that he was the strongest, +were accustomed to make him carry the various utensils that were common +to the squad, including the big kettle and the water-pail; on this +occasion they had even saddled him with the company shovel, assuring +him that it was a badge of honor. So far was he from complaining that +he was now laughing at a song with which Loubet, the tenor of the +squad, was trying to beguile the tedium of the way. Loubet had made +himself quite famous by reason of his knapsack, in which was to be +found a little of everything: linen, an extra pair of shoes, +haberdashery, chocolate, brushes, a plate and cup, to say nothing of +his regular rations of biscuit and coffee, and although the +all-devouring receptacle also contained his cartridges, and his +blankets were rolled on top of it, together with the shelter-tent and +stakes, the load nevertheless appeared light, such an excellent system +he had of packing his trunk, as he himself expressed it. + +“It’s a beastly country, all the same!” Chouteau kept repeating from +time to time, casting a look of intense disgust over the dreary plains +of “lousy Champagne.” + +Broad expanses of chalky ground of a dirty white lay before and around +them, and seemed to have no end. Not a farmhouse to be seen anywhere, +not a living being; nothing but flocks of crows, forming small spots of +blackness on the immensity of the gray waste. On the left, far away in +the distance, the low hills that bounded the horizon in that direction +were crowned by woods of somber pines, while on the right an unbroken +wall of trees indicated the course of the river Vesle. But over there +behind the hills they had seen for the last hour a dense smoke was +rising, the heavy clouds of which obscured the sky and told of a +dreadful conflagration raging at no great distance. + +“What is burning over there?” was the question that was on the lips of +everyone. + +The answer was quickly given and ran through the column from front to +rear. The camp of Châlons had been fired, it was said, by order of the +Emperor, to keep the immense collection of stores there from falling +into the hands of the Prussians, and for the last two days it had been +going up in flame and smoke. The cavalry of the rear-guard had been +instructed to apply the torch to two immense warehouses, filled with +tents, tent-poles, mattresses, clothing, shoes, blankets, mess +utensils, supplies of every kind sufficient for the equipment of a +hundred thousand men. Stacks of forage also had been lighted, and were +blazing like huge beacon-fires, and an oppressive silence settled down +upon the army as it pursued its march across the wide, solitary plain +at sight of that dusky, eddying column that rose from behind the +distant hills, filling the heavens with desolation. All that was to be +heard in the bright sunlight was the measured tramp of many feet upon +the hollow ground, while involuntarily the eyes of all were turned on +that livid cloud whose baleful shadows rested on their march for many a +league. + +Their spirits rose again when they made their midday halt in a field of +stubble, where the men could seat themselves on their unslung knapsacks +and refresh themselves with a bite. The large square biscuits could +only be eaten by crumbling them in the soup, but the little round ones +were quite a delicacy, light and appetizing; the only trouble was that +they left an intolerable thirst behind them. Pache sang a hymn, being +invited thereto, the squad joining in the chorus. Jean smiled +good-naturedly without attempting to check them in their amusement, +while Maurice, at sight of the universal cheerfulness and the good +order with which their first day’s march was conducted, felt a revival +of confidence. The remainder of the allotted task of the day was +performed with the same light-hearted alacrity, although the last five +miles tried their endurance. They had abandoned the high road, leaving +the village of Prosnes to their right, in order to avail themselves of +a short cut across a sandy heath diversified by an occasional thin pine +wood, and the entire division, with its interminable train at its +heels, turned and twisted in and out among the trees, sinking ankle +deep in the yielding sand at every step. It seemed as if the cheerless +waste would never end; all that they met was a flock of very lean +sheep, guarded by a big black dog. + +It was about four o’clock when at last the 106th halted for the night +at Dontrien, a small village on the banks of the Suippe. The little +stream winds among some pretty groves of trees; the old church stands +in the middle of the graveyard, which is shaded in its entire extent by +a magnificent chestnut. The regiment pitched its tents on the left +bank, in a meadow that sloped gently down to the margin of the river. +The officers said that all the four corps would bivouac that evening on +the line of the Suippe between Auberive and Hentregiville, occupying +the intervening villages of Dontrien, Betheniville and Pont-Faverger, +making a line of battle nearly five leagues long. + +Gaude immediately gave the call for “distribution,” and Jean had to run +for it, for the corporal was steward-in-chief, and it behooved him to +be on the lookout to protect his men’s interests. He had taken Lapoulle +with him, and in a quarter of an hour they returned with some ribs of +beef and a bundle of firewood. In the short space of time succeeding +their arrival three steers of the herd that followed the column had +been knocked in the head under a great oak-tree, skinned, and cut up. +Lapoulle had to return for bread, which the villagers of Dontrien had +been baking all that afternoon in their ovens. There was really no lack +of anything on that first day, setting aside wine and tobacco, with +which the troops were to be obliged to dispense during the remainder of +the campaign. + +Upon Jean’s return he found Chouteau engaged in raising the tent, +assisted by Pache; he looked at them for a moment with the critical eye +of an old soldier who had no great opinion of their abilities. + +“It will do very well if the weather is fine to-night,” he said at +last, “but if it should come on to blow we would like enough wake up +and find ourselves in the river. Let me show you.” + +And he was about to send Maurice with the large pail for water, but the +young man had sat down on the ground, taken off his shoe, and was +examining his right foot. + +“Hallo, there! what’s the matter with you?” + +“My shoe has chafed my foot and raised a blister. My other shoes were +worn out, and when we were at Rheims I bought these, like a big fool, +because they were a good fit. I should have selected gunboats.” + +Jean kneeled and took the foot in his hand, turning it over as +carefully as if it had been a little child’s, with a disapproving shake +of his head. + +“You must be careful; it is no laughing matter, a thing like that. A +soldier without the use of his feet is of no good to himself or anyone +else. When we were in Italy my captain used always to say that it is +the men’s legs that win battles.” + +He bade Pache go for the water, no very hard task, as the river was but +a few yards away, and Loubet, having in the meantime dug a shallow +trench and lit his fire, was enabled to commence operations on his +_pot-au-feu_, which he did by putting on the big kettle full of water +and plunging into it the meat that he had previously corded together +with a bit of twine, _secundum artem_. Then it was solid comfort for +them to watch the boiling of the soup; the whole squad, their chores +done up and their day’s labor ended, stretched themselves on the grass +around the fire in a family group, full of tender anxiety for the +simmering meat, while Loubet occasionally stirred the pot with a +gravity fitted to the importance of his position. Like children and +savages, their sole instinct was to eat and sleep, careless of the +morrow, while advancing to face unknown risks and dangers. + +But Maurice had unpacked his knapsack and come across a newspaper that +he had bought at Rheims, and Chouteau asked: + +“Is there anything about the Prussians in it? Read us the news!” + +They were a happy family under Jean’s mild despotism. Maurice +good-naturedly read such news as he thought might interest them, while +Pache, the seamstress of the company, mended his greatcoat for him and +Lapoulle cleaned his musket. The first item was a splendid victory won +by Bazaine, who had driven an entire Prussian corps into the quarries +of Jaumont, and the trumped-up tale was told with an abundance of +dramatic detail, how men and horses went over the precipice and were +crushed on the rocks beneath out of all semblance of humanity, so that +there was not one whole corpse found for burial. Then there were minute +details of the pitiable condition of the German armies ever since they +had invaded France: the ill-fed, poorly equipped soldiers were actually +falling from inanition and dying by the roadside of horrible diseases. +Another article told how the king of Prussia had the diarrhea, and how +Bismarck had broken his leg in jumping from the window of an inn where +a party of zouaves had just missed capturing him. Capital news! +Lapoulle laughed over it as if he would split his sides, while Chouteau +and the others, without expressing the faintest doubt, chuckled at the +idea that soon they would be picking up Prussians as boys pick up +sparrows in a field after a hail-storm. But they laughed loudest at old +Bismarck’s accident; oh! the zouaves and the turcos, they were the boys +for one’s money! It was said that the Germans were in an ecstasy of +fear and rage, declaring that it was unworthy of a nation that claimed +to be civilized to employ such heathen savages in its armies. Although +they had been decimated at Froeschwiller, the foreign troops seemed to +have a good deal of life left in them. + +It was just striking six from the steeple of the little church of +Dontrien when Loubet shouted: + +“Come to supper!” + +The squad lost no time in seating themselves in a circle. At the very +last moment Loubet had succeeded in getting some vegetables from a +peasant who lived hard by. That made the crowning glory of the feast: a +soup perfumed with carrots and onions, that went down the throat soft +as velvet—what could they have desired more? The spoons rattled merrily +in the little wooden bowls. Then it devolved on Jean, who always served +the portions, to distribute the beef, and it behooved him that day to +do it with the strictest impartiality, for hungry eyes were watching +him and there would have been a growl had anyone received a larger +piece than his neighbors. They concluded by licking the porringers, and +were smeared with soup up to their eyes. + +“Ah, _nom de Dieu!_” Chouteau declared when he had finished, throwing +himself flat on his back; “I would rather take that than a beating, any +day!” + +Maurice, too, whose foot pained him less now that he could give it a +little rest, was conscious of that sensation of well-being that is the +result of a full stomach. He was beginning to take more kindly to his +rough companions, and to bring himself down nearer to their level under +the pressure of the physical necessities of their life in common. That +night he slept the same deep sleep as did his five tent-mates; they all +huddled close together, finding the sensation of animal warmth not +disagreeable in the heavy dew that fell. It is necessary to state that +Lapoulle, at the instigation of Loubet, had gone to a stack not far +away and feloniously appropriated a quantity of straw, in which our six +gentlemen snored as if it had been a bed of down. And from Auberive to +Hentregiville, along the pleasant banks of the Suippe as it meandered +sluggishly between its willows, the fires of those hundred thousand +sleeping men illuminated the starlit night for fifteen miles, like a +long array of twinkling stars. + +At sunrise they made coffee, pulverizing the berries in a wooden bowl +with a musket-butt, throwing the powder into boiling water, and +settling it with a drop of cold water. The luminary rose that morning +in a bank of purple and gold, affording a spectacle of royal +magnificence, but Maurice had no eye for such displays, and Jean, with +the weather-wisdom of a peasant, cast an anxious glance at the red +disk, which presaged rain; and it was for that reason that, the surplus +of bread baked the day before having been distributed and the squad +having received three loaves, he reproved severely Loubet and Pache for +making them fast on the outside of their knapsacks; but the tents were +folded and the knapsacks packed, and so no one paid any attention to +him. Six o’clock was sounding from all the bells of the village when +the army put itself in motion and stoutly resumed its advance in the +bright hopefulness of the dawn of the new day. + +The 106th, in order to reach the road that leads from Rheims to +Vouziers, struck into a cross-road, and for more than an hour their way +was an ascending one. Below them, toward the north, Betheniville was +visible among the trees, where the Emperor was reported to have slept, +and when they reached the Vouziers road the level country of the +preceding day again presented itself to their gaze and the lean fields +of “lousy Champagne” stretched before them in wearisome monotony. They +now had the Arne, an insignificant stream, flowing on their left, while +to the right the treeless, naked country stretched far as the eye could +see in an apparently interminable horizon. They passed through a +village or two: Saint-Clement, with its single winding street bordered +by a double row of houses, Saint-Pierre, a little town of miserly rich +men who had barricaded their doors and windows. The long halt occurred +about ten o’clock, near another village, Saint-Etienne, where the men +were highly delighted to find tobacco once more. The 7th corps had been +cut up into several columns, and the 106th headed one of these columns, +having behind it only a battalion of chasseurs and the reserve +artillery. Maurice turned his head at every bend in the road to catch a +glimpse of the long train that had so excited his interest the day +before, but in vain; the herds had gone off in some other direction, +and all he could see was the guns, looming inordinately large upon +those level plains, like monster insects of somber mien. + +After leaving Saint-Etienne, however, there was a change for the worse, +and the road from bad became abominable, rising by an easy ascent +between great sterile fields in which the only signs of vegetation were +the everlasting pine woods with their dark verdure, forming a dismal +contrast with the gray-white soil. It was the most forlorn spot they +had seen yet. The ill-paved road, washed by the recent rains, was a +lake of mud, of tenacious, slippery gray clay, which held the men’s +feet like so much pitch. It was wearisome work; the troops were +exhausted and could not get forward, and as if things were not bad +enough already, the rain suddenly began to come down most violently. +The guns were mired and had to be left in the road. + +Chouteau, who had been given the squad’s rice to carry, fatigued and +exasperated with his heavy load, watched for an opportunity when no one +was looking and dropped the package. But Loubet had seen him. + +“See here, that’s no way! you ought not to do that. The comrades will +be hungry by and by.” + +“Let be!” replied Chouteau. “There is plenty of rice; they will give us +more at the end of the march.” + +And Loubet, who had the bacon, convinced by such cogent reasoning, +dropped his load in turn. + +Maurice was suffering more and more with his foot, of which the heel +was badly inflamed. He limped along in such a pitiable state that +Jean’s sympathy was aroused. + +“Does it hurt? is it no better, eh?” And as the men were halted just +then for a breathing spell, he gave him a bit of good advice. “Take off +your shoe and go barefoot; the cool earth will ease the pain.” + +And in that way Maurice found that he could keep up with his comrades +with some degree of comfort; he experienced a sentiment of deep +gratitude. It was a piece of great good luck that their squad had a +corporal like him, a man who had seen service and knew all the tricks +of the trade: he was an uncultivated peasant, of course, but a good +fellow all the same. + +It was late when they reached their place of bivouac at Contreuve, +after marching a long time on the Châlons and Vouziers road and +descending by a steep path into the valley of the Semide, up which they +came through a stretch of narrow meadows. The landscape had undergone a +change; they were now in the Ardennes, and from the lofty hills above +the village where the engineers had staked off the ground for the 7th +corps’ camp, the valley of the Aisne was dimly visible in the distance, +veiled in the pale mists of the passing shower. + +Six o’clock came and there had been no distribution of rations, whereon +Jean, in order to keep occupied, apprehensive also of the consequences +that might result from the high wind that was springing up, determined +to attend in person to the setting up of the tent. He showed his men +how it should be done, selecting a bit of ground that sloped away a +little to one side, setting the pegs at the proper angle, and digging a +little trench around the whole to carry off the water. Maurice was +excused from the usual nightly drudgery on account of his sore foot, +and was an interested witness of the intelligence and handiness of the +big young fellow whose general appearance was so stolid and ungainly. +He was completely knocked up with fatigue, but the confidence that they +were now advancing with a definite end in view served to sustain him. +They had had a hard time of it since they left Rheims, making nearly +forty miles in two days’ marching; if they could maintain the pace and +if they kept straight on in the direction they were pursuing, there +could be no doubt that they would destroy the second German army and +effect a junction with Bazaine before the third, the Crown Prince of +Prussia’s, which was said to be at Vitry-le Francois, could get up to +Verdun. + +“Oh, come now! I wonder if they are going to let us starve!” was +Chouteau’s remark when, at seven o’clock, there was still no sign of +rations. + +By way of taking time by the forelock, Jean had instructed Loubet to +light the fire and put on the pot, and, as there was no issue of +firewood, he had been compelled to be blind to the slight irregularity +of the proceeding when that individual remedied the omission by tearing +the palings from an adjacent fence. When he suggested knocking up a +dish of bacon and rice, however, the truth had to come out, and he was +informed that the rice and bacon were lying in the mud of the +Saint-Etienne road. Chouteau lied with the greatest effrontery +declaring that the package must have slipped from his shoulders without +his noticing it. + +“You are a couple of pigs!” Jean shouted angrily, “to throw away good +victuals, when there are so many poor devils going with an empty +stomach!” + +It was the same with the three loaves that had been fastened outside +the knapsacks; they had not listened to his warning, and the +consequence was that the rain had soaked the bread and reduced it to +paste. + +“A pretty pickle we are in!” he continued. “We had food in plenty, and +now here we are, without a crumb! Ah! you are a pair of dirty pigs!” + +At that moment the first sergeant’s call was heard, and Sergeant Sapin, +returning presently with his usual doleful air, informed the men that +it would be impossible to distribute rations that evening, and that +they would have to content themselves with what eatables they had on +their persons. It was reported that the trains had been delayed by the +bad weather, and as to the herds, they must have straggled off as a +result of conflicting orders. Subsequently it became known that on that +day the 5th and 12th corps had got up to Rethel, where the headquarters +of the army were established, and the inhabitants of the neighboring +villages, possessed with a mad desire to see the Emperor, had +inaugurated a hegira toward that town, taking with them everything in +the way of provisions; so that when the 7th corps came up they found +themselves in a land of nakedness: no bread, no meat, no people, even. +To add to their distress a misconception of orders had caused the +supplies of the commissary department to be directed on Chêne-Populeux. +This was a state of affairs that during the entire campaign formed the +despair of the wretched commissaries, who had to endure the abuse and +execrations of the whole army, while their sole fault lay in being +punctual at rendezvous at which the troops failed to appear. + +“It serves you right, you dirty pigs!” continued Jean in his wrath, +“and you don’t deserve the trouble that I am going to have in finding +you something to eat, for I suppose it is my duty not to let you +starve, all the same.” And he started off to see what he could find, as +every good corporal does under such circumstances, taking with him +Pache, who was a favorite on account of his quiet manner, although he +considered him rather too priest-ridden. + +But Loubet’s attention had just been attracted to a little farmhouse, +one of the last dwellings in Contreuve, some two or three hundred yards +away, where there seemed to him to be promise of good results. He +called Chouteau and Lapoulle to him and said: + +“Come along, and let’s see what we can do. I’ve a notion there’s grub +to be had over that way.” + +So Maurice was left to keep up the fire and watch the kettle, in which +the water was beginning to boil. He had seated himself on his blanket +and taken off his shoe in order to give his blister a chance to heal. +It amused him to look about the camp and watch the behavior of the +different squads now that there was to be no issue of rations; the +deduction that he arrived at was that some of them were in a chronic +state of destitution, while others reveled in continual abundance, and +that these conditions were ascribable to the greater or less degree of +tact and foresight of the corporal and his men. Amid the confusion that +reigned about the stacks and tents he remarked some squads who had not +been able even to start a fire, others of which the men had abandoned +hope and lain themselves resignedly down for the night, while others +again were ravenously devouring, no one knew what, something good, no +doubt. Another thing that impressed him was the good order that +prevailed in the artillery, which had its camp above him, on the +hillside. The setting sun peeped out from a rift in the clouds and his +rays were reflected from the burnished guns, from which the men had +cleansed the coat of mud that they had picked up along the road. + +In the meantime General Bourgain-Desfeuilles, commanding the brigade, +had found quarters suited to his taste in the little farmhouse toward +which the designs of Loubet and his companions were directed. He had +discovered something that had the semblance of a bed and was seated at +table with a roasted chicken and an omelette before him; consequently +he was in the best of humors, and as Colonel de Vineuil happened in +just then on regimental business, had invited him to dine. They were +enjoying their repast, therefore, waited on by a tall, light-haired +individual who had been in the farmer’s service only three days and +claimed to be an Alsatian, one of those who had been forced to leave +their country after the disaster of Froeschwiller. The general did not +seem to think it necessary to use any restraint in presence of the man, +commenting freely on the movements of the army, and finally, forgetful +of the fact that he was not an inhabitant of the country, began to +question him about localities and distances. His questions displayed +such utter ignorance of the country that the colonel, who had once +lived at Mézières, was astounded; he gave such information as he had at +command, which elicited from the chief the exclamation: + +“It is just like our idiotic government! How can they expect us to +fight in a country of which we know nothing?” + +The colonel’s face assumed a look of vague consternation. He knew that +immediately upon the declaration of war maps of Germany had been +distributed among the officers, while it was quite certain that not one +of them had a map of France. He was amazed and confounded by what he +had seen and heard since the opening of the campaign. His unquestioned +bravery was his distinctive trait; he was a somewhat weak and not very +brilliant commander, which caused him to be more loved than respected +in his regiment. + +“It’s too bad that a man can’t eat his dinner in peace!” the general +suddenly blurted out. “What does all that uproar mean? Go and see what +the matter is, you Alsatian fellow!” + +But the farmer anticipated him by appearing at the door, sobbing and +gesticulating like a crazy man. They were robbing him, the zouaves and +chasseurs were plundering his house. As he was the only one in the +village who had anything to sell he had foolishly allowed himself to be +persuaded to open shop. At first he had sold his eggs and chickens, his +rabbits, and potatoes, without exacting an extortionate profit, +pocketing his money and delivering the merchandise; then the customers +had streamed in in a constantly increasing throng, jostling and +worrying the old man, finally crowding him aside and taking all he had +without pretense of payment. And thus it was throughout the war; if +many peasants concealed their property and even denied a drink of water +to the thirsty soldier, it was because of their fear of the +irresistible inroads of that ocean of men, who swept everything clean +before them, thrusting the wretched owners from their houses and +beggaring them. + +“Eh! will you hold your tongue, old man!” shouted the general in +disgust. “Those rascals ought to be shot at the rate of a dozen a day. +What is one to do?” And to avoid taking the measures that the case +demanded he gave orders to close the door, while the colonel explained +to him that there had been no issue of rations and the men were hungry. + +While these things were going on within the house Loubet outside had +discovered a field of potatoes; he and Lapoulle scaled the fence and +were digging the precious tubers with their hands and stuffing their +pockets with them when Chouteau, who in the pursuit of knowledge was +looking over a low wall, gave a shrill whistle that called them +hurriedly to his side. They uttered an exclamation of wonder and +delight; there was a flock of geese, ten fat, splendid geese, pompously +waddling about a small yard. A council of war was held forthwith, and +it was decided that Lapoulle should storm the place and make prisoners +of the garrison. The conflict was a bloody one; the venerable gander on +which the soldier laid his predaceous hands had nearly deprived him of +his nose with its bill, hard and sharp as a tailor’s shears. Then he +caught it by the neck and tried to choke it, but the bird tore his +trousers with its strong claws and pummeled him about the body with its +great wings. He finally ended the battle by braining it with his fist, +and it had not ceased to struggle when he leaped the wall, hotly +pursued by the remainder of the flock, pecking viciously at his legs. + +When they got back to camp, with the unfortunate gander and the +potatoes hidden in a bag, they found that Jean and Pache had also been +successful in their expedition, and had enriched the common larder with +four loaves of fresh bread and a cheese that they had purchased from a +worthy old woman. + +“The water is boiling and we will make some coffee,” said the corporal. +“Here are bread and cheese; it will be a regular feast!” + +He could not help laughing, however, when he looked down and saw the +goose lying at his feet. He raised it, examining and hefting it with +the judgment of an expert. + +“Ah! upon my word, a fine bird! it must weigh twenty pounds.” + +“We were out walking and met the bird,” Loubet explained in an +unctuously sanctimonious voice, “and it insisted on making our +acquaintance.” + +Jean made no reply, but his manner showed that he wished to hear +nothing more of the matter. Men must live, and then why in the name of +common sense should not those poor fellows, who had almost forgotten +how poultry tasted, have a treat once in a way! + +Loubet had already kindled the fire into a roaring blaze; Pache and +Lapoulle set to work to pluck the goose; Chouteau, who had run off to +the artillerymen and begged a bit of twine, came back and stretched it +between two bayonets; the bird was suspended in front of the hot fire +and Maurice was given a cleaning rod and enjoined to keep it turning. +The big tin basin was set beneath to catch the gravy. It was a triumph +of culinary art; the whole regiment, attracted by the savory odor, came +and formed a circle about the fire and licked their chops. And what a +feast it was! roast goose, boiled potatoes, bread, cheese, and coffee! +When Jean had dissected the bird the squad applied itself vigorously to +the task before it; there was no talk of portions, every man ate as +much as he was capable of holding. They even sent a plate full over to +the artillerymen who had furnished the cord. + +The officers of the regiment that evening were a very hungry set of +men, for owing to some mistake the canteen wagon was among the missing, +gone off to look after the corps train, maybe. If the men were +inconvenienced when there was no issue of ration they scarcely ever +failed to find something to eat in the end; they helped one another +out; the men of the different squads “chipped in” their resources, each +contributing his mite, while the officer, with no one to look to save +himself, was in a fair way of starving as soon as he had not the +canteen to fall back on. So there was a sneer on Chouteau’s face, +buried in the carcass of the goose, as he saw Captain Beaudoin go by +with his prim, supercilious air, for he had heard that officer +summoning down imprecations on the driver of the missing wagon; and he +gave him an evil look out of the corner of his eye. + +“Just look at him! See, his nose twitches like a rabbit’s. He would +give a dollar for the pope’s nose.” + +They all made merry at the expense of the captain, who was too callow +and too harsh to be a favorite with his men; they called him a +_pète-sec_. He seemed on the point of taking the squad in hand for the +scandal they were creating with their goose dinner, but thought better +of the matter, ashamed, probably, to show his hunger, and walked off, +holding his head very erect, as if he had seen nothing. + +As for Lieutenant Rochas, who was also conscious of a terribly empty +sensation in his epigastric region, he put on a brave face and laughed +good-naturedly as he passed the thrice-lucky squad. His men adored him, +in the first place because he was at sword’s points with the captain, +that little whipper-snapper from Saint-Cyr, and also because he had +once carried a musket like themselves. He was not always easy to get +along with, however, and there were times when they would have given a +good deal could they have cuffed him for his brutality. + +Jean glanced inquiringly at his comrades, and their mute reply being +propitious, arose and beckoned to Rochas to follow him behind the tent. + +“See here, Lieutenant, I hope you won’t be offended, but if it is +agreeable to you—” + +And he handed him half a loaf of bread and a wooden bowl in which there +were a second joint of the bird and six big mealy potatoes. + +That night again the six men required no rocking; they digested their +dinner while sleeping the sleep of the just. They had reason to thank +the corporal for the scientific way in which he had set up their tent, +for they were not even conscious of a small hurricane that blew up +about two o’clock, accompanied by a sharp down-pour of rain; some of +the tents were blown down, and the men, wakened out of their sound +slumber, were drenched and had to scamper in the pitchy darkness, while +theirs stood firm and they were warm and dry, thanks to the ingenious +device of the trench. + +Maurice awoke at daylight, and as they were not to march until eight +o’clock it occurred to him to walk out to the artillery camp on the +hill and say how do you do to his cousin Honoré. His foot was less +painful after his good night’s rest. His wonder and admiration were +again excited by the neatness and perfect order that prevailed +throughout the encampment, the six guns of a battery aligned with +mathematical precision and accompanied by their caissons, prolonges, +forage-wagons, and forges. A short way off, lined up to their rope, +stood the horses, whinnying impatiently and turning their muzzles to +the rising sun. He had no difficulty in finding Honoré’s tent, thanks +to the regulation which assigns to the men of each piece a separate +street, so that a single glance at a camp suffices to show the number +of guns. + +When Maurice reached his destination the artillerymen were already +stirring and about to drink their coffee, and a quarrel had arisen +between Adolphe, the forward driver, and Louis, the gunner, his mate. +For the entire three years that they had been “married,” in accordance +with the custom which couples a driver with a gunner, they had lived +happily together, with the one exception of meal-times. Louis, an +intelligent man and the better informed of the two, did not grumble at +the airs of superiority that are affected by every mounted over every +unmounted man: he pitched the tent, made the soup, and did the chores, +while Adolphe groomed his horses with the pride of a reigning +potentate. When the former, a little black, lean man, afflicted with an +enormous appetite, rose in arms against the exactions of the latter, a +big, burly fellow with huge blonde mustaches, who insisted on being +waited on like a lord, then the fun began. The subject matter of the +dispute on the present morning was that Louis, who had made the coffee, +accused Adolphe of having drunk it all. It required some diplomacy to +reconcile them. + +Not a morning passed that Honoré failed to go and look after his piece, +seeing to it that it was carefully dried and cleansed from the night +dew, as if it had been a favorite animal that he was fearful might take +cold, and there it was that Maurice found him, exercising his paternal +supervision in the crisp morning air. + +“Ah, it’s you! I knew that the 106th was somewhere in the vicinity; I +got a letter from Remilly yesterday and was intending to start out and +hunt you up. Let’s go and have a glass of white wine.” + +For the sake of privacy he conducted his cousin to the little farmhouse +that the soldiers had looted the day before, where the old peasant, +undeterred by his losses and allured by the prospect of turning an +honest penny, had tapped a cask of wine and set up a kind of public +bar. He had extemporized a counter from a board rested on two empty +barrels before the door of his house, and over it he dealt out his +stock in trade at four sous a glass, assisted by the strapping young +Alsatian whom he had taken into his service three days before. + +As Honoré was touching glasses with Maurice his eyes lighted on this +man. He gazed at him a moment as if stupefied, then let slip a terrible +oath. + +“_Tonnerre de Dieu!_ Goliah!” + +And he darted forward and would have caught him by the throat, but the +peasant, foreseeing in his action a repetition of his yesterday’s +experience, jumped quickly within the house and locked the door behind +him. For a moment confusion reigned about the premises; soldiers came +rushing up to see what was going on, while the quartermaster-sergeant +shouted at the top of his voice: + +“Open the door, open the door, you confounded idiot! It is a spy, I +tell you, a Prussian spy!” + +Maurice doubted no longer; there was no room for mistake now; the +Alsatian was certainly the man whom he had seen arrested at the camp of +Mülhausen and released because there was not evidence enough to hold +him, and that man was Goliah, old Fouchard’s quondam assistant on his +farm at Remilly. When finally the peasant opened his door the house was +searched from top to bottom, but to no purpose; the bird had flown, the +gawky Alsatian, the tow-headed, simple-faced lout whom General +Bourgain-Desfeuilles had questioned the day before at dinner without +learning anything and before whom, in the innocence of his heart, he +had disclosed things that would have better been kept secret. It was +evident enough that the scamp had made his escape by a back window +which was found open, but the hunt that was immediately started +throughout the village and its environs had no results; the fellow, big +as he was, had vanished as utterly as a smoke-wreath dissolves upon the +air. + +Maurice thought it best to take Honoré away, lest in his distracted +state he might reveal to the spectators unpleasant family secrets which +they had no concern to know. + +“_Tonnerre de Dieu!_” he cried again, “it would have done me such good +to strangle him!—The letter that I was speaking of revived all my old +hatred for him.” + +And the two of them sat down upon the ground against a stack of rye a +little way from the house, and he handed the letter to his cousin. + +It was the old story: the course of Honoré Fouchard’s and Silvine +Morange’s love had not run smooth. She, a pretty, meek-eyed, +brown-haired girl, had in early childhood lost her mother, an operative +in one of the factories of Raucourt, and Doctor Dalichamp, her +godfather, a worthy man who was greatly addicted to adopting the +wretched little beings whom he ushered into the world, had conceived +the idea of placing her in Father Fouchard’s family as small maid of +all work. True it was that the old boor was a terrible skinflint and a +harsh, stern taskmaster; he had gone into the butchering business from +sordid love of lucre, and his cart was to be seen daily, rain or shine, +on the roads of twenty communes; but if the child was willing to work +she would have a home and a protector, perhaps some small prospect in +the future. At all events she would be spared the contamination of the +factory. And naturally enough it came to pass that in old Fouchard’s +household the son and heir and the little maid of all work fell in love +with each other. Honoré was then just turned sixteen and she was +twelve, and when she was sixteen and he twenty there was a drawing for +the army; Honoré, to his great delight, secured a lucky number and +determined to marry. Nothing had ever passed between them, thanks to +the unusual delicacy that was inherent in the lad’s tranquil, +thoughtful nature, more than an occasional hug and a furtive kiss in +the barn. But when he spoke of the marriage to his father, the old man, +who had the stubbornness of the mule, angrily told him that his son +might kill him, but never, never would he consent, and continued to +keep the girl about the house, not worrying about the matter, expecting +it would soon blow over. For two years longer the young folks kept on +adoring and desiring each other, and never the least breath of scandal +sullied their names. Then one day there was a frightful quarrel between +the two men, after which the young man, feeling he could no longer +endure his father’s tyranny, enlisted and was packed off to Africa, +while the butcher still retained the servant-maid, because she was +useful to him. Soon after that a terrible thing happened: Silvine, who +had sworn that she would be true to her lover and await his return, was +detected one day, two short weeks after his departure, in the company +of a laborer who had been working on the farm for some months past, +that Goliah Steinberg, the Prussian, as he was called; a tall, simple +young fellow with short, light hair, wearing a perpetual smile on his +broad, pink face, who had made himself Honoré’s chum. Had Father +Fouchard traitorously incited the man to take advantage of the girl? or +had Silvine, sick at heart and prostrated by the sorrow of parting with +her lover, yielded in a moment of unconsciousness? She could not tell +herself; was dazed, and saw herself driven by the necessity of her +situation to a marriage with Goliah. He, for his part, always with the +everlasting smile on his face, made no objection, only insisted on +deferring the ceremony until the child should be born. When that event +occurred he suddenly disappeared; it was rumored, subsequently that he +had found work on another farm, over Beaumont way. These things had +happened three years before the breaking out of the war, and now +everyone was convinced that that artless, simple Goliah, who had such a +way of ingratiating himself with the girls, was none else than one of +those Prussian spies who filled our eastern provinces. When Honoré +learned the tidings over in Africa he was three months in hospital, as +if the fierce sun of that country had smitten him on the neck with one +of his fiery javelins, and never thereafter did he apply for leave of +absence to return to his country for fear lest he might again set eyes +on Silvine and her child. + +The artilleryman’s hands shook with agitation as Maurice perused the +letter. It was from Silvine, the first, the only one that she had ever +written him. What had been her guiding impulse, that silent, submissive +woman, whose handsome black eyes at times manifested a startling +fixedness of purpose in the midst of her never-ending slavery? She +simply said that she knew he was with the army, and though she might +never see him again, she could not endure the thought that he might die +and believe that she had ceased to love him. She loved him still, had +never loved another; and this she repeated again and again through four +closely written pages, in words of unvarying import, without the +slightest word of excuse for herself, without even attempting to +explain what had happened. There was no mention of the child, nothing +but an infinitely mournful and tender farewell. + +The letter produced a profound impression upon Maurice, to whom his +cousin had once imparted the whole story. He raised his eyes and saw +that Honoré was weeping; he embraced him like a brother. + +“My poor Honoré.” + +But the sergeant quickly got the better of his emotion. He carefully +restored the letter to its place over his heart and rebuttoned his +jacket. + +“Yes, those are things that a man does not forget. Ah! the scoundrel, +if I could but have laid hands on him! But we shall see.” + +The bugles were sounding the signal to prepare for breaking camp, and +each had to hurry away to rejoin his command. The preparations for +departure dragged, however, and the troops had to stand waiting in +heavy marching order until nearly nine o’clock. A feeling of hesitancy +seemed to have taken possession of their leaders; there was not the +resolute alacrity of the first two days, when the 7th corps had +accomplished forty miles in two marches. Strange and alarming news, +moreover, had been circulating through the camp since morning, that the +three other corps were marching northward, the 1st at Juniville, the +5th and 12th at Rethel, and this deviation from their route was +accounted for on the ground of the necessities of the commissariat. +Montmedy had ceased to be their objective, then? why were they thus +idling away their time again? What was most alarming of all was that +the Prussians could not now be far away, for the officers had cautioned +their men not to fall behind the column, as all stragglers were liable +to be picked up by the enemy’s light cavalry. It was the 25th of +August, and Maurice, when he subsequently recalled to mind Goliah’s +disappearance, was certain that the man had been instrumental in +affording the German staff exact information as to the movements of the +army of Châlons, and thus producing the change of front of their third +army. The succeeding morning the Crown Prince of Prussia left Revigny +and the great maneuver was initiated, that gigantic movement by the +flank, surrounding and enmeshing us by a series of forced marches +conducted in the most admirable order through Champagne and the +Ardennes. While the French were stumbling aimlessly about the country, +oscillating uncertainly between one place and another, the Prussians +were making their twenty miles a day and more, gradually contracting +their immense circle of beaters upon the band of men whom they held +within their toils, and driving their prey onward toward the forests of +the frontier. + +A start was finally made, and the result of the day’s movement showed +that the army was pivoting on its left; the 7th corps only traversed +the two short leagues between Contreuve and Vouziers, while the 5th and +12th corps did not stir from Rethel, and the 1st went no farther than +Attigny. Between Contreuve and the valley of the Aisne the country +became level again and was more bare than ever; as they drew near to +Vouziers the road wound among desolate hills and naked gray fields, +without a tree, without a house, as gloomy and forbidding as a desert, +and the day’s march, short as it was, was accomplished with such +fatigue and distress that it seemed interminably long. Soon after +midday, however, the 1st and 3d divisions had passed through the city +and encamped in the meadows on the farther bank of the Aisne, while a +brigade of the second, which included the 106th, had remained upon the +left bank, bivouacking among the waste lands of which the low +foot-hills overlooked the valley, observing from their position the +Monthois road, which skirts the stream and by which the enemy was +expected to make his appearance. + +And Maurice was dumfoundered to behold advancing along that Monthois +road Margueritte’s entire division, the body of cavalry to which had +been assigned the duty of supporting the 7th corps and watching the +left flank of the army. The report was that it was on its way to +Chêne-Populeux. Why was the left wing, where alone they were threatened +by the enemy, stripped in that manner? What sense was there in +summoning in upon the center, where they could be of no earthly use, +those two thousand horsemen, who should have been dispersed upon our +flank, leagues away, as videttes to observe the enemy? And what made +matters worse was that they caused the greatest confusion among the +columns of the 7th corps, cutting in upon their line of march and +producing an inextricable jam of horses, guns, and men. A squadron of +chasseurs d’Afrique were halted for near two hours at the gate of +Vouziers, and by the merest chance Maurice stumbled on Prosper, who had +ridden his horse down to the bank of a neighboring pond to let him +drink, and the two men were enabled to exchange a few words. The +chasseur appeared stunned, dazed, knew nothing and had seen nothing +since they left Rheims; yes, though, he had: he had seen two uhlans +more; oh! but they were will o’ the wisps, phantoms, they were, that +appeared and vanished, and no one could tell whence they came nor +whither they went. Their fame had spread, and stories of them were +already rife throughout the country, such, for instance, as that of +four uhlans galloping into a town with drawn revolvers and taking +possession of it, when the corps to which they belonged was a dozen +miles away. They were everywhere, preceding the columns like a buzzing, +stinging swarm of bees, a living curtain, behind which the infantry +could mask their movements and march and countermarch as securely as if +they were at home upon parade. And Maurice’s heart sank in his bosom as +he looked at the road, crowded with chasseurs and hussars which our +leaders put to such poor use. + +“Well, then, _au revoir_,” said he, shaking Prosper by the hand; +“perhaps they will find something for you to do down yonder, after +all.” + +But the chasseur appeared disgusted with the task assigned him. He +sadly stroked Poulet’s neck and answered: + +“Ah, what’s the use talking! they kill our horses and let us rot in +idleness. It is sickening.” + +When Maurice took off his shoe that evening to have a look at his foot, +which was aching and throbbing feverishly, the skin came with it; the +blood spurted forth and he uttered a cry of pain. Jean was standing by, +and exhibited much pity and concern. + +“Look here, that is becoming serious; you are going to lie right down +and not attempt to move. That foot of yours must be attended to. Let me +see it.” + +He knelt down, washed the sore with his own hands and bound it up with +some clean linen that he took from his knapsack. He displayed the +gentleness of a woman and the deftness of a surgeon, whose big fingers +can be so pliant when necessity requires it. + +A great wave of tenderness swept over Maurice, his eyes were dimmed +with tears, the familiar _thou_ rose from his heart to his lips with an +irresistible impulse of affection, as if in that peasant whom he once +had hated and abhorred, whom only yesterday he had despised, he had +discovered a long lost brother. + +“Thou art a good fellow, thou! Thanks, good friend.” + +And Jean, too, looking very happy, dropped into the second person +singular, with his tranquil smile. + +“Now, my little one, wilt thou have a cigarette? I have some tobacco +left.” + + + + +V. + + +On the morning of the following day, the 26th, Maurice arose with +stiffened limbs and an aching back, the result of his night under the +tent. He was not accustomed yet to sleeping on the bare ground; orders +had been given before the men turned in that they were not to remove +their shoes, and during the night the sergeants had gone the rounds, +feeling in the darkness to see if all were properly shod and gaitered, +so that his foot was much inflamed and very painful. In addition to his +other troubles he had imprudently stretched his legs outside the canvas +to relieve their cramped feeling and taken cold in them. + +Jean said as soon as he set eyes on him: + +“If we are to do any marching to-day, my lad, you had better see the +surgeon and get him to give you a place in one of the wagons.” + +But no one seemed to know what were the plans for the day, and the most +conflicting reports prevailed. It appeared for a moment as if they were +about to resume their march; the tents were struck and the entire corps +took the road and passed through Vouziers, leaving on the right bank of +the Aisne only one brigade of the second division, apparently to +continue the observation of the Monthois road; but all at once, as soon +as they had put the town behind them and were on the left bank of the +stream, they halted and stacked muskets in the fields and meadows that +skirt the Grand-Pré road on either hand, and the departure of the 4th +hussars, who just then moved off on that road at a sharp trot, afforded +fresh food for conjecture. + +“If we are to remain here I shall stay with you,” declared Maurice, who +was not attracted by the prospect of riding in an ambulance. + +It soon became known that they were to occupy their present camp until +General Douay could obtain definite information as to the movements of +the enemy. The general had been harassed by an intense and constantly +increasing anxiety since the day before, when he had seen Margueritte’s +division moving toward Chêne, for he knew that his flank was uncovered, +that there was not a man to watch the passes of the Argonne, and that +he was liable to be attacked at any moment. Therefore he had sent out +the 4th hussars to reconnoiter the country as far as the defiles of +Grand-Pré and Croix-aux-Bois, with strict orders not to return without +intelligence. + +There had been an issue of bread, meat, and forage the day before, +thanks to the efficient mayor of Vouziers, and about ten o’clock that +morning permission had been granted the men to make soup, in the fear +that they might not soon again have so good an opportunity, when +another movement of troops, the departure of Bordas’ brigade over the +road taken by the hussars, set all tongues wagging afresh. What! were +they going to march again? were they not to be given a chance to eat +their breakfast in peace, now that the kettle was on the fire? But the +officers explained that Bordas’ brigade had only been sent to occupy +Buzancy, a few kilometers from there. There were others, indeed, who +asserted that the hussars had encountered a strong force of the enemy’s +cavalry and that the brigade had been dispatched to help them out of +their difficulty. + +Maurice enjoyed a few hours of delicious repose. He had thrown himself +on the ground in a field half way up the hill where the regiment had +halted, and in a drowsy state between sleeping and waking was +contemplating the verdant valley of the Aisne, the smiling meadows +dotted with clumps of trees, among which the little stream wound +lazily. Before him and closing the valley in that direction lay +Vouziers, an amphitheater of roofs rising one above another and +overtopped by the church with its slender spire and dome-crowned tower. +Below him, near the bridge, smoke was curling upward from the tall +chimneys of the tanneries, while farther away a great mill displayed +its flour-whitened buildings among the fresh verdure of the growths +that lined the waterside. The little town that lay there, bounding his +horizon, hidden among the stately trees, appeared to him to possess a +gentle charm; it brought him memories of boyhood, of the journeys that +he had made to Vouziers in other days, when he had lived at Chêne, the +village where he was born. For an hour he was oblivious of the outer +world. + +The soup had long since been made and eaten and everyone was waiting to +see what would happen next, when, about half-past two o’clock, the +smoldering excitement began to gain strength, and soon pervaded the +entire camp. Hurried orders came to abandon the meadows, and the troops +ascended a line of hills between two villages, Chestres and Falaise, +some two or three miles apart, and took position there. Already the +engineers were at work digging rifle-pits and throwing up epaulments; +while over to the left the artillery had occupied the summit of a +rounded eminence. The rumor spread that General Bordas had sent in a +courier to announce that he had encountered the enemy in force at +Grand-Pré and had been compelled to fall back on Buzancy, which gave +cause to apprehend that he might soon be cut off from retreat on +Vouziers. For these reasons, the commander of the 7th corps, believing +an attack to be imminent, had placed his men in position to sustain the +first onset until the remainder of the army should have time to come to +his assistance, and had started off one of his aides-de-camp with a +letter to the marshal, apprising him of the danger, and asking him for +re-enforcements. Fearing for the safety of the subsistence train, which +had come up with the corps during the night and was again dragging its +interminable length in the rear, he summarily sent it to the right +about and directed it to make the best of its way to Chagny. Things +were beginning to look like fight. + +“So, it looks like business this time—eh, Lieutenant?” Maurice ventured +to ask Rochas. + +“Yes, thank goodness,” replied the Lieutenant, his long arms going like +windmills. “Wait a little; you’ll find it warm enough!” + +The soldiers were all delighted; the animation in the camp was still +more pronounced. A feverish impatience had taken possession of the men, +now that they were actually in line of battle between Chestres and +Falaise. At last they were to have a sight of those Prussians who, if +the newspapers were to be believed, were knocked up by their long +marches, decimated by sickness, starving, and in rags, and every man’s +heart beat high with the prospect of annihilating them at a single +blow. + +“We are lucky to come across them again,” said Jean. “They’ve been +playing hide-and-seek about long enough since they slipped through our +fingers after their battle down yonder on the frontier. But are these +the same troops that whipped MacMahon, I wonder?” + +Maurice could not answer his question with any degree of certainty. It +seemed to him hardly probable, in view of what he had read in the +newspapers at Rheims, that the third army, commanded by the Crown +Prince of Prussia, could be at Vouziers, when, only two days before, it +was just on the point of going into camp at Vitry-le-Francois. There +had been some talk of a fourth army, under the Prince of Saxony, which +was to operate on the line of the Meuse; this was doubtless the one +that was now before them, although their promptitude in occupying +Grand-Pré was a matter of surprise, considering the distances. But what +put the finishing touch to the confusion of his ideas was his +stupefaction to hear General Bourgain-Desfeuilles ask a countryman if +the Meuse did not flow past Buzancy, and if the bridges there were +strong. The general announced, moreover, in the confidence of his +sublime ignorance, that a column of one hundred thousand men was on the +way from Grand-Pré to attack them, while another, of sixty thousand, +was coming up by the way of Sainte-Menehould. + +“How’s your foot, Maurice?” asked Jean. + +“It don’t hurt now,” the other laughingly replied. “If there is to be a +fight, I think it will be quite well.” + +It was true; his nervous excitement was so great that he was hardly +conscious of the ground on which he trod. To think that in the whole +campaign he had not yet burned powder! He had gone forth to the +frontier, he had endured the agony of that terrible night of +expectation before Mülhausen, and had not seen a Prussian, had not +fired a shot; then he had retreated with the rest to Belfort, to +Rheims, had now been marching five days trying to find the enemy, and +his useless _chassepot_ was as clean as the day it left the shop, +without the least smell of smoke on it. He felt an aching desire to +discharge his piece once, if no more, to relieve the tension of his +nerves. Since the day, near six weeks ago, when he had enlisted in a +fit of enthusiasm, supposing that he would surely have to face the foe +in a day or two, all that he had done had been to tramp up and down the +country on his poor, sore feet—the feet of a man who had lived in +luxury, far from the battle-field; and so, among all those impatient +watchers, there was none who watched more impatiently than he the +Grand-Pré road, extending straight away to a seemingly infinite +distance between two rows of handsome trees. Beneath him was unrolled +the panorama of the valley; the Aisne was, like a silver ribbon, +flowing between its willows and poplars, and ever his gaze returned, +solicited by an irresistible attraction, to that road down yonder that +stretched away, far as the eye could see, to the horizon. + +About four o’clock the 4th hussars returned, having made a wide circuit +in the country round about, and stories, which grew as they were +repeated, began to circulate of conflicts with uhlans, tending to +confirm the confident belief which everyone had that an attack was +imminent. Two hours later a courier came galloping in, breathless with +terror, to announce that General Bordas had positive information that +the enemy were on the Vouziers road, and dared not leave Grand-Pré. It +was evident that that could not be true, since the courier had just +passed over the road unharmed, but no one could tell at what moment it +might be the case, and General Dumont, commanding the division, set out +at once with his remaining brigade to bring off his other brigade that +was in difficulty. The sun went down behind Vouziers and the roofs of +the town were sharply profiled in black against a great red cloud. For +a long time the brigade was visible as it receded between the double +row of trees, until finally it was swallowed up in the gathering +darkness. + +Colonel de Vineuil came to look after his regiment’s position for the +night. He was surprised not to find Captain Beaudoin at his post, and +as that officer just then chanced to come in from Vouziers, where he +alleged in excuse for his absence that he had been breakfasting with +the Baronne de Ladicourt, he received a sharp reprimand, which he +digested in silence, with the rigid manner of a martinet conscious of +being in the wrong. + +“My children,” said the Colonel, as he passed along the line of men, +“we shall probably be attacked to-night, or if not, then by day-break +to-morrow morning at the latest. Be prepared, and remember that the +106th has never retreated before the enemy.” + +The little speech was received with loud hurrahs; everyone, in the +prevailing suspense and discouragement, preferred to “take the wipe of +the dish-clout” and have done with it. Rifles were examined to see that +they were in good order, belts were refilled with cartridges. As they +had eaten their soup that morning, the men were obliged to content +themselves with biscuits and coffee. An order was promulgated that +there was to be no sleeping. The grand-guards were out nearly a mile to +the front, and a chain of sentinels at frequent intervals extended down +to the Aisne. The officers were seated in little groups about the +camp-fires, and beside a low wall at the left of the road the fitful +blaze occasionally flared up and rescued from the darkness the gold +embroideries and bedizened uniforms of the Commander-in-Chief and his +staff, flitting to and fro like phantoms, watching the road and +listening for the tramp of horses in the mortal anxiety they were in as +to the fate of the third division. + +It was about one o’clock in the morning when it came Maurice’s turn to +take his post as sentry at the edge of an orchard of plum-trees, +between the road and the river. The night was black as ink, and as soon +as his comrades left him and he found himself alone in the deep silence +of the sleeping fields he was conscious of a sensation of fear creeping +over him, a feeling of abject terror such as he had never known before +and which he trembled with rage and shame at his inability to conquer. +He turned his head to cheer himself by a sight of the camp-fires, but +they were hidden from him by a wood; there was naught behind him but an +unfathomable sea of blackness; all that he could discern was a few +distant lights still dimly burning in Vouziers, where the inhabitants, +doubtless forewarned and trembling at the thought of the impending +combat, were keeping anxious vigil. His terror was increased, if that +were possible, on bringing his piece to his shoulder to find that he +could not even distinguish the sights on it. Then commenced a period of +suspense that tried his nerves most cruelly; every faculty of his being +was strained and concentrated in the one sense of hearing; sounds so +faint as to be imperceptible reverberated in his ears like the crash of +thunder; the plash of a distant waterfall, the rustling of a leaf, the +movement of an insect in the grass, were like the booming of artillery. +Was that the tramp of cavalry, the deep rumbling of gun-carriages +driven at speed, that he heard down there to the right? And there on +his left, what was that? was it not the sound of stealthy whispers, +stifled voices, a party creeping up to surprise him under cover of the +darkness? Three times he was on the point of giving the alarm by firing +his piece. The fear that he might be mistaken and incur the ridicule of +his comrades served to intensify his distress. He had kneeled upon the +ground, supporting his left shoulder against a tree; it seemed to him +that he had been occupying that position for hours, that they had +forgotten him there, that the army had moved away without him. Then +suddenly, at once, his fear left him; upon the road, that he knew was +not two hundred yards away, he distinctly heard the cadenced tramp of +marching men. Immediately it flashed across his mind as a certainty +that they were the troops from Grand-Pré, whose coming had been awaited +with such anxiety—General Dumont bringing in Bordas’ brigade. At that +same moment the corporal of the guard came along with the relief; he +had been on post a little less than the customary hour. + +He had been right; it was the 3d division returning to camp. Everyone +felt a sensation of deep relief. Increased precautions were taken, +nevertheless, for what fresh intelligence they received tended to +confirm what they supposed they already knew of the enemy’s approach. A +few uhlans, forbidding looking fellows in their long black cloaks, were +brought in as prisoners, but they were uncommunicative, and so daylight +came at last, the pale, ghastly light of a rainy morning, bringing with +it no alleviation of their terrible suspense. No one had dared to close +an eye during that long night. About seven o’clock Lieutenant Rochas +affirmed that MacMahon was coming up with the whole army. The truth of +the matter was that General Douay, in reply to his dispatch of the +preceding day announcing that a battle at Vouziers was inevitable, had +received a letter from the marshal enjoining him to hold the position +until re-enforcements could reach him; the forward movement had been +arrested; the 1st corps was being directed on Terron, the 5th on +Buzancy, while the 12th was to remain at Chêne and constitute our +second line. Then the suspense became more breathless still; it was to +be no mere skirmish that the peaceful valley of the Aisne was to +witness that day, but a great battle, in which would participate the +entire army, that was even now turning its back upon the Meuse and +marching southward; and there was no making of soup, the men had to +content themselves with coffee and hard-tack, for everyone was saying, +without troubling himself to ask why, that the “wipe of the dish-clout” +was set down for midday. An aide-de-camp had been dispatched to the +marshal to urge him to hurry forward their supports, as intelligence +received from every quarter made it more and more certain that the two +Prussian armies were close at hand, and three hours later still another +officer galloped off like mad toward Chêne, where general headquarters +were located, with a request for instructions, for consternation had +risen to a higher pitch then ever with the receipt of fresh tidings +from the _maire_ of a country commune, who told of having seen a +hundred thousand men at Grand-Pré, while another hundred thousand were +advancing by way of Buzancy. + +Midday came, and not a sign of the Prussians. At one o’clock, at two, +it was the same, and a reaction of lassitude and doubt began to prevail +among the troops. Derisive jeers were heard at the expense of the +generals: perhaps they had seen their shadow on the wall; they should +be presented with a pair of spectacles. A pretty set of humbugs they +were, to have caused all that trouble for nothing! A fellow who passed +for a wit among his comrades shouted: + +“It is like it was down there at Mülhausen, eh?” + +The words recalled to Maurice’s mind a flood of bitter memories. He +thought of that idiotic flight, that panic that had swept away the 7th +corps when there was not a German visible, nor within ten leagues of +where they were, and now he had a distinct certainty that they were to +have a renewal of that experience. It was plain that if twenty-four +hours had elapsed since the skirmish at Grand-Pré and they had not been +attacked, the reason was that the 4th hussars had merely struck up +against a reconnoitering body of cavalry; the main body of the +Prussians must be far away, probably a day’s march or two. Then the +thought suddenly struck him of the time they had wasted, and it +terrified him; in three days they had only accomplished the distance +from Contreuve to Vouziers, a scant two leagues. On the 25th the other +corps, alleging scarcity of supplies, had diverted their course to the +north, while now, on the 27th, here they were coming southward again to +fight a battle with an invisible enemy. Bordas’ brigade had followed +the 4th hussars into the abandoned passes of the Argonne, and was +supposed to have got itself into trouble; the division had gone to its +assistance, and that had been succeeded by the corps, and that by the +entire army, and all those movements had amounted to nothing. Maurice +trembled as he reflected how pricelessly valuable was every hour, every +minute, in that mad project of joining forces with Bazaine, a project +that could be carried to a successful issue only by an officer of +genius, with seasoned troops under him, who should press forward to his +end with the resistless energy of a whirlwind, crushing every obstacle +that lay in his path. + +“It is all up with us!” said he, as the whole truth flashed through his +mind, to Jean, who had given way to despair. Then as the corporal, +failing to catch his meaning, looked at him wonderingly, he went on in +an undertone, for his friend’s ear alone, to speak of their commanders: + +“They mean well, but they have no sense, that’s certain—and no luck! +They know nothing; they foresee nothing; they have neither plans nor +ideas, nor happy intuitions. _Allons_! everything is against us; it is +all up!” + +And by slow degrees that same feeling of discouragement that Maurice +had arrived at by a process of reasoning settled down upon the denser +intellects of the troops who lay there inactive, anxiously awaiting to +see what the end would be. Distrust, as a result of their truer +perception of the position they were in, was obscurely burrowing in +those darkened minds, and there was no man so ignorant as not to feel a +sense of injury at the ignorance and irresolution of their leaders, +although he might not have been able to express in distinct terms the +causes of his exasperation. In the name of Heaven, what were they doing +there, since the Prussians had not shown themselves? either let them +fight and have it over with, or else go off to some place where they +could get some sleep; they had had enough of that kind of work. Since +the departure of the second aide-de-camp, who had been dispatched in +quest of orders, this feeling of unrest had been increasing +momentarily; men collected in groups, talking loudly and discussing the +situation pro and con, and the general inquietude communicating itself +to the officers, they knew not what answer to make to those of their +men who ventured to question them. They ought to be marching, it would +not answer to dawdle thus; and so, when it became known about five +o’clock that the aide-de-camp had returned and that they were to +retreat, there was a sigh of relief throughout the camp and every heart +was lighter. + +It seemed that the wiser counsel was to prevail, then, after all! The +Emperor and MacMahon had never looked with favor on the movement toward +Montmedy, and now, alarmed to learn that they were again out-marched +and out-maneuvered, and that they were to have the army of the Prince +of Saxony as well as that of the Crown Prince to contend with, they had +renounced the hazardous scheme of uniting their forces with Bazaine, +and would retreat through the northern strongholds with a view to +falling back ultimately on Paris. The 7th corps’ destination would be +Chagny, by way of Chêne, while the 5th corps would be directed on Poix, +and the 1st and 12th on Vendresse. But why, since they were about to +fall back, had they advanced to the line of the Aisne? Why all that +waste of time and labor, when it would have been so easy and so +rational to move straight from Rheims and occupy the strong positions +in the valley of the Marne? Was there no guiding mind, no military +talent, no common sense? But there should be no more questioning; all +should be forgiven, in the universal joy at the adoption of that +eminently wise counsel, which was the only means at their command of +extricating themselves from the hornets’ nest into which they had +rushed so imprudently. All, officers and men, felt that they would be +the stronger for the retrograde movement, that under the walls of Paris +they would be invincible, and that there it was that the Prussians +would sustain their inevitable defeat. But Vouziers must be evacuated +before daybreak, and they must be well on the road to Chêne before the +enemy should learn of the movement, and forthwith the camp presented a +scene of the greatest animation: trumpets sounding, officers hastening +to and fro with orders, while the baggage and quartermaster’s trains, +in order not to encumber the rear-guard, were sent forward in advance. + +Maurice was delighted. As he was endeavoring to explain to Jean the +rationale of the impending movement, however, a cry of pain escaped +him; his excitement had subsided, and he was again conscious of his +foot, aching and burning as if it had been a ball of red-hot metal. + +“What’s the matter? is it hurting you again?” the corporal asked +sympathizingly. And with his calm and sensible resourcefulness he said: +“See here, little one, you told me yesterday that you have +acquaintances in the town, yonder. You ought to get permission from the +major and find some one to drive you over to Chêne, where you could +have a good night’s rest in a comfortable bed. We can pick you up as we +go by to-morrow if you are fit to march. What do you say to that, +_hein_?” + +In Falaise, the village near which the camp was pitched, Maurice had +come across a small farmer, an old friend of his father’s, who was +about to drive his daughter over to Chêne to visit an aunt in that +town, and the horse was even then standing waiting, hitched to a light +carriole. The prospect was far from encouraging, however, when he +broached the subject to Major Bouroche. + +“I have a sore foot, monsieur the doctor—” + +Bouroche, with a savage shake of his big head with its leonine mane, +turned on him with a roar: + +“I am not monsieur the doctor; who taught you manners?” + +And when Maurice, taken all aback, made a stammering attempt to excuse +himself, he continued: + +“Address me as major, do you hear, you great oaf!” + +He must have seen that he had not one of the common herd to deal with +and felt a little ashamed of himself; he carried it off with a display +of more roughness. + +“All a cock-and-bull story, that sore foot of yours!—Yes, yes; you may +go. Go in a carriage, go in a balloon, if you choose. We have too many +of you malingerers in the army!” + +When Jean assisted Maurice into the carriole the latter turned to thank +him, whereon the two men fell into each other’s arms and embraced as if +they were never to meet again. Who could tell, amid the confusion and +disorder of the retreat, with those bloody Prussians on their track? +Maurice could not tell how it was that there was already such a tender +affection between him and the young man, and twice he turned to wave +him a farewell. As he left the camp they were preparing to light great +fires in order to mislead the enemy when they should steal away, in +deepest silence, before the dawn of day. + +As they jogged along the farmer bewailed the terrible times through +which they were passing. He had lacked the courage to remain at +Falaise, and already was regretting that he had left it, declaring that +if the Prussians burned his house it would ruin him. His daughter, a +tall, pale young woman, wept copiously. But Maurice was like a dead man +for want of sleep, and had no ears for the farmer’s lamentations; he +slumbered peacefully, soothed by the easy motion of the vehicle, which +the little horse trundled over the ground at such a good round pace +that it took them less than an hour and a half to accomplish the four +leagues between Vouziers and Chêne. It was not quite seven o’clock and +scarcely beginning to be dark when the young man rubbed his eyes and +alighted in a rather dazed condition on the public square, near the +bridge over the canal, in front of the modest house where he was born +and had passed twenty years of his life. He got down there in obedience +to an involuntary impulse, although the house had been sold eighteen +months before to a veterinary surgeon, and in reply to the farmer’s +questions said that he knew quite well where he was going, adding that +he was a thousand times obliged to him for his kindness. + +He continued to stand stock-still, however, beside the well in the +middle of the little triangular _place_; he was as if stunned; his +memory was a blank. Where had he intended to go? and suddenly his wits +returned to him and he remembered that it was to the notary’s, whose +house was next door to his father’s, and whose mother, Madame +Desvallières, an aged and most excellent lady, had petted him when he +was an urchin on account of their being neighbors. But he hardly +recognized Chêne in the midst of the hurly-burly and confusion into +which the little town, ordinarily so dead, was thrown by the presence +of an army corps encamped at its gates and filling its quiet streets +with officers, couriers, soldiers, and camp-followers and stragglers of +every description. The canal was there as of old, passing through the +town from end to end and bisecting the market-place in the center into +two equal-sized triangles connected by a narrow stone bridge; and +there, on the other bank, was the old market with its moss-grown roofs, +and the Rue Berond leading away to the left and the Sedan road to the +right, but filling the Rue de Vouziers in front of him and extending as +far as the Hôtel de Ville was such a compact, swarming, buzzing crowd +that he was obliged to raise his eyes and take a look over the roof of +the notary’s house at the slate-covered bell tower in order to assure +himself that that was the quiet spot where he had played hop-scotch +when he was a youngster. There seemed to be an effort making to clear +the square; some men were roughly crowding back the throng of idlers +and gazers, and looking more closely he was surprised to see, parked +like the guns of a battery, a collection of vans, baggage-wagons, and +carriages open and closed; a miscellaneous assortment of traps that he +had certainly set eyes on before. + +It was daylight still; the sun had just sunk in the canal at the point +where it vanished in the horizon and the long, straight stretch of +water was like a sea of blood, and Maurice was trying to make up his +mind what to do when a woman who stood near stared at him a moment and +then exclaimed: + +“Why goodness gracious, is it possible! Are you the Levasseur boy?” + +And thereon he recognized Madame Combette, the wife of the druggist, +whose shop was on the market-place. As he was trying to explain to her +that he was going to ask good Madame Desvallières to give him a bed for +the night she excitedly hurried him away. + +“No, no; come to our house. I will tell you why—” When they were in the +shop and she had cautiously closed the door she continued: “You could +not know, my dear boy, that the Emperor is at the Desvallières. His +officers took possession of the house in his name and the family are +not any too well pleased with the great honor done them, I can tell +you. To think that the poor old mother, a woman more than seventy, was +compelled to give up her room and go up and occupy a servant’s bed in +the garret! Look, there, on the place. All that you see there is the +Emperor’s; those are his trunks, don’t you see!” + +And then Maurice remembered; they were the imperial carriages and +baggage-wagons, the entire magnificent train that he had seen at +Rheims. + +“Ah! my dear boy, if you could but have seen the stuff they took from +them, the silver plate, and the bottles of wine, and the baskets of +good things, and the beautiful linen, and everything! I can’t help +wondering where they find room for such heaps of things, for the house +is not a large one. Look, look! see what a fire they have lighted in +the kitchen!” + +He looked over at the small white, two-storied house that stood at the +corner of the market-place and the Rue de Vouziers, a comfortable, +unassuming house of bourgeois aspect; how well he remembered it, inside +and out, with its central hall and four rooms on each floor; why, it +was as if he had just left it! There were lights in the corner room on +the first floor overlooking the square; the apothecary’s wife informed +him that it was the bedroom of the Emperor. But the chief center of +activity seemed, as she had said, to be the kitchen, the window of +which opened on the Rue de Vouziers. In all their lives the good people +of Chêne had witnessed no such spectacle, and the street before the +house was filled with a gaping crowd, constantly coming and going, who +stared with all their eyes at the range on which was cooking the dinner +of an Emperor. To obtain a breath of air the cooks had thrown open the +window to its full extent. They were three in number, in jackets of +resplendent whiteness, superintending the roasting of chickens impaled +on a huge spit, stirring the gravies and sauces in copper vessels that +shone like gold. And the oldest inhabitant, evoking in memory all the +civic banquets that he had beheld at the Silver Lion, could truthfully +declare that never at any one time had he seen so much wood burning and +so much food cooking. + +Combette, a bustling, wizened little man, came in from the street in a +great state of excitement from all that he had seen and heard. His +position as deputy-mayor gave him facilities for knowing what was going +on. It was about half-past three o’clock when MacMahon had telegraphed +Bazaine that the Crown Prince of Prussia was approaching Châlons, thus +necessitating the withdrawal of the army to the places along the +Belgian frontier, and further dispatches were also in preparation for +the Minister of War, advising him of the projected movement and +explaining the terrible dangers of their position. It was uncertain +whether or not the dispatch for Bazaine would get through, for +communication with Metz had seemed to be interrupted for the past few +days, but the second dispatch was another and more serious matter; and +lowering his voice almost to a whisper the apothecary repeated the +words that he had heard uttered by an officer of rank: “If they get +wind of this in Paris, our goose is cooked!” Everyone was aware of the +unrelenting persistency with which the Empress and the Council of +Ministers urged the advance of the army. Moreover, the confusion went +on increasing from hour to hour, the most conflicting advices were +continually coming in as to the whereabouts of the German forces. Could +it be possible that the Crown Prince was at Châlons? What, then, were +the troops that the 7th corps had encountered among the passes of the +Argonne? + +“They have no information at staff headquarters,” continued the little +druggist, raising his arms above his head with a despairing gesture. +“Ah, what a mess we are in! But all will be well if the army retreats +to-morrow.” Then, dropping public for private matters, the kind-hearted +man said: “Look here, my young friend, I am going to see what I can do +for that foot of yours; then we’ll give you some dinner and put you to +bed in my apprentice’s little room, who has cleared out.” + +But Maurice was tormented by such an itching desire for further +intelligence that he could neither eat nor sleep until he had carried +into execution his original design of paying a visit to his old friend, +Madame Desvallières, over the way. He was surprised that he was not +halted at the door, which, in the universal confusion, had been left +wide open, without so much as a sentry to guard it. People were going +out and coming in incessantly, military men and officers of the +household, and the roar from the blazing kitchen seemed to rise and +pervade the whole house. There was no light in the passage and on the +staircase, however, and he had to grope his way up as best he might. On +reaching the first floor he paused for a few seconds, his heart beating +violently, before the door of the apartment that he knew contained the +Emperor, but not a sound was to be heard in the room; the stillness +that reigned there was as of death. Mounting the last flight he +presented himself at the door of the servant’s room to which Madame +Desvallières had been consigned; the old lady was at first terrified at +sight of him. When she recognized him presently she said: + +“Ah, my poor child, what a sad meeting is this! I would cheerfully have +surrendered my house to the Emperor, but the people he has about him +have no sense of decency. They lay hands on everything, without so much +as saying, ‘By your leave,’ and I am afraid they will burn the house +down with their great fires! He, poor man, looks like a corpse, and +such sadness in his face—” + +And when the young man took leave of her with a few murmured words of +comfort she went with him to the door, and leaning over the banister: +“Look!” she softly said, “you can see him from where you are. Ah! we +are all undone. Adieu, my child!” + +Maurice remained planted like a statue on one of the steps of the dark +staircase. Craning his neck and directing his glance through the glazed +fanlight over the door of the apartment, he beheld a sight that was +never to fade from his memory. + +In the bare and cheerless room, the conventional bourgeois “parlor,” +was the Emperor, seated at a table on which his plate was laid, lighted +at either end by wax candles in great silver candelabra. Silent in the +background stood two aides-de-camp with folded arms. The wine in the +glass was untasted, the bread untouched, a breast of chicken was +cooling on the plate. The Emperor did not stir; he sat staring down at +the cloth with those dim, lusterless, watery eyes that the young man +remembered to have seen before at Rheims; but he appeared more weary +than then, and when, evidently at the cost of a great effort, he had +raised a couple of mouthfuls to his lips, he impatiently pushed the +remainder of the food from him with his hand. That was his dinner. His +pale face was blanched with an expression of suffering endured in +silence. + +As Maurice was passing the dining room on the floor beneath, the door +was suddenly thrown open, and through the glow of candles and the steam +of smoking joints he caught a glimpse of a table of equerries, +chamberlains, and aides-de-camp, engaged in devouring the Emperor’s +game and poultry and drinking his champagne, amid a great hubbub of +conversation. Now that the marshal’s dispatch had been sent off, all +these people were delighted to know that the retreat was assured. In a +week they would be at Paris and could sleep between clean sheets. + +Then, for the first time, Maurice suddenly became conscious of the +terrible fatigue that was oppressing him like a physical burden; there +was no longer room for doubt, the whole army was about to fall back, +and the best thing for him to do was to get some sleep while waiting +for the 7th corps to pass. He made his way back across the square to +the house of his friend Combette, where, like one in a dream, he ate +some dinner, after which he was mistily conscious of someone dressing +his foot and then conducting him upstairs to a bedroom. And then all +was blackness and utter annihilation; he slept a dreamless, unstirring +sleep. But after an uncertain length of time—hours, days, centuries, he +knew not—he gave a start and sat bolt upright in bed in the surrounding +darkness. Where was he? What was that continuous rolling sound, like +the rattling of thunder, that had aroused him from his slumber? His +recollection suddenly returned to him; he ran to the window to see what +was going on. In the obscurity of the street beneath, where the night +was usually so peaceful, the artillery was passing, horses, men, and +guns, in interminable array, with a roar and clatter that made the +lifeless houses quake and tremble. The abrupt vision filled him with +unreasoning alarm. What time might it be? The great bell in the Hôtel +de Ville struck four. He was endeavoring to allay his uneasiness by +assuring himself that it was simply the initial movement in the retreat +that had been ordered the day previous, when, raising his eyes, he +beheld a sight that gave him fresh cause for inquietude: there was a +light still in the corner window of the notary’s house opposite, and +the shadow of the Emperor, drawn in dark profile on the curtain, +appeared and disappeared at regularly spaced intervals. + +Maurice hastily slipped on his trousers preparatory to going down to +the street, but just then Combette appeared at the door with a +bed-candle in his hand, gesticulating wildly. + +“I saw you from the square as I was coming home from the _Mairie_, and +I came up to tell you the news. They have been keeping me out of my bed +all this time; would you believe it, for more than two hours the mayor +and I have been busy attending to fresh requisitions. Yes, everything +is upset again; there has been another change of plans. Ah! he knew +what he was about, that officer did, who wanted to keep the folks in +Paris from getting wind of matters!” + +He went on for a long time in broken, disjointed phrases, and when he +had finished the young man, speechless, brokenhearted, saw it all. +About midnight the Emperor had received a dispatch from the Minister of +War in reply to the one that had been sent by the marshal. Its exact +terms were not known, but an aide-de-camp at the Hôtel de Ville had +stated openly that the Empress and the Council declared there would be +a revolution in Paris should the Emperor retrace his steps and abandon +Bazaine. The dispatch, which evinced the utmost ignorance as to the +position of the German armies and the resources of the army of Châlons, +advised, or rather ordered, an immediate forward movement, regardless +of all considerations, in spite of everything, with a heat and fury +that seemed incredible. + +“The Emperor sent for the marshal,” added the apothecary, “and they +were closeted together for near an hour; of course I am not in position +to say what passed between them, but I am told by all the officers that +there is to be no more retreating, and the advance to the Meuse is to +be resumed at once. We have been requisitioning all the ovens in the +city for the 1st corps, which will come up to-morrow morning and take +the place of the 12th, whose artillery you see at this moment starting +for la Besace. The matter is decided for good this time; you will smell +powder before you are much older.” + +He ceased. He also was gazing at the lighted window over in the +notary’s house. Then he went on in a low voice, as if talking to +himself, with an expression on his face of reflective curiosity: + +“I wonder what they had to say to each other? It strikes one as a +rather peculiar proceeding, all the same, to run away from a threatened +danger at six in the evening, and at midnight, when nothing has +occurred to alter the situation, to rush headlong into the very +self-same danger.” + +Below them in the street Maurice still heard the gun-carriages rumbling +and rattling over the stones of the little sleeping city, that +ceaseless tramp of horse and man, that uninterrupted tide of humanity, +pouring onward toward the Meuse, toward the unknown, terrible fate that +the morrow had in store for them. And still upon the mean, cheap +curtains of that bourgeois dwelling he beheld the shadow of the Emperor +passing and repassing at regular intervals, the restless activity of +the sick man, to whom his cares made sleep impossible, whose sole +repose was motion, in whose ears was ever ringing that tramp of horses +and men whom he was suffering to be sent forward to their death. A few +brief hours, then, had sufficed; the slaughter was decided on; it was +to be. What, indeed, could they have found to say to each other, that +Emperor and that marshal, conscious, both of them, of the inevitable +disaster that lay before them? Assured as they were at night of defeat, +from their knowledge of the wretched condition the army would be in +when the time should come for it to meet the enemy, how, knowing as +they did that the peril was hourly becoming greater, could they have +changed their mind in the morning? Certain it was that General de +Palikao’s plan of a swift, bold dash on Montmedy, which seemed +hazardous on the 23d and was, perhaps, still not impracticable on the +25th, if conducted with veteran troops and a leader of ability, would +on the 27th be an act of sheer madness amid the divided counsels of the +chiefs and the increasing demoralization of the troops. This they both +well knew; why, then, did they obey those merciless drivers who were +flogging them onward in their irresolution? why did they hearken to +those furious passions that were spurring them forward? The marshal’s, +it might be said, was the temperament of the soldier, whose duty is +limited to obedience to his instructions, great in its abnegation; +while the Emperor, who had ceased entirely to issue orders, was waiting +on destiny. They were called on to surrender their lives and the life +of the army; they surrendered them. It was the accomplishment of a +crime, the black, abominable night that witnessed the murder of a +nation, for thenceforth the army rested in the shadow of death; a +hundred thousand men and more were sent forward to inevitable +destruction. + +While pursuing this train of thought Maurice was watching the shadow +that still kept appearing and vanishing on the muslin of good Madame +Desvallières’ curtain, as if it felt the lash of the pitiless voice +that came to it from Paris. Had the Empress that night desired the +death of the father in order that the son might reign? March! forward +ever! with no look backward, through mud, through rain, to bitter +death, that the final game of the agonizing empire may be played out, +even to the last card. March! march! die a hero’s death on the piled +corpses of your people, let the whole world gaze in awe-struck +admiration, for the honor and glory of your name! And doubtless the +Emperor was marching to his death. Below, the fires in the kitchen +flamed and flashed no longer; equerries, aides-de-camp and chamberlains +were slumbering, the whole house was wrapped in darkness, while ever +the lone shade went and came unceasingly, accepting with resignation +the sacrifice that was to be, amid the deafening uproar of the 12th +corps, that was defiling still through the black night. + +Maurice suddenly reflected that, if the advance was to be resumed, the +7th corps would not pass through Chêne, and he beheld himself left +behind, separated from his regiment, a deserter from his post. His foot +no longer pained him; his friend’s dressing and a few hours of complete +rest had allayed the inflammation. Combette gave him a pair of easy +shoes of his own that were comfortable to his feet, and as soon as he +had them on he wanted to be off, hoping that he might yet be able to +overtake the 106th somewhere on the road between Chêne and Vouziers. +The apothecary labored vainly to dissuade him, and had almost made up +his mind to put his horse in the gig and drive him over in person, +trusting to fortune to befriend him in finding the regiment, when +Fernand, the apprentice, appeared, alleging as an excuse for his +absence that he had been to see his sister. The youth was a tall, +tallow-faced individual, who looked as if he had not the spirit of a +mouse; the horse was quickly hitched to the carriage and he drove off +with Maurice. It was not yet five o’clock; the rain was pouring in +torrents from a sky of inky blackness, and the dim carriage-lamps +faintly illuminated the road and cast little fitful gleams of light +across the streaming fields on either side, over which came mysterious +sounds that made them pull up from time to time in the belief that the +army was at hand. + +Jean, meantime, down there before Vouziers, had not been slumbering. +Maurice had explained to him how the retreat was to be salvation to +them all, and he was keeping watch, holding his men together and +waiting for the order to move, which might come at any minute. About +two o’clock, in the intense darkness that was dotted here and there by +the red glow of the watch-fires, a great trampling of horses resounded +through the camp; it was the advance-guard of cavalry moving off toward +Balay and Quatre-Champs so as to observe the roads from Boult-aux-Bois +and Croix-aux-Bois; then an hour later the infantry and artillery also +put themselves in motion, abandoning at last the positions of Chestre +and Falaise that they had defended so persistently for two long days +against an enemy who never showed himself. The sky had become overcast, +the darkness was profound, and one by one the regiments marched out in +deepest silence, an array of phantoms stealing away into the bosom of +the night. Every heart beat joyfully, however, as if they were escaping +from some treacherous pitfall; already in imagination the troops beheld +themselves under the walls of Paris, where their revenge was awaiting +them. + +Jean looked out into the thick blackness. The road was bordered with +trees on either hand and, as far as he could see, appeared to lie +between wide meadows. Presently the country became rougher; there was a +succession of sharp rises and descents, and just as they were entering +a village which he supposed to be Balay, two straggling rows of houses +bordering the road, the dense cloud that had obscured the heavens burst +in a deluge of rain. The men had received so many duckings within the +past few days that they took this one without a murmur, bowing their +heads and plodding patiently onward; but when they had left Balay +behind them and were crossing a wide extent of level ground near +Quatre-Champs a violent wind began to rise. Beyond Quatre-Champs, when +they had fought their way upward to the wide plateau that extends in a +dreary stretch of waste land as far as Noirval, the wind increased to a +hurricane and the driving rain stung their faces. There it was that the +order, proceeding from the head of the column and re-echoed down the +line, brought the regiments one after another to a halt, and the entire +7th corps, thirty-odd thousand men, found itself once more reunited in +the mud and rain of the gray dawn. What was the matter? Why were they +halted there? An uneasy feeling was already beginning to pervade the +ranks; it was asserted in some quarters that there had been a change of +orders. The men had been brought to ordered arms and forbidden to leave +the ranks or sit down. At times the wind swept over the elevated +plateau with such violence that they had to press closely to one +another to keep from being carried off their feet. The rain blinded +them and trickled in ice-cold streams beneath their collars down their +backs. And two hours passed, a period of waiting that seemed as if it +would never end, for what purpose no one could say, in an agony of +expectancy that chilled the hearts of all. + +As the daylight increased Jean made an attempt to discern where they +were. Someone had shown him where the Chêne road lay off to the +northwest, passing over a hill beyond Quatre-Champs. Why had they +turned to the right instead of to the left? Another object of interest +to him was the general and his staff, who had established themselves at +the Converserie, a farm on the edge of the plateau. There seemed to be +a heated discussion going on; officers were going and coming and the +conversation was carried on with much gesticulation. What could they be +waiting for? nothing was coming that way. The plateau formed a sort of +amphitheater, broad expanses of stubble that were commanded to the +north and east by wooded heights; to the south were thick woods, while +to the west an opening afforded a glimpse of the valley of the Aisne +with the little white houses of Vouziers. Below the Converserie rose +the slated steeple of Quatre-Champs church, looming dimly through the +furious storm, which seemed as if it would sweep away bodily the few +poor moss-grown cottages of the village. As Jean’s glance wandered down +the ascending road he became conscious of a doctor’s gig coming up at a +sharp trot along the stony road, that was now the bed of a rapid +torrent. + +It was Maurice, who, at a turn in the road, from the hill that lay +beyond the valley, had finally discerned the 7th corps. For two hours +he had been wandering about the country, thanks to the stupidity of a +peasant who had misdirected him and the sullen ill-will of his driver, +whom fear of the Prussians had almost deprived of his wits. As soon as +he reached the farmhouse he leaped from the gig and had no further +trouble in finding the regiment. + +Jean addressed him in amazement: + +“What, is it you? What is the meaning of this? I thought you were to +wait until we came along.” + +Maurice’s tone and manner told of his rage and sorrow. + +“Ah, yes! we are no longer going in that direction; it is down yonder +we are to go, to get ourselves knocked in the head, all of us!” + +“Very well,” said the other presently, with a very white face. “We will +die together, at all events.” + +The two men met, as they had parted, with an embrace. In the drenching +rain that still beat down as pitilessly as ever, the humble private +resumed his place in the ranks, while the corporal, in his streaming +garments, never murmured as he gave him the example of what a soldier +should be. + +And now the tidings became more definite and spread among the men; they +were no longer retreating on Paris; the advance to the Meuse was again +the order of the day. An aide-de-camp had brought to the 7th corps +instructions from the marshal to go and encamp at Nonart; the 5th was +to take the direction of Beauclair, where it would be the right wing of +the army, while the 1st was to move up to Chêne and relieve the 12th, +then on the march to la Besace on the extreme left. And the reason why +more than thirty thousand men had been kept waiting there at ordered +arms, for nearly three hours in the midst of a blinding storm, was that +General Douay, in the deplorable confusion incident on this new change +of front, was alarmed for the safety of the train that had been sent +forward the day before toward Chagny; the delay was necessary to give +the several divisions time to close up. In the confusion of all these +conflicting movements it was said that the 12th corps train had blocked +the road at Chêne, thus cutting off that of the 7th. On the other hand, +an important part of the _matériel_, all the forges of the artillery, +had mistaken their road and strayed off in the direction of Terron; +they were now trying to find their way back by the Vouziers road, where +they were certain to fall into the hands of the Germans. Never was +there such utter confusion, never was anxiety so intense. + +A feeling of bitterest discouragement took possession of the troops. +Many of them in their despair would have preferred to seat themselves +on their knapsacks, in the midst of that sodden, wind-swept plain, and +wait for death to come to them. They reviled their leaders and loaded +them with insult: ah! famous leaders, they; brainless boobies, undoing +at night what they had done in the morning, idling and loafing when +there was no enemy in sight, and taking to their heels as soon as he +showed his face! Each minute added to the demoralization that was +already rife, making of that army a rabble, without faith or hope, +without discipline, a herd that their chiefs were conducting to the +shambles by ways of which they themselves were ignorant. Down in the +direction of Vouziers the sound of musketry was heard; shots were being +exchanged between the rear-guard of the 7th corps and the German +skirmishers; and now every eye was turned upon the valley of the Aisne, +where volumes of dense black smoke were whirling upward toward the sky +from which the clouds had suddenly been swept away; they all knew it +was the village of Falaise burning, fired by the uhlans. Every man felt +his blood boil in his veins; so the Prussians were there at last; they +had sat and waited two days for them to come up, and then had turned +and fled. The most ignorant among the men had felt their cheeks tingle +for very shame as, in their dull way, they recognized the idiocy that +had prompted that enormous blunder, that imbecile delay, that trap into +which they had walked blindfolded; the light cavalry of the IVth army +feinting in front of Bordas’ brigade and halting and neutralizing, one +by one, the several corps of the army of Châlons, solely to give the +Crown Prince time to hasten up with the IIId army. And now, thanks to +the marshal’s complete and astounding ignorance as to the identity of +the troops he had before him, the junction was accomplished, and the +5th and 7th corps were to be roughly handled, with the constant menace +of disaster overshadowing them. + +Maurice’s eyes were bent on the horizon, where it was reddened with the +flames of burning Falaise. They had one consolation, however: the train +that had been believed to be lost came crawling along out of the Chêne +road. Without delay the 2d division put itself in motion and struck out +across the forest for Boult-aux-Bois; the 3d took post on the heights +of Belleville to the left in order to keep an eye to the +communications, while the 1st remained at Quatre-Champs to wait for the +coming up of the train and guard its countless wagons. Just then the +rain began to come down again with increased violence, and as the 106th +moved off the plateau, resuming the march that should have never been, +toward the Meuse, toward the unknown, Maurice thought he beheld again +his vision of the night: the shadow of the Emperor, incessantly +appearing and vanishing, so sad, so pitiful a sight, on the white +curtain of good old Madame Desvallières. Ah! that doomed army, that +army of despair, that was being driven forward to inevitable +destruction for the salvation of a dynasty! March, march, onward ever, +with no look behind, through mud, through rain, to the bitter end! + + + + +VI. + + +“Thunder!” Chouteau ejaculated the following morning when he awoke, +chilled and with aching bones, under the tent, “I wouldn’t mind having +a bouillon with plenty of meat in it.” + +At Boult-aux-Bois, where they were now encamped, the only ration issued +to the men the night before had been an extremely slender one of +potatoes; the commissariat was daily more and more distracted and +disorganized by the everlasting marches and countermarches, never +reaching the designated points of rendezvous in time to meet the +troops. As for the herds, no one had the faintest idea where they might +be upon the crowded roads, and famine was staring the army in the face. + +Loubet stretched himself and plaintively replied: + +“Ah, _fichtre_, yes!—No more roast goose for us now.” + +The squad was out of sorts and sulky. Men couldn’t be expected to be +lively on an empty stomach. And then there was the rain that poured +down incessantly, and the mud in which they had to make their beds. + +Observing Pache make the sign of the cross after mumbling his morning +prayer, Chouteau captiously growled: + +“Ask that good God of yours, if he is good for anything, to send us +down a couple of sausages and a mug of beer apiece.” + +“Ah, if we only had a good big loaf of bread!” sighed Lapoulle, whose +ravenous appetite made hunger a more grievous affliction to him than to +the others. + +But Lieutenant Rochas, passing by just then, made them be silent. It +was scandalous, never to think of anything but their stomachs! When +_he_ was hungry he tightened up the buckle of his trousers. Now that +things were becoming decidedly squally and the popping of rifles was to +be heard occasionally in the distance, he had recovered all his old +serene confidence: it was all plain enough, now; the Prussians were +there—well, all they had to do was, go out and lick ’em. And he gave a +significant shrug of the shoulders, standing behind Captain Beaudoin, +the _very_ young man, as he called him, with his pale face and pursed +up lips, whom the loss of his baggage had afflicted so grievously that +he had even ceased to fume and scold. A man might get along without +eating, at a pinch, but that he could not change his linen was a +circumstance productive of sorrow and anger. + +Maurice awoke to a sensation of despondency and physical discomfort. +Thanks to his easy shoes the inflammation in his foot had gone down, +but the drenching he had received the day before, from the effects of +which his greatcoat seemed to weigh a ton, had left him with a distinct +and separate ache in every bone of his body. When he was sent to the +spring to get water for the coffee he took a survey of the plain on the +edge of which Boult-aux-Bois is situated: forests rise to the west and +north, and there is a hill crowned by the hamlet of Belleville, while, +over to the east, Buzancy way, there is a broad, level expanse, +stretching far as the eye can see, with an occasional shallow +depression concealing a small cluster of cottages. Was it from that +direction that they were to expect the enemy? As he was returning from +the stream with his bucket filled with water, the father of a family of +wretched peasants hailed him from the door of his hovel, and asked him +if the soldiers were this time going to stay and defend them. In the +confusion of conflicting orders the 5th corps had already traversed the +region no less than three times. The sound of cannonading had reached +them the day before from the direction of Bar; the Prussians could not +be more than a couple of leagues away. And when Maurice made answer to +the poor folks that doubtless the 7th corps would also be called away +after a time, their tears flowed afresh. Then they were to be abandoned +to the enemy, and the soldiers had not come there to fight, whom they +saw constantly vanishing and reappearing, always on the run? + +“Those who like theirs sweet,” observed Loubet, as he poured the +coffee, “have only to stick their thumb in it and wait for it to melt.” + +Not a man of them smiled. It was too bad, all the same, to have to +drink their coffee without sugar; and then, too, if they only had some +biscuit! Most of them had devoured what eatables they had in their +knapsacks, to the very last crumb, to while away their time of waiting, +the day before, on the plateau of Quatre-Champs. Among them, however, +the members of the squad managed to collect a dozen potatoes, which +they shared equally. + +Maurice, who began to feel a twinging sensation in his stomach, uttered +a regretful cry: + +“If I had known of this I would have bought some bread at Chêne.” + +Jean listened in silence. He had had a dispute with Chouteau that +morning, who, on being ordered to go for firewood, had insolently +refused, alleging that it was not his turn. Now that everything was so +rapidly going to the dogs, insubordination among the men had increased +to such a point that those in authority no longer ventured to reprimand +them, and Jean, with his sober good sense and pacific disposition, saw +that if he would preserve his influence with his squad he must keep the +corporal in the background as far as possible. For this reason he was +hail-fellow-well-met with his men, who could not fail to see what a +treasure they had in a man of his experience, for if those committed to +his care did not always have all they wanted to eat, they had, at all +events, not suffered from hunger, as had been the case with so many +others. But he was touched by the sight of Maurice’s suffering. He saw +that he was losing strength, and looked at him anxiously, asking +himself how that delicate young man would ever manage to sustain the +privations of that horrible campaign. + +When Jean heard Maurice bewail the lack of bread he arose quietly, went +to his knapsack, and, returning, slipped a biscuit into the other’s +hand. + +“Here! don’t let the others see it; I have not enough to go round.” + +“But what will you do?” asked the young man, deeply affected. + +“Oh, don’t be alarmed about me—I have two left.” + +It was true; he had carefully put aside three biscuits, in case there +should be a fight, knowing that men are often hungry on the +battlefield. And then, besides, he had just eaten a potato; that would +be sufficient for him. Perhaps something would turn up later on. + +About ten o’clock the 7th corps made a fresh start. The marshal’s first +intention had been to direct it by way of Buzancy upon Stenay, where it +would have passed the Meuse, but the Prussians, outmarching the army of +Châlons, were already in Stenay, and were even reported to be at +Buzancy. Crowded back in this manner to the northward, the 7th corps +had received orders to move to la Besace, some twelve or fifteen miles +from Boult-aux-Bois, whence, on the next day, they would proceed to +pass the Meuse at Mouzon. The start was made in a very sulky humor; the +men, with empty stomachs and bodies unrefreshed by repose, unnerved, +mentally and physically, by the experience of the past few days, vented +their dissatisfaction by growling and grumbling, while the officers, +without a spark of their usual cheerful gayety, with a vague sense of +impending disaster awaiting them at the end of their march, taxed the +dilatoriness of their chiefs, and reproached them for not going to the +assistance of the 5th corps at Buzancy, where the sound of +artillery-firing had been heard. That corps, too, was on the retreat, +making its way toward Nonart, while the 12th was even then leaving la +Besace for Mouzon and the 1st was directing its course toward Raucourt. +It was like nothing so much as the passage of a drove of panic-stricken +cattle, with the dogs worrying them and snapping at their heels—a wild +stampede toward the Meuse. + +When, in the outstreaming torrent of the three divisions that striped +the plain with columns of marching men, the 106th left Boult-aux-Bois +in the rear of the cavalry and artillery, the sky was again overspread +with a pall of dull leaden clouds that further lowered the spirits of +the soldiers. Its route was along the Buzancy highway, planted on +either side with rows of magnificent poplars. When they reached +Germond, a village where there was a steaming manure-heap before every +one of the doors that lined the two sides of the straggling street, the +sobbing women came to their thresholds with their little children in +their arms, and held them out to the passing troops, as if begging the +men to take them with them. There was not a mouthful of bread to be had +in all the hamlet, nor even a potato, After that, the regiment, instead +of keeping straight on toward Buzancy, turned to the left and made for +Authe, and when the men turned their eyes across the plain and beheld +upon the hilltop Belleville, through which they had passed the day +before, the fact that they were retracing their steps was impressed +more vividly on their consciousness. + +“Heavens and earth!” growled Chouteau, “do they take us for tops?” + +And Loubet chimed in: + +“Those cheap-John generals of ours are all at sea again! They must +think that men’s legs are cheap.” + +The anger and disgust were general. It was not right to make men suffer +like that, just for the fun of walking them up and down the country. +They were advancing in column across the naked plain in two files +occupying the sides of the road, leaving a free central space in which +the officers could move to and fro and keep an eye on their men, but it +was not the same now as it had been in Champagne after they left +Rheims, a march of song and jollity, when they tramped along gayly and +the knapsack was like a feather to their shoulders, in the belief that +soon they would come up with the Prussians and give them a sound +drubbing; now they were dragging themselves wearily forward in angry +silence, cursing the musket that galled their shoulder and the +equipments that seemed to weigh them to the ground, their faith in +their leaders gone, and possessed by such bitterness of despair that +they only went forward as does a file of manacled galley-slaves, in +terror of the lash. The wretched army had begun to ascend its Calvary. + +Maurice, however, within the last few minutes had made a discovery that +interested him greatly. To their left was a range of hills that rose +one above another as they receded from the road, and from the skirt of +a little wood, far up on the mountain-side, he had seen a horseman +emerge. Then another appeared, and then still another. There they +stood, all three of them, without sign of life, apparently no larger +than a man’s hand and looking like delicately fashioned toys. He +thought they were probably part of a detachment of our hussars out on a +reconnoissance, when all at once he was surprised to behold little +points of light flashing from their shoulders, doubtless the reflection +of the sunlight from epaulets of brass. + +“Look there!” he said, nudging Jean, who was marching at his side. +“Uhlans!” + +The corporal stared with all his eyes. “They, uhlans!” + +They were indeed uhlans, the first Prussians that the 106th had set +eyes on. They had been in the field nearly six weeks now, and in all +that time not only had they never smelt powder, but had never even seen +an enemy. The news spread through the ranks, and every head was turned +to look at them. Not such bad-looking fellows, those uhlans, after all. + +“One of them looks like a jolly little fat fellow,” Loubet remarked. + +But presently an entire squadron came out and showed itself on a +plateau to the left of the little wood, and at sight of the threatening +demonstration the column halted. An officer came riding up with orders, +and the 106th moved off a little and took position on the bank of a +small stream behind a clump of trees. The artillery had come hurrying +back from the front on a gallop and taken possession of a low, rounded +hill. For near two hours they remained there thus in line of battle +without the occurrence of anything further; the body of hostile cavalry +remained motionless in the distance, and finally, concluding that they +were only wasting time that was valuable, the officers set the column +moving again. + +“Ah well,” Jean murmured regretfully, “we are not booked for it this +time.” + +Maurice, too, had felt his finger-tips tingling with the desire to have +just one shot. He kept harping on the theme of the mistake they had +made the day before in not going to the support of the 5th corps. If +the Prussians had not made their attack yet, it must be because their +infantry had not got up in sufficient strength, whence it was evident +that their display of cavalry in the distance was made with no other +end than to harass us and check the advance of our corps. We had again +fallen into the trap set for us, and thenceforth the regiment was +constantly greeted with the sight of uhlans popping up on its left +flank wherever the ground was favorable for them, tracking it like +sleuthhounds, disappearing behind a farmhouse only to reappear at the +corner of a wood. + +It eventually produced a disheartening effect on the troops to see that +cordon closing in on them in the distance and enveloping them as in the +meshes of some gigantic, invisible net. Even Pache and Lapoulle had an +opinion on the subject. + +“It is beginning to be tiresome!” they said. “It would be a comfort to +send them our compliments in the shape of a musket-ball!” + +But they kept toiling wearily onward on their tired feet, that seemed +to them as if they were of lead. In the distress and suffering of that +day’s march there was ever present to all the undefined sensation of +the proximity of the enemy, drawing in on them from every quarter, just +as we are conscious of the coming storm before we have seen a cloud on +the horizon. Instructions were given the rear-guard to use severe +measures, if necessary, to keep the column well closed up; but there +was not much straggling, aware as everyone was that the Prussians were +close in our rear, and ready to snap up every unfortunate that they +could lay hands on. Their infantry was coming up with the rapidity of +the whirlwind, making its twenty-five miles a day, while the French +regiments, in their demoralized condition, seemed in comparison to be +marking time. + +At Authe the weather cleared, and Maurice, taking his bearings by the +position of the sun, noticed that instead of bearing off toward Chêne, +which lay three good leagues from where they were, they had turned and +were moving directly eastward. It was two o’clock; the men, after +shivering in the rain for two days, were now suffering from the intense +heat. The road ascended, with long sweeping curves, through a region of +utter desolation: not a house, not a living being, the only relief to +the dreariness of the waste lands an occasional little somber wood; and +the oppressive silence communicated itself to the men, who toiled +onward with drooping heads, bathed in perspiration. At last +Saint-Pierremont appeared before them, a few empty houses on a small +elevation. They did not pass through the village. Maurice observed that +here they made a sudden wheel to the left, resuming their northern +course, toward la Besace. He now understood the route that had been +adopted in their attempt to reach Mouzon ahead of the Prussians; but +would they succeed, with such weary, demoralized troops? At +Saint-Pierremont the three uhlans had shown themselves again, at a turn +in the road leading to Buzancy, and just as the rear-guard was leaving +the village a battery was unmasked and a few shells came tumbling among +them, without doing any injury, however. No response was attempted, and +the march was continued with constantly increasing effort. + +From Saint-Pierremont to la Besace the distance is three good leagues, +and when Maurice imparted that information to Jean the latter made a +gesture of discouragement: the men would never be able to accomplish +it; they showed it by their shortness of breath, by their haggard +faces. The road continued to ascend, between gently sloping hills on +either side that were gradually drawing closer together. The condition +of the men necessitated a halt, but the only effect of their brief +repose was to increase the stiffness of their benumbed limbs, and when +the order was given to march the state of affairs was worse than it had +been before; the regiments made no progress, men were everywhere +falling in the ranks. Jean, noticing Maurice’s pallid face and glassy +eyes, infringed on what was his usual custom and conversed, endeavoring +by his volubility to divert the other’s attention and keep him awake as +he moved automatically forward, unconscious of his actions. + +“Your sister lives in Sedan, you say; perhaps we shall be there before +long.” + +“What, at Sedan? Never! You must be crazy; it don’t lie in our way.” + +“Is your sister young?” + +“Just my age; you know I told you we are twins.” + +“Is she like you?” + +“Yes, she is fair-haired, too; and oh! such pretty curling hair! She is +a mite of a woman, with a little thin face, not one of your noisy, +flashy hoydens, ah, no!—Dear Henriette!” + +“You love her very dearly!” + +“Yes, yes—” + +There was silence between them after that, and Jean, glancing at +Maurice, saw that his eyes were closing and he was about to fall. + +“Hallo there, old fellow! Come, confound it all, brace up! Let me take +your gun a moment; that will give you a chance to rest. They can’t have +the cruelty to make us march any further to-day! we shall leave half +our men by the roadside.” + +At that moment he caught sight of Osches lying straight ahead of them, +its few poor hovels climbing in straggling fashion up the hillside, and +the yellow church, embowered in trees, looking down on them from its +perch upon the summit. + +“There’s where we shall rest, for certain.” + +He had guessed aright; General Douay saw the exhausted condition of the +troops, and was convinced that it would be useless to attempt to reach +la Besace that day. What particularly influenced his determination, +however, was the arrival of the train, that ill-starred train that had +been trailing in his rear since they left Rheims, and of which the nine +long miles of vehicles and animals had so terribly impeded his +movements. He had given instructions from Quatre-Champs to direct it +straight on Saint-Pierremont, and it was not until Osches that the +teams came up with the corps, in such a state of exhaustion that the +horses refused to stir. It was now five o’clock; the general, not +liking the prospect of attempting the pass of Stonne at that late hour, +determined to take the responsibility of abridging the task assigned +them by the marshal. The corps was halted and proceeded to encamp; the +train below in the meadows, guarded by a division, while the artillery +took position on the hills to the rear, and the brigade detailed to act +as rear-guard on the morrow rested on a height facing Saint-Pierremont. +The other division, which included Bourgain-Desfeuilles’ brigade, +bivouacked on a wide plateau, bordered by an oak wood, behind the +church. There was such confusion in locating the bodies of troops that +it was dark before the 106th could move into its position at the edge +of the wood. + +“_Zut_!” said Chouteau in a furious rage, “no eating for me; I want to +sleep!” + +And that was the cry of all; they were overcome with fatigue. Many of +them lacked strength and courage to erect their tents, but dropping +where they stood, at once fell fast asleep on the bare ground. In order +to eat, moreover, rations would have been necessary, and the commissary +wagons, which were waiting for the 7th corps to come to them at la +Besace, could not well be at Osches at the same time. In the universal +relaxation of order and system even the customary corporal’s call was +omitted: it was everyone for himself. There were to be no more issues +of rations from that time forth; the soldiers were to subsist on the +provisions they were supposed to carry in their knapsacks, and that +evening the sacks were empty; few indeed were those who could muster a +crust of bread or some crumbs of the abundance in which they had been +living at Vouziers of late. There was coffee, and those who were not +too tired made and drank it without sugar. + +When Jean thought to make a division of his wealth by eating one of his +biscuits himself and giving the other to Maurice, he discovered that +the latter was sound asleep. He thought at first he would awake him, +but changed his mind and stoically replaced the biscuits in his sack, +concealing them with as much caution as if they had been bags of gold; +he could get along with coffee, like the rest of the boys. He had +insisted on having the tent put up, and they were all stretched on the +ground beneath its shelter when Loubet returned from a foraging +expedition, bringing in some carrots that he had found in a neighboring +field. As there was no fire to cook them by they munched them raw, but +the vegetables only served to aggravate their hunger, and they made +Pache ill. + +“No, no; let him sleep,” said Jean to Chouteau, who was shaking Maurice +to wake him and give him his share. + +“Ah,” Lapoulle broke in, “we shall be at Angouleme to-morrow, and then +we’ll have some bread. I had a cousin in the army once, who was +stationed at Angouleme. Nice garrison, that.” + +They all looked surprised, and Chouteau exclaimed: + +“Angouleme—what are you talking about! Just listen to the bloody fool, +saying he is at Angouleme!” + +It was impossible to extract any explanation from Lapoulle. He had +insisted that morning that the uhlans that they sighted were some of +Bazaine’s troops. + +Then darkness descended on the camp, black as ink, silent as death. +Notwithstanding the coolness of the night air the men had not been +permitted to make fires; the Prussians were known to be only a few +miles away, and it would not do to put them on the alert; orders even +were transmitted in a hushed voice. The officers had notified their men +before retiring that the start would be made at about four in the +morning, in order that they might have all the rest possible, and all +had hastened to turn in and were sleeping greedily, forgetful of their +troubles. Above the scattered camps the deep respiration of all those +slumbering crowds, rising upon the stillness of the night, was like the +long-drawn breathing of old Mother Earth. + +Suddenly a shot rang out in the darkness and aroused the sleepers. It +was about three o’clock, and the obscurity was profound. Immediately +everyone was on foot, the alarm spread through the camp; it was +supposed the Prussians were attacking. It was only Loubet who, unable +to sleep longer, had taken it in his head to make a foray into the +oak-wood, which he thought gave promise of rabbits: what a jolly good +lark it would be if he could bring in a pair of nice rabbits for the +comrades’ breakfast! But as he was looking about for a favorable place +in which to conceal himself, he heard the sound of voices and the +snapping of dry branches under heavy footsteps; men were coming toward +him; he took alarm and discharged his piece, believing the Prussians +were at hand. Maurice, Jean, and others came running up in haste, when +a hoarse voice made itself heard: + +“For God’s sake, don’t shoot!” + +And there at the edge of the wood stood a tall, lanky man, whose thick, +bristling beard they could just distinguish in the darkness. He wore a +gray blouse, confined at the waist by a red belt, and carried a musket +slung by a strap over his shoulder. He hurriedly explained that he was +French, a sergeant of francs-tireurs, and had come with two of his men +from the wood of Dieulet, bringing important information for the +general. + +“Hallo there, Cabasse! Ducat!” he shouted, turning his head, “hallo! +you infernal poltroons, come here!” + +The men were evidently badly scared, but they came forward. Ducat, +short and fat, with a pale face and scanty hair; Cabasse short and +lean, with a black face and a long nose not much thicker than a +knife-blade. + +Meantime Maurice had stepped up and taken a closer look at the +sergeant; he finally asked him: + +“Tell me, are you not Guillaume Sambuc, of Remilly?” + +And when the man hesitatingly answered in the affirmative Maurice +recoiled a step or two, for this Sambuc had the reputation of being a +particularly hard case, the worthy son of a family of woodcutters who +had all gone to the bad, the drunken father being found one night lying +by the roadside with his throat cut, the mother and daughter, who lived +by begging and stealing, having disappeared, most likely, in the +seclusion of some penitentiary. He, Guillaume, did a little in the +poaching and smuggling lines, and only one of that litter of wolves’ +whelps had grown up to be an honest man, and that was Prosper, the +hussar, who had gone to work on a farm before he was conscripted, +because he hated the life of the forest. + +“I saw your brother at Vouziers,” Maurice continued; “he is well.” + +Sambuc made no reply. To end the situation he said: + +“Take me to the general. Tell him that the francs-tireurs of the wood +of Dieulet have something important to say to him.” + +On the way back to the camp Maurice reflected on those free companies +that had excited such great expectations at the time of their +formation, and had since been the object of such bitter denunciation +throughout the country. Their professed purpose was to wage a sort of +guerilla warfare, lying in ambush behind hedges, harassing the enemy, +picking off his sentinels, holding the woods, from which not a Prussian +was to emerge alive; while the truth of the matter was that they had +made themselves the terror of the peasantry, whom they failed utterly +to protect and whose fields they devastated. Every ne’er-do-well who +hated the restraints of the regular service made haste to join their +ranks, well pleased with the chance that exempted him from discipline +and enabled him to lead the life of a tramp, tippling in pothouses and +sleeping by the roadside at his own sweet will. Some of the companies +were recruited from the very worst material imaginable. + +“Hallo there, Cabasse! Ducat!” Sambuc was constantly repeating, turning +to his henchmen at every step he took, “Come along, will you, you +snails!” + +Maurice was as little charmed with the two men as with their leader. +Cabasse, the little lean fellow, was a native of Toulon, had served as +waiter in a café at Marseilles, had failed at Sedan as a broker in +southern produce, and finally had brought up in a police-court, where +it came near going hard with him, in connection with a robbery of which +the details were suppressed. Ducat, the little fat man, quondam +_huissier_ at Blainville, where he had been forced to sell out his +business on account of a malodorous woman scrape, had recently been +brought face to face with the court of assizes for an indiscretion of a +similar nature at Raucourt, where he was accountant in a factory. The +latter quoted Latin in his conversation, while the other could scarcely +read, but the two were well mated, as unprepossessing a pair as one +could expect to meet in a summer’s day. + +The camp was already astir; Jean and Maurice took the francs-tireurs to +Captain Beaudoin, who conducted them to the quarters of Colonel +Vineuil. The colonel attempted to question them, but Sambuc, +intrenching himself in his dignity, refused to speak to anyone except +the general. Now Bourgain-Desfeuilles had taken up his quarters that +night with the curé of Osches, and just then appeared, rubbing his +eyes, in the doorway of the parsonage; he was in a horribly bad humor +at his slumbers having been thus prematurely cut short, and the +prospect that he saw before him of another day of famine and fatigue; +hence his reception of the men who were brought before him was not +exactly lamblike. Who were they? Whence did they come? What did they +want? Ah, some of those francs-tireurs gentlemen—eh! Same thing as +skulkers and riff-raff! + +“General,” Sambuc replied, without allowing himself to be disconcerted, +“we and our comrades are stationed in the woods of Dieulet—” + +“The woods of Dieulet—where’s that?” + +“Between Stenay and Mouzon, General.” + +“What do I know of your Stenay and Mouzon? Do you expect me to be +familiar with all these strange names?” + +The colonel was distressed by his chief’s display of ignorance; he +hastily interfered to remind him that Stenay and Mouzon were on the +Meuse, and that, as the Germans had occupied the former of those towns, +the army was about to attempt the passage of the river at the other, +which was situated more to the northward. + +“So you see, General,” Sambuc continued, “we’ve come to tell you that +the woods of Dieulet are alive with Prussians. There was an engagement +yesterday as the 5th corps was leaving Bois-les-Dames, somewhere about +Nonart—” + +“What, yesterday? There was fighting yesterday?” + +“Yes, General, the 5th corps was engaged as it was falling back; it +must have been at Beaumont last night. So, while some of us hurried off +to report to it the movements of the enemy, we thought it best to come +and let you know how matters stood, so that you might go to its +assistance, for it will certainly have sixty thousand men to deal with +in the morning.” + +General Bourgain-Desfeuilles gave a contemptuous shrug of his +shoulders. + +“Sixty thousand men! Why the devil don’t you call it a hundred thousand +at once? You were dreaming, young man; your fright has made you see +double. It is impossible there should be sixty thousand Germans so near +us without our knowing it.” + +And so he went on. It was to no purpose that Sambuc appealed to Ducat +and Cabasse to confirm his statement. + +“We saw the guns,” the Provençal declared; “and those chaps must be +crazy to take them through the forest, where the rains of the past few +days have left the roads in such a state that they sink in the mud up +to the hubs.” + +“They have someone to guide them, for certain,” said the ex-bailiff. + +Since leaving Vouziers the general had stoutly refused to attach any +further credit to reports of the junction of the two German armies +which, as he said, they had been trying to stuff down his throat. He +did not even consider it worth his while to send the francs-tireurs +before his corps commander, to whom the partisans supposed, all along, +that they were talking; if they should attempt to listen to all the +yarns that were brought them by tramps and peasants, they would have +their hands full and be driven from pillar to post without ever +advancing a step. He directed the three men to remain with the column, +however, since they were acquainted with the country. + +“They are good fellows, all the same,” Jean said to Maurice, as they +were returning to fold the tent, “to have tramped three leagues across +lots to let us know.” + +The young man agreed with him and commended their action, knowing as he +did the country, and deeply alarmed to hear that the Prussians were in +Dieulet forest and moving on Sommanthe and Beaumont. He had flung +himself down by the roadside, exhausted before the march had commenced, +with a sorrowing heart and an empty stomach, at the dawning of that day +which he felt was to be so disastrous for them all. Distressed to see +him looking so pale, the corporal affectionately asked him: + +“Are you feeling so badly still? What is it? Does your foot pain you?” + +Maurice shook his head. His foot had ceased to trouble him, thanks to +the big shoes. + +“Then you are hungry.” And Jean, seeing that he did not answer, took +from his knapsack one of the two remaining biscuits, and with a +falsehood for which he may be forgiven: “Here, take it; I kept your +share for you. I ate mine a while ago.” + +Day was breaking when the 7th corps marched out of Osches en route for +Mouzon by way of la Besace, where they should have bivouacked. The +train, cause of so many woes, had been sent on ahead, guarded by the +first division, and if its own wagons, well horsed as for the most part +they were, got over the ground at a satisfactory pace, the +requisitioned vehicles, most of them empty, delayed the troops and +produced sad confusion among the hills of the defile of Stonne. After +leaving the hamlet of la Berlière the road rises more sharply between +wooded hills on either side. Finally, about eight o’clock, the two +remaining divisions got under way, when Marshal MacMahon came galloping +up, vexed to find there those troops that he supposed had left la +Besace that morning, with only a short march between them and Mouzon; +his comment to General Douay on the subject was expressed in warm +language. It was determined that the first division and the train +should be allowed to proceed on their way to Mouzon, but that the two +other divisions, that they might not be further retarded by this +cumbrous advance-guard, should move by the way of Raucourt and +Autrecourt so as to pass the Meuse at Villers. The movement to the +north was dictated by the marshal’s intense anxiety to place the river +between his army and the enemy; cost what it might, they must be on the +right bank that night. The rear-guard had not yet left Osches when a +Prussian battery, recommencing the performance of the previous day, +began to play on them from a distant eminence, over in the direction of +Saint-Pierremont. They made the mistake of firing a few shots in reply; +then the last of the troops filed out of the town. + +Until nearly eleven o’clock the 106th slowly pursued its way along the +road which zigzags through the pass of Stonne between high hills. On +the left hand the precipitous summits rear their heads, devoid of +vegetation, while to the right the gentler slopes are clad with woods +down to the roadside. The sun had come out again, and the heat was +intense down in the inclosed valley, where an oppressive solitude +prevailed. After leaving la Berlière, which lies at the foot of a lofty +and desolate mountain surmounted by a Calvary, there is not a house to +be seen, not a human being, not an animal grazing in the meadows. And +the men, the day before so faint with hunger, so spent with fatigue, +who since that time had had no food to restore, no slumber, to speak +of, to refresh them, were now dragging themselves listlessly along, +disheartened, filled with sullen anger. + +Soon after that, just as the men had been halted for a short rest along +the roadside, the roar of artillery was heard away at their right; +judging from the distinctness of the detonations the firing could not +be more than two leagues distant. Upon the troops, weary with waiting, +tired of retreating, the effect was magical; in the twinkling of an eye +everyone was on his feet, eager, in a quiver of excitement, no longer +mindful of his hunger and fatigue: why did they not advance? They +preferred to fight, to die, rather than keep on flying thus, no one +knew why or whither. + +General Bourgain-Desfeuilles, accompanied by Colonel de Vineuil, had +climbed a hill on the right to reconnoiter the country. They were +visible up there in a little clearing between two belts of wood, +scanning the surrounding hills with their field-glasses, when all at +once they dispatched an aide-de-camp to the column, with instructions +to send up to them the francs-tireurs if they were still there. A few +men, Jean and Maurice among them, accompanied the latter, in case there +should be need of messengers. + +“A beastly country this, with its everlasting hills and woods!” the +general shouted, as soon as he caught sight of Sambuc. “You hear the +music—where is it? where is the fighting going on?” + +Sambuc, with Ducat and Cabasse close at his heels, listened a moment +before he answered, casting his eye over the wide horizon, and Maurice, +standing beside him and gazing out over the panorama of valley and +forest that lay beneath him, was struck with admiration. It was like a +boundless sea, whose gigantic waves had been arrested by some mighty +force. In the foreground the somber verdure of the woods made splashes +of sober color on the yellow of the fields, while in the brilliant +sunlight the distant hills were bathed in purplish vapors. And while +nothing was to be seen, not even the tiniest smoke-wreath floating on +the cloudless sky, the cannon were thundering away in the distance, +like the muttering of a rising storm. + +“Here is Sommanthe, to the right,” Sambuc said at last, pointing to a +high hill crowned by a wood. “Yoncq lies off yonder to the left. The +fighting is at Beaumont, General.” + +“Either at Varniforet or Beaumont,” Ducat observed. + +The general muttered below his breath: “Beaumont, Beaumont—a man can +never tell where he is in this d——d country.” Then raising his voice: +“And how far may this Beaumont be from here?” + +“A little more than six miles, if you take the road from Chêne to +Stenay, which runs up the valley yonder.” + +There was no cessation of the firing, which seemed to be advancing from +west to east with a continuous succession of reports like peals of +thunder. Sambuc added: + +“_Bigre_! it’s getting warm. It is just what I expected; you know what +I told you this morning, General; it is certainly the batteries that we +saw in the wood of Dieulet. By this time the whole army that came up +through Buzancy and Beauclair is at work mauling the 5th corps.” + +There was silence among them, while the battle raging in the distance +growled more furiously than ever, and Maurice had to set tight his +teeth to keep himself from speaking his mind aloud. Why did they not +hasten whither the guns were calling them, without such waste of words? +He had never known what it was to be excited thus; every discharge +found an echo in his bosom and inspired him with a fierce longing to be +present at the conflict, to put an end to it. Were they to pass by that +battle, so near almost that they could stretch forth their arm and +touch it with their hand, and never expend a cartridge? It must be to +decide a wager that some one had made, that since the beginning of the +campaign they were dragged about the country thus, always flying before +the enemy! At Vouziers they had heard the musketry of the rear-guard, +at Osches the German guns had played a moment on their retreating +backs; and now they were to run for it again, they were not to be +allowed to advance at double-quick to the succor of comrades in +distress! Maurice looked at Jean, who was also very pale, his eyes +shining with a bright, feverish light. Every heart leaped in every +bosom at the loud summons of the artillery. + +While they were waiting a general, attended by his staff, was seen +ascending the narrow path that wound up the hill. It was Douay, their +corps-commander, who came hastening up, with anxiety depicted on his +countenance, and when he had questioned the francs-tireurs he gave +utterance to an exclamation of despair. But what could he have done, +even had he learned their tidings that morning? The marshal’s orders +were explicit: they must be across the Meuse that night, cost what it +might. And then again, how was he to collect his scattered troops, +strung out along the road to Raucourt, and direct then on Beaumont? +Could they arrive in time to be of use? The 5th corps must be in full +retreat on Mouzon by that time, as was indicated by the sound of the +firing, which was receding more and more to the eastward, as a deadly +hurricane moves off after having accomplished its disastrous work. With +a fierce gesture, expressive of his sense of impotency, General Douay +outstretched his arms toward the wide horizon of hill and dale, of +woods and fields, and the order went forth to proceed with the march to +Raucourt. + +Ah, what a march was that through that dismal pass of Stonne, with the +lofty summits o’erhanging them on either side, while through the woods +on their right came the incessant volleying of the artillery. Colonel +de Vineuil rode at the head of his regiment, bracing himself firmly in +his saddle, his face set and very pale, his eyes winking like those of +one trying not to weep. Captain Beaudoin strode along in silence, +gnawing his mustache, while Lieutenant Rochas let slip an occasional +imprecation, invoking ruin and destruction on himself and everyone +besides. Even the most cowardly among the men, those who had the least +stomach for fighting, were shamed and angered by their continuous +retreat; they felt the bitter humiliation of turning their backs while +those beasts of Prussians were murdering their comrades over yonder. + +After emerging from the pass the road, from a tortuous path among the +hills, increased in width and led through a broad stretch of level +country, dotted here and there with small woods. The 106th was now a +portion of the rear-guard, and at every moment since leaving Osches had +been expecting to feel the enemy’s attack, for the Prussians were +following the column step by step, never letting it escape their +vigilant eyes, waiting, doubtless, for a favorable opportunity to fall +on its rear. Their cavalry were on the alert to take advantage of any +bit of ground that promised them an opportunity of getting in on our +flank; several squadrons of Prussian Guards were seen advancing from +behind a wood, but they gave up their purpose upon a demonstration made +by a regiment of our hussars, who came up at a gallop, sweeping the +road. Thanks to the breathing-spell afforded them by this circumstance +the retreat went on in sufficiently good order, and Raucourt was not +far away, when a spectacle greeted their eyes that filled them with +consternation and completely demoralized the troops. Upon coming to a +cross-road they suddenly caught sight of a hurrying, straggling, flying +throng, wounded officers, soldiers without arms and without +organization, runaway teams from the train, all—men and animals—mingled +in wildest confusion, wild with panic. It was the wreck of one of the +brigades of the 1st division, which had been sent that morning to +escort the train to Mouzon; there had been an unfortunate misconception +of orders, and this brigade and a portion of the wagons had taken a +wrong road and reached Varniforet, near Beaumont, at the very time when +the 5th corps was being driven back in disorder. Taken unawares, +overborne by the flank attack of an enemy superior in numbers, they had +fled; and bleeding, with haggard faces, crazed with fear, were now +returning to spread consternation among their comrades; it was as if +they had been wafted thither on the breath of the battle that had been +raging incessantly since noon. + +Alarm and anxiety possessed everyone, from highest to lowest, as the +column poured through Raucourt in wild stampede. Should they turn to +the left, toward Autrecourt, and attempt to pass the Meuse at Villers, +as had been previously decided? The general hesitated, fearing to +encounter difficulties in crossing there, even if the bridge were not +already in possession of the Prussians; he finally decided to keep +straight on through the defile of Harancourt and thus reach Remilly +before nightfall. First Mouzon, then Villers, and last Remilly; they +were still pressing on northward, with the tramp of the uhlans on the +road behind them. There remained scant four miles for them to +accomplish, but it was five o’clock, and the men were sinking with +fatigue. They had been under arms since daybreak, twelve hours had been +consumed in advancing three short leagues; they were harassed and +fatigued as much by their constant halts and the stress of their +emotions as by the actual toil of the march. For the last two nights +they had had scarce any sleep; their hunger had been unappeased since +they left Vouziers. In Raucourt the distress was terrible; men fell in +the ranks from sheer inanition. + +The little town is rich, with its numerous factories, its handsome +thoroughfare lined with two rows of well-built houses, and its pretty +church and _mairie_; but the night before Marshal MacMahon and the +Emperor had passed that way with their respective staffs and all the +imperial household, and during the whole of the present morning the +entire 1st corps had been streaming like a torrent through the main +street. The resources of the place had not been adequate to meet the +requirements of these hosts; the shelves of the bakers and grocers were +empty, and even the houses of the bourgeois had been swept clean of +provisions; there was no bread, no wine, no sugar, nothing capable of +allaying hunger or thirst. Ladies had been seen to station themselves +before their doors and deal out glasses of wine and cups of bouillon +until cask and kettle alike were drained of their last drop. And so +there was an end, and when, about three o’clock, the first regiments of +the 7th corps began to appear the scene was a pitiful one; the broad +street was filled from curb to curb with weary, dust-stained men, dying +with hunger, and there was not a mouthful of food to give them. Many of +them stopped, knocking at doors and extending their hands beseechingly +toward windows, begging for a morsel of bread, and women were seen to +cry and sob as they motioned that they could not help them, that they +had nothing left. + +At the corner of the Rue Dix-Potiers Maurice had an attack of dizziness +and reeled as if about to fall. To Jean, who came hastening up, he +said: + +“No, leave me; it is all up with me. I may as well die here!” + +He had sunk down upon a door-step. The corporal spoke in a rough tone +of displeasure assumed for the occasion: + +“_Nom de Dieu!_ why don’t you try to behave like a soldier! Do you want +the Prussians to catch you? Come, get up!” + +Then, as the young man, lividly pale, his eyes tight-closed, almost +unconscious, made no reply, he let slip another oath, but in another +key this time, in a tone of infinite gentleness and pity: + +“_Nom de Dieu!_ _Nom de Dieu!_” + +And running to a drinking-fountain near by, he filled his basin with +water and hurried back to bathe his friend’s face. Then, without +further attempt at concealment, he took from his sack the last +remaining biscuit that he had guarded with such jealous caution, and +commenced crumbling it into small bits that he introduced between the +other’s teeth. The famishing man opened his eyes and ate greedily. + +“But you,” he asked, suddenly recollecting himself, “how comes it that +you did not eat it?” + +“Oh, I!” said Jean. “I’m tough, I can wait. A good drink of Adam’s ale, +and I shall be all right.” + +He went and filled his basin again at the fountain, emptied it at a +single draught, and came back smacking his lips in token of +satisfaction with his feast. He, too, was cadaverously pale, and so +faint with hunger that his hands were trembling like a leaf. + +“Come, get up, and let’s be going. We must be getting back to the +comrades, little one.” + +Maurice leaned on his arm and suffered himself to be helped along as if +he had been a child; never had woman’s arm about him so warmed his +heart. In that extremity of distress, with death staring him in the +face, it afforded him a deliciously cheering sense of comfort to know +that someone loved and cared for him, and the reflection that that +heart, which was so entirely his, was the heart of a simple-minded +peasant, whose aspirations scarcely rose above the satisfaction of his +daily wants, for whom he had recently experienced a feeling of +repugnance, served to add to his gratitude a sensation of ineffable +joy. Was it not the brotherhood that had prevailed in the world in its +earlier days, the friendship that had existed before caste and culture +were; that friendship which unites two men and makes them one in their +common need of assistance, in the presence of Nature, the common enemy? +He felt the tie of humanity uniting him and Jean, and was proud to know +that the latter, his comforter and savior, was stronger than he; while +to Jean, who did not analyze his sensations, it afforded unalloyed +pleasure to be the instrument of protecting, in his friend, that +cultivation and intelligence which, in himself, were only rudimentary. +Since the death of his wife, who had been snatched away from him by a +frightful catastrophe, he had believed that his heart was dead, he had +sworn to have nothing more to do with those creatures, who, even when +they are not wicked and depraved, are cause of so much suffering to +man. And thus, to both of them their friendship was a comfort and +relief. There was no need of any demonstrative display of affection; +they understood each other; there was close community of sympathy +between them, and, notwithstanding their apparent external +dissimilarity, the bond of pity and common suffering made them as one +during their terrible march that day to Remilly. + +As the French rear-guard left Raucourt by one end of the town the +Germans came in at the other, and forthwith two of their batteries +commenced firing from the position they had taken on the heights to the +left; the 106th, retreating along the road that follows the course of +the Emmane, was directly in the line of fire. A shell cut down a poplar +on the bank of the stream; another came and buried itself in the soft +ground close to Captain Beaudoin, but did not burst. From there on to +Harancourt, however, the walls of the pass kept approaching nearer and +nearer, and the troops were crowded together in a narrow gorge +commanded on either side by hills covered with trees. A handful of +Prussians in ambush on those heights might have caused incalculable +disaster. With the cannon thundering in their rear and the menace of a +possible attack on either flank, the men’s uneasiness increased with +every step they took, and they were in haste to get out of such a +dangerous neighborhood; hence they summoned up their reserved strength, +and those soldiers who, but now in Raucourt, had scarce been able to +drag themselves along, now, with the peril that lay behind them as an +incentive, struck out at a good round pace. The very horses seemed to +be conscious that the loss of a minute might cost them dear. And the +impetus thus given continued; all was going well, the head of the +column must have reached Remilly, when, all at once, their progress was +arrested. + +“Heavens and earth!” said Chouteau, “are they going to leave us here in +the road?” + +The regiment had not yet reached Harancourt, and the shells were still +tumbling about them; while the men were marking time, awaiting the word +to go ahead again, one burst, on the right of the column, without +injuring anyone, fortunately. Five minutes passed, that seemed to them +long as an eternity, and still they did not move; there was some +obstacle on ahead that barred their way as effectually as if a strong +wall had been built across the road. The colonel, standing up in his +stirrups, peered nervously to the front, for he saw that it would +require but little to create a panic among his men. + +“We are betrayed; everybody can see it,” shouted Chouteau. + +Murmurs of reproach arose on every side, the sullen muttering of their +discontent exasperated by their fears. Yes, yes! they had been brought +there to be sold, to be delivered over to the Prussians. In the baleful +fatality that pursued them, and among all the blunders of their +leaders, those dense intelligences were unable to account for such an +uninterrupted succession of disasters on any other ground than that of +treachery. + +“We are betrayed! we are betrayed!” the men wildly repeated. + +Then Loubet’s fertile intellect evolved an idea: “It is like enough +that that pig of an Emperor has sat himself down in the road, with his +baggage, on purpose to keep us here.” + +The idle fancy was received as true, and immediately spread up and down +the line; everyone declared that the imperial household had blocked the +road and was responsible for the stoppage. There was a universal chorus +of execration, of opprobrious epithets, an unchaining of the hatred and +hostility that were inspired by the insolence of the Emperor’s +attendants, who took possession of the towns where they stopped at +night as if they owned them, unpacking their luxuries, their costly +wines and plate of gold and silver, before the eyes of the poor +soldiers who were destitute of everything, filling the kitchens with +the steam of savory viands while they, poor devils, had nothing for it +but to tighten the belt of their trousers. Ah! that wretched Emperor, +that miserable man, deposed from his throne and stripped of his +command, a stranger in his own empire; whom they were conveying up and +down the country along with the other baggage, like some piece of +useless furniture, whose doom it was ever to drag behind him the irony +of his imperial state: cent-gardes, horses, carriages, cooks, and vans, +sweeping, as it were, the blood and mire from the roads of his defeat +with the magnificence of his court mantle, embroidered with the +heraldic bees! + +In rapid succession, one after the other, two more shells fell; +Lieutenant Rochas had his _kepi_ carried away by a fragment. The men +huddled closer together and began to crowd forward, the movement +gathering strength as it ran from rear to front. Inarticulate cries +were heard, Lapoulle shouted furiously to go ahead. A minute longer and +there would have been a horrible catastrophe, and many men must have +been crushed to death in the mad struggle to escape from the +funnel-like gorge. + +The colonel—he was very pale—turned and spoke to the soldiers: + +“My children, my children, be a little patient. I have sent to see what +is the matter—it will only be a moment—” + +But they did not advance, and the seconds seemed like centuries. Jean, +quite cool and collected, resumed his hold of Maurice’s hand, and +whispered to him that, in case their comrades began to shove, they two +could leave the road, climb the hill on the left, and make their way to +the stream. He looked about to see where the francs-tireurs were, +thinking he might gain some information from them regarding the roads, +but was told they had vanished while the column was passing through +Raucourt. Just then the march was resumed, and almost immediately a +bend in the road took them out of range of the German batteries. Later +in the day it was ascertained that it was four cuirassier regiments of +Bonnemain’s division who, in the disorder of that ill-starred retreat, +had thus blocked the road of the 7th corps and delayed the march. + +It was nearly dark when the 106th passed through Angecourt. The wooded +hills continued on the right, but to the left the country was more +level, and a valley was visible in the distance, veiled in bluish +mists. At last, just as the shades of night were descending, they stood +on the heights of Remilly and beheld a ribbon of pale silver unrolling +its length upon a broad expanse of verdant plain. It was the Meuse, +that Meuse they had so longed to see, and where it seemed as if victory +awaited them. + +Pointing to some lights in the distance that were beginning to twinkle +cheerily among the trees, down in that fertile valley that lay there so +peaceful in the mellow twilight, Maurice said to Jean, with the glad +content of a man revisiting a country that he knows and loves: + +“Look! over that way—that is Sedan!” + + + + +VII. + + +Remilly is built on a hill that rises from the left bank of the Meuse, +presenting the appearance of an amphitheater; the one village street +that meanders circuitously down the sharp descent was thronged with +men, horses, and vehicles in dire confusion. Half-way up the hill, in +front of the church, some drivers had managed to interlock the wheels +of their guns, and all the oaths and blows of the artillerymen were +unavailing to get them forward. Further down, near the woolen mill, +where the Emmane tumbles noisily over the dam, the road was choked with +a long line of stranded baggage wagons, while close at hand, at the inn +of the Maltese Cross, a constantly increasing crowd of angry soldiers +pushed and struggled, and could not obtain so much as a glass of wine. + +All this mad hurly-burly was going on at the southern end of the +village, which is here separated from the Meuse by a little grove of +trees, and where the engineers had that morning stretched a bridge of +boats across the river. There was a ferry to the right; the ferryman’s +house stood by itself, white and staring, amid a rank growth of weeds. +Great fires had been built on either bank, which, being replenished +from time to time, glared ruddily in the darkness and made the stream +and both its shores as light as day. They served to show the immense +multitude of men massed there, awaiting a chance to cross, while the +footway only permitted the passage of two men abreast, and over the +bridge proper the cavalry and artillery were obliged to proceed at a +walk, so that the crossing promised to be a protracted operation. It +was said that the troops still on the left bank comprised a brigade of +the 1st corps, an ammunition train, and the four regiments of +cuirassiers belonging to Bonnemain’s division, while coming up in hot +haste behind them was the 7th corps, over thirty thousand strong, +possessed with the belief that the enemy was at their heels and pushing +on with feverish eagerness to gain the security of the other shore. + +For a while despair reigned. What! they had been marching since morning +with nothing to eat, they had summoned up all their energies to escape +that deadly trap at Harancourt pass, only in the end to be landed in +that slough of despond, with an insurmountable wall staring them in the +face! It would be hours, perhaps, before it became the last comer’s +turn to cross, and everyone knew that even if the Prussians should not +be enterprising enough to continue their pursuit in the darkness they +would be there with the first glimpse of daylight. Orders came for them +to stack muskets, however, and they made their camp on the great range +of bare hills which slope downward to the meadows of the Meuse, with +the Mouzon road running at their base. To their rear and occupying the +level plateau on top of the range the guns of the reserve artillery +were arranged in battery, pointed so as to sweep the entrance of the +pass should there be necessity for it. And thus commenced another +period of agonized, grumbling suspense. + +When finally the preparations were all completed the 106th found +themselves posted in a field of stubble above the road, in a position +that commanded a view of the broad plain. The men had parted +regretfully with their arms, casting timorous looks behind them that +showed they were apprehensive of a night attack. Their faces were stern +and set, and silence reigned, only broken from time to time by some +sullen murmur of angry complaint. It was nearly nine o’clock, they had +been there two hours, and yet many of them, notwithstanding their +terrible fatigue, could not sleep; stretched on the bare ground, they +would start and bend their ears to catch the faintest sound that rose +in the distance. They had ceased to fight their torturing hunger; they +would eat over yonder, on the other bank, when they had passed the +river; they would eat grass if nothing else was to be found. The crowd +at the bridge, however, seemed to increase rather than diminish; the +officers that General Douay had stationed there came back to him every +few minutes, always bringing the same unwelcome report, that it would +be hours and hours before any relief could be expected. Finally the +general determined to go down to the bridge in person, and the men saw +him on the bank, bestirring himself and others and hurrying the passage +of the troops. + +Maurice, seated with Jean against a wall, pointed to the north, as he +had done before. “There is Sedan in the distance. And look! Bazeilles +is over yonder—and then comes Douzy, and then Carignan, more to the +right. We shall concentrate at Carignan, I feel sure we shall. Ah! +there is plenty of room, as you would see if it were daylight!” + +And his sweeping gesture embraced the entire valley that lay beneath +them, enfolded in shadow. There was sufficient light remaining in the +sky that they could distinguish the pale gleam of the river where it +ran its course among the dusky meadows. The scattered trees made clumps +of denser shade, especially a row of poplars to the left, whose tops +were profiled on the horizon like the fantastic ornaments on some old +castle gateway. And in the background, behind Sedan, dotted with +countless little points of brilliant light, the shadows had mustered, +denser and darker, as if all the forests of the Ardennes had collected +the inky blackness of their secular oaks and cast it there. + +Jean’s gaze came back to the bridge of boats beneath them. + +“Look there! everything is against us. We shall never get across.” + +The fires upon both banks blazed up more brightly just then, and their +light was so intense that the whole fearful scene was pictured on the +darkness with vivid distinctness. The boats on which the longitudinal +girders rested, owing to the weight of the cavalry and artillery that +had been crossing uninterruptedly since morning, had settled to such an +extent that the floor of the bridge was covered with water. The +cuirassiers were passing at the time, two abreast, in a long unbroken +file, emerging from the obscurity of the hither shore to be swallowed +up in the shadows of the other, and nothing was to be seen of the +bridge; they appeared to be marching on the bosom of the ruddy stream, +that flashed and danced in the flickering firelight. The horses snorted +and hung back, manifesting every indication of terror as they felt the +unstable pathway yielding beneath their feet, and the cuirassiers, +standing erect in their stirrups and clutching at the reins, poured +onward in a steady, unceasing stream, wrapped in their great white +mantles, their helmets flashing in the red light of the flames. One +might have taken them for some spectral band of knights, with locks of +fire, going forth to do battle with the powers of darkness. + +Jean’s suffering wrested from him a deep-toned exclamation: + +“Oh! I am hungry!” + +On every side, meantime, the men, notwithstanding the complainings of +their empty stomachs, had thrown themselves down to sleep. Their +fatigue was so great that it finally got the better of their fears and +struck them down upon the bare earth, where they lay on their back, +with open mouth and arms outstretched, like logs beneath the moonless +sky. The bustle of the camp was stilled, and all along the naked range, +from end to end, there reigned a silence as of death. + +“Oh! I am hungry; I am so hungry that I could eat dirt!” + +Jean, patient as he was and inured to hardship, could not restrain the +cry; he had eaten nothing in thirty-six hours, and it was torn from him +by sheer stress of physical suffering. Then Maurice, knowing that two +or three hours at all events must elapse before their regiment could +move to pass the stream, said: + +“See here, I have an uncle not far from here—you know, Uncle Fouchard, +of whom you have heard me speak. His house is five or six hundred yards +from here; I didn’t like the idea, but as you are so hungry—The deuce! +the old man can’t refuse us bread!” + +His comrade made no objection and they went off together. Father +Fouchard’s little farm was situated just at the mouth of Harancourt +pass, near the plateau where the artillery was posted. The house was a +low structure, surrounded by quite an imposing cluster of dependencies; +a barn, a stable, and cow-sheds, while across the road was a disused +carriage-house which the old peasant had converted into an abattoir, +where he slaughtered with his own hands the cattle which he afterward +carried about the country in his wagon to his customers. + +Maurice was surprised as he approached the house to see no light. + +“Ah, the old miser! he has locked and barred everything tight and fast. +Like as not he won’t let us in.” + +But something that he saw brought him to a standstill. Before the house +a dozen soldiers were moving to and fro, hungry plunderers, doubtless, +on the prowl in quest of something to eat. First they had called, then +had knocked, and now, seeing that the place was dark and deserted, they +were hammering at the door with the butts of their muskets in an +attempt to force it open. A growling chorus of encouragement greeted +them from the outsiders of the circle. + +“_Nom de Dieu!_ go ahead! smash it in, since there is no one at home!” + +All at once the shutter of a window in the garret was thrown back and a +tall old man presented himself, bare-headed, wearing the peasant’s +blouse, with a candle in one hand and a gun in the other. Beneath the +thick shock of bristling white hair was a square face, deeply seamed +and wrinkled, with a strong nose, large, pale eyes, and stubborn chin. + +“You must be robbers, to smash things as you are doing!” he shouted in +an angry tone. “What do you want?” + +The soldiers, taken by surprise, drew back a little way. + +“We are perishing with hunger; we want something to eat.” + +“I have nothing, not a crust. Do you suppose that I keep victuals in my +house to fill a hundred thousand mouths? Others were here before you; +yes, General Ducrot’s men were here this morning, I tell you, and they +cleaned me out of everything.” + +The soldiers came forward again, one by one. + +“Let us in, all the same; we can rest ourselves, and you can hunt up +something—” + +And they were commencing to hammer at the door again, when the old +fellow, placing his candle on the window-sill, raised his gun to his +shoulder. + +“As true as that candle stands there, I’ll put a hole in the first man +that touches that door!” + +The prospect looked favorable for a row. Oaths and imprecations +resounded, and one of the men was heard to shout that they would settle +matters with the pig of a peasant, who was like all the rest of them +and would throw his bread in the river rather than give a mouthful to a +starving soldier. The light of the candle glinted on the barrels of the +chassepots as they were brought to an aim; the angry men were about to +shoot him where he stood, while he, headstrong and violent, would not +yield an inch. + +“Nothing, nothing! Not a crust! I tell you they cleaned me out!” + +Maurice rushed in in affright, followed by Jean. + +“Comrades, comrades—” + +He knocked up the soldiers’ guns, and raising his eyes, said +entreatingly: + +“Come, be reasonable. Don’t you know me? It is I.” + +“Who, I?” + +“Maurice Levasseur, your nephew.” + +Father Fouchard took up his candle. He recognized his nephew, beyond a +doubt, but was firm in his resolve not to give so much as a glass of +water. + +“How can I tell whether you are my nephew or not in this infernal +darkness? Clear out, everyone of you, or I will fire!” + +And amid an uproar of execration, and threats to bring him down and +burn the shanty, he still had nothing to say but: “Clear out, or I’ll +fire!” which he repeated more than twenty times. + +Suddenly a loud clear voice was heard rising above the din: + +“But not on me, father?” + +The others stood aside, and in the flickering light of the candle a man +appeared, wearing the chevrons of a quartermaster-sergeant. It was +Honoré, whose battery was a short two hundred yards from there and who +had been struggling for the last two hours against an irresistible +longing to come and knock at that door. He had sworn never to set foot +in that house again, and in all his four years of army life had not +exchanged a single letter with that father whom he now addressed so +curtly. The marauders had drawn apart and were conversing excitedly +among themselves; what, the old man’s son, and a “non-com.”! it +wouldn’t answer; better go and try their luck elsewhere! So they slunk +away and vanished in the darkness. + +When Fouchard saw that he had nothing more to fear he said in a +matter-of-course way, as if he had seen his son only the day before: + +“It’s you—All right, I’ll come down.” + +His descent was a matter of time. He could be heard inside the house +opening locked doors and carefully fastening them again, the maneuvers +of a man determined to leave nothing at loose ends. At last the door +was opened, but only for a few inches, and the strong grasp that held +it would let it go no further. + +“Come in, _thou_! and no one besides!” + +He could not turn away his nephew, however, notwithstanding his +manifest repugnance. + +“Well, thou too!” + +He shut the door flat in Jean’s face, in spite of Maurice’s entreaties. +But he was obdurate. No, no! he wouldn’t have it; he had no use for +strangers and robbers in his house, to smash and destroy his furniture! +Finally Honoré shoved their comrade inside the door by main strength +and the old man had to make the best of it, grumbling and growling +vindictively. He had carried his gun with him all this time. When at +last he had ushered the three men into the common sitting-room and had +stood his gun in a corner and placed the candle on the table, he sank +into a mulish silence. + +“Say, father, we are perishing with hunger. You will let us have a +little bread and cheese, won’t you?” + +He made a pretense of not hearing and did not answer, turning his head +at every instant toward the window as if listening for some other band +that might be coming to lay siege to his house. + +“Uncle, Jean has been a brother to me; he deprived himself of food to +give it to me. And we have seen such suffering together!” + +He turned and looked about the room to assure himself that nothing was +missing, not giving the three soldiers so much as a glance, and at +last, still without a word spoken, appeared to come to a decision. He +suddenly arose, took the candle and went out, leaving them in darkness +and carefully closing and locking the door behind him in order that no +one might follow him. They could hear his footsteps on the stairs that +led to the cellar. There was another long period of waiting, and when +he returned, again locking and bolting everything after him, he placed +upon the table a big loaf of bread and a cheese, amid a silence which, +once his anger had blown over, was merely the result of cautious +cunning, for no one can ever tell what may come of too much talking. +The three men threw themselves ravenously upon the food, and the only +sound to be heard in the room was the fierce grinding of their jaws. + +Honoré rose, and going to the sideboard brought back a pitcher of +water. + +“I think you might have given us some wine, father.” + +Whereupon Fouchard, now master of himself and no longer fearing that +this anger might lead him into unguarded speech, once more found his +tongue. + +“Wine! I haven’t any, not a drop! The others, those fellows of +Ducrot’s, ate and drank all I had, robbed me of everything!” + +He was lying, and try to conceal it as he might the shifty expression +in his great light eyes showed it. For the past two days he had been +driving away his cattle, as well those reserved for work on the farm as +those he had purchased to slaughter, and hiding them, no one knew +where, in the depths of some wood or in some abandoned quarry, and he +had devoted hours to burying all his household stores, wine, bread, and +things of the least value, even to the flour and salt, so that anyone +might have ransacked his cupboards and been none the richer for it. He +had refused to sell anything to the first soldiers who came along; no +one knew, he might be able to do better later on; and the patient, sly +old curmudgeon indulged himself with vague dreams of wealth. + +Maurice, who was first to satisfy his appetite, commenced to talk. + +“Have you seen my sister Henriette lately?” + +The old man was pacing up and down the room, casting an occasional +glance at Jean, who was bolting huge mouthfuls of bread; after +apparently giving the subject long consideration he deliberately +answered: + +“Henriette, yes, I saw her last month when I was in Sedan. But I saw +Weiss, her husband, this morning. He was with Monsieur Delaherche, his +boss, who had come over in his carriage to see the soldiers at +Mouzon—which is the same as saying that they were out for a good time.” + +An expression of intense scorn flitted over the old peasant’s +impenetrable face. + +“Perhaps they saw more of the army than they wanted to, and didn’t have +such a very good time after all, for ever since three o’clock the roads +have been impassable on account of the crowds of flying soldiers.” + +In the same unmoved voice, as if the matter were one of perfect +indifference to him, he gave them some tidings of the defeat of the 5th +corps, that had been surprised at Beaumont while the men were making +their soup and chased by the Bavarians all the way to Mouzon. Some +fugitives who had passed through Remilly, mad with terror, had told him +that they had been betrayed once more and that de Failly had sold them +to Bismarck. Maurice’s thoughts reverted to the aimless, blundering +movements of the last two days, to Marshal MacMahon hurrying on their +retreat and insisting on getting them across the Meuse at every cost, +after wasting so many precious hours in incomprehensible delays. It was +too late. Doubtless the marshal, who had stormed so on finding the 7th +corps still at Osches when he supposed it to be at la Besace, had felt +assured that the 5th corps was safe in camp at Mouzon when, lingering +in Beaumont, it had come to grief there. But what could they expect +from troops so poorly officered, demoralized by suspense and incessant +retreat, dying with hunger and fatigue? + +Fouchard had finally come and planted himself behind Jean’s chair, +watching with astonishment the inroads he was making on the bread and +cheese. In a coldly sarcastic tone he asked: + +“Are you beginning to feel better, _hein_?” + +The corporal raised his head and replied with the same peasant-like +directness: + +“Just beginning, thank you!” + +Honoré, notwithstanding his hunger, had ceased from eating whenever it +seemed to him that he heard a noise about the house. If he had +struggled long, and finally been false to his oath never to set foot in +that house again, the reason was that he could no longer withstand his +craving desire to see Silvine. The letter that he had received from her +at Rheims lay on his bosom, next his skin, that letter, so tenderly +passionate, in which she told him that she loved him still, that she +should never love anyone save him, despite the cruel past, despite +Goliah and little Charlot, that man’s child. He was thinking of naught +save her, was wondering why he had not seen her yet, all the time +watching himself that he might not let his father see his anxiety. At +last his passion became too strong for him, however, and he asked in a +tone as natural as he could command: + +“Is not Silvine with you any longer?” + +Fouchard gave his son a glance out of the corner of his eye, chuckling +internally. + +“Yes, yes.” + +Then he expectorated and was silent, so that the artillery man had +presently to broach the subject again. + +“She has gone to bed, then?” + +“No, no.” + +Finally the old fellow condescended to explain that he, too, had been +taking an outing that morning, had driven over to Raucourt market in +his wagon and taken his little servant with him. He saw no reason, +because a lot of soldiers happened to pass that way, why folks should +cease to eat meat or why a man should not attend to his business, so he +had taken a sheep and a quarter of beef over there, as it was his +custom to do every Tuesday, and had just disposed of the last of his +stock-in-trade when up came the 7th corps and he found himself in the +middle of a terrible hubbub. Everyone was running, pushing, and +crowding. Then he became alarmed lest they should take his horse and +wagon from him, and drove off, leaving his servant, who was just then +making some purchases in the town. + +“Oh, Silvine will come back all right,” he concluded in his tranquil +voice. “She must have taken shelter with Doctor Dalichamp, her +godfather. You would think to look at her that she wouldn’t dare to say +boo to a goose, but she is a girl of courage, all the same. Yes, yes; +she has lots of good qualities, Silvine has.” + +Was it an attempt on his part to be jocose? or did he wish to explain +why it was he kept her in his service, that girl who had caused +dissension between father and son, whose child by the Prussian was in +the house? He again gave his boy that sidelong look and laughed his +voiceless laugh. + +“Little Charlot is asleep there in his room; she surely won’t be long +away, now.” + +Honoré, with quivering lips, looked so intently at his father that the +old man began to pace the floor again. _Mon Dieu!_ yes, the child was +there; doubtless he would have to look on him. A painful silence filled +the room, while he mechanically cut himself more bread and began to eat +again. Jean also continued his operations in that line, without finding +it necessary to say a word. Maurice contemplated the furniture, the old +sideboard, the antique clock, and reflected on the long summer days +that he had spent at Remilly in bygone times with his sister Henriette. +The minutes slipped away, the clock struck eleven. + +“The devil!” he murmured, “it will never do to let the regiment go off +without us!” + +He stepped to the window and opened it, Fouchard making no objection. +Beneath lay the valley, a great bowl filled to the brim with blackness; +presently, however, when his eyes became more accustomed to the +obscurity, he had no difficulty in distinguishing the bridge, +illuminated by the fires on the two banks. The cuirassiers were passing +still, like phantoms in their long white cloaks, while their steeds +trod upon the bosom of the stream and a chill wind of terror breathed +on them from behind; and so the spectral train moved on, apparently +interminable, in an endless, slow-moving vision of unsubstantial forms. +Toward the right, over the bare hills where the slumbering army lay, +there brooded a stillness and repose like death. + +“Ah well!” said Maurice with a gesture of disappointment, “’twill be +to-morrow morning.” + +He had left the window open, and Father Fouchard, seizing his gun, +straddled the sill and stepped outside, as lightly as a young man. For +a time they could hear his tramp upon the road, as regular as that of a +sentry pacing his beat, but presently it ceased and the only sound that +reached their ears was the distant clamor on the crowded bridge; it +must be that he had seated himself by the wayside, where he could watch +for approaching danger and at slightest sign leap to defend his +property. + +Honoré’s anxiety meantime was momentarily increasing; his eyes were +fixed constantly on the clock. It was less than four miles from +Raucourt to Remilly, an easy hour’s walk for a woman as young and +strong as Silvine. Why had she not returned in all that time since the +old man lost sight of her in the confusion? He thought of the disorder +of a retreating army corps, spreading over the country and blocking the +roads; some accident must certainly have happened, and he pictured her +in distress, wandering among the lonely fields, trampled under foot by +the horsemen. + +But suddenly the three men rose to their feet, moved by a common +impulse. There was a sound of rapid steps coming up the road and the +old man was heard to cock his weapon. + +“Who goes there?” he shouted. “Is it you, Silvine?” + +There was no reply. He repeated his question, threatening to fire. Then +a laboring, breathless voice managed to articulate: + +“Yes, yes, Father Fouchard; it is I.” And she quickly asked: “And +Charlot?” + +“He is abed and asleep.” + +“That is well! Thanks.” + +There was no longer cause for her to hasten; she gave utterance to a +deep-drawn sigh, as if to rid herself of her burden of fatigue and +distress. + +“Go in by the window,” said Fouchard. “There is company in there.” + +She was greatly agitated when, leaping lightly into the room, she +beheld the three men. In the uncertain candle-light she gave the +impression of being very dark, with thick black hair and a pair of +large, fine, lustrous eyes, the chief adornment of a small oval face, +strong by reason of its tranquil resignation. The sudden meeting with +Honoré had sent all the blood rushing from her heart to her cheeks; and +yet she was hardly surprised to find him there; he had been in her +thoughts all the way home from Raucourt. + +He, trembling with agitation, his heart in his throat, spoke with +affected calmness: + +“Good-evening, Silvine.” + +“Good-evening, Honoré.” + +Then, to keep from breaking down and bursting into tears, she turned +away, and recognizing Maurice, gave him a smile. Jean’s presence was +embarrassing to her. She felt as if she were choking somehow, and +removed the _foulard_ that she wore about her neck. + +Honoré continued, dropping the friendly _thou_ of other days: + +“We were anxious about you, Silvine, on account of the Prussians being +so near at hand.” + +All at once her face became very pale and showed great distress; +raising her hand to her eyes as if to shut out some atrocious vision, +and directing an involuntary glance toward the room where Charlot was +slumbering, she murmured: + +“The Prussians—Oh! yes, yes, I saw them.” + +Sinking wearily upon a chair she told how, when the 7th corps came into +Raucourt, she had fled for shelter to the house of her godfather, +Doctor Dalichamp, hoping that Father Fouchard would think to come and +take her up before he left the town. The main street was filled with a +surging throng, so dense that not even a dog could have squeezed his +way through it, and up to four o’clock she had felt no particular +alarm, tranquilly employed in scraping lint in company with some of the +ladies of the place; for the doctor, with the thought that they might +be called on to care for some of the wounded, should there be a battle +over in the direction of Metz and Verdun, had been busying himself for +the last two weeks with improvising a hospital in the great hall of the +_mairie_. Some people who dropped in remarked that they might find use +for their hospital sooner than they expected, and sure enough, a little +after midday, the roar of artillery had reached their ears from over +Beaumont way. But that was not near enough to cause anxiety and no one +was alarmed, when, all at once, just as the last of the French troops +were filing out of Raucourt, a shell, with a frightful crash, came +tearing through the roof of a neighboring house. Two others followed in +quick succession; it was a German battery shelling the rear-guard of +the 7th corps. Some of the wounded from Beaumont had already been +brought in to the _mairie_, where it was feared that the enemy’s +projectiles would finish them as they lay on their mattresses waiting +for the doctor to come and operate on them. The men were crazed with +fear, and would have risen and gone down into the cellars, +notwithstanding their mangled limbs, which extorted from them shrieks +of agony. + +“And then,” continued Silvine, “I don’t know how it happened, but all +at once the uproar was succeeded by a deathlike stillness. I had gone +upstairs and was looking from a window that commanded a view of the +street and fields. There was not a soul in sight, not a ‘red-leg’ to be +seen anywhere, when I heard the tramp, tramp of heavy footsteps, and +then a voice shouted something that I could not understand and all the +muskets came to the ground together with a great crash. And I looked +down into the street below, and there was a crowd of small, +dirty-looking men in black, with ugly, big faces and wearing helmets +like those our firemen wear. Someone told me they were Bavarians. Then +I raised my eyes again and saw, oh! thousands and thousands of them, +streaming in by the roads, across the fields, through the woods, in +serried, never-ending columns. In the twinkling of an eye the ground +was black with them, a black swarm, a swarm of black locusts, coming +thicker and thicker, so that, in no time at all, the earth was hid from +sight.” + +She shivered and repeated her former gesture, veiling her vision from +some atrocious spectacle. + +“And the things that occurred afterward would exceed belief. It seems +those men had been marching three days, and on top of that had fought +at Beaumont like tigers; hence they were perishing with hunger, their +eyes were starting from their sockets, they were beside themselves. The +officers made no effort to restrain them; they broke into shops and +private houses, smashing doors and windows, demolishing furniture, +searching for something to eat and drink, no matter what, bolting +whatever they could lay their hands on. I saw one in the shop of +Monsieur Simonin, the grocer, ladling molasses from a cask with his +helmet. Others were chewing strips of raw bacon, others again had +filled their mouths with flour. They were told that our troops had been +passing through the town for the last two days and there was nothing +left, but here and there they found some trifling store that had been +hid away, not sufficient to feed so many hungry mouths, and that made +them think the folks were lying to them, and they went on to smash +things more furiously than ever. In less than an hour, there was not a +butcher’s, grocer’s, or baker’s shop in the city left ungutted; even +the private houses were entered, their cellars emptied, and their +closets pillaged. At the doctor’s—did you ever hear of such a thing? I +caught one big fellow devouring the soap. But the cellar was the place +where they did most mischief; we could hear them from upstairs smashing +the bottles and yelling like demons, and they drew the spigots of the +casks, so that the place was flooded with wine; when they came out +their hands were red with the good wine they had spilled. And to show +what happens, men when they make such brutes of themselves: a soldier +found a large bottle of laudanum and drank it all down, in spite of +Monsieur Dalichamp’s efforts to prevent him. The poor wretch was in +horrible agony when I came away; he must be dead by this time.” + +A great shudder ran through her, and she put her hand to her eyes to +shut out the horrid sight. + +“No, no! I cannot bear it; I saw too much!” + +Father Fouchard had crossed the road and stationed himself at the open +window where he could hear, and the tale of pillage made him uneasy; he +had been told that the Prussians paid for all they took; were they +going to start out as robbers at that late day? Maurice and Jean, too, +were deeply interested in those details about an enemy whom the girl +had seen, and whom they had not succeeded in setting eyes on in their +whole month’s campaigning, while Honoré, pensive and with dry, parched +lips, was conscious only of the sound of _her_ voice; he could think of +nothing save her and the misfortune that had parted them. + +Just then the door of the adjoining room was opened, and little Charlot +appeared. He had heard his mother’s voice, and came trotting into the +apartment in his nightgown to give her a kiss. He was a chubby, pink +little urchin, large and strong for his age, with a thatch of curling, +straw-colored hair and big blue eyes. Silvine shivered at his sudden +appearance, as if the sight of him had recalled to her mind the image +of someone else that affected her disagreeably. Did she no longer +recognize him, then, her darling child, that she looked at him thus, as +if he were some evocation of that horrid nightmare! She burst into +tears. + +“My poor, poor child!” she exclaimed, and clasped him wildly to her +breast, while Honoré, ghastly pale, noted how strikingly like the +little one was to Goliah; the same broad, pink face, the true Teutonic +type, in all the health and strength of rosy, smiling childhood. The +son of the Prussian, _the Prussian_, as the pothouse wits of Remilly +had styled him! And the French mother, who sat there, pressing him to +her bosom, her heart still bleeding with the recollection of the cruel +sights she had witnessed that day! + +“My poor child, be good; come with me back to bed. Say good-night, my +poor child.” + +She vanished, bearing him away. When she returned from the adjoining +room she was no longer weeping; her face wore its customary expression +of calm and courageous resignation. + +It was Honoré who, with a trembling voice, started the conversation +again. + +“And what did the Prussians do then?” + +“Ah, yes; the Prussians. Well, they plundered right and left, +destroying everything, eating and drinking all they could lay hands on. +They stole linen as well, napkins and sheets, and even curtains, +tearing them in strips to make bandages for their feet. I saw some +whose feet were one raw lump of flesh, so long and hard had been their +march. One little group I saw, seated at the edge of the gutter before +the doctor’s house, who had taken off their shoes and were bandaging +themselves with handsome chemises, trimmed with lace, stolen, +doubtless, from pretty Madame Lefevre, the manufacturer’s wife. The +pillage went on until night. The houses had no doors or windows left, +and one passing in the street could look within and see the wrecked +furniture, a scene of destruction that would have aroused the anger of +a saint. For my part, I was almost wild, and could remain there no +longer. They tried in vain to keep me, telling me that the roads were +blocked, that I would certainly be killed; I started, and as soon as I +was out of Raucourt, struck off to the right and took to the fields. +Carts, loaded with wounded French and Prussians, were coming in from +Beaumont. Two passed quite close to me in the darkness; I could hear +the shrieks and groans, and I ran, oh! how I ran, across fields, +through woods, I could not begin to tell you where, except that I made +a wide circuit over toward Villers. + +“Twice I thought I heard soldiers coming and hid, but the only person I +met was another woman, a fugitive like myself. She was from Beaumont, +she said, and she told me things too horrible to repeat. After that we +ran harder than ever. And at last I am here, so wretched, oh! so +wretched with what I have seen!” + +Her tears flowed again in such abundance as to choke her utterance. The +horrors of the day kept rising to her memory and would not down; she +related the story that the woman of Beaumont had told her. That person +lived in the main street of the village, where she had witnessed the +passage of all the German artillery after nightfall. The column was +accompanied on either side of the road by a file of soldiers bearing +torches of pitch-pine, which illuminated the scene with the red glare +of a great conflagration, and between the flaring, smoking lights the +impetuous torrent of horses, guns, and men tore onward at a mad gallop. +Their feet were winged with the tireless speed of victory as they +rushed on in devilish pursuit of the French, to overtake them in some +last ditch and crush them, annihilate them there. They stopped for +nothing; on, on they went, heedless of what lay in their way. Horses +fell; their traces were immediately cut, and they were left to be +ground and torn by the pitiless wheels until they were a shapeless, +bleeding mass. Human beings, prisoners and wounded men, who attempted +to cross the road, were ruthlessly borne down and shared their fate. +Although the men were dying with hunger the fierce hurricane poured on +unchecked; was a loaf thrown to the drivers, they caught it flying; the +torch-bearers passed slices of meat to them on the end of their +bayonets, and then, with the same steel that had served that purpose, +goaded their maddened horses on to further effort. And the night grew +old, and still the artillery was passing, with the mad roar of a +tempest let loose upon the land, amid the frantic cheering of the men. + +Maurice’s fatigue was too much for him, and notwithstanding the +interest with which he listened to Silvine’s narrative, after the +substantial meal he had eaten he let his head decline upon the table on +his crossed arms. Jean’s resistance lasted a little longer, but +presently he too was overcome and fell dead asleep at the other end of +the table. Father Fouchard had gone and taken his position in the road +again; Honoré was alone with Silvine, who was seated, motionless, +before the still open window. + +The artilleryman rose, and drawing his chair to the window, stationed +himself there beside her. The deep peacefulness of the night was +instinct with the breathing of the multitude that lay lost in slumber +there, but on it now rose other and louder sounds; the straining and +creaking of the bridge, the hollow rumble of wheels; the artillery was +crossing on the half-submerged structure. Horses reared and plunged in +terror at sight of the swift-running stream, the wheel of a caisson ran +over the guard-rail; immediately a hundred strong arms seized the +encumbrance and hurled the heavy vehicle to the bottom of the river +that it might not obstruct the passage. And as the young man watched +the slow, toilsome retreat along the opposite bank, a movement that had +commenced the day before and certainly would not be ended by the coming +dawn, he could not help thinking of that other artillery that had gone +storming through Beaumont, bearing down all before it, crushing men and +horses in its path that it might not be delayed the fraction of a +second. + +Honoré drew his chair nearer to Silvine, and in the shuddering +darkness, alive with all those sounds of menace, gently whispered: + +“You are unhappy?” + +“Oh! yes; so unhappy!” + +She was conscious of the subject on which he was about to speak, and +her head sank sorrowfully on her bosom. + +“Tell me, how did it happen? I wish to know.” + +But she could not find words to answer him. + +“Did he take advantage of you, or was it with your consent?” + +Then she stammered, in a voice that was barely audible: + +“_Mon Dieu!_ I do not know; I swear to you, I do not know, more than a +babe unborn. I will not lie to you—I cannot! No, I have no excuse to +offer; I cannot say he beat me. You had left me, I was beside myself, +and it happened, how, I cannot, no, I cannot tell!” + +Sobs choked her utterance, and he, ashy pale and with a great lump +rising in his throat, waited silently for a moment. The thought that +she was unwilling to tell him a lie, however, was an assuagement to his +rage and grief; he went on to question her further, anxious to know the +many things, that as yet he had been unable to understand. + +“My father has kept you here, it seems?” + +She replied with her resigned, courageous air, without raising her +eyes: + +“I work hard for him, it does not cost much to keep me, and as there is +now another mouth to feed he has taken advantage of it to reduce my +wages. He knows well enough that now, when he orders, there is nothing +left for me but to obey.” + +“But why do you stay with him?” + +The question surprised her so that she looked him in the face. + +“Where would you have me go? Here my little one and I have at least a +home and enough to keep us from starving.” + +They were silent again, both intently reading in the other’s eyes, +while up the shadowy valley the sounds of the sleeping camp came +faintly to their ears, and the dull rumble of wheels upon the bridge of +boats went on unceasingly. There was a shriek, the loud, despairing cry +of man or beast in mortal peril, that passed, unspeakably mournful, +through the dark night. + +“Listen, Silvine,” Honoré slowly and feelingly went on; “you sent me a +letter that afforded me great pleasure. I should have never come back +here, but that letter—I have been reading it again this evening—speaks +of things that could not have been expressed more delicately—” + +She had turned pale when first she heard the subject mentioned. Perhaps +he was angry that she had dared to write to him, like one devoid of +shame; then, as his meaning became more clear, her face reddened with +delight. + +“I know you to be truthful, and knowing it, I believe what you wrote in +that letter—yes, I believe it now implicitly. You were right in +supposing that, if I were to die in battle without seeing you again, it +would be a great sorrow to me to leave this world with the thought that +you no longer loved me. And therefore, since you love me still, since I +am your first and only love—” His tongue became thick, his emotion was +so deep that expression failed him. “Listen, Silvine; if those beasts +of Prussians let me live, you shall yet be mine, yes, as soon as I have +served my time out we will be married.” + +She rose and stood erect upon her feet, gave a cry of joy, and threw +herself upon the young man’s bosom. She could not speak a word; every +drop of blood in her veins was in her cheeks. He seated himself upon +the chair and drew her down upon his lap. + +“I have thought the matter over carefully; it was to say what I have +said that I came here this evening. Should my father refuse us his +consent, the earth is large; we will go away. And your little one, no +one shall harm him, _mon Dieu!_ More will come along, and among them +all I shall not know him from the others.” + +She was forgiven, fully and entirely. Such happiness seemed too great +to be true; she resisted, murmuring: + +“No, it cannot be; it is too much; perhaps you might repent your +generosity some day. But how good it is of you, Honoré, and how I love +you!” + +He silenced her with a kiss upon the lips, and strength was wanting her +longer to put aside the great, the unhoped-for good fortune that had +come to her; a life of happiness where she had looked forward to one of +loneliness and sorrow! With an involuntary, irresistible impulse she +threw her arms about him, kissing him again and again, straining him to +her bosom with all her woman’s strength, as a treasure that was lost +and found again, that was hers, hers alone, that thenceforth no one was +ever to take from her. He was hers once more, he whom she had lost, and +she would die rather than let anyone deprive her of him. + +At that moment confused sounds reached their ears; the sleeping camp +was awaking amid a tumult that rose and filled the dark vault of +heaven. Hoarse voices were shouting orders, bugles were sounding, drums +beating, and from the naked fields shadowy forms were seen emerging in +indistinguishable masses, a surging, billowing sea whose waves were +already streaming downward to the road beneath. The fires on the banks +of the stream were dying down; all that could be seen there was masses +of men moving confusedly to and fro; it was not even possible to tell +if the movement across the river was still in progress. Never had the +shades of night veiled such depths of distress, such abject misery of +terror. + +Father Fouchard came to the window and shouted that the troops were +moving. Jean and Maurice awoke, stiff and shivering, and got on their +feet. Honoré took Silvine’s hands in his and gave them a swift parting +clasp. + +“It is a promise. Wait for me.” + +She could find no word to say in answer, but all her soul went out to +him in one long, last look, as he leaped from the window and hurried +away to find his battery. + +“Good-by, father!” + +“Good-by, my boy!” + +And that was all; peasant and soldier parted as they had met, without +embracing, like a father and son whose existence was of little import +to each other. + +Maurice and Jean also left the farmhouse, and descended the steep hill +on a run. When they reached the bottom the 106th was nowhere to be +found; the regiments had all moved off. They made inquiries, running +this way and that, and were directed first one way and then another. At +last, when they had near lost their wits in the fearful confusion, they +stumbled on their company, under the command of Lieutenant Rochas; as +for the regiment and Captain Beaudoin, no one could say where they +were. And Maurice was astounded when he noticed for the first time that +that mob of men, guns, and horses was leaving Remilly and taking the +Sedan road that lay on the left bank. Something was wrong again; the +passage of the Meuse was abandoned, they were in full retreat to the +north! + +An officer of chasseurs, who was standing near, spoke up in a loud +voice: + +“_Nom de Dieu!_ the time for us to make the movement was the 28th, when +we were at Chêne!” + +Others were more explicit in their information; fresh news had been +received. About two o’clock in the morning one of Marshal MacMahon’s +aides had come riding up to say to General Douay that the whole army +was ordered to retreat immediately on Sedan, without loss of a minute’s +time. The disaster of the 5th corps at Beaumont had involved the three +other corps. The general, who was at that time down at the bridge of +boats superintending operations, was in despair that only a portion of +his 3d division had so far crossed the stream; it would soon be day, +and they were liable to be attacked at any moment. He therefore sent +instructions to the several organizations of his command to make at +once for Sedan, each independently of the others, by the most direct +roads, while he himself, leaving orders to burn the bridge of boats, +took the road on the left bank with his 2d division and the artillery, +and the 3d division pursued that on the right bank; the 1st, that had +felt the enemy’s claws at Beaumont, was flying in disorder across the +country, no one knew where. Of the 7th corps, that had not seen a +battle, all that remained were those scattered, incoherent fragments, +lost among lanes and by-roads, running away in the darkness. + +It was not yet three o’clock, and the night was as black as ever. +Maurice, although he knew the country, could not make out where they +were in the noisy, surging throng that filled the road from ditch to +ditch, pouring onward like a brawling mountain stream. Interspersed +among the regiments were many fugitives from the rout at Beaumont, in +ragged uniforms, begrimed with blood and dirt, who inoculated the +others with their own terror. Down the wide valley, from the wooded +hills across the stream, came one universal, all-pervading uproar, the +scurrying tramp of other hosts in swift retreat; the 1st corps, coming +from Carignan and Douzy, the 12th flying from Mouzon with the shattered +remnants of the 5th, moved like puppets and driven onward, all of them, +by that one same, inexorable, irresistible pressure that since the 28th +had been urging the army northward and driving it into the trap where +it was to meet its doom. + +Day broke as Maurice’s company was passing through Pont Maugis, and +then he recognized their locality, the hills of Liry to the left, the +Meuse running beside the road on the right. Bazeilles and Balan +presented an inexpressibly funereal aspect, looming among the +exhalations of the meadows in the chill, wan light of dawn, while +against the somber background of her great forests Sedan was profiled +in livid outlines, indistinct as the creation of some hideous +nightmare. When they had left Wadelincourt behind them and were come at +last to the Torcy gate, the governor long refused them admission; he +only yielded, after a protracted conference, upon their threat to storm +the place. It was five o’clock when at last the 7th corps, weary, cold, +and hungry, entered Sedan. + + + + +VIII. + + +In the crush on the Place de Torcy that ensued upon the entrance of the +troops into the city Jean became separated from Maurice, and all his +attempts to find him again among the surging crowd were fruitless. It +was a piece of extreme ill-luck, for he had accepted the young man’s +invitation to go with him to his sister’s, where there would be rest +and food for them, and even the luxury of a comfortable bed. The +confusion was so great—the regiments disintegrated, no discipline, and +no officers to enforce it—that the men were free to do pretty much as +they pleased. There was plenty of time to look about them and hunt up +their commands; they would have a few hours of sleep first. + +Jean in his bewilderment found himself on the viaduct of Torcy, +overlooking the broad meadows which, by the governor’s orders, had been +flooded with water from the river. Then, passing through another +archway and crossing the Pont de Meuse, he entered the old, +rampart-girt city, where, among the tall and crowded houses and the +damp, narrow streets, it seemed to him that night was descending again, +notwithstanding the increasing daylight. He could not so much as +remember the name of Maurice’s brother-in-law; he only knew that his +sister’s name was Henriette. The outlook was not encouraging; all that +kept him awake was the automatic movement of walking; he felt that he +should drop were he to stop. The indistinct ringing in his ears was the +same that is experienced by one drowning; he was only conscious of the +ceaseless onpouring of the stream of men and animals that carried him +along with it on its current. He had partaken of food at Remilly, sleep +was now his great necessity; and the same was true of the shadowy bands +that he saw flitting past him in those strange, fantastic streets. At +every moment a man would sink upon the sidewalk or tumble into a +doorway, and there would remain, as if struck by death. + +Raising his eyes, Jean read upon a signboard: Avenue de la +Sous-Prefecture. At the end of the street was a monument standing in a +public garden, and at the corner of the avenue he beheld a horseman, a +chasseur d’Afrique, whose face seemed familiar to him. Was it not +Prosper, the young man from Remilly, whom he had seen in Maurice’s +company at Vouziers? Perhaps he had been sent in with dispatches. He +had dismounted, and his skeleton of a horse, so weak that he could +scarcely stand, was trying to satisfy his hunger by gnawing at the +tail-board of an army wagon that was drawn up against the curb. There +had been no forage for the animals for the last two days, and they were +literally dying of starvation. The big strong teeth rasped pitifully on +the woodwork of the wagon, while the soldier stood by and wept as he +watched the poor brute. + +Jean was moving away when it occurred to him that the trooper might be +able to give him the address of Maurice’s sister. He returned, but the +other was gone, and it would have been useless to attempt to find him +in that dense throng. He was utterly disheartened, and wandering +aimlessly from street to street at last found himself again before the +Sous-Prefecture, whence he struggled onward to the Place Turenne. Here +he was comforted for an instant by catching sight of Lieutenant Rochas, +standing in front of the Hôtel de Ville with a few men of his company, +at the foot of the statue he had seen before; if he could not find his +friend he could at all events rejoin the regiment and have a tent to +sleep under. Nothing had been seen of Captain Beaudoin; doubtless he +had been swept away in the press and landed in some place far away, +while the lieutenant was endeavoring to collect his scattered men and +fruitlessly inquiring of everyone he met where division headquarters +were. As he advanced into the city, however, his numbers, instead of +increasing, dwindled. One man, with the gestures of a lunatic, entered +an inn and was seen no more. Three others were halted in front of a +grocer’s shop by a party of zouaves who had obtained possession of a +small cask of brandy; one was already lying senseless in the gutter, +while the other two tried to get away, but were too stupid and dazed to +move. Loubet and Chouteau had nudged each other with the elbow and +disappeared down a blind alley in pursuit of a fat woman with a loaf of +bread, so that all who remained with the lieutenant were Pache and +Lapoulle, with some ten or a dozen more. + +Rochas was standing by the base of the bronze statue of Turenne, making +heroic efforts to keep his eyes open. When he recognized Jean he +murmured: + +“Ah, is it you, corporal? Where are your men?” + +Jean, by a gesture expressive in its vagueness, intimated that he did +not know, but Pache, pointing to Lapoulle, answered with tears in his +eyes: + +“Here we are; there are none left but us two. The merciful Lord have +pity on our sufferings; it is too hard!” + +The other, the colossus with the colossal appetite, looked hungrily at +Jean’s hands, as if to reproach them for being always empty in those +days. Perhaps, in his half-sleeping state, he had dreamed that Jean was +away at the commissary’s for rations. + +“D——n the luck!” he grumbled, “we’ll have to tighten up our belts +another hole!” + +Gaude, the bugler, was leaning against the iron railing, waiting for +the lieutenant’s order to sound the assembly; sleep came to him so +suddenly that he slid from his position and within a second was lying +flat on his back, unconscious. One by one they all succumbed to the +drowsy influence and snored in concert, except Sergeant Sapin alone, +who, with his little pinched nose in his small pale face, stood staring +with distended eyes at the horizon of that strange city, as if trying +to read his destiny there. + +Lieutenant Rochas meantime had yielded to an irresistible impulse and +seated himself on the ground. He attempted to give an order. + +“Corporal, you will—you will—” + +And that was as far as he could proceed, for fatigue sealed his lips, +and like the rest he suddenly sank down and was lost in slumber. + +Jean, not caring to share his comrades’ fate and pillow his head on the +hard stones, moved away; he was bent on finding a bed in which to +sleep. At a window of the Hotel of the Golden Cross, on the opposite +side of the square, he caught a glimpse of General +Bourgain-Desfeuilles, already half-undressed and on the point of +tasting the luxury of clean white sheets. Why should he be more +self-denying than the rest of them? he asked himself; why should he +suffer longer? And just then a name came to his recollection that +caused him a thrill of delight, the name of the manufacturer in whose +employment Maurice’s brother-in-law was. M. Delaherche! yes, that was +it. He accosted an old man who happened to be passing. + +“Can you tell me where M. Delaherche lives?” + +“In the Rue Maqua, near the corner of the Rue au Beurre; you can’t +mistake it; it is a big house, with statues in the garden.” + +The old man turned away, but presently came running back. “I see you +belong to the 106th. If it is your regiment you are looking for, it +left the city by the Château, down there. I just met the colonel, +Monsieur de Vineuil; I used to know him when he lived at Mézières.” + +But Jean went his way, with an angry gesture of impatience. No, no! no +sleeping on the hard ground for him, now that he was certain of finding +Maurice. And yet he could not help feeling a twinge of remorse as he +thought of the dignified old colonel, who stood fatigue so manfully in +spite of his years, sharing the sufferings of his men, with no more +luxurious shelter than his tent. He strode across the Grande Rue with +rapid steps and soon was in the midst of the tumult and uproar of the +city; there he hailed a small boy, who conducted him to the Rue Maqua. + +There it was that in the last century a grand-uncle of the present +Delaherche had built the monumental structure that had remained in the +family a hundred and sixty years. There is more than one cloth factory +in Sedan that dates back to the early years of Louis XV.; enormous +piles, they are, covering as much ground as the Louvre, and with +stately facades of royal magnificence. The one in the Rue Maqua was +three stories high, and its tall windows were adorned with carvings of +severe simplicity, while the palatial courtyard in the center was +filled with grand old trees, gigantic elms that were coeval with the +building itself. In it three generations of Delaherches had amassed +comfortable fortunes for themselves. The father of Charles, the +proprietor in our time, had inherited the property from a cousin who +had died without being blessed with children, so that it was now a +younger branch that was in possession. The affairs of the house had +prospered under the father’s control, but he was something of a blade +and a roisterer, and his wife’s existence with him was not one of +unmixed happiness; the consequence of which was that the lady, when she +became a widow, not caring to see a repetition by the son of the +performances of the father, made haste to find a wife for him in the +person of a simple-minded and exceedingly devout young woman, and +subsequently kept him tied to her apron string until he had attained +the mature age of fifty and over. But no one in this transitory world +can tell what time has in store for him; when the devout young person’s +time came to leave this life Delaherche, who had known none of the joys +of youth, fell head over ears in love with a young widow of +Charleville, pretty Madame Maginot, who had been the subject of some +gossip in her day, and in the autumn preceding the events recorded in +this history had married her, in spite of all his mother’s prayers and +tears. It is proper to add that Sedan, which is very straitlaced in its +notions of propriety, has always been inclined to frown on Charleville, +the city of laughter and levity. And then again the marriage would +never have been effected but for the fact that Gilberte’s uncle was +Colonel de Vineuil, who it was supposed would soon be made a general. +This relationship and the idea that he had married into army circles +was to the cloth manufacturer a source of great delight. + +That morning Delaherche, when he learned that the army was to pass +through Mouzon, had invited Weiss, his accountant, to accompany him on +that carriage ride of which we have heard Father Fouchard speak to +Maurice. Tall and stout, with a florid complexion, prominent nose and +thick lips, he was of a cheerful, sanguine temperament and had all the +French bourgeois’ boyish love for a handsome display of troops. Having +ascertained from the apothecary at Mouzon that the Emperor was at +Baybel, a farm in the vicinity, he had driven up there; had seen the +monarch, and even had been near speaking to him, an adventure of such +thrilling interest that he had talked of it incessantly ever since his +return. But what a terrible return that had been, over roads choked +with the panic-stricken fugitives from Beaumont! twenty times their +cabriolet was near being overturned into the ditch. Obstacle after +obstacle they had encountered, and it was night before the two men +reached home. The element of the tragic and unforeseen there was in the +whole business, that army that Delaherche had driven out to pass in +review and which had brought him home with it, whether he would or no, +in the mad gallop of its retreat, made him repeat again and again +during their long drive: + +“I supposed it was moving on Verdun and would have given anything +rather than miss seeing it. Ah well! I have seen it now, and I am +afraid we shall see more of it in Sedan than we desire.” + +The following morning he was awakened at five o’clock by the hubbub, +like the roar of water escaping from a broken dam, made by the 7th +corps as it streamed through the city; he dressed in haste and went +out, and almost the first person he set eyes on in the Place Turenne +was Captain Beaudoin. When pretty Madame Maginot was living at +Charleville the year before the captain had been one of her best +friends, and Gilberte had introduced him to her husband before they +were married. Rumor had it that the captain had abdicated his position +as first favorite and made way for the cloth merchant from motives of +delicacy, not caring to stand in the way of the great good fortune that +seemed coming to his fair friend. + +“Hallo, is that you?” exclaimed Delaherche. “Good Heavens, what a state +you’re in!” + +It was but too true; the dandified Beaudoin, usually so trim and +spruce, presented a sorry spectacle that morning in his soiled uniform +and with his grimy face and hands. Greatly to his disgust he had had a +party of Turcos for traveling companions, and could not explain how he +had become separated from his company. Like all the others he was ready +to drop with fatigue and hunger, but that was not what most afflicted +him; he had not been able to change his linen since leaving Rheims, and +was inconsolable. + +“Just think of it!” he wailed, “those idiots, those scoundrels, lost my +baggage at Vouziers. If I ever catch them I will break every bone in +their body! And now I haven’t a thing, not a handkerchief, not a pair +of socks! Upon my word, it is enough to make one mad!” + +Delaherche was for taking him home to his house forthwith, but he +resisted. No, no; he was no longer a human being, he would not frighten +people out of their wits. The manufacturer had to make solemn oath that +neither his wife nor his mother had risen yet; and besides he should +have soap, water, linen, everything he needed. + +It was seven o’clock when Captain Beaudoin, having done what he could +with the means at his disposal to improve his appearance, and comforted +by the sensation of wearing under his uniform a clean shirt of his +host’s, made his appearance in the spacious, high-ceiled dining room +with its somber wainscoting. The elder Madame Delaherche was already +there, for she was always on foot at daybreak, notwithstanding she was +seventy-eight years old. Her hair was snowy white; in her long, lean +face was a nose almost preternaturally thin and sharp and a mouth that +had long since forgotten how to laugh. She rose, and with stately +politeness invited the captain to be seated before one of the cups of +_café au lait_ that stood on the table. + +“But, perhaps, sir, you would prefer meat and wine after the fatigue to +which you have been subjected?” + +He declined the offer, however. “A thousand thanks, madame; a little +milk, with bread and butter, will be best for me.” + +At that moment a door was smartly opened and Gilberte entered the room +with outstretched hand. Delaherche must have told her who was there, +for her ordinary hour of rising was ten o’clock. She was tall, lithe of +form and well-proportioned, with an abundance of handsome black hair, a +pair of handsome black eyes, and a very rosy, wholesome complexion +withal; she had a laughing, rather free and easy way with her, and it +did not seem possible she could ever look angry. Her peignoir of beige, +embroidered with red silk, was evidently of Parisian manufacture. + +“Ah, Captain,” she rapidly said, shaking hands with the young man, “how +nice of you to stop and see us, away up in this out-of-the-world +place!” But she was the first to see that she had “put her foot in it” +and laugh at her own blunder. “Oh, what a stupid thing I am! I might +know you would rather be somewhere else than at Sedan, under the +circumstances. But I am very glad to see you once more.” + +She showed it; her face was bright and animated, while Madame +Delaherche, who could not have failed to hear something of the gossip +that had been current among the scandalmongers of Charleville, watched +the pair closely with her puritanical air. The captain was very +reserved in his behavior, however, manifesting nothing more than a +pleasant recollection of hospitalities previously received in the house +where he was visiting. + +They had no more than sat down at table than Delaherche, burning to +relieve himself of the subject that filled his mind, commenced to +relate his experiences of the day before. + +“You know I saw the Emperor at Baybel.” + +He was fairly started and nothing could stop him. He began by +describing the farmhouse, a large structure with an interior court, +surrounded by an iron railing, and situated on a gentle eminence +overlooking Mouzon, to the left of the Carignan road. Then he came back +to the 12th corps, whom he had visited in their camp among the vines on +the hillsides; splendid troops they were, with their equipments +brightly shining in the sunlight, and the sight of them had caused his +heart to beat with patriotic ardor. + +“And there I was, sir, when the Emperor, who had alighted to breakfast +and rest himself a bit, came out of the farmhouse. He wore a general’s +uniform and carried an overcoat across his arm, although the sun was +very hot. He was followed by a servant bearing a camp stool. He did not +look to me like a well man; ah no, far from it; his stooping form, the +sallowness of his complexion, the feebleness of his movements, all +indicated him to be in a very bad way. I was not surprised, for the +druggist at Mouzon, when he recommended me to drive on to Baybel, told +me that an aide-de-camp had just been in his shop to get some +medicine—you understand what I mean, medicine for—” The presence of his +wife and mother prevented him from alluding more explicitly to the +nature of the Emperor’s complaint, which was an obstinate diarrhea that +he had contracted at Chêne and which compelled him to make those +frequent halts at houses along the road. “Well, then, the attendant +opened the camp stool and placed it in the shade of a clump of trees at +the edge of a field of wheat, and the Emperor sat down on it. Sitting +there in a limp, dejected attitude, perfectly still, he looked for all +the world like a small shopkeeper taking a sun bath for his rheumatism. +His dull eyes wandered over the wide horizon, the Meuse coursing +through the valley at his feet, before him the range of wooded heights +whose summits recede and are lost in the distance, on the left the +waving tree-tops of Dieulet forest, on the right the verdure-clad +eminence of Sommanthe. He was surrounded by his military family, aides +and officers of rank, and a colonel of dragoons, who had already +applied to me for information about the country, had just motioned me +not to go away, when all at once—” Delaherche rose from his chair, for +he had reached the point where the dramatic interest of his story +culminated and it became necessary to re-enforce words by gestures. +“All at once there is a succession of sharp reports and right in front +of us, over the wood of Dieulet, shells are seen circling through the +air. It produced on me no more effect than a display of fireworks in +broad daylight, sir, upon my word it didn’t! The people about the +Emperor, of course, showed a good deal of agitation and uneasiness. The +colonel of dragoons comes running up again to ask if I can give them an +idea whence the firing proceeds. I answer him off-hand: ‘It is at +Beaumont; there is not the slightest doubt about it.’ He returns to the +Emperor, on whose knees an aide-de-camp was unfolding a map. The +Emperor was evidently of opinion that the fighting was not at Beaumont, +for he sent the colonel back to me a third time. But I couldn’t well do +otherwise than stick to what I had said before, could I, now? the more +that the shells kept flying through the air, nearer and nearer, +following the line of the Mouzon road. And then, sir, as sure as I see +you standing there, I saw the Emperor turn his pale face toward me. Yes +sir, he looked at me a moment with those dim eyes of his, that were +filled with an expression of melancholy and distrust. And then his face +declined upon his map again and he made no further movement.” + +Delaherche, although he was an ardent Bonapartist at the time of the +plebiscite, had admitted after our early defeats that the government +was responsible for some mistakes, but he stood up for the dynasty, +compassionating and excusing Napoleon III., deceived and betrayed as he +was by everyone. It was his firm opinion that the men at whose door +should be laid the responsibility for all our disasters were none other +than those Republican deputies of the opposition who had stood in the +way of voting the necessary men and money. + +“And did the Emperor return to the farmhouse?” asked Captain Beaudoin. + +“That’s more than I can say, my dear sir; I left him sitting on his +stool. It was midday, the battle was drawing nearer, and it occurred to +me that it was time to be thinking of my own return. All that I can +tell you besides is that a general to whom I pointed out the position +of Carignan in the distance, in the plain to our rear, appeared greatly +surprised to learn that the Belgian frontier lay in that direction and +was only a few miles away. Ah, that the poor Emperor should have to +rely on such servants!” + +Gilberte, all smiles, was giving her attention to the captain and +keeping him supplied with buttered toast, as much at ease as she had +ever been in bygone days when she received him in her salon during her +widowhood. She insisted that he should accept a bed with them, but he +declined, and it was agreed that he should rest for an hour or two on a +sofa in Delaherche’s study before going out to find his regiment. As he +was taking the sugar bowl from the young woman’s hands old Madame +Delaherche, who had kept her eye on them, distinctly saw him squeeze +her fingers, and the old lady’s suspicions were confirmed. At that +moment a servant came to the door. + +“Monsieur, there is a soldier outside who wants to know the address of +Monsieur Weiss.” + +There was nothing “stuck-up” about Delaherche, people said; he was fond +of popularity and was always delighted to have a chat with those of an +inferior station. + +“He wants Weiss’s address! that’s odd. Bring the soldier in here.” + +Jean entered the room in such an exhausted state that he reeled as if +he had been drunk. He started at seeing his captain seated at the table +with two ladies, and involuntarily withdrew the hand that he had +extended toward a chair in order to steady himself; he replied briefly +to the questions of the manufacturer, who played his part of the +soldier’s friend with great cordiality. In a few words he explained his +relation toward Maurice and the reason why he was looking for him. + +“He is a corporal in my company,” the captain finally said by way of +cutting short the conversation, and inaugurated a series of questions +on his own account to learn what had become of the regiment. As Jean +went on to tell that the colonel had been seen crossing the city to +reach his camp at the head of what few men were left him, Gilberte +again thoughtlessly spoke up, with the vivacity of a woman whose beauty +is supposed to atone for her indiscretion: + +“Oh! he is my uncle; why does he not come and breakfast with us? We +could fix up a room for him here. Can’t we send someone for him?” + +But the old lady discouraged the project with an authority there was no +disputing. The good old bourgeois blood of the frontier towns flowed in +her veins; her austerely patriotic sentiments were almost those of a +man. She broke the stern silence that she had preserved during the meal +by saying: + +“Never mind Monsieur de Vineuil; he is doing his duty.” + +Her short speech was productive of embarrassment among the party. +Delaherche conducted the captain to his study, where he saw him safely +bestowed upon the sofa; Gilberte moved lightly off about her business, +no more disconcerted by her rebuff than is the bird that shakes its +wings in gay defiance of the shower; while the handmaid to whom Jean +had been intrusted led him by a very labyrinth of passages and +staircases through the various departments of the factory. + +The Weiss family lived in the Rue des Voyards, but their house, which +was Delaherche’s property, communicated with the great structure in the +Rue Maqua. The Rue des Voyards was at that time one of the most squalid +streets in Sedan, being nothing more than a damp, narrow lane, its +normal darkness intensified by the proximity of the ramparts, which ran +parallel to it. The roofs of the tall houses almost met, the dark +passages were like the mouths of caverns, and more particularly so at +that end where rose the high college walls. Weiss, however, with free +quarters and free fuel on his third floor, found the location a +convenient one on account of its nearness to his office, to which he +could descend in slippers without having to go around by the street. +His life had been a happy one since his marriage with Henriette, so +long the object of his hopes and wishes since first he came to know her +at Chêne, filling her dead mother’s place when only six years old and +keeping the house for her father, the tax-collector; while he, entering +the big refinery almost on the footing of a laborer, was picking up an +education as best he could, and fitting himself for the accountant’s +position which was the reward of his unremitting toil. And even when he +had attained to that measure of success his dream was not to be +realized; not until the father had been removed by death, not until the +brother at Paris had been guilty of those excesses: that brother +Maurice to whom his twin sister had in some sort made herself a +servant, to whom she had sacrificed her little all to make him a +gentleman—not until then was Henriette to be his wife. She had never +been aught more than a little drudge at home; she could barely read and +write; she had sold house, furniture, all she had, to pay the young +man’s debts, when good, kind Weiss came to her with the offer of his +savings, together with his heart and his two strong arms; and she had +accepted him with grateful tears, bringing him in return for his +devotion a steadfast, virtuous affection, replete with tender esteem, +if not the stormier ardors of a passionate love. Fortune had smiled on +them; Delaherche had spoken of giving Weiss an interest in the +business, and when children should come to bless their union their +felicity would be complete. + +“Look out!” the servant said to Jean; “the stairs are steep.” + +He was stumbling upward as well as the intense darkness of the place +would let him, when suddenly a door above was thrown open, a broad belt +of light streamed out across the landing, and he heard a soft voice +saying: + +“It is he.” + +“Madame Weiss,” cried the servant, “here is a soldier who has been +inquiring for you.” + +There came the sound of a low, pleased laugh, and the same soft voice +replied: + +“Good! good! I know who it is.” Then to the corporal, who was +hesitating, rather diffidently, on the landing: “Come in, Monsieur +Jean. Maurice has been here nearly two hours, and we have been +wondering what detained you.” + +Then, in the pale sunlight that filled the room, he saw how like she +was to Maurice, with that wonderful resemblance that often makes twins +so like each other as to be indistinguishable. She was smaller and +slighter than he, however; more fragile in appearance, with a rather +large mouth and delicately molded features, surmounted by an opulence +of the most beautiful hair imaginable, of the golden yellow of ripened +grain. The feature where she least resembled him was her gray eyes, +great calm, brave orbs, instinct with the spirit of the grandfather, +the hero of the Grand Army. She used few words, was noiseless in her +movements, and was so gentle, so cheerful, so helpfully active that +where she passed her presence seemed to linger in the air, like a +fragrant caress. + +“Come this way, Monsieur Jean,” she said. “Everything will soon be +ready for you.” + +He stammered something inarticulately, for his emotion was such that he +could find no word of thanks. In addition to that his eyes were closing +he beheld her through the irresistible drowsiness that was settling on +him as a sea-fog drifts in and settles on the land, in which she seemed +floating in a vague, unreal way, as if her feet no longer touched the +earth. Could it be that it was all a delightful apparition, that +friendly young woman who smiled on him with such sweet simplicity? He +fancied for a moment that she had touched his hand and that he had felt +the pressure of hers, cool and firm, loyal as the clasp of an old tried +friend. + +That was the last moment in which Jean was distinctly conscious of what +was going on about him. They were in the dining room; bread and meat +were set out on the table, but for the life of him he could not have +raised a morsel to his lips. A man was there, seated on a chair. +Presently he knew it was Weiss, whom he had seen at Mülhausen, but he +had no idea what the man was saying with such a sober, sorrowful air, +with slow and emphatic gestures. Maurice was already sound asleep, with +the tranquillity of death resting on his face, on a bed that had been +improvised for him beside the stove, and Henriette was busying herself +about a sofa on which a mattress had been thrown; she brought in a +bolster, pillow and coverings; with nimble, dexterous hands she spread +the white sheets, snowy white, dazzling in their whiteness. + +Ah! those clean, white sheets, so long coveted, so ardently desired; +Jean had eyes for naught save them. For six weeks he had not had his +clothes off, had not slept in a bed. He was as impatient as a child +waiting for some promised treat, or a lover expectant of his mistress’s +coming; the time seemed long, terribly long to him, until he could +plunge into those cool, white depths and lose himself there. Quickly, +as soon as he was alone, he removed his shoes and tossed his uniform +across a chair, then, with a deep sigh of satisfaction, threw himself +on the bed. He opened his eyes a little way for a last look about him +before his final plunge into unconsciousness, and in the pale morning +light that streamed in through the lofty window beheld a repetition of +his former pleasant vision, only fainter, more aerial; a vision of +Henriette entering the room on tiptoe, and placing on the table at his +side a water-jug and glass that had been forgotten before. She seemed +to linger there a moment, looking at the sleeping pair, him and her +brother, with her tranquil, ineffably tender smile upon her lips, then +faded into air, and he, between his white sheets, was as if he were +not. + +Hours—or was it years? slipped by; Jean and Maurice were like dead men, +without a dream, without consciousness of the life that was within +them. Whether it was ten years or ten minutes, time had stood still for +them; the overtaxed body had risen against its oppressor and +annihilated their every faculty. They awoke simultaneously with a great +start and looked at each other inquiringly; where were they? what had +happened? how long had they slept? The same pale light was entering +through the tall window. They felt as if they had been racked; joints +stiffer, limbs wearier, mouth more hot and dry than when they had lain +down; they could not have slept more than an hour, fortunately. It did +not surprise them to see Weiss sitting where they had seen him before, +in the same dejected attitude, apparently waiting for them to awake. + +“_Fichtre_!” exclaimed Jean, “we must get up and report ourselves to +the first sergeant before noon.” + +He uttered a smothered cry of pain as he jumped to the floor and began +to dress. + +“Before noon!” said Weiss. “Are you aware that it is seven o’clock in +the evening? You have slept about twelve hours.” + +Great heavens, seven o’clock! They were thunderstruck. Jean, who by +that time was completely dressed, would have run for it, but Maurice, +still in bed, found he no longer had control of his legs; how were they +ever to find their comrades? would not the army have marched away? They +took Weiss to task for having let them sleep so long. But the +accountant shook his head sorrowfully and said: + +“You have done just as well to remain in bed, for all that has been +accomplished.” + +All that day, from early morning, he had been scouring Sedan and its +environs in quest of news, and was just come in, discouraged with the +inactivity of the troops and the inexplicable delay that had lost them +the whole of that precious day, the 31st. The sole excuse was that the +men were worn out and rest was an absolute necessity for them, but +granting that, he could not see why the retreat should not have been +continued after giving them a few hours of repose. + +“I do not pretend to be a judge of such matters,” he continued, “but I +have a feeling, so strong as to be almost a conviction, that the army +is very badly situated at Sedan. The 12th corps is at Bazeilles, where +there was a little fighting this morning; the 1st is strung out along +the Givonne between la Moncelle and Holly, while the 7th is encamped on +the plateau of Floing, and the 5th, what is left of it, is crowded +together under the ramparts of the city, on the side of the Château. +And that is what alarms me, to see them all concentrated thus about the +city, waiting for the coming of the Prussians. If I were in command I +would retreat on Mézières, and lose no time about it, either. I know +the country; it is the only line of retreat that is open to us, and if +we take any other course we shall be driven into Belgium. Come here! +let me show you something.” + +He took Jean by the hand and led him to the window. + +“Tell me what you see over yonder on the crest of the hills.” + +Looking from the window over the ramparts, over the adjacent buildings, +their view embraced the valley of the Meuse to the southward of Sedan. +There was the river, winding through broad meadows; there, to the left, +was Remilly in the background, Pont Maugis and Wadelincourt before them +and Frenois to the right; and shutting in the landscape the ranges of +verdant hills, Liry first, then la Marfée and la Croix Piau, with their +dense forests. A deep tranquillity, a crystalline clearness reigned +over the wide prospect that lay there in the mellow light of the +declining day. + +“Do you see that moving line of black upon the hilltops, that +procession of small black ants?” + +Jean stared in amazement, while Maurice, kneeling on his bed, craned +his neck to see. + +“Yes, yes!” they cried. “There is a line, there is another, and +another, and another! They are everywhere.” + +“Well,” continued Weiss, “those are Prussians. I have been watching +them since morning, and they have been coming, coming, as if there were +no end to them! You may be sure of one thing: if our troops are waiting +for them, they have no intention of disappointing us. And not I alone, +but every soul in the city saw them; it is only the generals who +persist in being blind. I was talking with a general officer a little +while ago; he shrugged his shoulders and told me that Marshal MacMahon +was absolutely certain that he had not over seventy thousand men in his +front. God grant he may be right! But look and see for yourselves; the +ground is hid by them! they keep coming, ever coming, the black swarm!” + +At this juncture Maurice threw himself back in his bed and gave way to +a violent fit of sobbing. Henriette came in, a smile on her face. She +hastened to him in alarm. + +“What is it?” + +But he pushed her away. “No, no! leave me, have nothing more to do with +me; I have never been anything but a burden to you. When I think that +you were making yourself a drudge, a slave, while I was attending +college—oh! to what miserable use have I turned that education! And I +was near bringing dishonor on our name; I shudder to think where I +might be now, had you not beggared yourself to pay for my extravagance +and folly.” + +Her smile came back to her face, together with her serenity. + +“Is that all? Your sleep don’t seem to have done you good, my poor +friend. But since that is all gone and past, forget it! Are you not +doing your duty now, like a good Frenchman? I am very proud of you, I +assure you, now that you are a soldier.” + +She had turned toward Jean, as if to ask him to come to her assistance, +and he looked at her with some surprise that she appeared to him less +beautiful than yesterday; she was paler, thinner, now that the glamour +was no longer in his drowsy eyes. The one striking point that remained +unchanged was her resemblance to her brother, and yet the difference in +their two natures was never more strongly marked than at that moment; +he, weak and nervous as a woman, swayed by the impulse of the hour, +displaying in his person all the fitful and emotional temperament of +his nation, vibrating from one moment to another between the loftiest +enthusiasm and the most abject despair; she, the patient, indomitable +housewife, such an inconsiderable little creature in her resignation +and self-effacement, meeting adversity with a brave face and eyes full +of inexpugnable courage and resolution, fashioned from the stuff of +which heroes are made. + +“Proud of me!” cried Maurice. “Ah! truly, you have great reason to be. +For a month and more now we have been flying, like the cowards that we +are!” + +“What of it? we are not the only ones,” said Jean with his practical +common sense; “we do what we are told to do.” + +But the young man broke out more furiously than ever: “I have had +enough of it, I tell you! Our imbecile leaders, our continual defeats, +our brave soldiers led like sheep to the slaughter—is it not enough, +seeing all these things, to make one weep tears of blood? We are here +now in Sedan, caught in a trap from which there is no escape; you can +see the Prussians closing in on us from every quarter, and certain +destruction is staring us in the face; there is no hope, the end is +come. No! I shall remain where I am; I may as well be shot as a +deserter. Jean, do you go, and leave me here. No! I won’t go back +there; I will stay here.” + +He sank upon the pillow in a renewed outpour of tears. It was an utter +breakdown of the nervous system, sweeping everything before it, one of +those sudden lapses into hopelessness to which he was so subject, in +which he despised himself and all the world. His sister, knowing as she +did the best way of treating such crises, kept an unruffled face. + +“That would not be a nice thing to do, dear Maurice—desert your post in +the hour of danger.” + +He rose impetuously to a sitting posture: “Then give me my musket! I +will go and blow my brains out; that will be the shortest way of ending +it.” Then, pointing with outstretched arm to Weiss, where he sat silent +and motionless, he said: “There! that is the only sensible man I have +seen; yes, he is the only one who saw things as they were. You remember +what he said to me, Jean, at Mülhausen, a month ago?” + +“It is true,” the corporal assented; “the gentleman said we should be +beaten.” + +And the scene rose again before their mind’s eye, that night of anxious +vigil, the agonized suspense, the prescience of the disaster at +Froeschwiller hanging in the sultry heavy air, while the Alsatian told +his prophetic fears; Germany in readiness, with the best of arms and +the best of leaders, rising to a man in a grand outburst of patriotism; +France dazed, a century behind the age, debauched, and a prey to +intestine disorder, having neither commanders, men, nor arms to enable +her to cope with her powerful adversary. How quickly the horrible +prediction had proved itself true! + +Weiss raised his trembling hands. Profound sorrow was depicted on his +kind, honest face, with its red hair and beard and its great prominent +blue eyes. + +“Ah!” he murmured, “I take no credit to myself for being right. I don’t +claim to be wiser than others, but it was all so clear, when one only +knew the true condition of affairs! But if we are to be beaten we shall +first have the pleasure of killing some of those Prussians of +perdition. There is that comfort for us; I believe that many of us are +to leave their bones there, and I hope there will be plenty of +Prussians to keep them company; I would like to see the ground down +there in the valley heaped with dead Prussians!” He arose and pointed +down the valley of the Meuse. Fire flashed from his myopic eyes, which +had exempted him from service with the army. “A thousand thunders! I +would fight, yes, I would, if they would have me. I don’t know whether +it is seeing them assume the airs of masters in my country—in this +country where once the Cossacks did such mischief; but whenever I think +of their being here, of their entering our houses, I am seized with an +uncontrollable desire to cut a dozen of their throats. Ah! if it were +not for my eyes, if they would take me, I would go!” Then, after a +moment’s silence: “And besides; who can tell?” + +It was the hope that sprang eternal, even in the breast of the least +confident, of the possibility of victory, and Maurice, ashamed by this +time of his tears, listened and caught at the pleasing speculation. Was +it not true that only the day before there had been a rumor that +Bazaine was at Verdun? Truly, it was time that Fortune should work a +miracle for that France whose glories she had so long protected. +Henriette, with an imperceptible smile on her lips, silently left the +room, and was not the least bit surprised when she returned to find her +brother up and dressed, and ready to go back to his duty. She insisted, +however, that he and Jean should take some nourishment first. They +seated themselves at the table, but the morsels choked them; their +stomachs, weakened by their heavy slumber, revolted at the food. Like a +prudent old campaigner Jean cut a loaf in two halves and placed one in +Maurice’s sack, the other in his own. It was growing dark, it behooved +them to be going. Henriette, who was standing at the window watching +the Prussian troops incessantly defiling on distant la Marfée, the +swarming legions of black ants that were gradually being swallowed up +in the gathering shadows, involuntarily murmured: + +“Oh, war! what a dreadful thing it is!” + +Maurice, seeing an opportunity to retort her sermon to him, immediately +took her up: + +“How is this, little sister? you are anxious to have people fight, and +you speak disrespectfully of war!” + +She turned and faced him, valiantly as ever: “It is true; I abhor it, +because it is an abomination and an injustice. It may be simply because +I am a woman, but the thought of such butchery sickens me. Why cannot +nations adjust their differences without shedding blood?” + +Jean, the good fellow, seconded her with a nod of the head, and nothing +to him, too, seemed easier—to him, the unlettered man—than to come +together and settle matters after a fair, honest talk; but Maurice, +mindful of his scientific theories, reflected on the necessity of +war—war, which is itself existence, the universal law. Was it not poor, +pitiful man who conceived the idea of justice and peace, while +impassive nature revels in continual slaughter? + +“That is all very fine!” he cried. “Yes, centuries hence, if it shall +come to pass that then all the nations shall be merged in one; +centuries hence man may look forward to the coming of that golden age; +and even in that case would not the end of war be the end of humanity? +I was a fool but now; we must go and fight, since it is nature’s law.” +He smiled and repeated his brother-in-law’s expression: “And besides, +who can tell?” + +He saw things now through the mirage of his vivid self-delusion, they +came to his vision distorted through the lens of his diseased nervous +sensibility. + +“By the way,” he continued cheerfully, “what do you hear of our cousin +Gunther? You know we have not seen a German yet, so you can’t look to +me to give you any foreign news.” + +The question was addressed to his brother-in-law, who had relapsed into +a thoughtful silence and answered by a motion of his hand, expressive +of his ignorance. + +“Cousin Gunther?” said Henriette, “Why, he belongs to the Vth corps and +is with the Crown Prince’s army; I read it in one of the newspapers, I +don’t remember which. Is that army in this neighborhood?” + +Weiss repeated his gesture, which was imitated by the two soldiers, who +could not be supposed to know what enemies were in front of them when +their generals did not know. Rising to his feet, the master of the +house at last made use of articulate speech. + +“Come along; I will go with you. I learned this afternoon where the +106th’s camp is situated.” He told his wife that she need not expect to +see him again that night, as he would sleep at Bazeilles, where they +had recently bought and furnished a little place to serve them as a +residence during the hot months. It was near a dyehouse that belonged +to M. Delaherche. The accountant’s mind was ill at ease in relation to +certain stores that he had placed in the cellar—a cask of wine and a +couple of sacks of potatoes; the house would certainly be visited by +marauders if it was left unprotected, he said, while by occupying it +that night he would doubtless save it from pillage. His wife watched +him closely while he was speaking. + +“You need not be alarmed,” he added, with a smile; “I harbor no darker +design than the protection of our property, and I pledge my word that +if the village is attacked, or if there is any appearance of danger, I +will come home at once.” + +“Well, then, go,” she said. “But remember, if you are not back in good +season you will see me out there looking for you.” + +Henriette went with them to the door, where she embraced Maurice +tenderly and gave Jean a warm clasp of the hand. + +“I intrust my brother to your care once more. He has told me of your +kindness to him, and I love you for it.” + +He was too flustered to do more than return the pressure of the small, +firm hand. His first impression returned to him again, and he beheld +Henriette in the light in which she had first appeared to him, with her +bright hair of the hue of ripe golden grain, so alert, so sunny, so +unselfish, that her presence seemed to pervade the air like a caress. + +Once they were outside they found the same gloomy and forbidding Sedan +that had greeted their eyes that morning. Twilight with its shadows had +invaded the narrow streets, sidewalk and carriage-way alike were filled +with a confused, surging throng. Most of the shops were closed, the +houses seemed to be dead or sleeping, while out of doors the crowd was +so dense that men trod on one another. With some little difficulty, +however, they succeeded in reaching the Place de l’Hôtel de Ville, +where they encountered M. Delaherche, intent on picking up the latest +news and seeing what was to be seen. He at once came up and greeted +them, apparently delighted to meet Maurice, to whom he said that he had +just returned from accompanying Captain Beaudoin over to Floing, where +the regiment was posted, and he became, if that were possible, even +more gracious than ever upon learning that Weiss proposed to pass the +night at Bazeilles, where he himself, he declared, had just been +telling the captain that he intended to take a bed, in order to see how +things were looking at the dyehouse. + +“We’ll go together and be company for each other, Weiss. But first +let’s go as far as the Sous-Prefecture; we may be able to catch a +glimpse of the Emperor.” + +Ever since he had been so near having the famous conversation with him +at Baybel his mind had been full of Napoleon III.; he was not satisfied +until he had induced the two soldiers to accompany him. The Place de la +Sous-Prefecture was comparatively empty; a few men were standing about +in groups, engaged in whispered conversation, while occasionally an +officer hurried by, haggard and careworn. The bright hues of the +foliage were beginning to fade and grow dim in the melancholy, +thick-gathering shades of night; the hoarse murmur of the Meuse was +heard as its current poured onward beneath the houses to the right. +Among the whisperers it was related how the Emperor—who with the +greatest difficulty had been prevailed on to leave Carignan the night +before about eleven o’clock—when entreated to push on to Mézières had +refused point-blank to abandon the post of danger and take a step that +would prove so demoralizing to the troops. Others asserted that he was +no longer in the city, that he had fled, leaving behind him a dummy +emperor, one of his officers dressed in his uniform, a man whose +startling resemblance to his imperial master had often puzzled the +army. Others again declared, and called upon their honor to +substantiate their story, that they had seen the army wagons containing +the imperial treasure, one hundred millions, all in brand-new +twenty-franc pieces, drive into the courtyard of the Prefecture. This +convoy was, in fact, neither more nor less than the vehicles for the +personal use of the Emperor and his suite, the _char à banc_, the two +_caleches_, the twelve baggage and supply wagons, which had almost +excited a riot in the villages through which they had +passed—Courcelles, le Chêne, Raucourt; assuming in men’s imagination +the dimensions of a huge train that had blocked the road and arrested +the march of armies, and which now, shorn of their glory, execrated by +all, had come in shame and disgrace to hide themselves among the +sous-prefect’s lilac bushes. + +While Delaherche was raising himself on tiptoe and trying to peer +through the windows of the _rez-de-chaussée_, an old woman at his side, +some poor day-worker of the neighborhood, with shapeless form and hands +calloused and distorted by many years of toil, was mumbling between her +teeth: + +“An emperor—I should like to see one once—just once—so I could say I +had seen him.” + +Suddenly Delaherche exclaimed, seizing Maurice by the arm: + +“See, there he is! at the window, to the left. I had a good view of him +yesterday; I can’t be mistaken. There, he has just raised the curtain; +see, that pale face, close to the glass.” + +The old woman had overheard him and stood staring with wide-open mouth +and eyes, for there, full in the window, was an apparition that +resembled a corpse more than a living being; its eyes were lifeless, +its features distorted; even the mustache had assumed a ghastly +whiteness in that final agony. The old woman was dumfounded; forthwith +she turned her back and marched off with a look of supreme contempt. + +“That thing an emperor! a likely story.” + +A zouave was standing near, one of those fugitive soldiers who were in +no haste to rejoin their commands. Brandishing his chassepot and +expectorating threats and maledictions, he said to his companion: + +“Wait! see me put a bullet in his head!” + +Delaherche remonstrated angrily, but by that time the Emperor had +disappeared. The hoarse murmur of the Meuse continued uninterruptedly; +a wailing lament, inexpressibly mournful, seemed to pass above them +through the air, where the darkness was gathering intensity. Other +sounds rose in the distance, like the hollow muttering of the rising +storm; were they the “March! march!” that terrible order from Paris +that had driven that ill-starred man onward day by day, dragging behind +him along the roads of his defeat the irony of his imperial escort, +until now he was brought face to face with the ruin he had foreseen and +come forth to meet? What multitudes of brave men were to lay down their +lives for his mistakes, and how complete the wreck, in all his being, +of that sick man, that sentimental dreamer, awaiting in gloomy silence +the fulfillment of his destiny! + +Weiss and Delaherche accompanied the two soldiers to the plateau of +Floing, where the 7th corps camps were. + +“Adieu!” said Maurice as he embraced his brother-in-law. + +“No, no; not adieu, the deuce! _Au revoir_!” the manufacturer gayly +cried. + +Jean’s instinct led him at once to their regiment, the tents of which +were pitched behind the cemetery, where the ground of the plateau +begins to fall away. It was nearly dark, but there was sufficient light +yet remaining in the sky to enable them to distinguish the black huddle +of roofs above the city, and further in the distance Balan and +Bazeilles, lying in the broad meadows that stretch away to the range of +hills between Remilly and Frenois, while to the right was the dusky +wood of la Garenne, and to the left the broad bosom of the Meuse had +the dull gleam of frosted silver in the dying daylight. Maurice +surveyed the broad landscape that was momentarily fading in the +descending shadows. + +“Ah, here is the corporal!” said Chouteau. “I wonder if he has been +looking after our rations!” + +The camp was astir with life and bustle. All day the men had been +coming in, singly and in little groups, and the crowd and confusion +were such that the officers made no pretense of punishing or even +reprimanding them; they accepted thankfully those who were so kind as +to return and asked no questions. Captain Beaudoin had made his +appearance only a short time before, and it was about two o’clock when +Lieutenant Rochas had brought in his collection of stragglers, about +one-third of the company strength. Now the ranks were nearly full once +more. Some of the men were drunk, others had not been able to secure +even a morsel of bread and were sinking from inanition; again there had +been no distribution of rations. Loubet, however, had discovered some +cabbages in a neighboring garden, and cooked them after a fashion, but +there was no salt or lard; the empty stomachs continued to assert their +claims. + +“Come, now, corporal, you are a knowing old file,” Chouteau tauntingly +continued, “what have you got for us? Oh, it’s not for myself I care; +Loubet and I had a good breakfast; a lady gave it us. You were not at +distribution, then?” + +Jean beheld a circle of expectant eyes bent on him; the squad had been +waiting for him with anxiety, Pache and Lapoulle in particular, +luckless dogs, who had found nothing they could appropriate; they all +relied on him, who, as they expressed it, could get bread out of a +stone. And the corporal’s conscience smote him for having abandoned his +men; he took pity on them and divided among them half the bread that he +had in his sack. + +“Name o’ God! Name o’ God!” grunted Lapoulle as he contentedly munched +the dry bread; it was all he could find to say; while Pache repeated a +_Pater_ and an _Ave_ under his breath to make sure that Heaven should +not forget to send him his breakfast in the morning. + +Gaude, the bugler, with his darkly mysterious air, as of a man who has +had troubles of which he does not care to speak, sounded the call for +evening muster with a glorious fanfare; but there was no necessity for +sounding taps that night, the camp was immediately enveloped in +profound silence. And when he had verified the names and seen that none +of his half-section were missing, Sergeant Sapin, with his thin, sickly +face and his pinched nose, softly said: + +“There will be one less to-morrow night.” + +Then, as he saw Jean looking at him inquiringly, he added with calm +conviction, his eyes bent upon the blackness of the night, as if +reading there the destiny that he predicted: + +“It will be mine; I shall be killed to-morrow.” + +It was nine o’clock, with promise of a chilly, uncomfortable night, for +a dense mist had risen from the surface of the river, so that the stars +were no longer visible. Maurice shivered, where he lay with Jean +beneath a hedge, and said they would do better to go and seek the +shelter of the tent; the rest they had taken that day had left them +wakeful, their joints seemed stiffer and their bones sorer than before; +neither could sleep. They envied Lieutenant Rochas, who, stretched on +the damp ground and wrapped in his blanket, was snoring like a trooper, +not far away. For a long time after that they watched with interest the +feeble light of a candle that was burning in a large tent where the +colonel and some officers were in consultation. All that evening M. de +Vineuil had manifested great uneasiness that he had received no +instructions to guide him in the morning. He felt that his regiment was +too much “in the air,” too much advanced, although it had already +fallen back from the exposed position that it had occupied earlier in +the day. Nothing had been seen of General Bourgain-Desfeuilles, who was +said to be ill in bed at the Hotel of the Golden Cross, and the colonel +decided to send one of his officers to advise him of the danger of +their new position in the too extended line of the 7th corps, which had +to cover the long stretch from the bend in the Meuse to the wood of la +Garenne. There could be no doubt that the enemy would attack with the +first glimpse of daylight; only for seven or eight hours now would that +deep tranquillity remain unbroken. And shortly after the dim light in +the colonel’s tent was extinguished Maurice was amazed to see Captain +Beaudoin glide by, keeping close to the hedge, with furtive steps, and +vanish in the direction of Sedan. + +The darkness settled down on them, denser and denser; the chill mists +rose from the stream and enshrouded everything in a dank, noisome fog. + +“Are you asleep, Jean?” + +Jean was asleep, and Maurice was alone. He could not endure the thought +of going to the tent where Lapoulle and the rest of them were +slumbering; he heard their snoring, responsive to Rochas’ strains, and +envied them. If our great captains sleep soundly the night before a +battle, it is like enough for the reason that their fatigue will not +let them do otherwise. He was conscious of no sound save the equal, +deep-drawn breathing of that slumbering multitude, rising from the +darkening camp like the gentle respiration of some huge monster; beyond +that all was void. He only knew that the 5th corps was close at hand, +encamped beneath the rampart, that the 1st’s line extended from the +wood of la Garenne to la Moncelle, while the 12th was posted on the +other side of the city, at Bazeilles; and all were sleeping; the whole +length of that long line, from the nearest tent to the most remote, for +miles and miles, that low, faint murmur ascended in rhythmic unison +from the dark, mysterious bosom of the night. Then outside this circle +lay another region, the realm of the unknown, whence also sounds came +intermittently to his ears, so vague, so distant, that he scarcely knew +whether they were not the throbbings of his own excited pulses; the +indistinct trot of cavalry plashing over the low ground, the dull +rumble of gun and caisson along the roads, and, still more marked, the +heavy tramp of marching men; the gathering on the heights above of that +black swarm, engaged in strengthening the meshes of their net, from +which night itself had not served to divert them. And below, there by +the river’s side, was there not the flash of lights suddenly +extinguished, was not that the sound of hoarse voices shouting orders, +adding to the dread suspense of that long night of terror while waiting +for the coming of the dawn? + +Maurice put forth his hand and felt for Jean’s; at last he slumbered, +comforted by the sense of human companionship. From a steeple in Sedan +came the deep tones of a bell, slowly, mournfully, tolling the hour; +then all was blank and void. + + + + +PART SECOND + + + + +I. + + +Weiss, in the obscurity of his little room at Bazeilles, was aroused by +a commotion that caused him to leap from his bed. It was the roar of +artillery. Groping about in the darkness he found and lit a candle to +enable him to consult his watch: it was four o’clock, just beginning to +be light. He adjusted his double eyeglass upon his nose and looked out +into the main street of the village, the road that leads to Douzy, but +it was filled with a thick cloud of something that resembled dust, +which made it impossible to distinguish anything. He passed into the +other room, the windows of which commanded a view of the Meuse and the +intervening meadows, and saw that the cause of his obstructed vision +was the morning mist arising from the river. In the distance, behind +the veil of fog, the guns were barking more fiercely across the stream. +All at once a French battery, close at hand, opened in reply, with such +a tremendous crash that the walls of the little house were shaken. + +Weiss’s house was situated near the middle of the village, on the right +of the road and not far from the Place de l’Église. Its front, standing +back a little from the street, displayed a single story with three +windows, surmounted by an attic; in the rear was a garden of some +extent that sloped gently downward toward the meadows and commanded a +wide panoramic view of the encircling hills, from Remilly to Frenois. +Weiss, with the sense of responsibility of his new proprietorship +strong upon him, had spent the night in burying his provisions in the +cellar and protecting his furniture, as far as possible, against shot +and shell by applying mattresses to the windows, so that it was nearly +two o’clock before he got to bed. His blood boiled at the idea that the +Prussians might come and plunder the house, for which he had toiled so +long and which had as yet afforded him so little enjoyment. + +He heard a voice summoning him from the street. + +“I say, Weiss, are you awake?” + +He descended and found it was Delaherche, who had passed the night at +his dyehouse, a large brick structure, next door to the accountant’s +abode. The operatives had all fled, taking to the woods and making for +the Belgian frontier, and there was no one left to guard the property +but the woman concierge, Françoise Quittard by name, the widow of a +mason; and she also, beside herself with terror, would have gone with +the others had it not been for her ten-year-old boy Charles, who was so +ill with typhoid fever that he could not be moved. + +“I say,” Delaherche continued, “do you hear that? It is a promising +beginning. Our best course is to get back to Sedan as soon as +possible.” + +Weiss’s promise to his wife, that he would leave Bazeilles at the first +sign of danger, had been given in perfect good faith, and he had fully +intended to keep it; but as yet there was only an artillery duel at +long range, and the aim could not be accurate enough to do much damage +in the uncertain, misty light of early morning. + +“Wait a bit, confound it!” he replied. “There is no hurry.” + +Delaherche, too, was curious to see what would happen; his curiosity +made him valiant. He had been so interested in the preparations for +defending the place that he had not slept a wink. General Lebrun, +commanding the 12th corps, had received notice that he would be +attacked at daybreak, and had kept his men occupied during the night in +strengthening the defenses of Bazeilles, which he had instructions to +hold in spite of everything. Barricades had been thrown up across the +Douzy road, and all the smaller streets; small parties of soldiers had +been thrown into the houses by way of garrison; every narrow lane, +every garden had become a fortress, and since three o’clock the troops, +awakened from their slumbers without beat of drum or call of bugle in +the inky blackness, had been at their posts, their chassepots freshly +greased and cartridge boxes filled with the obligatory ninety rounds of +ammunition. It followed that when the enemy opened their fire no one +was taken unprepared, and the French batteries, posted to the rear +between Balan and Bazeilles, immediately commenced to answer, rather +with the idea of showing they were awake than for any other purpose, +for in the dense fog that enveloped everything the practice was of the +wildest. + +“The dyehouse will be well defended,” said Delaherche. “I have a whole +section in it. Come and see.” + +It was true; forty and odd men of the infanterie de marine had been +posted there under the command of a lieutenant, a tall, light-haired +young fellow, scarcely more than a boy, but with an expression of +energy and determination on his face. His men had already taken full +possession of the building, some of them being engaged in loopholing +the shutters of the ground-floor windows that commanded the street, +while others, in the courtyard that overlooked the meadows in the rear, +were breaching the wall for musketry. It was in this courtyard that +Delaherche and Weiss found the young officer, straining his eyes to +discover what was hidden behind the impenetrable mist. + +“Confound this fog!” he murmured. “We can’t fight when we don’t know +where the enemy is.” Presently he asked, with no apparent change of +voice or manner: “What day of the week is this?” + +“Thursday,” Weiss replied. + +“Thursday, that’s so. Hanged if I don’t think the world might come to +an end and we not know it!” + +But just at that moment the uninterrupted roar of the artillery was +diversified by a brisk rattle of musketry proceeding from the edge of +the meadows, at a distance of two or three hundred yards. And at the +same time there was a transformation, as rapid and startling, almost, +as the stage effect in a fairy spectacle: the sun rose, the exhalations +of the Meuse were whirled away like bits of finest, filmiest gauze, and +the blue sky was revealed, in serene limpidity, undimmed by a single +cloud. It was the exquisite morning of a faultless summer day. + +“Ah!” exclaimed Delaherche, “they are crossing the railway bridge. See, +they are making their way along the track. How stupid of us not to have +blown up the bridge!” + +The officer’s face bore an expression of dumb rage. The mines had been +prepared and charged, he averred, but they had fought four hours the +day before to regain possession of the bridge and then had forgot to +touch them off. + +“It is just our luck,” he curtly said. + +Weiss was silent, watching the course of events and endeavoring to form +some idea of the true state of affairs. The position of the French in +Bazeilles was a very strong one. The village commanded the meadows, and +was bisected by the Douzy road, which, turning sharp to the left, +passed under the walls of the Château, while another road, the one that +led to the railway bridge, bent around to the right and forked at the +Place de l’Église. There was no cover for any force advancing by these +two approaches; the Germans would be obliged to traverse the meadows +and the wide, bare level that lay between the outskirts of the village +and the Meuse and the railway. Their prudence in avoiding unnecessary +risks was notorious, hence it seemed improbable that the real attack +would come from that quarter. They kept coming across the bridge, +however, in deep masses, and that notwithstanding the slaughter that a +battery of mitrailleuses, posted at the edge of the village, effected +in their ranks, and all at once those who had crossed rushed forward in +open order, under cover of the straggling willows, the columns were +re-formed and began to advance. It was from there that the musketry +fire, which was growing hotter, had proceeded. + +“Oh, those are Bavarians,” Weiss remarked. “I recognize them by the +braid on their helmets.” + +But there were other columns, moving to the right and partially +concealed by the railway embankment, whose object, it seemed to him, +was to gain the cover of some trees in the distance, whence they might +descend and take Bazeilles in flank and rear. Should they succeed in +effecting a lodgment in the park of Montivilliers, the village might +become untenable. This was no more than a vague, half-formed idea, that +flitted through his mind for a moment and faded as rapidly as it had +come; the attack in front was becoming more determined, and his every +faculty was concentrated on the struggle that was assuming, with every +moment, larger dimensions. + +Suddenly he turned his head and looked away to the north, over the city +of Sedan, where the heights of Floing were visible in the distance. A +battery had just commenced firing from that quarter; the smoke rose in +the bright sunshine in little curls and wreaths, and the reports came +to his ears very distinctly. It was in the neighborhood of five +o’clock. + +“Well, well,” he murmured, “they are all going to have a hand in the +business, it seems.” + +The lieutenant of marines, who had turned his eyes in the same +direction, spoke up confidently: + +“Oh! Bazeilles is the key of the position. This is the spot where the +battle will be won or lost.” + +“Do you think so?” Weiss exclaimed. + +“There is not the slightest doubt of it. It is certainly the marshal’s +opinion, for he was here last night and told us that we must hold the +village if it cost the life of every man of us.” + +Weiss slowly shook his head, and swept the horizon with a glance; then +in a low, faltering voice, as if speaking to himself, he said: + +“No—no! I am sure that is a mistake. I fear the danger lies in another +quarter—where, or what it is, I dare not say—” + +He said no more. He simply opened wide his arms, like the jaws of a +vise, then, turning to the north, brought his hands together, as if the +vise had closed suddenly upon some object there. + +This was the fear that had filled his mind for the last twenty-four +hours, for he was thoroughly acquainted with the country and had +watched narrowly every movement of the troops during the previous day, +and now, again, while the broad valley before him lay basking in the +radiant sunlight, his gaze reverted to the hills of the left bank, +where, for the space of all one day and all one night, his eyes had +beheld the black swarm of the Prussian hosts moving steadily onward to +some appointed end. A battery had opened fire from Remilly, over to the +left, but the one from which the shells were now beginning to reach the +French position was posted at Pont-Maugis, on the river bank. He +adjusted his binocle by folding the glasses over, the one upon the +other, to lengthen its range and enable him to discern what was hidden +among the recesses of the wooded slopes, but could distinguish nothing +save the white smoke-wreaths that rose momentarily on the tranquil air +and floated lazily away over the crests. That human torrent that he had +seen so lately streaming over those hills, where was it now—where were +massed those innumerable hosts? At last, at the corner of a pine wood, +above Noyers and Frenois, he succeeded in making out a little cluster +of mounted men in uniform—some general, doubtless, and his staff. And +off there to the west the Meuse curved in a great loop, and in that +direction lay their sole line of retreat on Mézières, a narrow road +that traversed the pass of Saint-Albert, between that loop and the dark +forest of Ardennes. While reconnoitering the day before he had met a +general officer who, he afterward learned, was Ducrot, commanding the +1st corps, on a by-road in the valley of Givonne, and had made bold to +call his attention to the importance of that, their only line of +retreat. If the army did not retire at once by that road while it was +still open to them, if it waited until the Prussians should have +crossed the Meuse at Donchery and come up in force to occupy the pass, +it would be hemmed in and driven back on the Belgian frontier. As early +even as the evening of that day the movement would have been too late. +It was asserted that the uhlans had possession of the bridge, another +bridge that had not been destroyed, for the reason, this time, that +some one had neglected to provide the necessary powder. And Weiss +sorrowfully acknowledged to himself that the human torrent, the +invading horde, could now be nowhere else than on the plain of +Donchery, invisible to him, pressing onward to occupy Saint-Albert +pass, pushing forward its advanced guards to Saint-Menges and Floing, +whither, the day previous, he had conducted Jean and Maurice. In the +brilliant sunshine the steeple of Floing church appeared like a slender +needle of dazzling whiteness. + +And off to the eastward the other arm of the powerful vise was slowly +closing in on them. Casting his eyes to the north, where there was a +stretch of level ground between the plateaus of Illy and of Floing, he +could make out the line of battle of the 7th corps, feebly supported by +the 5th, which was posted in reserve under the ramparts of the city; +but he could not discern what was occurring to the east, along the +valley of the Givonne, where the 1st corps was stationed, its line +stretching from the wood of la Garenne to Daigny village. Now, however, +the guns were beginning to thunder in that direction also; the conflict +seemed to be raging in Chevalier’s wood, in front of Daigny. His +uneasiness was owing to reports that had been brought in by peasants +the day previous, that the Prussian advance had reached Francheval, so +that the movement which was being conducted at the west, by way of +Donchery, was also in process of execution at the east, by way of +Francheval, and the two jaws of the vise would come together up there +at the north, near the Calvary of Illy, unless the two-fold flanking +movement could be promptly checked. He knew nothing of tactics or +strategy, had nothing but his common sense to guide him; but he looked +with fear and trembling on that great triangle that had the Meuse for +one of its sides, and for the other two the 7th and 1st corps on the +north and east respectively, while the extreme angle at the south was +occupied by the 12th at Bazeilles—all the three corps facing outward on +the periphery of a semicircle, awaiting the appearance of an enemy who +was to deliver his attack at some one point, where or when no one could +say, but who, instead, fell on them from every direction at once. And +at the very center of all, as at the bottom of a pit, lay the city of +Sedan, her ramparts furnished with antiquated guns, destitute of +ammunition and provisions. + +“Understand,” said Weiss, with a repetition of his previous gesture, +extending his arms and bringing his hands slowly together, “that is how +it will be unless your generals keep their eyes open. The movement at +Bazeilles is only a feint—” + +But his explanation was confused and unintelligible to the lieutenant, +who knew nothing of the country, and the young man shrugged his +shoulders with an expression of impatience and disdain for the +bourgeois in spectacles and frock coat who presumed to set his opinion +against the marshal’s. Irritated to hear Weiss reiterate his view that +the attack on Bazeilles was intended only to mask other and more +important movements, he finally shouted: + +“Hold your tongue, will you! We shall drive them all into the Meuse, +those Bavarian friends of yours, and that is all they will get by their +precious feint.” + +While they were talking the enemy’s skirmishers seemed to have come up +closer; every now and then their bullets were heard thudding against +the dyehouse wall, and our men, kneeling behind the low parapet of the +courtyard, were beginning to reply. Every second the report of a +chassepot rang out, sharp and clear, upon the air. + +“Oh, of course! drive them into the Meuse, by all means,” muttered +Weiss, “and while we are about it we might as well ride them down and +regain possession of the Carignan road.” Then addressing himself to +Delaherche, who had stationed himself behind the pump where he might be +out of the way of the bullets: “All the same, it would have been their +wisest course to make tracks last night for Mézières, and if I were in +their place I would much rather be there than here. As it is, however, +they have got to show fight, since retreat is out of the question now.” + +“Are you coming?” asked Delaherche, who, notwithstanding his eager +curiosity, was beginning to look pale in the face. “We shall be unable +to get into the city if we remain here longer.” + +“Yes, in one minute I will be with you.” + +In spite of the danger that attended the movement he raised himself on +tiptoe, possessed by an irresistible desire to see how things were +shaping. On the right lay the meadows that had been flooded by order of +the governor for the protection of the city, now a broad lake +stretching from Torcy to Balan, its unruffled bosom glimmering in the +morning sunlight with a delicate azure luster. The water did not extend +as far as Bazeilles, however, and the Prussians had worked their way +forward across the fields, availing themselves of the shelter of every +ditch, of every little shrub and tree. They were now distant some five +hundred yards, and Weiss was impressed by the caution with which they +moved, the dogged resolution and patience with which they advanced, +gaining ground inch by inch and exposing themselves as little as +possible. They had a powerful artillery fire, moreover, to sustain +them; the pure, cool air was vocal with the shrieking of shells. +Raising his eyes he saw that the Pont-Maugis battery was not the only +one that was playing on Bazeilles; two others, posted half way up the +hill of Liry, had opened fire, and their projectiles not only reached +the village, but swept the naked plain of la Moncelle beyond, where the +reserves of the 12th corps were, and even the wooded slopes of Daigny, +held by a division of the 1st corps, were not beyond their range. There +was not a summit, moreover, on the left bank of the stream that was not +tipped with flame. The guns seemed to spring spontaneously from the +soil, like some noxious growth; it was a zone of fire that grew hotter +and fiercer every moment; there were batteries at Noyers shelling +Balan, batteries at Wadelincourt shelling Sedan, and at Frenois, down +under la Marfée, there was a battery whose guns, heavier than the rest, +sent their missiles hurtling over the city to burst among the troops of +the 7th corps on the plateau of Floing. Those hills that he had always +loved so well, that he had supposed were planted there solely to +delight the eye, encircling with their verdurous slopes the pretty, +peaceful valley that lay beneath, were now become a gigantic, frowning +fortress, vomiting ruin and destruction on the feeble defenses of +Sedan, and Weiss looked on them with terror and detestation. Why had +steps not been taken to defend them the day before, if their leaders +had suspected this, or why, rather, had they insisted on holding the +position? + +A sound of falling plaster caused him to raise his head; a shot had +grazed his house, the front of which was visible to him above the party +wall. It angered him excessively, and he growled: + +“Are they going to knock it about my ears, the brigands!” + +Then close behind him there was a little dull, strange sound that he +had never heard before, and turning quickly he saw a soldier, shot +through the heart, in the act of falling backward. There was a brief +convulsive movement of the legs; the youthful, tranquil expression of +the face remained, stamped there unalterably by the hand of death. It +was the first casualty, and the accountant was startled by the crash of +the musket falling and rebounding from the stone pavement of the +courtyard. + +“Ah, I have seen enough, I am going,” stammered Delaherche. “Come, if +you are coming; if not, I shall go without you.” + +The lieutenant, whom their presence made uneasy, spoke up: + +“It will certainly be best for you to go, gentlemen. The enemy may +attempt to carry the place at any moment.” + +Then at last, casting a parting glance at the meadows, where the +Bavarians were still gaining ground, Weiss gave in and followed +Delaherche, but when they had gained the street he insisted upon going +to see if the fastening of his door was secure, and when he came back +to his companion there was a fresh spectacle, which brought them both +to a halt. + +At the end of the street, some three hundred yards from where they +stood, a strong Bavarian column had debouched from the Douzy road and +was charging up the Place de l’Église. The square was held by a +regiment of sailor-boys, who appeared to slacken their fire for a +moment as if with the intention of drawing their assailants on; then, +when the close-massed column was directly opposite their front, a most +surprising maneuver was swiftly executed: the men abandoned their +formation, some of them stepping from the ranks and flattening +themselves against the house fronts, others casting themselves prone +upon the ground, and down the vacant space thus suddenly formed the +mitrailleuses that had been placed in battery at the farther end poured +a perfect hailstorm of bullets. The column disappeared as if it had +been swept bodily from off the face of the earth. The recumbent men +sprang to their feet with a bound and charged the scattered Bavarians +with the bayonet, driving them and making the rout complete. Twice the +maneuver was repeated, each time with the same success. Two women, +unwilling to abandon their home, a small house at the corner of an +intersecting lane, were sitting at their window; they laughed +approvingly and clapped their hands, apparently glad to have an +opportunity to behold such a spectacle. + +“There, confound it!” Weiss suddenly said, “I forgot to lock the cellar +door! I must go back. Wait for me; I won’t be a minute.” + +There was no indication that the enemy contemplated a renewal of their +attack, and Delaherche, whose curiosity was reviving after the shock it +had sustained, was less eager to get away. He had halted in front of +his dyehouse and was conversing with the concierge, who had come for a +moment to the door of the room she occupied in the _rez-de-chaussée_. + +“My poor Françoise, you had better come along with us. A lone woman +among such dreadful sights—I can’t bear to think of it!” + +She raised her trembling hands. “Ah, sir, I would have gone when the +others went, indeed I would, if it had not been for my poor sick boy. +Come in, sir, and look at him.” + +He did not enter, but glanced into the apartment from the threshold, +and shook his head sorrowfully at sight of the little fellow in his +clean, white bed, his face exhibiting the scarlet hue of the disease, +and his glassy, burning eyes bent wistfully on his mother. + +“But why can’t you take him with you?” he urged. “I will find quarters +for you in Sedan. Wrap him up warmly in a blanket, and come along with +us.” + +“Oh, no, sir, I cannot. The doctor told me it would kill him. If only +his poor father were alive! but we two are all that are left, and we +must live for each other. And then, perhaps the Prussians will be +merciful; perhaps they won’t harm a lone woman and a sick boy.” + +Just then Weiss reappeared, having secured his premises to his +satisfaction. “There, I think it will trouble them some to get in now. +Come on! And it is not going to be a very pleasant journey, either; +keep close to the houses, unless you want to come to grief.” + +There were indications, indeed, that the enemy were making ready for +another assault. The infantry fire was spluttering away more furiously +than ever, and the screaming of the shells was incessant. Two had +already fallen in the street a hundred yards away, and a third had +imbedded itself, without bursting, in the soft ground of the adjacent +garden. + +“Ah, here is Françoise,” continued the accountant. “I must have a look +at your little Charles. Come, come, you have no cause for alarm; he +will be all right in a couple of days. Keep your courage up, and the +first thing you do go inside, and don’t put your nose outside the +door.” And the two men at last started to go. + +“_Au revoir_, Françoise.” + +“_Au revoir_, sirs.” + +And as they spoke, there came an appalling crash. It was a shell, +which, having first wrecked the chimney of Weiss’s house, fell upon the +sidewalk, where it exploded with such terrific force as to break every +window in the vicinity. At first it was impossible to distinguish +anything in the dense cloud of dust and smoke that rose in the air, but +presently this drifted away, disclosing the ruined facade of the +dyehouse, and there, stretched across the threshold, Françoise, a +corpse, horribly torn and mangled, her skull crushed in, a fearful +spectacle. + +Weiss sprang to her side. Language failed him; he could only express +his feelings by oaths and imprecations. + +“_Nom de Dieu!_ _Nom de Dieu!_” + +Yes, she was dead. He had stooped to feel her pulse, and as he arose he +saw before him the scarlet face of little Charles, who had raised +himself in bed to look at his mother. He spoke no word, he uttered no +cry; he gazed with blazing, tearless eyes, distended as if they would +start from their sockets, upon the shapeless mass that was strange, +unknown to him; and nothing more. + +Weiss found words at last: “_Nom de Dieu!_ they have taken to killing +women!” + +He had risen to his feet; he shook his fist at the Bavarians, whose +braid-trimmed helmets were commencing to appear again in the direction +of the church. The chimney, in falling, had crushed a great hole in the +roof of his house, and the sight of the havoc made him furious. + +“Dirty loafers! You murder women, you have destroyed my house. No, no! +I will not go now, I cannot; I shall stay here.” + +He darted away and came running back with the dead soldier’s rifle and +ammunition. He was accustomed to carry a pair of spectacles on his +person for use on occasions of emergency, when he wished to see with +great distinctness, but did not wear them habitually out of respect for +the wishes of his young wife. He now impatiently tore off his double +eyeglass and substituted the spectacles, and the big, burly bourgeois, +his overcoat flapping about his legs, his honest, kindly, round face +ablaze with wrath, who would have been ridiculous had he not been so +superbly heroic, proceeded to open fire, peppering away at the +Bavarians at the bottom of the street. It was in his blood, he said; he +had been hankering for something of the kind ever since the days of his +boyhood, down there in Alsace, when he had been told all those tales of +1814. “Ah! you dirty loafers! you dirty loafers!” And he kept firing +away with such eagerness that, finally, the barrel of his musket became +so hot it burned his fingers. + +The assault was made with great vigor and determination. There was no +longer any sound of musketry in the direction of the meadows. The +Bavarians had gained possession of a narrow stream, fringed with +willows and poplars, and were making preparations for storming the +houses, or rather fortresses, in the Place de l’Église. Their +skirmishers had fallen back with the same caution that characterized +their advance, and the wide grassy plain, dotted here and there with a +black form where some poor fellow had laid down his life, lay spread in +the mellow, slumbrous sunshine like a great cloth of gold. The +lieutenant, knowing that the street was now to be the scene of action, +had evacuated the courtyard of the dyehouse, leaving there only one man +as guard. He rapidly posted his men along the sidewalk with +instructions, should the enemy carry the position, to withdraw into the +building, barricade the first floor, and defend themselves there as +long as they had a cartridge left. The men fired at will, lying prone +upon the ground, and sheltering themselves as best they might behind +posts and every little projection of the walls, and the storm of lead, +interspersed with tongues of flame and puffs of smoke, that tore +through that broad, deserted, sunny avenue was like a downpour of hail +beaten level by the fierce blast of winter. A woman was seen to cross +the roadway, running with wild, uncertain steps, and she escaped +uninjured. Next, an old man, a peasant, in his blouse, who would not be +satisfied until he saw his worthless nag stabled, received a bullet +square in his forehead, and the violence of the impact was such that it +hurled him into the middle of the street. A shell had gone crashing +through the roof of the church; two others fell and set fire to houses, +which burned with a pale flame in the intense daylight, with a loud +snapping and crackling of their timbers. And that poor woman, who lay +crushed and bleeding in the doorway of the house where her sick boy +was, that old man with a bullet in his brain, all that work of ruin and +devastation, maddened the few inhabitants who had chosen to end their +days in their native village rather than seek safety in Belgium. Other +bourgeois, and workingmen as well, the neatly attired citizen alongside +the man in overalls, had possessed themselves of the weapons of dead +soldiers, and were in the street defending their firesides or firing +vengefully from the windows. + +“Ah!” suddenly said Weiss, “the scoundrels have got around to our rear. +I saw them sneaking along the railroad track. Hark! don’t you hear them +off there to the left?” + +The heavy fire of musketry that was now audible behind the park of +Montivilliers, the trees of which overhung the road, made it evident +that something of importance was occurring in that direction. Should +the enemy gain possession of the park Bazeilles would be at their +mercy, but the briskness of the firing was in itself proof that the +general commanding the 12th corps had anticipated the movement and that +the position was adequately defended. + +“Look out, there, you blockhead!” exclaimed the lieutenant, violently +forcing Weiss up against the wall; “do you want to get yourself blown +to pieces?” + +He could not help laughing a little at the queer figure of the big +gentleman in spectacles, but his bravery had inspired him with a very +genuine feeling of respect, so, when his practiced ear detected a shell +coming their way, he had acted the part of a friend and placed the +civilian in a safer position. The missile landed some ten paces from +where they were and exploded, covering them both with earth and debris. +The citizen kept his feet and received not so much as a scratch, while +the officer had both legs broken. + +“It is well!” was all he said; “they have sent me my reckoning!” + +He caused his men to take him across the sidewalk and place him with +his back to the wall, near where the dead woman lay, stretched across +her doorstep. His boyish face had lost nothing of its energy and +determination. + +“It don’t matter, my children; listen to what I say. Don’t fire too +hurriedly; take your time. When the time comes for you to charge, I +will tell you.” + +And he continued to command them still, with head erect, watchful of +the movements of the distant enemy. Another house was burning, directly +across the street. The crash and rattle of musketry, the roar of +bursting shells, rent the air, thick with dust and sulphurous smoke. +Men dropped at the corner of every lane and alley; corpses scattered +here and there upon the pavement, singly or in little groups, made +splotches of dark color, hideously splashed with red. And over the +doomed village a frightful uproar rose and swelled, the vindictive +shouts of thousands, devoting to destruction a few hundred brave men, +resolute to die. + +Then Delaherche, who all this time had been frantically shouting to +Weiss without intermission, addressed him one last appeal: + +“You won’t come? Very well! then I shall leave you to your fate. +Adieu!” + +It was seven o’clock, and he had delayed his departure too long. So +long as the houses were there to afford him shelter he took advantage +of every doorway, of every bit of projecting wall, shrinking at every +volley into cavities that were ridiculously small in comparison with +his bulk. He turned and twisted in and out with the sinuous dexterity +of the serpent; he would never have supposed that there was so much of +his youthful agility left in him. When he reached the end of the +village, however, and had to make his way for a space of some three +hundred yards along the deserted, empty road, swept by the batteries on +Liry hill, although the perspiration was streaming from his face and +body, he shivered and his teeth chattered. For a minute or so he +advanced cautiously along the bed of a dry ditch, bent almost double, +then, suddenly forsaking the protecting shelter, burst into the open +and ran for it with might and main, wildly, aimlessly, his ears ringing +with detonations that sounded to him like thunder-claps. His eyes +burned like coals of fire; it seemed to him that he was wrapt in flame. +It was an eternity of torture. Then he suddenly caught sight of a +little house to his left, and he rushed for the friendly refuge, gained +it, with a sensation as if an immense load had been lifted from his +breast. The place was tenanted, there were men and horses there. At +first he could distinguish nothing. What he beheld subsequently filled +him with amazement. + +Was not that the Emperor, attended by his brilliant staff? He +hesitated, although for the last two days he had been boasting of his +acquaintance with him, then stood staring, open-mouthed. It was indeed +Napoleon III.; he appeared larger, somehow, and more imposing on +horseback, and his mustache was so stiffly waxed, there was such a +brilliant color on his cheeks, that Delaherche saw at once he had been +“made up” and painted like an actor. He had had recourse to cosmetics +to conceal from his army the ravages that anxiety and illness had +wrought in his countenance, the ghastly pallor of his face, his pinched +nose, his dull, sunken eyes, and having been notified at five o’clock +that there was fighting at Bazeilles, had come forth to see, sadly and +silently, like a phantom with rouged cheeks. + +There was a brick-kiln near by, behind which there was safety from the +rain of bullets that kept pattering incessantly on its other front and +the shells that burst at every second on the road. The mounted group +had halted. + +“Sire,” someone murmured, “you are in danger—” + +But the Emperor turned and motioned to his staff to take refuge in the +narrow road that skirted the kiln, where men and horses would be +sheltered from the fire. + +“Really, Sire, this is madness. Sire, we entreat you—” + +His only answer was to repeat his gesture; probably he thought that the +appearance of a group of brilliant uniforms on that deserted road would +draw the fire of the batteries on the left bank. Entirely unattended he +rode forward into the midst of the storm of shot and shell, calmly, +unhurriedly, with his unvarying air of resigned indifference, the air +of one who goes to meet his appointed fate. Could it be that he heard +behind him the implacable voice that was urging him onward, that voice +from Paris: “March! march! die the hero’s death on the piled corpses of +thy countrymen, let the whole world look on in awe-struck admiration, +so that thy son may reign!”—could that be what he heard? He rode +forward, controlling his charger to a slow walk. For the space of a +hundred yards he thus rode forward, then halted, awaiting the death he +had come there to seek. The bullets sang in concert with a music like +the fierce autumnal blast; a shell burst in front of him and covered +him with earth. He maintained his attitude of patient waiting. His +steed, with distended eyes and quivering frame, instinctively recoiled +before the grim presence who was so close at hand and yet refused to +smite horse or rider. At last the trying experience came to an end, and +the Emperor, with his stoic fatalism, understanding that his time was +not yet come, tranquilly retraced his steps, as if his only object had +been to reconnoiter the position of the German batteries. + +“What courage, Sire! We beseech you, do not expose yourself further—” + +But, unmindful of their solicitations, he beckoned to his staff to +follow him, not offering at present to consult their safety more than +he did his own, and turned his horse’s head toward la Moncelle, +quitting the road and taking the abandoned fields of la Ripaille. A +captain was mortally wounded, two horses were killed. As he passed +along the line of the 12th corps, appearing and vanishing like a +specter, the men eyed him with curiosity, but did not cheer. + +To all these events had Delaherche been witness, and now he trembled at +the thought that he, too, as soon as he should have left the brick +works, would have to run the gauntlet of those terrible projectiles. He +lingered, listening to the conversation of some dismounted officers who +had remained there. + +“I tell you he was killed on the spot; cut in two by a shell.” + +“You are wrong, I saw him carried off the field. His wound was not +severe; a splinter struck him on the hip.” + +“What time was it?” + +“Why, about an hour ago—say half-past six. It was up there around la +Moncelle, in a sunken road.” + +“I know he is dead.” + +“But I tell you he is not! He even sat his horse for a moment after he +was hit, then he fainted and they carried him into a cottage to attend +to his wound.” + +“And then returned to Sedan?” + +“Certainly; he is in Sedan now.” + +Of whom could they be speaking? Delaherche quickly learned that it was +of Marshal MacMahon, who had been wounded while paying a visit of +inspection to his advanced posts. The marshal wounded! it was “just our +luck,” as the lieutenant of marines had put it. He was reflecting on +what the consequences of the mishap were likely to be when an +_estafette_ dashed by at top speed, shouting to a comrade, whom he +recognized: + +“General Ducrot is made commander-in-chief! The army is ordered to +concentrate at Illy in order to retreat on Mézières!” + +The courier was already far away, galloping into Bazeilles under the +constantly increasing fire, when Delaherche, startled by the strange +tidings that came to him in such quick succession and not relishing the +prospect of being involved in the confusion of the retreating troops, +plucked up courage and started on a run for Balan, whence he regained +Sedan without much difficulty. + +The _estafette_ tore through Bazeilles on a gallop, disseminating the +news, hunting up the commanders to give them their instructions, and as +he sped swiftly on the intelligence spread among the troops: Marshal +MacMahon wounded, General Ducrot in command, the army falling back on +Illy! + +“What is that they are saying?” cried Weiss, whose face by this time +was grimy with powder. “Retreat on Mézières at this late hour! but it +is absurd, they will never get through!” + +And his conscience pricked him, he repented bitterly having given that +counsel the day before to that very general who was now invested with +the supreme command. Yes, certainly, that was yesterday the best, the +only plan, to retreat, without loss of a minute’s time, by the +Saint-Albert pass, but now the way could be no longer open to them, the +black swarms of Prussians had certainly anticipated them and were on +the plain of Donchery. There were two courses left for them to pursue, +both desperate; and the most promising, as well as the bravest, of them +was to drive the Bavarians into the Meuse, and cut their way through +and regain possession of the Carignan road. + +Weiss, whose spectacles were constantly slipping down upon his nose, +adjusted them nervously and proceeded to explain matters to the +lieutenant, who was still seated against the wall with his two stumps +of legs, very pale and slowly bleeding to death. + +“Lieutenant, I assure you I am right. Tell your men to stand their +ground. You can see for yourself that we are doing well. One more +effort like the last, and we shall drive them into the river.” + +It was true that the Bavarians’ second attack had been repulsed. The +mitrailleuses had again swept the Place de l’Église, the heaps of +corpses in the square resembled barricades, and our troops, emerging +from every cross street, had driven the enemy at the point of the +bayonet through the meadows toward the river in headlong flight, which +might easily have been converted into a general rout had there been +fresh troops to support the sailor-boys, who had suffered severely and +were by this time much distressed. And in Montivilliers Park, again, +the firing did not seem to advance, which was a sign that in that +quarter, also, reinforcements, could they have been had, would have +cleared the wood. + +“Order your men to charge them with the bayonet, lieutenant.” + +The waxen pallor of death was on the poor boy-officer’s face; yet he +had strength to murmur in feeble accents: + +“You hear, my children; give them the bayonet!” + +It was his last utterance; his spirit passed, his ingenuous, resolute +face and his wide open eyes still turned on the battle. The flies +already were beginning to buzz about Françoise’s head and settle there, +while lying on his bed little Charles, in an access of delirium, was +calling on his mother in pitiful, beseeching tones to give him +something to quench his thirst. + +“Mother, mother, awake; get up—I am thirsty, I am so thirsty.” + +But the instructions of the new chief were imperative, and the +officers, vexed and grieved to see the successes they had achieved thus +rendered nugatory, had nothing for it but to give orders for the +retreat. It was plain that the commander-in-chief, possessed by a +haunting dread of the enemy’s turning movement, was determined to +sacrifice everything in order to escape from the toils. The Place de +l’Église was evacuated, the troops fell back from street to street; +soon the broad avenue was emptied of its defenders. Women shrieked and +sobbed, men swore and shook their fists at the retiring troops, furious +to see themselves abandoned thus. Many shut themselves in their houses, +resolved to die in their defense. + +“Well, _I_ am not going to give up the ship!” shouted Weiss, beside +himself with rage. “No! I will leave my skin here first. Let them come +on! let them come and smash my furniture and drink my wine!” + +Wrath filled his mind to the exclusion of all else, a wild, fierce +desire to fight, to kill, at the thought that the hated foreigner +should enter his house, sit in his chair, drink from his glass. It +wrought a change in all his nature; everything that went to make up his +daily life—wife, business, the methodical prudence of the small +bourgeois—seemed suddenly to become unstable and drift away from him. +And he shut himself up in his house and barricaded it, he paced the +empty apartments with the restless impatience of a caged wild beast, +going from room to room to make sure that all the doors and windows +were securely fastened. He counted his cartridges and found he had +forty left, then, as he was about to give a final look to the meadows +to see whether any attack was to be apprehended from that quarter, the +sight of the hills on the left bank arrested his attention for a +moment. The smoke-wreaths indicated distinctly the position of the +Prussian batteries, and at the corner of a little wood on la Marfée, +over the powerful battery at Frenois, he again beheld the group of +uniforms, more numerous than before, and so distinct in the bright +sunlight that by supplementing his spectacles with his binocle he could +make out the gold of their epaulettes and helmets. + +“You dirty scoundrels, you dirty scoundrels!” he twice repeated, +extending his clenched fist in impotent menace. + +Those who were up there on la Marfée were King William and his staff. +As early as seven o’clock he had ridden up from Vendresse, where he had +had quarters for the night, and now was up there on the heights, out of +reach of danger, while at his feet lay the valley of the Meuse and the +vast panorama of the field of battle. Far as the eye could reach, from +north to south, the bird’s-eye view extended, and standing on the +summit of the hill, as from his throne in some colossal opera box, the +monarch surveyed the scene. + +In the central foreground of the picture, and standing out in bold +relief against the venerable forests of the Ardennes, that stretched +away on either hand from right to left, filling the northern horizon +like a curtain of dark verdure, was the city of Sedan, with the +geometrical lines and angles of its fortifications, protected on the +south and west by the flooded meadows and the river. In Bazeilles +houses were already burning, and the dark cloud of war hung heavy over +the pretty village. Turning his eyes eastward he might discover, +holding the line between la Moncelle and Givonne, some regiments of the +12th and 1st corps, looking like diminutive insects at that distance +and lost to sight at intervals in the dip of the narrow valley in which +the hamlets lay concealed; and beyond that valley rose the further +slope, an uninhabited, uncultivated heath, of which the pale tints made +the dark green of Chevalier’s Wood look black by contrast. To the north +the 7th corps was more distinctly visible in its position on the +plateau of Floing, a broad belt of sere, dun fields, that sloped +downward from the little wood of la Garenne to the verdant border of +the stream. Further still were Floing, Saint-Menges, Fleigneux, Illy, +small villages that lay nestled in the hollows of that billowing region +where the landscape was a succession of hill and dale. And there, too, +to the left was the great bend of the Meuse, where the sluggish stream, +shimmering like molten silver in the bright sunlight, swept lazily in a +great horseshoe around the peninsula of Iges and barred the road to +Mézières, leaving between its further bank and the impassable forest +but one single gateway, the defile of Saint-Albert. + +It was in that triangular space that the hundred thousand men and five +hundred guns of the French army had now been crowded and brought to +bay, and when His Prussian Majesty condescended to turn his gaze still +further to the westward he might perceive another plain, the plain of +Donchery, a succession of bare fields stretching away toward +Briancourt, Marancourt, and Vrigne-aux-Bois, a desolate expanse of gray +waste beneath the clear blue sky; and did he turn him to the east, he +again had before his eyes, facing the lines in which the French were so +closely hemmed, a vast level stretch of country in which were numerous +villages, first Douzy and Carignan, then more to the north Rubecourt, +Pourru-aux-Bois, Francheval, Villers-Cernay, and last of all, near the +frontier, Chapelle. All about him, far as he could see, the land was +his; he could direct the movements of the quarter of a million of men +and the eight hundred guns that constituted his army, could master at a +glance every detail of the operations of his invading host. Even then +the XIth corps was pressing forward toward Saint-Menges, while the Vth +was at Vrigne-aux-Bois, and the Wurtemburg division was near Donchery, +awaiting orders. This was what he beheld to the west, and if, turning +to the east, he found his view obstructed in that quarter by tree-clad +hills, he could picture to himself what was passing, for he had seen +the XIIth corps entering the wood of Chevalier, he knew that by that +time the Guards were at Villers-Cernay. There were the two arms of the +gigantic vise, the army of the Crown Prince of Prussia on the left, the +Saxon Prince’s army on the right, slowly, irresistibly closing on each +other, while the two Bavarian corps were hammering away at Bazeilles. + +Underneath the King’s position the long line of batteries, stretching +with hardly an interval from Remilly to Frenois, kept up an +unintermittent fire, pouring their shells into Daigny and la Moncelle, +sending them hurtling over Sedan city to sweep the northern plateaus. +It was barely eight o’clock, and with eyes fixed on the gigantic board +he directed the movements of the game, awaiting the inevitable end, +calmly controlling the black cloud of men that beneath him swept, an +array of pigmies, athwart the smiling landscape. + + + + +II. + + +In the dense fog up on the plateau of Floing Gaude, the bugler, sounded +reveille at peep of day with all the lung-power he was possessed of, +but the inspiring strain died away and was lost in the damp, heavy air, +and the men, who had not had courage even to erect their tents and had +thrown themselves, wrapped in their blankets, upon the muddy ground, +did not awake or stir, but lay like corpses, their ashen features set +and rigid in the slumber of utter exhaustion. To arouse them from their +trance-like sleep they had to be shaken, one by one, and, with ghastly +faces and haggard eyes, they rose to their feet, like beings summoned, +against their will, back from another world. It was Jean who awoke +Maurice. + +“What is it? Where are we!” asked the younger man. He looked +affrightedly around him, and beheld only that gray waste, in which were +floating the unsubstantial forms of his comrades. Objects twenty yards +away were undistinguishable; his knowledge of the country availed him +not; he could not even have indicated in which direction lay Sedan. +Just then, however, the boom of cannon, somewhere in the distance, fell +upon his ear. “Ah! I remember; the battle is for to-day; they are +fighting. So much the better; there will be an end to our suspense!” + +He heard other voices around him expressing the same idea. There was a +feeling of stern satisfaction that at last their long nightmare was to +be dispelled, that at last they were to have a sight of those Prussians +whom they had come out to look for, and before whom they had been +retreating so many weary days; that they were to be given a chance to +try a shot at them, and lighten the load of cartridges that had been +tugging at their belts so long, with never an opportunity to burn a +single one of them. Everyone felt that, this time, the battle would +not, could not be avoided. + +But the guns began to thunder more loudly down at Bazeilles, and Jean +bent his ear to listen. + +“Where is the firing?” + +“Faith,” replied Maurice, “it seems to me to be over toward the Meuse; +but I’ll be hanged if I know where we are.” + +“Look here, youngster,” said the corporal, “you are going to stick +close by me to-day, for unless a man has his wits about him, don’t you +see, he is likely to get in trouble. Now, I have been there before, and +can keep an eye out for both of us.” + +The others of the squad, meantime, were growling angrily because they +had nothing with which to warm their stomachs. There was no possibility +of kindling fires without dry wood in such weather as prevailed then, +and so, at the very moment when they were about to go into battle, the +inner man put in his claim for recognition, and would not be denied. +Hunger is not conducive to heroism; to those poor fellows eating was +the great, the momentous question of life; how lovingly they watched +the boiling pot on those red-letter days when the soup was rich and +thick; how like children or savages they were in their wrath when +rations were not forthcoming! + +“No eat, no fight!” declared Chouteau. “I’ll be blowed if I am going to +risk my skin to-day!” + +The radical was cropping out again in the great hulking house-painter, +the orator of Belleville, the pothouse politician, who drowned what few +correct ideas he picked up here and there in a nauseous mixture of +ineffable folly and falsehood. + +“Besides,” he went on, “what good was there in making fools of us as +they have been doing all along, telling us that the Prussians were +dying of hunger and disease, that they had not so much as a shirt to +their back, and were tramping along the highways like ragged, filthy +paupers!” + +Loubet laughed the laugh of the Parisian gamin, who has experienced the +various vicissitudes of life in the Halles. + +“Oh, that’s all in my eye! it is we fellows who have been catching it +right along; we are the poor devils whose leaky brogans and tattered +toggery would make folks throw us a copper. And then those great +victories about which they made such a fuss! What precious liars they +must be, to tell us that old Bismarck had been made prisoner and that a +German army had been driven over a quarry and dashed to pieces! Oh yes, +they fooled us in great shape.” + +Pache and Lapoulle, who were standing near, shook their heads and +clenched their fists ominously. There were others, also, who made no +attempt to conceal their anger, for the course of the newspapers in +constantly printing bogus news had had most disastrous results; all +confidence was destroyed, men had ceased to believe anything or +anybody. And so it was that in the soldiers, children of a larger +growth, their bright dreams of other days had now been supplanted by +exaggerated anticipations of misfortune. + +“_Pardi_!” continued Chouteau, “the thing is accounted for easily +enough, since our rulers have been selling us to the enemy right from +the beginning. You all know that it is so.” + +Lapoulle’s rustic simplicity revolted at the idea. + +“For shame! what wicked people they must be!” + +“Yes, sold, as Judas sold his master,” murmured Pache, mindful of his +studies in sacred history. + +It was Chouteau’s hour of triumph. “_Mon Dieu!_ it is as plain as the +nose on your face. MacMahon got three millions and each of the other +generals got a million, as the price of bringing us up here. The +bargain was made at Paris last spring, and last night they sent up a +rocket as a signal to let Bismarck know that everything was fixed and +he might come and take us.” + +The story was so inanely stupid that Maurice was disgusted. There had +been a time when Chouteau, thanks to his facundity of the faubourg, had +interested and almost convinced him, but now he had come to detest that +apostle of falsehood, that snake in the grass, who calumniated honest +effort of every kind in order to sicken others of it. + +“Why do you talk such nonsense?” he exclaimed. “You know very well +there is no truth in it.” + +“What, not true? Do you mean to say it is not true that we are +betrayed? Ah, come, my aristocratic friend, perhaps you are one of +them, perhaps you belong to the d—d band of dirty traitors?” He came +forward threateningly. “If you are you have only to say so, my fine +gentleman, for we will attend to your case right here, and won’t wait +for your friend Bismarck, either.” + +The others were also beginning to growl and show their teeth, and Jean +thought it time that he should interfere. + +“Silence there! I will report the first man who says another word!” + +But Chouteau sneered and jeered at him; what did he care whether he +reported him or not! He was not going to fight unless he chose, and +they need not try to ride him rough-shod, because he had cartridges in +his box for other people beside the Prussians. They were going into +action now, and what discipline had been maintained by fear would be at +an end: what could they do to him, anyway? he would just skip as soon +as he thought he had enough of it. And he was profane and obscene, +egging the men on against the corporal, who had been allowing them to +starve. Yes, it was his fault that the squad had had nothing to eat in +the last three days, while their neighbors had soup and fresh meat in +plenty, but “monsieur” had to go off to town with the “aristo” and +enjoy himself with the girls. People had spotted ’em, over in Sedan. + +“You stole the money belonging to the squad; deny it if you dare, you +_bougre_ of a belly-god!” + +Things were beginning to assume an ugly complexion; Lapoulle was +doubling his big fists in a way that looked like business, and Pache, +with the pangs of hunger gnawing at his vitals, laid aside his natural +douceness and insisted on an explanation. The only reasonable one among +them was Loubet, who gave one of his pawky laughs and suggested that, +being Frenchmen, they might as well dine off the Prussians as eat one +another. For his part, he took no stock in fighting, either with fists +or firearms, and alluding to the few hundred francs that he had earned +as substitute, added: + +“And so, that was all they thought my hide was worth! Well, I am not +going to give them more than their money’s worth.” + +Maurice and Jean were in a towering rage at the idotic onslaught, +talking loudly and repelling Chouteau’s insinuations, when out from the +fog came a stentorian voice, bellowing: + +“What’s this? what’s this? Show me the rascals who dare quarrel in the +company street!” + +And Lieutenant Rochas appeared upon the scene, in his old _kepi_, +whence the rain had washed all the color, and his great coat, minus +many of its buttons, evincing in all his lean, shambling person the +extreme of poverty and distress. Notwithstanding his forlorn aspect, +however, his sparkling eye and bristling mustache showed that his old +time confidence had suffered no impairment. + +Jean spoke up, scarce able to restrain himself. “Lieutenant, it is +these men, who persist in saying that we are betrayed. Yes, they dare +to assert that our generals have sold us—” + +The idea of treason did not appear so extremely unnatural to Rochas’s +thick understanding, for it served to explain those reverses that he +could not account for otherwise. + +“Well, suppose they are sold, is it any of their business? What concern +is it of theirs? The Prussians are there all the same, aren’t they? and +we are going to give them one of the old-fashioned hidings, such as +they won’t forget in one while.” Down below them in the thick sea of +fog the guns at Bazeilles were still pounding away, and he extended his +arms with a broad, sweeping gesture: “_Hein_! this is the time that +we’ve got them! We’ll see them back home, and kick them every step of +the way!” + +All the trials and troubles of the past were to him as if they had not +been, now that his ears were gladdened by the roar of the guns: the +delays and conflicting orders of the chiefs, the demoralization of the +troops, the stampede at Beaumont, the distress of the recent forced +retreat on Sedan—all were forgotten. Now that they were about to fight +at last, was not victory certain? He had learned nothing and forgotten +nothing; his blustering, boastful contempt of the enemy, his entire +ignorance of the new arts and appliances of war, his rooted conviction +that an old soldier of Africa, Italy, and the Crimea could by no +possibility be beaten, had suffered no change. It was really a little +too comical that a man at his age should take the back track and begin +at the beginning again! + +All at once his lantern jaws parted and gave utterance to a loud laugh. +He was visited by one of those impulses of good-fellowship that made +his men swear by him, despite the roughness of the jobations that he +frequently bestowed on them. + +“Look here, my children, in place of quarreling it will be a great deal +better to take a good nip all around. Come, I’m going to treat, and you +shall drink my health.” + +From the capacious pocket of his capote he extracted a bottle of +brandy, adding, with his all-conquering air, that it was the gift of a +lady. (He had been seen the day before, seated at the table of a tavern +in Floing and holding the waitress on his lap, evidently on the best of +terms with her.) The soldiers laughed and winked at one another, +holding out their porringers, into which he gayly poured the golden +liquor. + +“Drink to your sweethearts, my children, if you have any and don’t +forget to drink to the glory of France. Them’s my sentiments, so _vive +la joie_!” + +“That’s right, Lieutenant. Here’s to your health, and everybody +else’s!” + +They all drank, and their hearts were warmed and peace reigned once +more. The “nip” had much of comfort in it, in the chill morning, just +as they were going into action, and Maurice felt it tingling in his +veins, giving him cheer and a sort of what is known colloquially as +“Dutch courage.” Why should they not whip the Prussians? Have not +battles their surprises? has not history embalmed many an instance of +the fickleness of fortune? That mighty man of war, the lieutenant, +added that Bazaine was on the way to join them, would be with them +before the day was over: oh, the information was positive; he had it +from an aid to one of the generals; and although, in speaking of the +route the marshal was to come by, he pointed to the frontier of +Belgium, Maurice yielded to one of those spasmodic attacks of +hopefulness of his, without which life to him would not have been worth +living. Might it not be that the day of reckoning was at hand? + +“Why don’t we move, Lieutenant?” he made bold to ask. “What are we +waiting for?” + +Rochas made a gesture, which the other interpreted to mean that no +orders had been received. Presently he asked: + +“Has anybody seen the captain?” + +No one answered. Jean remembered perfectly having seen him making for +Sedan the night before, but to the soldier who knows what is good for +himself, his officers are always invisible when they are not on duty. +He held his tongue, therefore, until happening to turn his head, he +caught sight of a shadowy form flitting along the hedge. + +“Here he is,” said he. + +It was Captain Beaudoin in the flesh. They were all surprised by the +nattiness of his appearance, his resplendent shoes, his well-brushed +uniform, affording such a striking contrast to the lieutenant’s pitiful +state. And there was a finicking completeness, moreover, about his +toilet, greater than the male being is accustomed to bestow upon +himself, in his scrupulously white hands and his carefully curled +mustache, and a faint perfume of Persian lilac, which had the effect of +reminding one in some mysterious way of the dressing room of a young +and pretty woman. + +“Hallo!” said Loubet, with a sneer, “the captain has recovered his +baggage!” + +But no one laughed, for they all knew him to be a man with whom it was +not well to joke. He was stiff and consequential with his men, and was +detested accordingly; a _pète-sec_, to use Rochas’s expression. He had +seemed to regard the early reverses of the campaign as personal +affronts, and the disaster that all had prognosticated was to him an +unpardonable crime. He was a strong Bonapartist by conviction; his +prospects for promotion were of the brightest; he had several important +salons looking after his interests; naturally, he did not take kindly +to the changed condition of affairs that promised to make his cake +dough. He was said to have a remarkably fine tenor voice, which had +helped him no little in his advancement. He was not devoid of +intelligence, though perfectly ignorant as regarded everything +connected with his profession; eager to please, and very brave, when +there was occasion for being so, without superfluous rashness. + +“What a nasty fog!” was all he said, pleased to have found his company +at last, for which he had been searching for more than half an hour. + +At the same time their orders came, and the battalion moved forward. +They had to proceed with caution, feeling their way, for the +exhalations continued to rise from the stream and were now so dense +that they were precipitated in a fine, drizzling rain. A vision rose +before Maurice’s eyes that impressed him deeply; it was Colonel de +Vineuil, who loomed suddenly from out the mist, sitting his horse, +erect and motionless, at the intersection of two roads—the man +appearing of preternatural size, and so pale and rigid that he might +have served a sculptor as a study for a statue of despair; the steed +shivering in the raw, chill air of morning, his dilated nostrils turned +in the direction of the distant firing. Some ten paces to their rear +were the regimental colors, which the sous-lieutenant whose duty it was +to bear them had thus early taken from their case and proudly raised +aloft, and as the driving, vaporous rack eddied and swirled about them, +they shone like a radiant vision of glory emblazoned on the heavens, +soon to fade and vanish from the sight. Water was dripping from the +gilded eagle, and the tattered, shot-riddled tri-color, on which were +embroidered the names of former victories, was stained and its bright +hues dimmed by the smoke of many a battlefield; the sole bit of +brilliant color in all the faded splendor was the enameled cross of +honor that was attached to the _cravate_. + +Another billow of vapor came scurrying up from the river, enshrouding +in its fleecy depths colonel, standard, and all, and the battalion +passed on, whitherward no one could tell. First their route had +conducted them over descending ground, now they were climbing a hill. +On reaching the summit the command, halt! started at the front and ran +down the column; the men were cautioned not to leave the ranks, arms +were ordered, and there they remained, the heavy knapsacks forming a +grievous burden to weary shoulders. It was evident that they were on a +plateau, but to discern localities was out of the question; twenty +paces was the extreme range of vision. It was now seven o’clock; the +sound of firing reached them more distinctly, other batteries were +apparently opening on Sedan from the opposite bank. + +“Oh! I,” said Sergeant Sapin with a start, addressing Jean and Maurice, +“I shall be killed to-day.” + +It was the first time he had opened his lips that morning; an +expression of dreamy melancholy had rested on his thin face, with its +big, handsome eyes and thin, pinched nose. + +“What an idea!” Jean exclaimed; “who can tell what is going to happen +him? Every bullet has its billet, they say, but you stand no worse +chance than the rest of us.” + +“Oh, but me—I am as good as dead now. I tell you I shall be killed +to-day.” + +The near files turned and looked at him curiously, asking him if he had +had a dream. No, he had dreamed nothing, but he felt it; it was there. + +“And it is a pity, all the same, because I was to be married when I got +my discharge.” + +A vague expression came into his eyes again; his past life rose before +him. He was the son of a small retail grocer at Lyons, and had been +petted and spoiled by his mother up to the time of her death; then +rejecting the proffer of his father, with whom he did not hit it off +well, to assist in purchasing his discharge, he had remained with the +army, weary and disgusted with life and with his surroundings. Coming +home on furlough, however, he fell in love with a cousin and they +became engaged; their intention was to open a little shop on the small +capital which she would bring him, and then existence once more became +desirable. He had received an elementary education; could read, write, +and cipher. For the past year he had lived only in anticipation of this +happy future. + +He shivered, and gave himself a shake to dispel his revery, repeating +with his tranquil air: + +“Yes, it is too bad; I shall be killed to-day.” + +No one spoke; the uncertainty and suspense continued. They knew not +whether the enemy was on their front or in their rear. Strange sounds +came to their ears from time to time from out the depths of the +mysterious fog: the rumble of wheels, the deadened tramp of moving +masses, the distant clatter of horses’ hoofs; it was the evolutions of +troops, hidden from view behind the misty curtain, the batteries, +battalions, and squadrons of the 7th corps taking up their positions in +line of battle. Now, however, it began to look as if the fog was about +to lift; it parted here and there and fragments floated lightly off, +like strips of gauze torn from a veil, and bits of sky appeared, not +transparently blue, as on a bright summer’s day, but opaque and of the +hue of burnished steel, like the cheerless bosom of some deep, sullen +mountain tarn. It was in one of those brighter moments when the sun was +endeavoring to struggle forth that the regiments of chasseurs +d’Afrique, constituting part of Margueritte’s division, came riding by, +giving the impression of a band of spectral horsemen. They sat very +stiff and erect in the saddle, with their short cavalry jackets, broad +red sashes and smart little _kepis_, accurate in distance and alignment +and managing admirably their lean, wiry mounts, which were almost +invisible under the heterogeneous collection of tools and camp equipage +that they had to carry. Squadron after squadron they swept by in long +array, to be swallowed in the gloom from which they had just emerged, +vanishing as if dissolved by the fine rain. The truth was, probably, +that they were in the way, and their leaders, not knowing what use to +put them to, had packed them off the field, as had often been the case +since the opening of the campaign. They had scarcely ever been employed +on scouting or reconnoitering duty, and as soon as there was prospect +of a fight were trotted about for shelter from valley to valley, +useless objects, but too costly to be endangered. + +Maurice thought of Prosper as he watched them. “That fellow, yonder, +looks like him,” he said, under his breath. “I wonder if it is he?” + +“Of whom are you speaking?” asked Jean. + +“Of that young man of Remilly, whose brother we met at Osches, you +remember.” + +Behind the chasseurs, when they had all passed, came a general officer +and his staff dashing down the descending road, and Maurice recognized +the general of their brigade, Bourgain-Desfeuilles, shouting and +gesticulating wildly. He had torn himself reluctantly from his +comfortable quarters at the Hotel of the Golden Cross, and it was +evident from the horrible temper he was in that the condition of +affairs that morning was not satisfactory to him. In a tone of voice so +loud that everyone could hear he roared: + +“In the devil’s name, what stream is that off yonder, the Meuse or the +Moselle?” + +The fog dispersed at last, this time in earnest. As at Bazeilles the +effect was theatrical; the curtain rolled slowly upward to the flies, +disclosing the setting of the stage. From a sky of transparent blue the +sun poured down a flood of bright, golden light, and Maurice was no +longer at a loss to recognize their position. + +“Ah!” he said to Jean, “we are on the plateau de l’Algérie. That +village that you see across the valley, directly in our front, is +Floing, and that more distant one is Saint-Menges, and that one, more +distant still, a little to the right, is Fleigneux. Then those scrubby +trees on the horizon, away in the background, are the forest of the +Ardennes, and there lies the frontier—” + +He went on to explain their position, naming each locality and pointing +to it with outstretched hand. The plateau de l’Algérie was a belt of +reddish ground, something less than two miles in length, sloping gently +downward from the wood of la Garenne toward the Meuse, from which it +was separated by the meadows. On it the line of the 7th corps had been +established by General Douay, who felt that his numbers were not +sufficient to defend so extended a position and properly maintain his +touch with the 1st corps, which was posted at right angles with his +line, occupying the valley of la Givonne, from the wood of la Garenne +to Daigny. + +“Oh, isn’t it grand, isn’t it magnificent!” + +And Maurice, revolving on his heel, made with his hand a sweeping +gesture that embraced the entire horizon. From their position on the +plateau the whole wide field of battle lay stretched before them to the +south and west: Sedan, almost at their feet, whose citadel they could +see overtopping the roofs, then Balan and Bazeilles, dimly seen through +the dun smoke-clouds that hung heavily in the motionless air, and +further in the distance the hills of the left bank, Liry, la Marfée, la +Croix-Piau. It was away toward the west, however, in the direction of +Donchery, that the prospect was most extensive. There the Meuse curved +horseshoe-wise, encircling the peninsula of Iges with a ribbon of pale +silver, and at the northern extremity of the loop was distinctly +visible the narrow road of the Saint-Albert pass, winding between the +river bank and a beetling, overhanging hill that was crowned with the +little wood of Seugnon, an offshoot of the forest of la Falizette. At +the summit of the hill, at the _carrefour_ of la Maison-Rouge, the road +from Donchery to Vrigne-aux-Bois debouched into the Mézières pike. + +“See, that is the road by which we might retreat on Mézières.” + +Even as he spoke the first gun was fired from Saint-Menges. The fog +still hung over the bottom-lands in shreds and patches, and through it +they dimly descried a shadowy body of men moving through the +Saint-Albert defile. + +“Ah, they are there,” continued Maurice, instinctively lowering his +voice. “Too late, too late; they have intercepted us!” + +It was not eight o’clock. The guns, which were thundering more fiercely +than ever in the direction of Bazeilles, now also began to make +themselves heard at the eastward, in the valley of la Givonne, which +was hid from view; it was the army of the Crown Prince of Saxony, +debouching from the Chevalier wood and attacking the 1st corps, in +front of Daigny village; and now that the XIth Prussian corps, moving +on Floing, had opened fire on General Douay’s troops, the investment +was complete at every point of the great periphery of several leagues’ +extent, and the action was general all along the line. + +Maurice suddenly perceived the enormity of their blunder in not +retreating on Mézières during the night; but as yet the consequences +were not clear to him; he could not foresee all the disaster that was +to result from that fatal error of judgment. Moved by some indefinable +instinct of danger, he looked with apprehension on the adjacent heights +that commanded the plateau de l’Algérie. If time had not been allowed +them to make good their retreat, why had they not backed up against the +frontier and occupied those heights of Illy and Saint-Menges, whence, +if they could not maintain their position, they would at least have +been free to cross over into Belgium? There were two points that +appeared to him especially threatening, the _mamelon_ of Hattoy, to the +north of Floing on the left, and the Calvary of Illy, a stone cross +with a linden tree on either side, the highest bit of ground in the +surrounding country, to the right. General Douay was keenly alive to +the importance of these eminences, and the day before had sent two +battalions to occupy Hattoy; but the men, feeling that they were “in +the air” and too remote from support, had fallen back early that +morning. It was understood that the left wing of the 1st corps was to +take care of the Calvary of Illy. The wide expanse of naked country +between Sedan and the Ardennes forest was intersected by deep ravines, +and the key of the position was manifestly there, in the shadow of that +cross and the two lindens, whence their guns might sweep the fields in +every direction for a long distance. + +Two more cannon shots rang out, quickly succeeded by a salvo; they +detected the bluish smoke rising from the underbrush of a low hill to +the left of Saint-Menges. + +“Our turn is coming now,” said Jean. + +Nothing more startling occurred just then, however. The men, still +preserving their formation and standing at ordered arms, found +something to occupy their attention in the fine appearance made by the +2d division, posted in front of Floing, with their left refused and +facing the Meuse, so as to guard against a possible attack from that +quarter. The ground to the east, as far as the wood of la Garenne, +beneath Illy village, was held by the 3d division, while the 1st, which +had lost heavily at Beaumont, formed a second line. All night long the +engineers had been busy with pick and shovel, and even after the +Prussians had opened fire they were still digging away at their shelter +trenches and throwing up epaulments. + +Then a sharp rattle of musketry, quickly silenced, however, was heard +proceeding from a point beneath Floing, and Captain Beaudoin received +orders to move his company three hundred yards to the rear. Their new +position was in a great field of cabbages, upon reaching which the +captain made his men lie down. The sun had not yet drunk up the +moisture that had descended on the vegetables in the darkness, and +every fold and crease of the thick, golden-green leaves was filled with +trembling drops, as pellucid and luminous as brilliants of the fairest +water. + +“Sight for four hundred yards,” the captain ordered. + +Maurice rested the barrel of his musket on a cabbage that reared its +head conveniently before him, but it was impossible to see anything in +his recumbent position: only the blurred surface of the fields +traversed by his level glance, diversified by an occasional tree or +shrub. Giving Jean, who was beside him, a nudge with his elbow, he +asked what they were to do there. The corporal, whose experience in +such matters was greater, pointed to an elevation not far away, where a +battery was just taking its position; it was evident that they had been +placed there to support that battery, should there be need of their +services. Maurice, wondering whether Honoré and his guns were not of +the party, raised his head to look, but the reserve artillery was at +the rear, in the shelter of a little grove of trees. + +“_Nom de Dieu!_” yelled Rochas, “will you lie down!” + +And Maurice had barely more than complied with this intimation when a +shell passed screaming over him. From that time forth there seemed to +be no end to them. The enemy’s gunners were slow in obtaining the +range, their first projectiles passing over and landing well to the +rear of the battery, which was now opening in reply. Many of their +shells, too, fell upon the soft ground, in which they buried themselves +without exploding, and for a time there was a great display of rather +heavy wit at the expense of those bloody sauerkraut eaters. + +“Well, well!” said Loubet, “their fireworks are a fizzle!” + +“They ought to take them in out of the rain,” sneered Chouteau. + +Even Rochas thought it necessary to say something. “Didn’t I tell you +that the dunderheads don’t know enough even to point a gun?” + +But they were less inclined to laugh when a shell burst only ten yards +from them and sent a shower of earth flying over the company; Loubet +affected to make light of it by ordering his comrades to get out their +brushes from the knapsacks, but Chouteau suddenly became very pale and +had not a word to say. He had never been under fire, nor had Pache and +Lapoulle, nor any member of the squad, in fact, except Jean. Over eyes +that had suddenly lost their brightness lids flickered tremulously; +voices had an unnatural, muffled sound, as if arrested by some +obstruction in the throat. Maurice, who was sufficiently master of +himself as yet, endeavored to diagnose his symptoms; he could not be +afraid, for he was not conscious that he was in danger; he only felt a +slight sensation of discomfort in the epigastric region, and his head +seemed strangely light and empty; ideas and images came and went +independent of his will. His recollection of the brave show made by the +troops of the 2d division made him hopeful, almost to buoyancy; victory +appeared certain to him if only they might be allowed to go at the +enemy with the bayonet. + +“Listen!” he murmured, “how the flies buzz; the place is full of them.” +Thrice he had heard something that sounded like the humming of a swarm +of bees. + +“That was not a fly,” Jean said, with a laugh. “It was a bullet.” + +Again and again the hum of those invisible wings made itself heard. The +men craned their necks and looked about them with eager interest; their +curiosity was uncontrollable—would not allow them to remain quiet. + +“See here,” Loubet said mysteriously to Lapoulle, with a view to raise +a laugh at the expense of his simple-minded comrade, “when you see a +bullet coming toward you you must raise your forefinger before your +nose—like that; it divides the air, and the bullet will go by to the +right or left.” + +“But I can’t see them,” said Lapoulle. + +A loud guffaw burst from those near. + +“Oh, crickey! he says he can’t see them! Open your garret windows, +stupid! See! there’s one—see! there’s another. Didn’t you see that one? +It was of the most beautiful green.” + +And Lapoulle rolled his eyes and stared, placing his finger before his +nose, while Pache fingered the scapular he wore and wished it was large +enough to shield his entire person. + +Rochas, who had remained on his feet, spoke up and said jocosely: + +“Children, there is no objection to your ducking to the shells when you +see them coming. As for the bullets, it is useless; they are too +numerous!” + +At that very instant a soldier in the front rank was struck on the head +by a fragment of an exploding shell. There was no outcry; simply a +spurt of blood and brain, and all was over. + +“Poor devil!” tranquilly said Sergeant Sapin, who was quite cool and +exceedingly pale. “Next!” + +But the uproar had by this time become so deafening that the men could +no longer hear one another’s voice; Maurice’s nerves, in particular, +suffered from the infernal _charivari_. The neighboring battery was +banging away as fast as the gunners could load the pieces; the +continuous roar seemed to shake the ground, and the mitrailleuses were +even more intolerable with their rasping, grating, grunting noise. Were +they to remain forever reclining there among the cabbages? There was +nothing to be seen, nothing to be learned; no one had any idea how the +battle was going. And _was_ it a battle, after all—a genuine affair? +All that Maurice could make out, projecting his eyes along the level +surface of the fields, was the rounded, wood-clad summit of Hattoy in +the remote distance, and still unoccupied. Neither was there a Prussian +to be seen anywhere on the horizon; the only evidence of life were the +faint, blue smoke-wreaths that rose and floated an instant in the +sunlight. Chancing to turn his head, he was greatly surprised to behold +at the bottom of a deep, sheltered valley, surrounded by precipitous +heights, a peasant calmly tilling his little field, driving the plow +through the furrow with the assistance of a big white horse. Why should +he lose a day? The corn would keep growing, let them fight as they +would, and folks must live. + +Unable longer to control his impatience, the young man jumped to his +feet. He had a fleeting vision of the batteries of Saint-Menges, +crowned with tawny vapors and spewing shot and shell upon them; he had +also time to see, what he had seen before and had not forgotten, the +road from Saint-Albert’s pass black with minute moving objects—the +swarming hordes of the invader. Then Jean seized him by the legs and +pulled him violently to his place again. + +“Are you crazy? Do you want to leave your bones here?” + +And Rochas chimed in: + +“Lie down, will you! What am I to do with such d——d rascals, who get +themselves killed without orders!” + +“But you don’t lie down, lieutenant,” said Maurice. + +“That’s a different thing. I have to know what is going on.” + +Captain Beaudoin, too, kept his legs like a man, but never opened his +lips to say an encouraging word to his men, having nothing in common +with them. He appeared nervous and unable to remain long in one place, +striding up and down the field, impatiently awaiting orders. + +No orders came, nothing occurred to relieve their suspense. Maurice’s +knapsack was causing him horrible suffering; it seemed to be crushing +his back and chest in that recumbent position, so painful when +maintained for any length of time. The men had been cautioned against +throwing away their sacks unless in case of actual necessity, and he +kept turning over, first on his right side, then on the left, to ease +himself a moment of his burden by resting it on the ground. The shells +continued to fall around them, but the German gunners did not succeed +in getting the exact range; no one was killed after the poor fellow who +lay there on his stomach with his skull fractured. + +“Say, is this thing to last all day?” Maurice finally asked Jean, in +sheer desperation. + +“Like enough. At Solferino they put us in a field of carrots, and there +we stayed five mortal hours with our noses to the ground.” Then he +added, like the sensible fellow he was: “Why do you grumble? we are not +so badly off here. You will have an opportunity to distinguish yourself +before the day is over. Let everyone have his chance, don’t you see; if +we should all be killed at the beginning there would be none left for +the end.” + +“Look,” Maurice abruptly broke in, “look at that smoke over Hattoy. +They have taken Hattoy; we shall have plenty of music to dance to now!” + +For a moment his burning curiosity, which he was conscious was now for +the first time beginning to be dashed with personal fear, had +sufficient to occupy it; his gaze was riveted on the rounded summit of +the _mamelon_, the only elevation that was within his range of vision, +dominating the broad expanse of plain that lay level with his eye. +Hattoy was too far distant to permit him to distinguish the gunners of +the batteries that the Prussians had posted there; he could see nothing +at all, in fact, save the smoke that at each discharge rose above a +thin belt of woods that served to mask the guns. The enemy’s occupation +of the position, of which General Douay had been forced to abandon the +defense, was, as Maurice had instinctively felt, an event of the +gravest importance and destined to result in the most disastrous +consequences; its possessors would have entire command of all the +surrounding plateau. This was quickly seen to be the case, for the +batteries that opened on the second division of the 7th corps did +fearful execution. They had now perfected their range, and the French +battery, near which Beaudoin’s company was stationed, had two men +killed in quick succession. A quartermaster’s man in the company had +his left heel carried away by a splinter and began to howl most +dismally, as if visited by a sudden attack of madness. + +“Shut up, you great calf!” said Rochas. “What do you mean by yelling +like that for a little scratch!” + +The man suddenly ceased his outcries and subsided into a stupid +silence, nursing his foot in his hand. + +And still the tremendous artillery duel raged, and the death-dealing +missiles went screaming over the recumbent ranks of the regiments that +lay there on the sullen, sweltering plain, where no thing of life was +to be seen beneath the blazing sun. The crashing thunder, the +destroying hurricane, were masters in that solitude, and many long +hours would pass before the end. But even thus early in the day the +Germans had demonstrated the superiority of their artillery; their +percussion shells had an enormous range, and exploded, with hardly an +exception, on reaching their destination, while the French time-fuse +shells, with a much shorter range, burst for the most part in the air +and were wasted. And there was nothing left for the poor fellows +exposed to that murderous fire save to hug the ground and make +themselves as small as possible; they were even denied the privilege of +firing in reply, which would have kept their mind occupied and given +them a measure of relief; but upon whom or what were they to direct +their rifles? since there was not a living soul to be seen upon the +entire horizon! + +“Are we never to have a shot at them? I would give a dollar for just +one chance!” said Maurice, in a frenzy of impatience. “It is disgusting +to have them blazing away at us like this and not be allowed to +answer.” + +“Be patient; the time will come,” Jean imperturbably replied. + +Their attention was attracted by the sound of mounted men approaching +on their left, and turning their heads they beheld General Douay, who, +accompanied by his staff, had come galloping up to see how his troops +were behaving under the terrible fire from Hattoy. He appeared well +pleased with what he saw and was in the act of making some suggestions +to the officers grouped around him, when, emerging from a sunken road, +General Bourgain-Desfeuilles also rode up. This officer, though he owed +his advancement to “influence” was wedded to the antiquated African +routine and had learned nothing by experience, sat his horse with great +composure under the storm of projectiles. He was shouting to the men +and gesticulating wildly, after the manner of Rochas: “They are coming, +they will be here right away, and then we’ll let them have the +bayonet!” when he caught sight of General Douay and drew up to his +side. + +“Is it true that the marshal is wounded, general?” he asked. + +“It is but too true, unfortunately. I received a note from Ducrot only +a few minutes ago, in which he advises me of the fact, and also +notifies me that, by the marshal’s appointment, he is in command of the +army.” + +“Ah! so it is Ducrot who is to have his place! And what are the orders +now?” + +The general shook his head sorrowfully. He had felt that the army was +doomed, and for the last twenty-four hours had been strenuously +recommending the occupation of Illy and Saint-Menges in order to keep a +way of retreat open on Mézières. + +“Ducrot will carry out the plan we talked of yesterday: the whole army +is to be concentrated on the plateau of Illy.” + +And he repeated his previous gesture, as if to say it was too late. + +His words were partly inaudible in the roar of the artillery, but +Maurice caught their significance clearly enough, and it left him +dumfounded by astonishment and alarm. What! Marshal MacMahon wounded +since early that morning, General Ducrot commanding in his place for +the last two hours, the entire army retreating to the northward of +Sedan—and all these important events kept from the poor devils of +soldiers who were squandering their life’s blood! and all their +destinies, dependent on the life of a single man, were to be intrusted +to the direction of fresh and untried hands! He had a distinct +consciousness of the fate that was in reserve for the army of Châlons, +deprived of its commander, destitute of any guiding principle of +action, dragged purposelessly in this direction and in that, while the +Germans went straight and swift to their preconcerted end with +mechanical precision and directness. + +Bourgain-Desfeuilles had wheeled his horse and was moving away, when +General Douay, to whom a grimy, dust-stained hussar had galloped up +with another dispatch, excitedly summoned him back. + +“General! General!” + +His voice rang out so loud and clear, with such an accent of surprise, +that it drowned the uproar of the guns. + +“General, Ducrot is no longer in command; de Wimpffen is chief. You +know he reached here yesterday, just in the very thick of the disaster +at Beaumont, to relieve de Failly at the head of the 5th corps—and he +writes me that he has written instructions from the Minister of War +assigning him to the command of the army in case the post should become +vacant. And there is to be no more retreating; the orders now are to +reoccupy our old positions, and defend them to the last.” + +General Bourgain-Desfeuilles drank in the tidings, his eyes bulging +with astonishment. “_Nom de Dieu!_” he at last succeeded in +ejaculating, “one would like to know—But it is no business of mine, +anyhow.” And off he galloped, not allowing himself to be greatly +agitated by this unexpected turn of affairs, for he had gone into the +war solely in the hope of seeing his name raised a grade higher in the +army list, and it was his great desire to behold the end of the beastly +campaign as soon as possible, since it was productive of so little +satisfaction to anyone. + +Then there was an explosion of derision and contempt among the men of +Beaudoin’s company. Maurice said nothing, but he shared the opinion of +Chouteau and Loubet, who chaffed and blackguarded everyone without +mercy. “See-saw, up and down, move as I pull the string! A fine gang +they were, those generals! they understood one another; they were not +going to pull all the blankets off the bed! What was a poor devil of a +soldier to do when he had such leaders put over him? Three commanders +in two hours’ time, three great numskulls, none of whom knew what was +the right thing to do, and all of them giving different orders! +Demoralized, were they? Good Heavens, it was enough to demoralize God +Almighty himself, and all His angels!” And the inevitable accusation of +treason was again made to do duty; Ducrot and de Wimpffen wanted to get +three millions apiece out of Bismarck, as MacMahon had done. + +Alone in advance of his staff General Douay sat on his horse a long +time, his gaze bent on the distant positions of the enemy and in his +eyes an expression of infinite melancholy. He made a minute and +protracted observation of Hattoy, the shells from which came tumbling +almost at his very feet; then, giving a glance at the plateau of Illy, +called up an officer to carry an order to the brigade of the 5th corps +that he had borrowed the day previous from General de Wimpffen, and +which served to connect his right with the left of General Ducrot. He +was distinctly heard to say these words: + +“If the Prussians should once get possession of the Calvary it would be +impossible for us to hold this position an hour; we should be driven +into Sedan.” + +He rode off and was lost to view, together with his escort, at the +entrance of the sunken road, and the German fire became hotter than +before. They had doubtless observed the presence of the group of +mounted officers; but now the shells, which hitherto had come from the +front, began to fall upon them laterally, from the left; the batteries +at Frenois, together with one which the enemy had carried across the +river and posted on the peninsula of Iges, had established, in +connection with the guns on Hattoy, an enfilading fire which swept the +plateau de l’Algérie in its entire length and breadth. The position of +the company now became most lamentable; the men, with death in front of +them and on their flank, knew not which way to turn or which of the +menacing perils to guard themselves against. In rapid succession three +men were killed outright and two severely wounded. + +It was then that Sergeant Sapin met the death that he had predicted for +himself. He had turned his head, and caught sight of the approaching +missile when it was too late for him to avoid it. + +“Ah, here it is!” was all he said. + +There was no terror in the thin face, with its big handsome eyes; it +was only pale; very pale and inexpressibly mournful. The wound was in +the abdomen. + +“Oh! do not leave me here,” he pleaded; “take me to the ambulance, I +beseech you. Take me to the rear.” + +Rochas endeavored to silence him, and it was on his brutal lips to say +that it was useless to imperil two comrades’ lives for one whose wound +was so evidently mortal, when his better nature made its influence felt +and he murmured: + +“Be patient for a little, my poor boy, and the litter-bearers will come +and get you.” + +But the wretched man, whose tears were now flowing, kept crying, as one +distraught that his dream of happiness was vanishing with his trickling +life-blood: + +“Take me away, take me away—” + +Finally Captain Beaudoin, whose already unstrung nerves were further +irritated by his pitiful cries, called for two volunteers to carry him +to a little piece of woods a short way off where a flying ambulance had +been established. Chouteau and Loubet jumped to their feet +simultaneously, anticipating the others, seized the sergeant, one of +them by the shoulders, the other by the legs, and bore him away on a +run. They had gone but a little way, however, when they felt the body +becoming rigid in the final convulsion; he was dying. + +“I say, he’s dead,” exclaimed Loubet. “Let’s leave him here.” + +But Chouteau, without relaxing his speed, angrily replied: + +“Go ahead, you booby, will you! Do you take me for a fool, to leave him +here and have them call us back!” + +They pursued their course with the corpse until they came to the little +wood, threw it down at the foot of a tree, and went their way. That was +the last that was seen of them until nightfall. + +The battery beside them had been strengthened by three additional guns; +the cannonade on either side went on with increased fury, and in the +hideous uproar terror—a wild, unreasoning terror—filled Maurice’s soul. +It was his first experience of the sensation; he had not until now felt +that cold sweat trickling down his back, that terrible sinking at the +pit of the stomach, that unconquerable desire to get on his feet and +run, yelling and screaming, from the field. It was nothing more than +the strain from which his nervous, high-strung temperament was +suffering from reflex action; but Jean, who was observing him narrowly, +detected the incipient crisis in the wandering, vacant eyes, and +seizing him with his strong hand, held him down firmly at his side. The +corporal lectured him paternally in a whisper, not mincing his words, +but employing good, vigorous language to restore him to a sense of +self-respect, for he knew by experience that a man in panic is not to +be coaxed out of his cowardice. There were others also who were showing +the white feather, among them Pache, who was whimpering involuntarily, +in the low, soft voice of a little baby, his eyes suffused with tears. +Lapoulle’s stomach betrayed him and he was very ill; and there were +many others who also found relief in vomiting, amid their comrade’s +loud jeers and laughter, which helped to restore their courage to them +all. + +“My God!” ejaculated Maurice, ghastly pale, his teeth chattering. “My +God!” + +Jean shook him roughly. “You infernal coward, are you going to be sick +like those fellows over yonder? Behave yourself, or I’ll box your +ears.” + +He was trying to put heart into his friend by gruff but friendly +speeches like the above, when they suddenly beheld a dozen dark forms +emerging from a little wood upon their front and about four hundred +yards away. Their spiked helmets announced them to be Prussians; the +first Prussians they had had within reach of their rifles since the +opening of the campaign. This first squad was succeeded by others, and +in front of their position the little dust clouds that rose where the +French shells struck were distinctly visible. It was all very vivid and +clear-cut in the transparent air of morning; the Germans, outlined +against the dark forest, presented the toy-like appearance of those +miniature soldiers of lead that are the delight of children; then, as +the enemy’s shells began to drop in their vicinity with uncomfortable +frequency, they withdrew and were lost to sight within the wood whence +they had come. + +But Beaudoin’s company had seen them there once, and to their eyes they +were there still; the chassepots seemed to go off of their own accord. +Maurice was the first man to discharge his piece; Jean, Pache, Lapoulle +and the others all followed suit. There had been no order given to +commence firing, and the captain made an attempt to check it, but +desisted upon Rochas’s representation that it was absolutely necessary +as a measure of relief for the men’s pent-up feelings. So, then, they +were at liberty to shoot at last, they could use up those cartridges +that they had been lugging around with them for the last month, without +ever burning a single one! The effect on Maurice in particular was +electrical; the noise he made had the effect of dispelling his fear and +blunting the keenness of his sensations. The little wood had resumed +its former deserted aspect; not a leaf stirred, no more Prussians +showed themselves; and still they kept on blazing away as madly as ever +at the immovable trees. + +Raising his eyes presently Maurice was startled to see Colonel de +Vineuil sitting his big horse at no great distance, man and steed +impassive and motionless as if carved from stone, patient were they +under the leaden hail, with face turned toward the enemy. The entire +regiment was now collected in that vicinity, the other companies being +posted in the adjacent fields; the musketry fire seemed to be drawing +nearer. The young man also beheld the regimental colors a little to the +rear, borne aloft by the sturdy arm of the standard-bearer, but it was +no longer the phantom flag that he had seen that morning, shrouded in +mist and fog; the golden eagle flashed and blazed in the fierce +sunlight, and the tri-colored silk, despite the rents and stains of +many a battle, flaunted its bright hues defiantly to the breeze. Waving +in the breath of the cannon, floating proudly against the blue of +heaven, it shone like an emblem of victory. + +And why, now that the day of battle had arrived, should not victory +perch upon that banner? With that reflection Maurice and his companions +kept on industriously wasting their powder on the distant wood, +producing havoc there among the leaves and twigs. + + + + +III. + + +Sleep did not visit Henriette’s eyes that night. She knew her husband +to be a prudent man, but the thought that he was in Bazeilles, so near +the German lines, was cause to her of deep anxiety. She tried to soothe +her apprehensions by reminding herself that she had his solemn promise +to return at the first appearance of danger; it availed not, and at +every instant she detected herself listening to catch the sound of his +footstep on the stair. At ten o’clock, as she was about to go to bed, +she opened her window, and resting her elbows on the sill, gazed out +into the night. + +The darkness was intense; looking downward, she could scarce discern +the pavement of the Rue des Voyards, a narrow, obscure passage, +overhung by old frowning mansions. Further on, in the direction of the +college, a smoky street lamp burned dimly. A nitrous exhalation rose +from the street; the squall of a vagrant cat; the heavy step of a +belated soldier. From the city at her back came strange and alarming +sounds: the patter of hurrying feet, an ominous, incessant rumbling, a +muffled murmur without a name that chilled her blood. Her heart beat +loudly in her bosom as she bent her ear to listen, and still she heard +not the familiar echo of her husband’s step at the turning of the +street below. + +Hours passed, and now distant lights that began to twinkle in the open +fields beyond the ramparts excited afresh her apprehensions. It was so +dark that it cost her an effort of memory to recall localities. She +knew that the broad expanse that lay beneath her, reflecting a dim +light, was the flooded meadows, and that flame that blazed up and was +suddenly extinguished, surely it must be on la Marfée. But never, to +her certain knowledge, had there been farmer’s house or peasant’s +cottage on those heights; what, then, was the meaning of that light? +And then on every hand, at Pont-Maugis, Noyers, Frenois, other fires +arose, coruscating fitfully for an instant and giving mysterious +indication of the presence of the swarming host that lay hidden in the +bosom of the night. Yet more: there were strange sounds and voices in +the air, subdued murmurings such as she had never heard before, and +that made her start in terror; the stifled hum of marching men, the +neighing and snorting of steeds, the clash of arms, hoarse words of +command, given in guttural accents; an evil dream of a demoniac crew, a +witch’s sabbat, in the depths of those unholy shades. Suddenly a single +cannon-shot rang out, ear-rending, adding fresh terror to the dead +silence that succeeded it. It froze her very marrow; what could it +mean? A signal, doubtless, telling of the successful completion of some +movement, announcing that everything was ready, down there, and that +now the sun might rise. + +It was about two o’clock when Henriette, forgetting even to close her +window, at last threw herself, fully dressed, upon her bed. Her anxiety +and fatigue had stupefied her and benumbed her faculties. What could +ail her, thus to shiver and burn alternately, she who was always so +calm and self-reliant, moving with so light a step that those about her +were unconscious of her existence? Finally she sank into a fitful, +broken slumber that brought with it no repose, in which was present +still that persistent sensation of impending evil that filled the dusky +heavens. All at once, arousing her from her unrefreshing stupor, the +firing commenced again, faint and muffled in the distance, not a single +shot this time, but peal after peal following one another in quick +succession. Trembling, she sat upright in bed. The firing continued. +Where was she? The place seemed strange to her; she could not +distinguish the objects in her chamber, which appeared to be filled +with dense clouds of smoke. Then she remembered: the fog must have +rolled in from the near-by river and entered the room through the +window. Without, the distant firing was growing fiercer. She leaped +from her bed and ran to the casement to listen. + +Four o’clock was striking from a steeple in Sedan, and day was +breaking, tingeing the purplish mists with a sickly, sinister light. It +was impossible to discern objects; even the college buildings, distant +but a few yards, were undistinguishable. Where could the firing be, +_mon Dieu_! Her first thought was for her brother Maurice; for the +reports were so indistinct that they seemed to her to come from the +north, above the city; then, listening more attentively, her doubt +became certainty; the cannonading was there, before her, and she +trembled for her husband. It was surely at Bazeilles. For a little +time, however, she suffered herself to be cheered by a ray of hope, for +there were moments when the reports seemed to come from the right. +Perhaps the fighting was at Donchery, where she knew that the French +had not succeeded in blowing up the bridge. Then she lapsed into a +condition of most horrible uncertainty; it seemed to be now at +Donchery, now at Bazeilles; which, it was impossible to decide, there +was such a ringing, buzzing sensation in her head. At last the feeling +of suspense became so acute that she felt she could not endure it +longer; she _must_ know; every nerve in her body was quivering with the +ungovernable desire, so she threw a shawl over her shoulders and left +the house in quest of news. + +When she had descended and was in the street Henriette hesitated a +brief moment, for the little light that was in the east had not yet +crept downward along the weather-blackened house-fronts to the roadway, +and in the old city, shrouded in opaque fog, the darkness still reigned +impenetrable. In the tap-room of a low pot-house in the Rue au Beurre, +dimly lighted by a tallow candle, she saw two drunken Turcos and a +woman. It was not until she turned into the Rue Maqua that she +encountered any signs of life: soldiers slinking furtively along the +sidewalk and hugging the walls, deserters probably, on the lookout for +a place in which to hide; a stalwart trooper with despatches, searching +for his captain and knocking thunderously at every door; a group of fat +burghers, trembling with fear lest they had tarried there too long, and +preparing to crowd themselves into one small carriole if so be they +might yet reach Bouillon, in Belgium, whither half the population of +Sedan had emigrated within the last two days. She instinctively turned +her steps toward the Sous-Prefecture, where she might depend on +receiving information, and her desire to avoid meeting acquaintances +determined her to take a short cut through lanes and by-ways. On +reaching the Rue du Four and the Rue des Laboureurs, however, she found +an obstacle in her way; the place had been pre-empted by the ordnance +department, and guns, caissons, forges were there in interminable +array, having apparently been parked away in that remote corner the day +before and then forgotten there. There was not so much as a sentry to +guard them. It sent a chill to her heart to see all that artillery +lying there silent and ineffective, sleeping its neglected sleep in the +concealment of those deserted alleys. She was compelled to retrace her +steps, therefore, which she did by passing through the Place du Collège +to the Grande-Rue, where in front of the Hotel de l’Europe she saw a +group of orderlies holding the chargers of some general officers, whose +high-pitched voices were audible from the brilliantly lighted dining +room. On the Place du Rivage and the Place Turenne the crowd was even +greater still, composed of anxious groups of citizens, with women and +children interspersed among the struggling, terror-stricken throng, +hurrying in every direction; and there she saw a general emerge from +the Hotel of the Golden Cross, swearing like a pirate, and spur his +horse off up the street at a mad gallop, careless whom he might +overturn. For a moment she seemed about to enter the Hôtel de Ville, +then changed her mind, and taking the Rue du Pont-de-Meuse, pushed on +to the Sous-Prefecture. + +Never had Sedan appeared to her in a light so tragically sinister as +now, when she beheld it in the livid, forbidding light of early dawn, +enveloped in its shroud of fog. The houses were lifeless and silent as +tombs; many of them had been empty and abandoned for the last two days, +others the terrified owners had closely locked and barred. Shuddering, +the city awoke to the cares and occupations of the new day; the morning +was fraught with chill misery in those streets, still half deserted, +peopled only by a few frightened pedestrians and those hurrying +fugitives, the remnant of the exodus of previous days. Soon the sun +would rise and send down its cheerful light upon the scene; soon the +city, overwhelmed in the swift-rising tide of disaster, would be +crowded as it had never been before. It was half-past five o’clock; the +roar of the cannon, caught and deadened among the tall dingy houses, +sounded more faintly in her ears. + +At the Sous-Prefecture Henriette had some acquaintance with the +concierge’s daughter, Rose by name, a pretty little blonde of refined +appearance who was employed in Delaherche’s factory. She made her way +at once to the lodge; the mother was not there, but Rose received her +with her usual amiability. + +“Oh! dear lady, we are so tired we can scarcely stand; mamma has gone +to lie down and rest a while. Just think! all night long people have +been coming and going, and we have not been able to get a wink of +sleep.” + +And burning to tell all the wonderful sights that she had been witness +to since the preceding day, she did not wait to be questioned, but ran +on volubly with her narrative. + +“As for the marshal, he slept very well, but that poor Emperor! you +can’t think what suffering he has to endure! Yesterday evening, do you +know, I had gone upstairs to help give out the linen, and as I entered +the apartment that adjoins his dressing-room I heard groans, oh, _such_ +groans! just like someone dying. I thought a moment and knew it must be +the Emperor, and I was so frightened I couldn’t move; I just stood and +trembled. It seems he has some terrible complaint that makes him cry +out that way. When there are people around he holds in, but as soon as +he is alone it is too much for him, and he groans and shrieks in a way +to make your hair stand on end.” + +“Do you know where the fighting is this morning?” asked Henriette, +desiring to check her loquacity. + +Rose dismissed the question with a wave of her little hand and went on +with her narrative. + +“That made me curious to know more, you see, and I went upstairs four +or five times during the night and listened, and every time it was just +the same; I don’t believe he was quiet an instant all night long, or +got a minute’s sleep. Oh! what a terrible thing it is to suffer like +that with all he has to worry him! for everything is upside down; it is +all a most dreadful mess. Upon my word, I believe those generals are +out of their senses; such ghostly faces and frightened eyes! And people +coming all the time, and doors banging and some men scolding and others +crying, and the whole place like a sailor’s boarding-house; officers +drinking from bottles and going to bed in their boots! The Emperor is +the best of the whole lot, and the one who gives least trouble, in the +corner where he conceals himself and his suffering!” Then, in reply to +Henriette’s reiterated question: “The fighting? there has been fighting +at Bazeilles this morning. A mounted officer brought word of it to the +marshal, who went immediately to notify the Emperor. The marshal has +been gone ten minutes, and I shouldn’t wonder if the Emperor intends to +follow him, for they are dressing him upstairs. I just now saw them +combing him and plastering his face with all sorts of cosmetics.” + +But Henriette, having finally learned what she desired to know, rose to +go. + +“Thank you, Rose. I am in somewhat of a hurry this morning.” + +The young girl went with her to the street door, and took leave of her +with a courteous: + +“Glad to have been of service to you, Madame Weiss. I know that +anything said to you will go no further.” + +Henriette hurried back to her house in the Rue des Voyards. She felt +quite certain that her husband would have returned, and even reflected +that he would be alarmed at not finding her there, and hastened her +steps in consequence. As she drew near the house she raised her eyes in +the expectation of seeing him at the window watching for her, but the +window, wide open as she had left it when she went out, was vacant, and +when she had run up the stairs and given a rapid glance through her +three rooms, it was with a sinking heart that she saw they were +untenanted save for the chill fog and continuous roar of the cannonade. +The distant firing was still going on. She went and stood for a moment +at the window; although the encircling wall of vapor was not less dense +than it had been before, she seemed to have a clearer apprehension, now +that she had received oral information, of the details of the conflict +raging at Bazeilles, the grinding sound of the mitrailleuses, the +crashing volleys of the French batteries answering the German batteries +in the distance. The reports seemed to be drawing nearer to the city, +the battle to be waxing fiercer and fiercer with every moment. + +Why did not Weiss return? He had pledged himself so faithfully not to +outstay the first attack! And Henriette began to be seriously alarmed, +depicting to herself the various obstacles that might have detained +him: perhaps he had not been able to leave the village, perhaps the +roads were blocked or rendered impassable by the projectiles. It might +even be that something had happened him, but she put the thought aside +and would not dwell on it, preferring to view things on their brighter +side and finding in hope her safest mainstay and reliance. For an +instant she harbored the design of starting out and trying to find her +husband, but there were considerations that seemed to render that +course inadvisable: supposing him to have started on his return, what +would become of her should she miss him on the way? and what would be +his anxiety should he come in and find her absent? Her guiding +principle in all her thoughts and actions was her gentle, affectionate +devotedness, and she saw nothing strange or out of the way in a visit +to Bazeilles under such extraordinary circumstances, accustomed as she +was, like an affectionate little woman, to perform her duty in silence +and do the thing that she deemed best for their common interest. Where +her husband was, there was her place; that was all there was about it. + +She gave a sudden start and left the window, saying: + +“Monsieur Delaherche, how could I forget—” + +It had just come to her recollection that the cloth manufacturer had +also passed the night at Bazeilles, and if he had returned would be +able to give her the intelligence she wanted. She ran swiftly down the +stairs again. In place of taking the more roundabout way by the Rue des +Voyards, she crossed the little courtyard of her house and entered the +passage that conducted to the huge structure that fronted on the Rue +Maqua. As she came out into the great central garden, paved with +flagstones now and retaining of its pristine glories only a few +venerable trees, magnificent century-old elms, she was astonished to +see a sentry mounting guard at the door of a carriage-house; then it +occurred to her that she had been told the day before that the camp +chests of the 7th corps had been deposited there for safe keeping, and +it produced a strange impression on her mind that all the gold, +millions, it was said to amount to, should be lying in that shed while +the men for whom it was destined were being killed not far away. As she +was about to ascend the private staircase, however, that conducted to +the apartment of Gilberte, young Madame Delaherche, she experienced +another surprise in an encounter that startled her so that she retraced +her steps a little way, doubtful whether it would not be better to +abandon her intention, and go home again. An officer, a captain, had +crossed her path, as noiselessly as a phantom and vanishing as swiftly, +and yet she had had time to recognize him, having seen him in the past +at Gilberte’s house in Charleville, in the days when she was still +Madame Maginot. She stepped back a few steps in the courtyard and +raised her eyes to the two tall windows of the bedroom, the blinds of +which were closed, then dismissed her scruples and entered. + +Upon reaching the first floor, availing herself of that privilege of +old acquaintanceship by virtue of which one woman often drops in upon +another for an unceremonious early morning chat, she was about to knock +at the door of the dressing-room, but apparently someone had left the +room hastily and failed to secure the door, so that it was standing +ajar, and all she had to do was give it a push to find herself in the +dressing room, whence she passed into the bedroom. From the lofty +ceiling of the latter apartment depended voluminous curtains of red +velvet, protecting the large double bed. The warm, moist air was +fragrant with a faint perfume of Persian lilac, and there was no sound +to break the silence save a gentle, regular respiration, scarcely +audible. + +“Gilberte!” said Henriette, very softly. + +The young woman was sleeping peacefully, and the dim light that entered +the room between the red curtains of the high windows displayed her +exquisitely rounded head resting upon a naked arm and her profusion of +beautiful hair straying in disorder over the pillow. Her lips were +parted in a smile. + +“Gilberte!” + +She slightly moved and stretched her arms, without opening her eyes. + +“Yes, yes; good-by. Oh! please—” Then, raising her head and recognizing +Henriette: “What, is it you! How late is it?” + +When she learned that it had not yet struck six she seemed +disconcerted, assuming a sportive air to hide her embarrassment, saying +it was unfair to come waking people up at such an hour. Then, to her +friend, questioning her about her husband, she made answer: + +“Why, he has not returned; I don’t look for him much before nine +o’clock. What makes you so eager to see him at this hour of the +morning?” + +Henriette’s voice had a trace of sternness in it as she answered, +seeing the other so smiling, so dull of comprehension in her happy +waking. + +“I tell you there has been fighting all the morning at Bazeilles, and I +am anxious about my husband.” + +“Oh, my dear,” exclaimed Gilberte, “I assure you there is not the +slightest reason for your feeling so. My husband is so prudent that he +would have been home long ago had there been any danger. Until you see +him back here you may rest easy, take my word for it.” + +Henriette was struck by the justness of the argument; Delaherche, it +was true, was distinctly not a man to expose himself uselessly. She was +reassured, and went and drew the curtains and threw back the blinds; +the tawny light from without, where the sun was beginning to pierce the +fog with his golden javelins, streamed in a bright flood into the +apartment. One of the windows was part way open, and in the soft air of +the spacious bedroom, but now so close and stuffy, the two women could +hear the sound of the guns. Gilberte, half recumbent, her elbow resting +on the pillow, gazed out upon the sky with her lustrous, vacant eyes. + +“So, then, they are fighting,” she murmured. Her chemise had slipped +downward, exposing a rosy, rounded shoulder, half hidden beneath the +wandering raven tresses, and her person exhaled a subtle, penetrating +odor, the odor of love. “They are fighting, so early in the morning, +_mon Dieu!_ It would be ridiculous if it were not for the horror of +it.” + +But Henriette, in looking about the room, had caught sight of a pair of +gauntlets, the gloves of a man, lying forgotten on a small table, and +she started perceptibly. Gilberte blushed deeply, and extending her +arms with a conscious, caressing movement, drew her friend to her and +rested her head upon her bosom. + +“Yes,” she almost whispered, “I saw that you noticed it. Darling, you +must not judge me too severely. He is an old friend; I told you all +about it at Charleville, long ago, you remember.” Her voice sank lower +still; there was something that sounded very like a laugh of +satisfaction in her tender tones. “He pleaded so with me yesterday that +I would see him just once more. Just think, this morning he is in +action; he may be dead by this. How could I refuse him?” It was all so +heroic and so charming, the contrast was so delicious between war’s +stern reality and tender sentiment; thoughtless as a linnet, she smiled +again, notwithstanding her confusion. Never could she have found it in +her heart to drive him from her door, when circumstances all were +propitious for the interview. “Do you condemn me?” + +Henriette had listened to her confidences with a very grave face. Such +things surprised her, for she could not understand them; it must be +that she was constituted differently from other women. Her heart that +morning was with her husband, her brother, down there where the battle +was raging. How was it possible that anyone could sleep so peacefully +and be so gay and cheerful when the loved ones were in peril? + +“But think of your husband, my dear, and of that poor young man as +well. Does not your heart yearn to be with them? You do not reflect +that their lifeless forms may be brought in and laid before your eyes +at any moment.” + +Gilberte raised her adorable bare arm before her face to shield her +vision from the frightful picture. + +“O Heaven! what is that you say? It is cruel of you to destroy all the +pleasure of my morning in this way. No, no; I won’t think of such +things. They are too mournful.” + +Henriette could not refrain from smiling in spite of her anxiety. She +was thinking of the days of their girlhood, and how Gilberte’s father, +Captain de Vineuil, an old naval officer who had been made collector of +customs at Charleville when his wounds had incapacitated him for active +service, hearing his daughter cough and fearing for her the fate of his +young wife, who had been snatched from his arms by that terrible +disease, consumption, had sent her to live at a farm-house near +Chêne-Populeux. The little maid was not nine years old, and already she +was a consummate actress—a perfect type of the village coquette, +queening it over her playmates, tricked out in what old finery she +could lay hands on, adorning herself with bracelets and tiaras made +from the silver paper wrappings of the chocolate. She had not changed a +bit when, later, at the age of twenty, she married Maginot, the +inspector of woods and forests. Mézières, a dark, gloomy town, +surrounded by ramparts, was not to her taste, and she continued to live +at Charleville, where the gay, generous life, enlivened by many +festivities, suited her better. Her father was dead, and with a husband +whom, by reason of his inferior social position, her friends and +acquaintances treated with scant courtesy, she was absolutely mistress +of her own actions. She did not escape the censure of the stern +moralists who inhabit our provincial cities, and in those days was +credited with many lovers; but of the gay throng of officers who, +thanks to her father’s old connection and her kinship to Colonel de +Vineuil, disported themselves in her drawing-room, Captain Beaudoin was +the only one who had really produced an impression. She was light and +frivolous—nothing more—adoring pleasure and living entirely in the +present, without the least trace of perverse inclination; and if she +accepted the captain’s attentions, it is pretty certain that she did it +out of good-nature and love of admiration. + +“You did very wrong to see him again,” Henriette finally said, in her +matter-of-fact way. + +“Oh! my dear, since I could not possibly do otherwise, and it was only +for just that once. You know very well I would die rather than deceive +my new husband.” + +She spoke with much feeling, and seemed distressed to see her friend +shake her head disapprovingly. They dropped the subject, and clasped +each other in an affectionate embrace, notwithstanding their +diametrically different natures. Each could hear the beating of the +other’s heart, and they might have understood the tongues those organs +spoke—one, the slave of pleasure, wasting and squandering all that was +best in herself; the other, with the mute heroism of a lofty soul, +devoting herself to a single ennobling affection. + +“But hark! how the cannon are roaring,” Gilberte presently exclaimed. +“I must make haste and dress.” + +The reports sounded more distinctly in the silent room now that their +conversation had ceased. Leaving her bed, the young woman accepted the +assistance of her friend, not caring to summon her maid, and rapidly +made her toilet for the day, in order that she might be ready to go +downstairs should she be needed there. As she was completing the +arrangement of her hair there was a knock at the door, and, recognizing +the voice of the elder Madame Delaherche, she hastened to admit her. + +“Certainly, dear mother, you may come in.” + +With the thoughtlessness that was part of her nature, she allowed the +old lady to enter without having first removed the gauntlets from the +table. It was in vain that Henriette darted forward to seize them and +throw them behind a chair. Madame Delaherche stood glaring for some +seconds at the spot where they had been with an expression on her face +as if she were slowly suffocating. Then her glance wandered +involuntarily from object to object in the room, stopping finally at +the great red-curtained bed, the coverings thrown back in disorder. + +“I see that Madame Weiss has disturbed your slumbers. Then you were +able to sleep, daughter?” + +It was plain that she had had another purpose in coming there than to +make that speech. Ah, that marriage that her son had insisted on +contracting, contrary to her wish, at the mature age of fifty, after +twenty years of joyless married life with a shrewish, bony wife; he, +who had always until then deferred so to her will, now swayed only by +his passion for this gay young widow, lighter than thistle-down! She +had promised herself to keep watch over the present, and there was the +past coming back to plague her. But ought she to speak? Her life in the +household was one of silent reproach and protest; she kept herself +almost constantly imprisoned in her chamber, devoting herself rigidly +to the observances of her austere religion. Now, however, the wrong was +so flagrant that she resolved to speak to her son. + +Gilberte blushingly replied, without an excessive manifestation of +embarrassment, however: + +“Oh, yes, I had a few hours of refreshing sleep. You know that Jules +has not returned—” + +Madame Delaherche interrupted her with a grave nod of her head. Ever +since the artillery had commenced to roar she had been watching eagerly +for her son’s return, but she was a Spartan mother, and concealed her +gnawing anxiety under a cloak of brave silence. And then she remembered +what was the object of her visit there. + +“Your uncle, the colonel, has sent the regimental surgeon with a note +in pencil, to ask if we will allow them to establish a hospital here. +He knows that we have abundance of space in the factory, and I have +already authorized the gentlemen to make use of the courtyard and the +big drying-room. But you should go down in person—” + +“Oh, at once, at once!” exclaimed Henriette, hastening toward the door. +“We will do what we can to help.” + +Gilberte also displayed much enthusiasm for her new occupation as +nurse; she barely took the time to throw a lace scarf over her head, +and the three women went downstairs. When they reached the bottom and +stood in the spacious vestibule, looking out through the main entrance, +of which the leaves had been thrown wide back, they beheld a crowd +collected in the street before the house. A low-hung carriage was +advancing slowly along the roadway, a sort of carriole, drawn by a +single horse, which a lieutenant of zouaves was leading by the bridle. +They took it to be a wounded man that they were bringing to them, the +first of their patients. + +“Yes, yes! This is the place; this way!” + +But they were quickly undeceived. The sufferer recumbent in the +carriole was Marshal MacMahon, severely wounded in the hip, who, his +hurt having been provisionally cared for in the cottage of a gardener, +was now being taken to the Sous-Prefecture. He was bareheaded and +partially divested of his clothing, and the gold embroidery on his +uniform was tarnished with dust and blood. He spoke no word, but had +raised his head from the pillow where it lay and was looking about him +with a sorrowful expression, and perceiving the three women where they +stood, wide eyed with horror, their joined hands resting on their +bosom, in presence of that great calamity, the whole army stricken in +the person of its chief at the very beginning of the conflict, he +slightly bowed his head, with a faint, paternal smile. A few of those +about him removed their hats; others, who had no time for such idle +ceremony, were circulating the report of General Ducrot’s appointment +to the command of the army. It was half-past seven o’clock. + +“And what of the Emperor?” Henriette inquired of a bookseller, who was +standing at his door. + +“He left the city near an hour ago,” replied the neighbor. “I was +standing by and saw him pass out at the Balan gate. There is a rumor +that his head was taken off by a cannon ball.” + +But this made the grocer across the street furious. “Hold your tongue,” +he shouted, “it is an infernal lie! None but the brave will leave their +bones there to-day!” + +When near the Place du Collège the marshal’s carriole was lost to sight +in the gathering crowd, among whose numbers the most strange and +contradictory reports from the field of battle were now beginning to +circulate. The fog was clearing; the streets were bright with sunshine. + +A hail, in no gentle terms, was heard proceeding from the courtyard: +“Now then, ladies, here is where you are wanted, not outside!” + +They all three hastened inside and found themselves in presence of +Major Bouroche, who had thrown his uniform coat upon the floor, in a +corner of the room, and donned a great white apron. Above the broad +expanse of, as yet, unspotted white, his blazing, leonine eyes and +enormous head, with shock of harsh, bristling hair, seemed to exhale +energy and determination. So terrible did he appear to them that the +women were his most humble servants from the very start, obedient to +his every sign, treading on one another to anticipate his wishes. + +“There is nothing here that is needed. Get me some linen; try and see +if you can’t find some more mattresses; show my men where the pump is—” + +And they ran as if their life was at stake to do his bidding; were so +active that they seemed to be ubiquitous. + +The factory was admirably adapted for a hospital. The drying-room was a +particularly noticeable feature, a vast apartment with numerous and +lofty windows for light and ventilation, where they could put in a +hundred beds and yet have room to spare, and at one side was a shed +that seemed to have been built there especially for the convenience of +the operators: three long tables had been brought in, the pump was +close at hand, and a small grass-plot adjacent might serve as +ante-chamber for the patients while awaiting their turn. And the +handsome old elms, with their deliciously cool shade, roofed the spot +in most agreeably. + +Bouroche had considered it would be best to establish himself in Sedan +at the commencement, foreseeing the dreadful slaughter and the +inevitable panic that would sooner or later drive the troops to the +shelter of the ramparts. All that he had deemed it necessary to leave +with the regiment was two flying ambulances and some “first aids,” that +were to send him in the casualties as rapidly as possible after +applying the primary dressings. The details of litter-bearers were all +out there, whose duty it was to pick up the wounded under fire, and +with them were the ambulance wagons and _fourgons_ of the medical +train. The two assistant-surgeons and three hospital stewards whom he +had retained, leaving two assistants on the field, would doubtless be +sufficient to perform what operations were necessary. He had also a +corps of dressers under him. But he was not gentle in manner and +language, for all he did was done impulsively, zealously, with all his +heart and soul. + +“_Tonnerre de Dieu!_ how do you suppose we are going to distinguish the +cases from one another when they begin to come in presently? Take a +piece of charcoal and number each bed with a big figure on the wall +overhead, and place those mattresses closer together, do you hear? We +can strew some straw on the floor in that corner if it becomes +necessary.” + +The guns were barking, preparing his work for him; he knew that at any +moment now the first carriage might drive up and discharge its load of +maimed and bleeding flesh, and he hastened to get all in readiness in +the great, bare room. Outside in the shed the preparations were of +another nature: the chests were opened and their contents arranged in +order on a table, packages of lint, bandages, compresses, rollers, +splints for fractured limbs, while on another table, alongside a great +jar of cerate and a bottle of chloroform, were the surgical cases with +their blood-curdling array of glittering instruments, probes, forceps, +bistouries, scalpels, scissors, saws, an arsenal of implements of every +imaginable shape adapted to pierce, cut, slice, rend, crush. But there +was a deficient supply of basins. + +“You must have pails, pots, jars about the house—something that will +hold water. We can’t work besmeared with blood all day, that’s certain. +And sponges, try to get me some sponges.” + +Madame Delaherche hurried away and returned, followed by three women +bearing a supply of the desired vessels. Gilberte, standing by the +table where the instruments were laid out, summoned Henriette to her +side by a look and pointed to them with a little shudder. They grasped +each other’s hand and stood for a moment without speaking, but their +mute clasp was eloquent of the solemn feeling of terror and pity that +filled both their souls. And yet there was a difference, for one +retained, even in her distress, the involuntary smile of her bright +youth, while in the eyes of the other, pale as death, was the grave +earnestness of the heart which, one love lost, can never love again. + +“How terrible it must be, dear, to have an arm or leg cut off!” + +“Poor fellows!” + +Bouroche had just finished placing a mattress on each of the three +tables, covering them carefully with oil-cloth, when the sound of +horses’ hoofs was heard outside and the first ambulance wagon rolled +into the court. There were ten men in it, seated on the lateral +benches, only slightly wounded; two or three of them carrying their arm +in a sling, but the majority hurt about the head. They alighted with +but little assistance, and the inspection of their cases commenced +forthwith. + +One of them, scarcely more than a boy, had been shot through the +shoulder, and as Henriette was tenderly assisting him to draw off his +greatcoat, an operation that elicited cries of pain, she took notice of +the number of his regiment. + +“Why, you belong to the 106th! Are you in Captain Beaudoin’s company?” + +No, he belonged to Captain Bonnaud’s company, but for all that he was +well acquainted with Corporal Macquart and felt pretty certain that his +squad had not been under fire as yet. The tidings, meager as they were, +sufficed to remove a great load from the young woman’s heart: her +brother was alive and well; if now her husband would only return, as +she was expecting every moment he would do, her mind would be quite at +rest. + +At that moment, just as Henriette raised her head to listen to the +cannonade, which was then roaring with increased viciousness, she was +thunderstruck to see Delaherche standing only a few steps away in the +middle of a group of men, to whom he was telling the story of the +frightful dangers he had encountered in getting from Bazeilles to +Sedan. How did he happen to be there? She had not seen him come in. She +darted toward him. + +“Is not my husband with you?” + +But Delaherche, who was just then replying to the fond questions of his +wife and mother, was in no haste to answer. + +“Wait, wait a moment.” And resuming his narrative: “Twenty times +between Bazeilles and Balan I just missed being killed. It was a storm, +a regular hurricane, of shot and shell! And I saw the Emperor, too. Oh! +but he is a brave man!—And after leaving Balan I ran—” + +Henriette shook him by the arm. + +“My husband?” + +“Weiss? why, he stayed behind there, Weiss did.” + +“What do you mean, behind there?” + +“Why, yes; he picked up the musket of a dead soldier, and is fighting +away with the best of them.” + +“He is fighting, you say?—and why?” + +“He must be out of his head, I think. He would not come with me, and of +course I had to leave him.” + +Henriette gazed at him fixedly, with wide-dilated eyes. For a moment no +one spoke; then in a calm voice she declared her resolution. + +“It is well; I will go to him.” + +What, she, go to him? But it was impossible, it was preposterous! +Delaherche had more to say of his hurricane of shot and shell. Gilberte +seized her by the wrists to detain her, while Madame Delaherche used +all her persuasive powers to convince her of the folly of the mad +undertaking. In the same gentle, determined tone she repeated: + +“It is useless; I will go to him.” + +She would only wait to adjust upon her head the lace scarf that +Gilberte had been wearing and which the latter insisted she should +accept. In the hope that his offer might cause her to abandon her +resolve Delaherche declared that he would go with her at least as far +as the Balan gate, but just then he caught sight of the sentry, who, in +all the turmoil and confusion of the time, had been pacing +uninterruptedly up and down before the building that contained the +treasure chests of the 7th corps, and suddenly he remembered, was +alarmed, went to give a look and assure himself that the millions were +there still. In the meantime Henriette had reached the portico and was +about to pass out into the street. + +“Wait for me, won’t you? Upon my word, you are as mad as your husband!” + +Another ambulance had driven up, moreover, and they had to wait to let +it pass in. It was smaller than the other, having but two wheels, and +the two men whom it contained, both severely wounded, rested on +stretchers placed upon the floor. The first one whom the attendants +took out, using the most tender precaution, had one hand broken and his +side torn by a splinter of shell; he was a mass of bleeding flesh. The +second had his left leg shattered; and Bouroche, giving orders to +extend the latter on one of the oil-cloth-covered mattresses, proceeded +forthwith to operate on him, surrounded by the staring, pushing crowd +of dressers and assistants. Madame Delaherche and Gilberte were seated +near the grass-plot, employed in rolling bandages. + +In the street outside Delaherche had caught up with Henriette. + +“Come, my dear Madame Weiss, abandon this foolhardy undertaking. How +can you expect to find Weiss in all that confusion? Most likely he is +no longer there by this time; he is probably making his way home +through the fields. I assure you that Bazeilles is inaccessible.” + +But she did not even listen to him, only increasing her speed, and had +now entered the Rue de Menil, her shortest way to the Balan gate. It +was nearly nine o’clock, and Sedan no longer wore the forbidding, +funereal aspect of the morning, when it awoke to grope and shudder amid +the despair and gloom of its black fog. The shadows of the houses were +sharply defined upon the pavement in the bright sunlight, the streets +were filled with an excited, anxious throng, through which orderlies +and staff officers were constantly pushing their way at a gallop. The +chief centers of attraction were the straggling soldiers who, even at +this early hour of the day, had begun to stream into the city, minus +arms and equipments, some of them slightly wounded, others in an +extreme condition of nervous excitation, shouting and gesticulating +like lunatics. And yet the place would have had very much its every-day +aspect, had it not been for the tight-closed shutters of the shops, the +lifeless house-fronts, where not a blind was open. Then there was the +cannonade, that never-ceasing cannonade, beneath which earth and rocks, +walls and foundations, even to the very slates upon the roofs, shook +and trembled. + +What between the damage that his reputation as a man of bravery and +politeness would inevitably suffer should he desert Henriette in her +time of trouble, and his disinclination to again face the iron hail on +the Bazeilles road, Delaherche was certainly in a very unpleasant +predicament. Just as they reached the Balan gate a bevy of mounted +officers, returning to the city, suddenly came riding up, and they were +parted. There was a dense crowd of people around the gate, waiting for +news. It was all in vain that he ran this way and that, looking for the +young woman in the throng; she must have been beyond the walls by that +time, speeding along the road, and pocketing his gallantry for use on +some future occasion, he said to himself aloud: + +“Very well, so much the worse for her; it was too idiotic.” + +Then the manufacturer strolled about the city, bourgeois-like desirous +to lose no portion of the spectacle, and at the same time tormented by +a constantly increasing feeling of anxiety. How was it all to end? and +would not the city suffer heavily should the army be defeated? The +questions were hard ones to answer; he could not give a satisfactory +solution to the conundrum when so much depended on circumstances, but +none the less he was beginning to feel very uneasy for his factory and +house in the Rue Maqua, whence he had already taken the precaution to +remove his securities and valuables and bury them in a place of safety. +He dropped in at the Hôtel de Ville, found the Municipal Council +sitting in permanent session, and loitered away a couple of hours there +without hearing any fresh news, unless that affairs outside the walls +were beginning to look very threatening. The army, under the pushing +and hauling process, pushed back to the rear by General Ducrot during +the hour and a half while the command was in his hands, hauled forward +to the front again by de Wimpffen, his successor, knew not where to +yield obedience, and the entire lack of plan and competent leadership, +the incomprehensible vacillation, the abandonment of positions only to +retake them again at terrible cost of life, all these things could not +fail to end in ruin and disaster. + +From there Delaherche pushed forward to the Sous-Prefecture to +ascertain whether the Emperor had returned yet from the field of +battle. The only tidings he gleaned here were of Marshal MacMahon, who +was said to be resting comfortably, his wound, which was not dangerous, +having been dressed by a surgeon. About eleven o’clock, however, as he +was again going the rounds, his progress was arrested for a moment in +the Grande-Rue, opposite the Hotel de l’Europe, by a sorry cavalcade of +dust-stained horsemen, whose jaded nags were moving at a walk, and at +their head he recognized the Emperor, who was returning after having +spent four hours on the battle-field. It was plain that death would +have nothing to do with him. The big drops of anguish had washed the +rouge from off those painted cheeks, the waxed mustache had lost its +stiffness and drooped over the mouth, and in that ashen face, in those +dim eyes, was the stupor of one in his last agony. One of the officers +alighted in front of the hotel and proceeded to give some friends, who +were collected there, an account of their route, from la Moncelle to +Givonne, up the entire length of the little valley among the soldiers +of the 1st corps, who had already been pressed back by the Saxons +across the little stream to the right bank; and they had returned by +the sunken road of the Fond de Givonne, which was even then in such an +encumbered condition that had the Emperor desired to make his way to +the front again he would have found the greatest difficulty in doing +so. Besides, what would it have availed? + +As Delaherche was drinking in these particulars with greedy ears a loud +explosion shook the quarter. It was a shell, which had demolished a +chimney in the Rue Sainte-Barbe, near the citadel. There was a general +rush and scramble; men swore and women shrieked. He had flattened +himself against the wall, when another explosion broke the windows in a +house not far away. The consequences would be dreadful if they should +shell Sedan; he made his way back to the Rue Maqua on a keen run, and +was seized by such an imperious desire to learn the truth that he did +not pause below stairs, but hurried to the roof, where there was a +terrace that commanded a view of the city and its environs. + +A glance of the situation served to reassure him; the German fire was +not directed against the city; the batteries at Frenois and la Marfée +were shelling the Plateau de l’Algérie over the roofs of the houses, +and now that his alarm had subsided he could even watch with a certain +degree of admiration the flight of the projectiles as they sailed over +Sedan in a wide, majestic curve, leaving behind them a faint trail of +smoke upon the air, like gigantic birds, invisible to mortal eye and to +be traced only by the gray plumage shed by their pinions. At first it +seemed to him quite evident that what damage had been done so far was +the result of random practice by the Prussian gunners: they were not +bombarding the city yet; then, upon further consideration, he was of +opinion that their firing was intended as a response to the ineffectual +fire of the few guns mounted on the fortifications of the place. +Turning to the north he looked down from his position upon the extended +and complex system of defenses of the citadel, the frowning curtains +black with age, the green expanses of the turfed glacis, the stern +bastions that reared their heads at geometrically accurate angles, +prominent among them the three cyclopean salients, the Ecossais, the +Grand Jardin, and la Rochette, while further to the west, in extension +of the line, were Fort Nassau and Fort Palatinat, above the faubourg of +Menil. The sight produced in him a melancholy impression of immensity +and futility. Of what avail were they now against the powerful modern +guns with their immense range? Besides, the works were not manned; +cannon, ammunition, men were wanting. Some three weeks previously the +governor had invited the citizens to organize and form a National +Guard, and these volunteers were now doing duty as gunners; and thus it +was that there were three guns in service at Palatinat, while at the +Porte de Paris there may have been a half dozen. As they had only seven +or eight rounds to each gun, however, the men husbanded their +ammunition, limiting themselves to a shot every half hour, and that +only as a sort of salve to their self-respect, for none of their +missiles reached the enemy; all were lost in the meadows opposite them. +Hence the enemy’s batteries, disdainful of such small game, +contemptuously pitched a shell at them from time to time, out of +charity, as it were. + +Those batteries over across the river were objects of great interest to +Delaherche. He was eagerly scanning the heights of la Marfée with his +naked eye, when all at once he thought of the spy-glass with which he +sometimes amused himself by watching the doings of his neighbors from +the terrace. He ran downstairs and got it, returned and placed it in +position, and as he was slowly sweeping the horizon and trees, fields, +houses came within his range of vision, he lighted on that group of +uniforms, at the angle of a pine wood, over the main battery at +Frenois, of which Weiss had caught a glimpse from Bazeilles. To him, +however, thanks to the excellence of his glass, it would have been no +difficult matter to count the number of officers of the staff, so +distinctly he made them out. Some of them were reclining carelessly on +the grass, others were conversing in little groups, and in front of +them all stood a solitary figure, a spare, well-proportioned man to +appearances, in an unostentatious uniform, who yet asserted in some +indefinable way his masterhood. It was the Prussian King, scarce half +finger high, one of those miniature leaden toys that afford children +such delight. Although he was not certain of this identity until later +on the manufacturer found himself, by reason of some inexplicable +attraction, constantly returning to that diminutive puppet, whose face, +scarce larger than a pin’s head, was but a pale point against the +immense blue sky. + +It was not midday yet, and since nine o’clock the master had been +watching the movements, inexorable as fate, of his armies. Onward, ever +onward, they swept, by roads traced for them in advance, completing the +circle, slowly but surely closing in and enveloping Sedan in their +living wall of men and guns. The army on his left, that had come up +across the level plain of Donchery, was debouching still from the pass +of Saint-Albert and, leaving Saint-Menges in its rear, was beginning to +show its heads of columns at Fleigneux; and, in the rear of the XIth +corps, then sharply engaged with General Douay’s force, he could +discern the Vth corps, availing itself of the shelter of the woods and +advancing stealthily on Illy, while battery upon battery came wheeling +into position, an ever-lengthening line of thundering guns, until the +horizon was an unbroken ring of fire. On the right the army was now in +undisputed possession of the valley of the Givonne; the XIIth corps had +taken la Moncelle, the Guards had forced the passage of the stream at +Daigny, compelling General Ducrot to seek the protection of the wood of +la Garenne, and were pushing up the right bank, likewise in full march +upon the plateau of Illy. Their task was almost done; one effort more, +and up there at the north, among those barren fields, on the very verge +of the dark forests of the Ardennes, the Crown Prince of Prussia would +join hands with the Crown Prince of Saxony. To the south of Sedan the +village of Bazeilles was lost to sight in the dense smoke of its +burning houses, in the clouds of dun vapor that rose above the furious +conflict. + +And tranquilly, ever since the morning, the King had been watching and +waiting. An hour yet, two hours, it might be three, it mattered not; it +was only a question of time. Wheel and pinion, cog and lever, were +working in harmony, the great engine of destruction was in motion, and +soon would have run its course. In the center of the immense horizon, +beneath the deep vault of sunlit sky, the bounds of the battlefield +were ever becoming narrower, the black swarms were converging, closing +in on doomed Sedan. There were fiery reflexions in the windows of the +city; to the left, in the direction of the Faubourg de la Cassine, it +seemed as if a house was burning. And outside the circle of flame and +smoke, in the fields no longer trodden by armed men, over by Donchery, +over by Carignan, peace, warm and luminous, lay upon the land; the +bright waters of the Meuse, the lusty trees rejoicing in their +strength, the broad, verdant meadows, the fertile, well-kept farms, all +rested peacefully beneath the fervid noonday sun. + +Turning to his staff, the King briefly called for information upon some +point. It was the royal will to direct each move on the gigantic +chessboard; to hold in the hollow of his hand the hosts who looked to +him for guidance. At his left, a flock of swallows, affrighted by the +noise of the cannonade, rose high in air, wheeled, and vanished in the +south. + + + + +IV. + + +Between the city and Balan, Henriette got over the ground at a good, +round pace. It was not yet nine o’clock; the broad footpath, bordered +by gardens and pretty cottages, was as yet comparatively free, although +as she approached the village it began to be more and more obstructed +by flying citizens and moving troops. When she saw a great surge of the +human tide advancing on her she hugged the walls and house-fronts, and +by dint of address and perseverance slipped through, somehow. The fold +of black lace that half concealed her fair hair and small, pale face, +the sober gown that enveloped her slight form, made her an +inconspicuous object among the throng; she went her way unnoticed by +the by-passers, and nothing retarded her light, silent steps. + +At Balan, however, she found the road blocked by a regiment of +infanterie de marine. It was a compact mass of men, drawn up under the +tall trees that concealed them from the enemy’s observation, awaiting +orders. She raised herself on tiptoe, and could not see the end; still, +she made herself as small as she could and attempted to worm her way +through. The men shoved her with their elbows, and the butts of their +muskets made acquaintance with her ribs; when she had advanced a dozen +paces there was a chorus of shouts and angry protests. A captain turned +on her and roughly cried: + +“Hi, there, you woman! are you crazy? Where are you going?” + +“I am going to Bazeilles.” + +“What, to Bazeilles?” + +There was a shout of laughter. The soldiers pointed at her with their +fingers; she was the object of their witticisms. The captain, also, +greatly amused by the incident, had to have his joke. + +“You should take us along with you, my little dear, if you are going to +Bazeilles. We were there a short while ago, and I am in hope that we +shall go back there, but I can tell you that the temperature of the +place is none too cool.” + +“I am going to Bazeilles to look for my husband,” Henriette declared, +in her gentle voice, while her blue eyes shone with undiminished +resolution. + +The laughter ceased; an old sergeant extricated her from the crowd that +had collected around her, and forced her to retrace her steps. + +“My poor child, you see it is impossible to get through. Bazeilles is +no place for you. You will find your husband by and by. Come, listen to +reason!” + +She had to obey, and stood aside beneath the trees, raising herself on +her toes at every moment to peer before her, firm in her resolve to +continue her journey as soon as she should be allowed to pass. She +learned the condition of affairs from the conversation that went on +around her. Some officers were criticising with great acerbity the +order for the abandonment of Bazeilles, which had occurred at a +quarter-past eight, at the time when General Ducrot, taking over the +command from the marshal, had considered it best to concentrate the +troops on the plateau of Illy. What made matters worse was, that the +valley of the Givonne having fallen into the hands of the Germans +through the premature retirement of the 1st corps, the 12th corps, +which was even then sustaining a vigorous attack in front, was +overlapped on its left flank. Now that General de Wimpffen had relieved +General Ducrot, it seemed that the original plan was to be carried out. +Orders had been received to retake Bazeilles at every cost, and drive +the Bavarians into the Meuse. And so, in the ranks of that regiment +that had been halted there in full retreat at the entrance of the +village and ordered to resume the offensive, there was much bitter +feeling, and angry words were rife. Was ever such stupidity heard of? +to make them abandon a position, and immediately tell them to turn +round and retake it from the enemy! They were willing enough to risk +their life in the cause, but no one cared to throw it away for nothing! + +A body of mounted men dashed up the street and General de Wimpffen +appeared among them, and raising himself erect on his stirrups, with +flashing eyes, he shouted, in ringing tones: + +“Friends, we cannot retreat; it would be ruin to us all. And if we do +have to retreat, it shall be on Carignan, and not on Mézières. But we +shall be victorious! You beat the enemy this morning; you will beat +them again!” + +He galloped off on a road that conducted to la Moncelle. It was said +that there had been a violent altercation between him and General +Ducrot, each upholding his own plan, and decrying the plan of the +other—one asserting that retreat by way of Mézières had been +impracticable all that morning; the other predicting that, unless they +fell back on Illy, the army would be surrounded before night. And there +was a great deal of bitter recrimination, each taxing the other with +ignorance of the country and of the situation of the troops. The pity +of it was that both were right. + +But Henriette, meantime, had made an encounter that caused her to +forget her project for a moment. In some poor outcasts; stranded by the +wayside, she had recognized a family of honest weavers from Bazeilles, +father, mother, and three little girls, of whom the largest was only +nine years old. They were utterly disheartened and forlorn, and so +weary and footsore that they could go no further, and had thrown +themselves down at the foot of a wall. + +“Alas! dear lady,” the wife and mother said to Henriette, “we have lost +our all. Our house—you know where our house stood on the Place de +l’Église—well, a shell came and burned it. Why we and the children did +not stay and share its fate I do not know—” + +At these words the three little ones began to cry and sob afresh, while +the mother, in distracted language, gave further details of the +catastrophe. + +“The loom, I saw it burn like seasoned kindling wood, and the bed, the +chairs and tables, they blazed like so much straw. And even the +clock—yes, the poor old clock that I tried to save and could not.” + +“My God! my God!” the man exclaimed, his eyes swimming with tears, +“what is to become of us?” + +Henriette endeavored to comfort them, but it was in a voice that +quavered strangely. + +“You have been preserved to each other, you are safe and unharmed; your +three little girls are left you. What reason have you to complain?” + +Then she proceeded to question them to learn how matters stood in +Bazeilles, whether they had seen her husband, in what state they had +left her house, but in their half-dazed condition they gave conflicting +answers. No, they had not seen M. Weiss. One of the little girls, +however, declared that she had seen him, and that he was lying on the +ground with a great hole in his head, whereon the father gave her a box +on the ear, bidding her hold her tongue and not tell such lies to the +lady. As for the house, they could say with certainty that it was +intact at the time of their flight; they even remembered to have +observed, as they passed it, that the doors and windows were tightly +secured, as if it was quite deserted. At that time, moreover, the only +foothold that the Bavarians had secured for themselves was in the Place +de l’Église, and to carry the village they would have to fight for it, +street by street, house by house. They must have been gaining ground +since then, though; all Bazeilles was in flames by that time, like +enough, and not a wall left standing, thanks to the fierceness of the +assailants and the resolution of the defenders. And so the poor +creatures went on, with trembling, affrighted gestures, evoking the +horrid sights their eyes had seen and telling their dreadful tale of +slaughter and conflagration and corpses lying in heaps upon the ground. + +“But my husband?” Henriette asked again. + +They made no answer, only continued to cover their face with their +hands and sob. Her cruel anxiety, as she stood there erect, with no +outward sign of weakness, was only evinced by a slight quivering of the +lips. What was she to believe? Vainly she told herself the child was +mistaken; her mental vision pictured her husband lying there dead +before her in the street with a bullet wound in the head. Again, that +house, so securely locked and bolted, was another source of alarm; why +was it so? was he no longer in it? The conviction that he was dead sent +an icy chill to her heart; but perhaps he was only wounded, perhaps he +was breathing still; and so sudden and imperious was the need she felt +of flying to his side that she would again have attempted to force her +passage through the troops had not the bugles just then sounded the +order for them to advance. + +The regiment was largely composed of raw, half-drilled recruits from +Toulon, Brest, and Rochefort, men who had never fired a shot, but all +that morning they had fought with a bravery and firmness that would not +have disgraced veteran troops. They had not shown much aptitude for +marching on the road from Rheims to Mouzon, weighted as they were with +their unaccustomed burdens, but when they came to face the enemy their +discipline and sense of duty made themselves felt, and notwithstanding +the righteous anger that was in their hearts, the bugle had but to +sound and they returned to brave the fire and encounter the foe. Three +several times they had been promised a division to support them; it +never came. They felt that they were deserted, sacrificed; it was the +offering of their life that was demanded of them by those who, having +first made them evacuate the place, were now sending them back into the +fiery furnace of Bazeilles. And they knew it, and they gave their life, +freely, without a murmur, closing up their ranks and leaving the +shelter of the trees to meet afresh the storm of shell and bullets. + +Henriette gave a deep sigh of relief; at last they were about to move! +She followed them, with the hope that she might enter the village +unperceived in their rear, prepared to run with them should they take +the double-quick. But they had scarcely begun to move when they came to +a halt again. The projectiles were now falling thick and fast; to +regain possession of Bazeilles it would be necessary to dispute every +inch of the road, occupying the cross-streets, the houses and gardens +on either side of the way. A brisk fire of musketry proceeded from the +head of the column, the advance was irregular, by fits and starts, +every petty obstacle entailed a delay of many minutes. She felt that +she would never attain her end by remaining there at the rear of the +column, waiting for it to fight its way through, and with prompt +decision she bent her course to the right and took a path that led +downward between two hedges to the meadows. + +Henriette’s plan now was to reach Bazeilles by those broad levels that +border the Meuse. She was not very clear about it in her mind, however, +and continued to hasten onward in obedience to that blind instinct +which had originally imparted to her its impulse. She had not gone far +before she found herself standing and gazing in dismay at a miniature +ocean which barred her further progress in that direction. It was the +inundated fields, the low-lying lands that a measure of defense had +converted into a lake, which had escaped her memory. For a single +moment she thought of turning back; then, at the risk of leaving her +shoes behind, she pushed on, hugging the bank, through the water that +covered the grass and rose above her ankles. For a hundred yards her +way, though difficult, was not impracticable; then she encountered a +garden-wall directly in her front; the ground fell off sharply, and +where the wall terminated the water was six feet deep. Her path was +closed effectually; she clenched her little fists and had to summon up +all her resolution to keep from bursting into tears. When the first +shock of disappointment had passed over she made her way along the +enclosure and found a narrow lane that pursued a tortuous course among +the scattered houses. She believed that now her troubles were at an +end, for she was acquainted with that labyrinth, that tangled maze of +passages, which, to one who had the key to them, ended at the village. + +But the missiles seemed to be falling there even more thickly than +elsewhere. Henriette stopped short in her tracks and all the blood in +her body seemed to flow back upon her heart at a frightful detonation, +so close that she could feel the wind upon her cheek. A shell had +exploded directly before her and only a few yards away. She turned her +head and scrutinized for a moment the heights of the left bank, above +which the smoke from the German batteries was curling upward; she saw +what she must do, and when she started on her way again it was with +eyes fixed on the horizon, watching for the shells in order to avoid +them. There was method in the rash daring of her proceeding, and all +the brave tranquillity that the prudent little housewife had at her +command. She was not going to be killed if she could help it; she +wished to find her husband and bring him back with her, that they might +yet have many days of happy life together. The projectiles still came +tumbling frequently as ever; she sped along behind walls, made a cover +of boundary stones, availed herself of every slight depression. But +presently she came to an open space, a bit of unprotected road where +splinters and fragments of exploded shells lay thick, and she was +watching behind a shed for a chance to make a dash when she perceived, +emerging from a sort of cleft in the ground in front of her, a human +head and two bright eyes that peered about inquisitively. It was a +little, bare-footed, ten-year-old boy, dressed in a shirt and ragged +trousers, an embryonic tramp, who was watching the battle with huge +delight. At every report his small black beady eyes would snap and +sparkle, and he jubilantly shouted: + +“Oh my! aint it bully!—Look out, there comes another one! don’t stir! +Boom! that was a rouser!—Don’t stir! don’t stir!” + +And each time there came a shell he dived to the bottom of his hole, +then reappeared, showing his dirty, elfish face, until it was time to +duck again. + +Henriette now noticed that the projectiles all came from Liry, while +the batteries at Pont-Maugis and Noyers were confining their attention +to Balan. At each discharge she could see the smoke distinctly, +immediately afterward she heard the scream of the shell, succeeded by +the explosion. Just then the gunners afforded them a brief respite; the +bluish haze above the heights drifted slowly away upon the wind. + +“They’ve stopped to take a drink, you can go your money on it,” said +the urchin. “Quick, quick, give me your hand! Now’s the time to skip!” + +He took her by the hand and dragged her along with him, and in this way +they crossed the open together, side by side, running for dear life, +with head and shoulders down. When they were safely ensconced behind a +stack that opportunely offered its protection at the end of their +course and turned to look behind them, they beheld another shell come +rushing through the air and alight upon the shed at the very spot they +had occupied so lately. The crash was fearful; the shed was knocked to +splinters. The little ragamuffin considered that a capital joke, and +fairly danced with glee. + +“Bravo, hit ’em agin! that’s the way to do it!—But it was time for us +to skip, though, wasn’t it?” + +But again Henriette struck up against insurmountable obstacles in the +shape of hedges and garden-walls, that offered absolutely no outlet. +Her irrepressible companion, still wearing his broad grin and remarking +that where there was a will there was a way, climbed to the coping of a +wall and assisted her to scale it. On reaching the further side they +found themselves in a kitchen garden among beds of peas and +string-beans and surrounded by fences on every side; their sole exit +was through the little cottage of the gardener. The boy led the way, +swinging his arms and whistling unconcernedly, with an expression on +his face of most profound indifference. He pushed open a door that +admitted him to a bedroom, from which he passed on into another room, +where there was an old woman, apparently the only living being upon the +premises. She was standing by a table, in a sort of dazed stupor; she +looked at the two strangers who thus unceremoniously made a highway of +her dwelling, but addressed them no word, nor did they speak a word to +her. They vanished as quickly as they had appeared, emerging by the +exit opposite their entrance upon an alley that they followed for a +moment. After that there were other difficulties to be surmounted, and +thus they went on for more than half a mile, scaling walls, struggling +through hedges, availing themselves of every short cut that offered, it +might be the door of a stable or the window of a cottage, as the +exigencies of the case demanded. Dogs howled mournfully; they had a +narrow escape from being run down by a cow that was plunging along, +wild with terror. It seemed as if they must be approaching the village, +however; there was an odor of burning wood in the air, and momentarily +volumes of reddish smoke, like veils of finest gauze floating in the +wind, passed athwart the sun and obscured his light. + +All at once the urchin came to a halt and planted himself in front of +Henriette. + +“I say, lady, tell us where you’re going, will you?” + +“You can see very well where I am going; to Bazeilles.” + +He gave a low whistle of astonishment, following it up with the shrill +laugh of the careless vagabond to whom nothing is sacred, who is not +particular upon whom or what he launches his irreverent gibes. + +“To Bazeilles—oh, no, I guess not; I don’t think my business lies that +way—I have another engagement. Bye-bye, ta-ta!” + +He turned on his heel and was off like a shot, and she was none the +wiser as to whence he came or whither he went. She had found him in a +hole, she had lost sight of him at the corner of a wall, and never was +she to set eyes on him again. + +When she was alone again Henriette experienced a strange sensation of +fear. He had been no protection to her, that scrubby urchin, but his +chatter had been a distraction; he had kept her spirits up by his way +of making game of everything, as if it was all one huge raree show. Now +she was beginning to tremble, her strength was failing her, she, who by +nature was so courageous. The shells no longer fell around her: the +Germans had ceased firing on Bazeilles, probably to avoid killing their +own men, who were now masters of the village; but within the last few +minutes she had heard the whistling of bullets, that peculiar sound +like the buzzing of a bluebottle fly, that she recognized by having +heard it described. There was such a raging, roaring clamor rising to +the heavens in the distance, the confused uproar of other sounds was so +violent, that in it she failed to distinguish the report of musketry. +As she was turning the corner of a house there was a deadened thud +close at her ear, succeeded by the sound of falling plaster, which +brought her to a sudden halt; it was a bullet that had struck the +facade. She was pale as death, and asked herself if her courage would +be sufficient to carry her through to the end; and before she had time +to frame an answer, she received what seemed to her a blow from a +hammer upon her forehead, and sank, stunned, upon her knees. It was a +spent ball that had ricocheted and struck her a little above the left +eyebrow with sufficient force to raise an ugly contusion. When she came +to, raising her hands to her forehead, she withdrew them covered with +blood. But the pressure of her fingers had assured her that the bone +beneath was uninjured, and she said aloud, encouraging herself by the +sound of her own voice: + +“It is nothing, it is nothing. Come, I am not afraid; no, no! I am not +afraid.” + +And it was the truth; she arose, and from that time walked amid the +storm of bullets with absolute indifference, like one whose soul is +parted from his body, who reasons not, who gives his life. She marched +straight onward, with head erect, no longer seeking to shelter herself, +and if she struck out at a swifter pace it was only that she might +reach her appointed end more quickly. The death-dealing missiles +pattered on the road before and behind her; twenty times they were near +taking her life; she never noticed them. At last she was at Bazeilles, +and struck diagonally across a field of lucerne in order to regain the +road, the main street that traversed the village. Just as she turned +into it she cast her eyes to the right, and there, some two hundred +paces from her, beheld her house in a blaze. The flames were invisible +against the bright sunlight; the roof had already fallen in in part, +the windows were belching dense clouds of black smoke. She could +restrain herself no longer, and ran with all her strength. + +Ever since eight o’clock Weiss, abandoned by the retiring troops, had +been a self-made prisoner there. His return to Sedan had become an +impossibility, for the Bavarians, immediately upon the withdrawal of +the French, had swarmed down from the park of Montivilliers and +occupied the road. He was alone and defenseless, save for his musket +and what few cartridges were left him, when he beheld before his door a +little band of soldiers, ten in number, abandoned, like himself, and +parted from their comrades, looking about them for a place where they +might defend themselves and sell their lives dearly. He ran downstairs +to admit them, and thenceforth the house had a garrison, a lieutenant, +corporal and eight men, all bitterly inflamed against the enemy, and +resolved never to surrender. + +“What, Laurent, you here!” he exclaimed, surprised to recognize among +the soldiers a tall, lean young man, who held in his hand a musket, +doubtless taken from some corpse. + +Laurent was dressed in jacket and trousers of blue cloth; he was helper +to a gardener of the neighborhood, and had lately lost his mother and +his wife, both of whom had been carried off by the same insidious +fever. + +“And why shouldn’t I be?” he replied. “All I have is my skin, and I’m +willing to give that. And then I am not such a bad shot, you know, and +it will be just fun for me to blaze away at those rascals and knock one +of ’em over every time.” + +The lieutenant and the corporal had already begun to make an inspection +of the premises. There was nothing to be done on the ground floor; all +they did was to push the furniture against the door and windows in such +a way as to form as secure a barricade as possible. After attending to +that they proceeded to arrange a plan for the defense of the three +small rooms of the first floor and the open attic, making no change, +however, in the measures that had been already taken by Weiss, the +protection of the windows by mattresses, the loopholes cut here and +there in the slats of the blinds. As the lieutenant was leaning from +the window to take a survey of their surroundings, he heard the wailing +cry of a child. + +“What is that?” he asked. + +Weiss looked from the window, and, in the adjoining dyehouse, beheld +the little sick boy, Charles, his scarlet face resting on the white +pillow, imploringly begging his mother to bring him a drink: his +mother, who lay dead across the threshold, beyond hearing or answering. +With a sorrowful expression he replied: + +“It is a poor little child next door, there, crying for his mother, who +was killed by a Prussian shell.” + +“_Tonnerre de Dieu!_” muttered Laurent, “how are they ever going to pay +for all these things!” + +As yet only a few random shots had struck the front of the house. Weiss +and the lieutenant, accompanied by the corporal and two men, had +ascended to the attic, where they were in better position to observe +the road, of which they had an oblique view as far as the Place de +l’Église. The square was now occupied by the Bavarians, but any further +advance was attended by difficulties that made them very circumspect. A +handful of French soldiers, posted at the mouth of a narrow lane, held +them in check for nearly a quarter of an hour, with a fire so rapid and +continuous that the dead bodies lay in piles. The next obstacle they +encountered was a house on the opposite corner, which also detained +them some time before they could get possession of it. At one time a +woman, with a musket in her hands, was seen through the smoke, firing +from one of the windows. It was the abode of a baker, and a few +soldiers were there in addition to the regular occupants; and when the +house was finally carried there was a hoarse shout: “No quarter!” a +surging, struggling, vociferating throng poured from the door and +rolled across the street to the dead-wall opposite, and in the raging +torrent were seen the woman’s skirt, the jacket of a man, the white +hairs of the grandfather; then came the crash of a volley of musketry, +and the wall was splashed with blood from base to coping. This was a +point on which the Germans were inexorable; everyone caught with arms +in his hands and not belonging to some uniformed organization was shot +without the formality of a trial, as having violated the law of +nations. They were enraged at the obstinate resistance offered them by +the village, and the frightful loss they had sustained during the five +hours’ conflict provoked them to the most atrocious reprisals. The +gutters ran red with blood, the piled dead in the streets formed +barricades, some of the more open places were charnel-houses, from +whose depths rose the death-rattle of men in their last agony. And in +every house that they had to carry by assault in this way men were seen +distributing wisps of lighted straw, others ran to and fro with blazing +torches, others smeared the walls and furniture with petroleum; soon +whole streets were burning, Bazeilles was in flames. + +And now Weiss’s was the only house in the central portion of the +village that still continued to hold out, preserving its air of menace, +like some stern citadel determined not to yield. + +“Look out! here they come!” shouted the lieutenant. + +A simultaneous discharge from the attic and the first floor laid low +three of the Bavarians, who had come forward hugging the walls. The +remainder of the body fell back and posted themselves under cover +wherever the street offered facilities, and the siege of the house +began; the bullets pelted on the front like rattling hail. For nearly +ten minutes the fusillade continued without cessation, damaging the +stucco, but not doing much mischief otherwise, until one of the men +whom the lieutenant had taken with him to the garret was so imprudent +as to show himself at a window, when a bullet struck him square in the +forehead, killing him instantly. It was plain that whoever exposed +himself would do so at peril of his life. + +“Doggone it! there’s one gone!” growled the lieutenant. “Be careful, +will you; there’s not enough of us that we can afford to let ourselves +be killed for the fun of it!” + +He had taken a musket and was firing away like the rest of them from +behind the protection of a shutter, at the same time watching and +encouraging his men. It was Laurent, the gardener’s helper, however, +who more than all the others excited his wonder and admiration. +Kneeling on the floor, with his chassepot peering out of the narrow +aperture of a loophole, he never fired until absolutely certain of his +aim; he even told in advance where he intended hitting his living +target. + +“That little officer in blue that you see down there, in the +heart.—That other fellow, the tall, lean one, between the eyes.—I don’t +like the looks of that fat man with the red beard; I think I’ll let him +have it in the stomach.” + +And each time his man went down as if struck by lightning, hit in the +very spot he had mentioned, and he continued to fire at intervals, +coolly, without haste, there being no necessity for hurrying himself, +as he remarked, since it would require too long a time to kill them all +in that way. + +“Oh! if I had but my eyes!” Weiss impatiently exclaimed. He had broken +his spectacles a while before, to his great sorrow. He had his double +eye-glass still, but the perspiration was rolling down his face in such +streams that it was impossible to keep it on his nose. His usual calm +collectedness was entirely lost in his over-mastering passion; and +thus, between his defective vision and his agitated nerves, many of his +shots were wasted. + +“Don’t hurry so, it is only throwing away powder,” said Laurent. “Do +you see that man who has lost his helmet, over yonder by the grocer’s +shop? Well, now draw a bead on him,—carefully, don’t hurry. That’s +first-rate! you have broken his paw for him and made him dance a jig in +his own blood.” + +Weiss, rather pale in the face, gave a look at the result of his +marksmanship. + +“Put him out of his misery,” he said. + +“What, waste a cartridge! Not, much. Better save it for another of +’em.” + +The besiegers could not have failed to notice the remarkable practice +of the invisible sharpshooter in the attic. Whoever of them showed +himself in the open was certain to remain there. They therefore brought +up re-enforcements and placed them in position, with instructions to +maintain an unremitting fire upon the roof of the building. It was not +long before the attic became untenable; the slates were perforated as +if they had been tissue paper, the bullets found their way to every +nook and corner, buzzing and humming as if the room had been invaded by +a swarm of angry bees. Death stared them all in the face if they +remained there longer. + +“We will go downstairs,” said the lieutenant. “We can hold the first +floor for awhile yet.” But as he was making for the ladder a bullet +struck him in the groin and he fell. “Too late, doggone it!” + +Weiss and Laurent, aided by the remaining soldiers, carried him below, +notwithstanding his vehement protests; he told them not to waste their +time on him, his time had come; he might as well die upstairs as down. +He was still able to be of service to them, however, when they had laid +him on a bed in a room of the first floor, by advising them what was +best to do. + +“Fire into the mass,” he said; “don’t stop to take aim. They are too +cowardly to risk an advance unless they see your fire begin to +slacken.” + +And so the siege of the little house went on as if it was to last for +eternity. Twenty times it seemed as if it must be swept away bodily by +the storm of iron that beat upon it, and each time, as the smoke +drifted away, it was seen amid the sulphurous blasts, torn, pierced, +mangled, but erect and menacing, spitting fire and lead with +undiminished venom from each one of its orifices. The assailants, +furious that they should be detained for such length of time and lose +so many men before such a hovel, yelled and fired wildly in the +distance, but had not courage to attempt to carry the lower floor by a +rush. + +“Look out!” shouted the corporal, “there is a shutter about to fall!” + +The concentrated fire had torn one of the inside blinds from its +hinges, but Weiss darted forward and pushed a wardrobe before the +window, and Laurent was enabled to continue his operations under cover. +One of the soldiers was lying at his feet with his jaw broken, losing +blood freely. Another received a bullet in his chest, and dragged +himself over to the wall, where he lay gasping in protracted agony, +while convulsive movements shook his frame at intervals. They were but +eight, now, all told, not counting the lieutenant, who, too weak to +speak, his back supported by the headboard of the bed, continued to +give his directions by signs. As had been the case with the attic, the +three rooms of the first floor were beginning to be untenable, for the +mangled mattresses no longer afforded protection against the missiles; +at every instant the plaster fell in sheets from the walls and ceiling, +and the furniture was in process of demolition: the sides of the +wardrobe yawned as if they had been cloven by an ax. And worse still, +the ammunition was nearly exhausted. + +“It’s too bad!” grumbled Laurent; “just when everything was going so +beautifully!” + +But suddenly Weiss was struck with an idea. + +“Wait!” + +He had thought of the dead soldier up in the garret above, and climbed +up the ladder to search for the cartridges he must have about him. A +wide space of the roof had been crushed in; he saw the blue sky, a +patch of bright, wholesome light that made him start. Not wishing to be +killed, he crawled over the floor on his hands and knees, then, when he +had the cartridges in his possession, some thirty of them, he made +haste down again as fast his legs could carry him. + +Downstairs, as he was sharing his newly acquired treasure with the +gardener’s lad, a soldier uttered a piercing cry and sank to his knees. +They were but seven; and presently they were but six, a bullet having +entered the corporal’s head at the eye and lodged in the brain. + +From that time on, Weiss had no distinct consciousness of what was +going on around him; he and the five others continued to blaze away +like lunatics, expending their cartridges, with not the faintest idea +in their heads that there could be such a thing as surrender. In the +three small rooms the floor was strewn with fragments of the broken +furniture. Ingress and egress were barred by the corpses that lay +before the doors; in one corner a wounded man kept up a pitiful wail +that was frightful to hear. Every inch of the floor was slippery with +blood; a thin stream of blood from the attic was crawling lazily down +the stairs. And the air was scarce respirable, an air thick and hot +with sulphurous fumes, heavy with smoke, filled with an acrid, +nauseating dust; a darkness dense as that of night, through which +darted the red flame-tongues of the musketry. + +“By God’s thunder!” cried Weiss, “they are bringing up artillery!” + +It was true. Despairing of ever reducing that handful of madmen, who +had consumed so much of their time, the Bavarians had run up a gun to +the corner of the Place de l’Église, and were putting it into position; +perhaps they would be allowed to pass when they should have knocked the +house to pieces with their solid shot. And the honor there was to them +in the proceeding, the gun trained on them down there in the square, +excited the bitter merriment of the besieged; the utmost intensity of +scorn was in their gibes. Ah! the cowardly _bougres_, with their +artillery! Kneeling in his old place still, Laurent carefully adjusted +his aim and each time picked off a gunner, so that the service of the +piece became impossible, and it was five or six minutes before they +fired their first shot. It ranged high, moreover, and only clipped away +a bit of the roof. + +But the end was now at hand. It was all in vain that they searched the +dead men’s belts; there was not a single cartridge left. With +vacillating steps and haggard faces the six groped around the room, +seeking what heavy objects they might find to hurl from the windows +upon their enemies. One of them showed himself at the casement, +vociferating insults, and shaking his fist; instantly he was pierced by +a dozen bullets; and there remained but five. What were they to do? go +down and endeavor to make their escape by way of the garden and the +meadows? The question was never answered, for at that moment a tumult +arose below, a furious mob came tumbling up the stairs: it was the +Bavarians, who had at last thought of turning the position by breaking +down the back door and entering the house by that way. For a brief +moment a terrible hand-to-hand conflict raged in the small rooms among +the dead bodies and the debris of the furniture. One of the soldiers +had his chest transfixed by a bayonet thrust, the two others were made +prisoners, while the attitude of the lieutenant, who had given up the +ghost, was that of one about to give an order, his mouth open, his arm +raised aloft. + +While these things were occurring an officer, a big, flaxen-haired man, +carrying a revolver in his hand, whose bloodshot eyes seemed bursting +from their sockets, had caught sight of Weiss and Laurent, both in +their civilian attire; he roared at them in French: + +“Who are you, you fellows? and what are you doing here?” + +Then, glancing at their faces, black with powder-stains, he saw how +matters stood, he heaped insult and abuse on them in guttural German, +in a voice that shook with anger. Already he had raised his revolver +and was about to send a bullet into their heads, when the soldiers of +his command rushed in, seized Laurent and Weiss, and hustled them out +to the staircase. The two men were borne along like straws upon a +mill-race amidst that seething human torrent, under whose pressure they +were hurled from out the door and sent staggering, stumbling across the +street to the opposite wall amid a chorus of execration that drowned +the sound of their officers’ voices. Then, for a space of two or three +minutes, while the big fair-haired officer was endeavoring to extricate +them in order to proceed with their execution, an opportunity was +afforded them to raise themselves erect and look about them. + +Other houses had taken fire; Bazeilles was now a roaring, blazing +furnace. Flames had begun to appear at the tall windows of the church +and were creeping upward toward the roof. Some soldiers who were +driving a venerable lady from her home had compelled her to furnish the +matches with which to fire her own beds and curtains. Lighted by +blazing brands and fed by petroleum in floods, fires were rising and +spreading in every quarter; it was no longer civilized warfare, but a +conflict of savages, maddened by the long protracted strife, wreaking +vengeance for their dead, their heaps of dead, upon whom they trod at +every step they took. Yelling, shouting bands traversed the streets +amid the scurrying smoke and falling cinders, swelling the hideous +uproar into which entered sounds of every kind: shrieks, groans, the +rattle of musketry, the crash of falling walls. Men could scarce see +one another; great livid clouds drifted athwart the sun and obscured +his light, bearing with them an intolerable stench of soot and blood, +heavy with the abominations of the slaughter. In every quarter the work +of death and destruction still went on: the human brute unchained, the +imbecile wrath, the mad fury, of man devouring his brother man. + +And Weiss beheld his house burn before his eyes. Some soldiers had +applied the torch, others fed the flame by throwing upon it the +fragments of the wrecked furniture. The _rez-de-chaussée_ was quickly +in a blaze, the smoke poured in dense black volumes from the wounds in +the front and roof. But now the dyehouse adjoining was also on fire, +and horrible to relate, the voice of little Charles, lying on his bed +delirious with fever, could be heard through the crackling of the +flames, beseeching his mother to bring him a draught of water, while +the skirts of the wretched woman who, with her disfigured face, lay +across the door-sill, were even then beginning to kindle. + +“Mamma, mamma, I am thirsty! Mamma, bring me a drink of water—” + +The weak, faint voice was drowned in the roar of the conflagration; the +cheering of the victors rose on the air in the distance. + +But rising above all other sounds, dominating the universal clamor, a +terrible cry was heard. It was Henriette, who had reached the place at +last, and now beheld her husband, backed up against the wall, facing a +platoon of men who were loading their muskets. + +She flew to him and threw her arms about his neck. + +“My God! what is it! They cannot be going to kill you!” + +Weiss looked at her with stupid, unseeing eyes. She! his wife, so long +the object of his desire, so fondly idolized! A great shudder passed +through his frame and he awoke to consciousness of his situation. What +had he done? why had he remained there, firing at the enemy, instead of +returning to her side, as he had promised he would do? It all flashed +upon him now, as the darkness is illuminated by the lightning’s glare: +he had wrecked their happiness, they were to be parted, forever parted. +Then he noticed the blood upon her forehead. + +“Are you hurt?” he asked. “You were mad to come—” + +She interrupted him with an impatient gesture. + +“Never mind me; it is a mere scratch. But you, you! why are you here? +They shall not kill you; I will not suffer it!” + +The officer, who was endeavoring to clear the road in order to give the +firing party the requisite room, came up on hearing the sound of +voices, and beholding a woman with her arms about the neck of one of +his prisoners, exclaimed loudly in French: + +“Come, come, none of this nonsense here! Whence come you? What is your +business here?” + +“Give me my husband.” + +“What, is he your husband, that man? His sentence is pronounced; the +law must take its course.” + +“Give me my husband.” + +“Come, be rational. Stand aside; we do not wish to harm you.” + +“Give me my husband.” + +Perceiving the futility of arguing with her, the officer was about to +give orders to remove her forcibly from the doomed man’s arms when +Laurent, who until then had maintained an impassive silence, ventured +to interfere. + +“See here, Captain, I am the man who killed so many of your men; go +ahead and shoot me—that will be all right, especially as I have neither +chick nor child in all the world. But this gentleman’s case is +different; he is a married man, don’t you see. Come, now, let him go; +then you can settle my business as soon as you choose.” + +Beside himself with anger, the captain screamed: + +“What is all this lingo? Are you trying to make game of me? Come, step +out here, some one of you fellows, and take away this woman!” + +He had to repeat his order in German, whereon a soldier came forward +from the ranks, a short stocky Bavarian, with an enormous head +surrounded by a bristling forest of red hair and beard, beneath which +all that was to be seen were a pair of big blue eyes and a massive +nose. He was besmeared with blood, a hideous spectacle, like nothing so +much as some fierce, hairy denizen of the woods, emerging from his +cavern and licking his chops, still red with the gore of the victims +whose bones he has been crunching. + +With a heart-rending cry Henriette repeated: + +“Give me my husband, or let me die with him.” + +This seemed to cause the cup of the officer’s exasperation to overrun; +he thumped himself violently on the chest, declaring that he was no +executioner, that he would rather die than harm a hair of an innocent +head. There was nothing against her; he would cut off his right hand +rather than do her an injury. And then he repeated his order that she +be taken away. + +As the Bavarian came up to carry out his instructions Henriette +tightened her clasp on Weiss’s neck, throwing all her strength into her +frantic embrace. + +“Oh, my love! Keep me with you, I beseech you; let me die with you—” + +Big tears were rolling down his cheeks as, without answering, he +endeavored to loosen the convulsive clasp of the fingers of the poor +creature he loved so dearly. + +“You love me no longer, then, that you wish to die without me. Hold me, +keep me, do not let them take me. They will weary at last, and will +kill us together.” + +He had loosened one of the little hands, and carried it to his lips and +kissed it, working all the while to make the other release its hold. + +“No, no, it shall not be! I will not leave thy bosom; they shall pierce +my heart before reaching thine. I will not survive—” + +But at last, after a long struggle, he held both the hands in his. Then +he broke the silence that he had maintained until then, uttering one +single word: + +“Farewell, dear wife.” + +And with his own hands he placed her in the arms of the Bavarian, who +carried her away. She shrieked and struggled, while the soldier, +probably with intent to soothe her, kept pouring in her ear an +uninterrupted stream of words in unmelodious German. And, having freed +her head, looking over the shoulder of the man, she beheld the end. + +It lasted not five seconds. Weiss, whose eye-glass had slipped from its +position in the agitation of their parting, quickly replaced it upon +his nose, as if desirous to look death in the face. He stepped back and +placed himself against the wall, and the face of the self-contained, +strong young man, as he stood there in his tattered coat, was sublimely +beautiful in its expression of tranquil courage. Laurent, who stood +beside him, had thrust his hands deep down into his pockets. The cold +cruelty of the proceeding disgusted him; it seemed to him that they +could not be far removed from savagery who could thus slaughter men +before the eyes of their wives. He drew himself up, looked them square +in the face, and in a tone of deepest contempt expectorated: + +“Dirty pigs!” + +The officer raised his sword; the signal was succeeded by a crashing +volley, and the two men sank to the ground, an inert mass, the +gardener’s lad upon his face, the other, the accountant, upon his side, +lengthwise of the wall. The frame of the latter, before he expired, +contracted in a supreme convulsion, the eyelids quivered, the mouth +opened as if he was about to speak. The officer came up and stirred him +with his foot, to make sure that he was really dead. + +Henriette had seen the whole: the fading eyes that sought her in death, +the last struggle of the strong man in agony, the brutal boot spurning +the corpse. And while the Bavarian still held her in his arms, +conveying her further and further from the object of her love, she +uttered no cry; she set her teeth, in silent fury, into what was +nearest: a human hand, it chanced to be. The soldier gave vent to a +howl of anguish and dashed her to the ground; raising his uninjured +fist above her head he was on the point of braining her. And for a +moment their faces were in contact; she experienced a feeling of +intensest loathing for the monster, and that blood-stained hair and +beard, those blue eyes, dilated and brimming with hate and rage, were +destined to remain forever indelibly imprinted on her memory. + +In after days Henriette could never account distinctly to herself for +the time immediately succeeding these events. She had but one desire: +to return to the spot where her loved one had died, take possession of +his remains, and watch and weep over them; but, as in an evil dream, +obstacles of every sort arose before her and barred the way. First a +heavy infantry fire broke out afresh, and there was great activity +among the German troops who were holding Bazeilles; it was due to the +arrival of the infanterie de marine and other regiments that had been +despatched from Balan to regain possession of the village, and the +battle commenced to rage again with the utmost fury. The young woman, +in company with a band of terrified citizens, was swept away to the +left into a dark alley. The result of the conflict could not remain +long doubtful, however; it was too late to reconquer the abandoned +positions. For near half an hour the infantry struggled against +superior numbers and faced death with splendid bravery, but the enemy’s +strength was constantly increasing, their re-enforcements were pouring +in from every direction, the roads, the meadows, the park of +Montivilliers; no force at our command could have dislodged them from +the position, so dearly bought, where they had left thousands of their +bravest. Destruction and devastation now had done their work; the place +was a shambles, disgraceful to humanity, where mangled forms lay +scattered among smoking ruins, and poor Bazeilles, having drained the +bitter cup, went up at last in smoke and flame. + +Henriette turned and gave one last look at her little house, whose +floors fell in even as she gazed, sending myriads of little sparks +whirling gayly upward on the air. And there, before her, prone at the +wall’s foot, she saw her husband’s corpse, and in her despair and grief +would fain have returned to him, but just then another crowd came up +and surged around her, the bugles were sounding the signal to retire, +she was borne away, she knew not how, among the retreating troops. Her +faculty of self-guidance left her; she was as a bit of flotsam swept +onward by the eddying human tide that streamed along the way. And that +was all she could remember until she became herself again and found she +was at Balan, among strangers, her head reclined upon a table in a +kitchen, weeping. + + + + +V. + + +It was nearly ten o’clock up on the Plateau de l’Algérie, and still the +men of Beaudoin’s company were resting supine, among the cabbages, in +the field whence they had not budged since early morning. The cross +fire from the batteries on Hattoy and the peninsula of Iges was hotter +than ever; it had just killed two more of their number, and there were +no orders for them to advance. Were they to stay there and be shelled +all day, without a chance to see anything of the fighting? + +They were even denied the relief of discharging their chassepots. +Captain Beaudoin had at last put his foot down and stopped the firing, +that senseless fusillade against the little wood in front of them, +which seemed entirely deserted by the Prussians. The heat was stifling; +it seemed to them that they should roast, stretched there on the ground +under the blazing sky. + +Jean was alarmed, on turning to look at Maurice, to see that he had +declined his head and was lying, with closed eyes, apparently +inanimate, his cheek against the bare earth. He was very pale, there +was no sign of life in his face. + +“Hallo there! what’s the matter?” + +But Maurice was only sleeping. The mental strain, conjointly with his +fatigue, had been too much for him, in spite of the dangers that +menaced them at every moment. He awoke with a start and stared about +him, and the peace that slumber had left in his wide-dilated eyes was +immediately supplanted by a look of startled affright as it dawned on +him where he was. He had not the remotest idea how long he had slept; +all he knew was that the state from which he had been recalled to the +horrors of the battlefield was one of blessed oblivion and +tranquillity. + +“Hallo! that’s funny; I must have been asleep!” he murmured. “Ah! it +has done me good.” + +It was true that he suffered less from that pressure about his temples +and at his heart, that horrible constriction that seems as if it would +crush one’s bones. He chaffed Lapoulle, who had manifested much +uneasiness since the disappearance of Chouteau and Loubet and spoke of +going to look for them. A capital idea! so he might get away and hide +behind a tree, and smoke a pipe! Pache thought that the surgeons had +detained them at the ambulance, where there was a scarcity of +sick-bearers. That was a job that he had no great fancy for, to go +around under fire and collect the wounded! And haunted by a lingering +superstition of the country where he was born, he added that it was +unlucky to touch a corpse; it brought death. + +“Shut up, confound you!” roared Lieutenant Rochas. “Who is going to +die?” + +Colonel de Vineuil, sitting his tall horse, turned his head and gave a +smile, the first that had been seen on his face that morning. Then he +resumed his statue-like attitude, waiting for orders as impassively as +ever under the tumbling shells. + +Maurice’s attention was attracted to the sick-bearers, whose movements +he watched with interest as they searched for wounded men among the +depressions of the ground. At the end of a sunken road, and protected +by a low ridge not far from their position, a flying ambulance of first +aid had been established, and its emissaries had begun to explore the +plateau. A tent was quickly erected, while from the hospital van the +attendants extracted the necessary supplies; compresses, bandages, +linen, and the few indispensable instruments required for the hasty +dressings they gave before dispatching the patients to Sedan, which +they did as rapidly as they could secure wagons, the supply of which +was limited. There was an assistant surgeon in charge, with two +subordinates of inferior rank under him. In all the army none showed +more gallantry and received less acknowledgment than the +litter-bearers. They could be seen all over the field in their gray +uniform, with the distinctive red badge on their cap and on their arm, +courageously risking their lives and unhurriedly pushing forward +through the thickest of the fire to the spots where men had been seen +to fall. At times they would creep on hands and knees: would always +take advantage of a hedge or ditch, or any shelter that was afforded by +the conformation of the ground, never exposing themselves unnecessarily +out of bravado. When at last they reached the fallen men their painful +task commenced, which was made more difficult and protracted by the +fact that many of the subjects had fainted, and it was hard to tell +whether they were alive or dead. Some lay face downward with their +mouths in a pool of blood, in danger of suffocating, others had bitten +the ground until their throats were choked with dry earth, others, +where a shell had fallen among a group, were a confused, intertwined +heap of mangled limbs and crushed trunks. With infinite care and +patience the bearers would go through the tangled mass, separating the +living from the dead, arranging their limbs and raising the head to +give them air, cleansing the face as well as they could with the means +at their command. Each of them carried a bucket of cool water, which he +had to use very savingly. And Maurice could see them thus engaged, +often for minutes at a time, kneeling by some man whom they were trying +to resuscitate, waiting for him to show some sign of life. + +He watched one of them, some fifty yards away to the left, working over +the wound of a little soldier from the sleeve of whose tunic a thin +stream of blood was trickling, drop by drop. The man of the red cross +discovered the source of the hemorrhage and finally checked it by +compressing the artery. In urgent cases, like that of the little +soldier, they rendered these partial attentions, locating fractures, +bandaging and immobilizing the limbs so as to reduce the danger of +transportation. And the transportation, even, was an affair that called +for a great deal of judgment and ingenuity; they assisted those who +could walk, and carried others, either in their arms, like little +children, or pickaback when the nature of the hurt allowed it; at other +times they united in groups of two, three, or four, according to the +requirements of the case, and made a chair by joining their hands, or +carried the patient off by his legs and shoulders in a recumbent +posture. In addition to the stretchers provided by the medical +department there were all sorts of temporary makeshifts, such as the +stretchers improvised from knapsack straps and a couple of muskets. And +in every direction on the unsheltered, shell-swept plain they could be +seen, singly or in groups, hastening with their dismal loads to the +rear, their heads bowed and picking their steps, an admirable spectacle +of prudent heroism. + +Maurice saw a pair on his right, a thin, puny little fellow lugging a +burly sergeant, with both legs broken, suspended from his neck; the +sight reminded the young man of an ant, toiling under a burden many +times larger than itself; and even as he watched them a shell burst +directly in their path and they were lost to view. When the smoke +cleared away the sergeant was seen lying on his back, having received +no further injury, while the bearer lay beside him, disemboweled. And +another came up, another toiling ant, who, when he had turned his dead +comrade on his back and examined him, took the sergeant up and made off +with his load. + +It gave Maurice a chance to read Lapoulle a lesson. + +“I say, if you like the business, why don’t you go and give that man a +lift!” + +For some little time the batteries at Saint-Menges had been thundering +as if determined to surpass all previous efforts, and Captain Beaudoin, +who was still tramping nervously up and down before his company line, +at last stepped up to the colonel. It was a pity, he said, to waste the +men’s morale in that way and keep their minds on the stretch for hours +and hours. + +“I can’t help it; I have no orders,” the colonel stoically replied. + +They had another glimpse of General Douay as he flew by at a gallop, +followed by his staff. He had just had an interview with General de +Wimpffen, who had ridden up to entreat him to hold his ground, which he +thought he could promise to do, but only so long as the Calvary of +Illy, on his right, held out; Illy once taken, he would be responsible +for nothing; their defeat would be inevitable. General de Wimpffen +averred that the 1st corps would look out for the position at Illy, and +indeed a regiment of zouaves was presently seen to occupy the Calvary, +so that General Douay, his anxiety being relieved on that score, sent +Dumont’s division to the assistance of the 12th corps, which was then +being hard pushed. Scarcely fifteen minutes later, however, as he was +returning from the left, whither he had ridden to see how affairs were +looking, he was surprised, raising his eyes to the Calvary, to see it +was unoccupied; there was not a zouave to be seen there, they had +abandoned the plateau that was no longer tenable by reason of the +terrific fire from the batteries at Fleigneux. With a despairing +presentiment of impending disaster he was spurring as fast as he could +to the right, when he encountered Dumont’s division, flying in +disorder, broken and tangled in inextricable confusion with the debris +of the 1st corps. The latter, which, after its retrograde movement, had +never been able to regain possession of the posts it had occupied in +the morning, leaving Daigny in the hands of the XIIth Saxon corps and +Givonne to the Prussian Guards, had been compelled to retreat in a +northerly direction across the wood of Garenne, harassed by the +batteries that the enemy had posted on every summit from one end of the +valley to the other. The terrible circle of fire and flame was +contracting; a portion of the Guards had continued their march on Illy, +moving from east to west and turning the eminences, while from west to +east, in the rear of the XIth corps, now masters of Saint-Menges, the +Vth, moving steadily onward, had passed Fleigneux and with insolent +temerity was constantly pushing its batteries more and more to the +front, and so contemptuous were they of the ignorance and impotence of +the French that they did not even wait for the infantry to come up to +support their guns. It was midday; the entire horizon was aflame, +concentrating its destructive fire on the 7th and 1st corps. + +Then General Douay, while the German artillery was thus preparing the +way for the decisive movement that should make them masters of the +Calvary, resolved to make one last desperate attempt to regain +possession of the hill. He dispatched his orders, and throwing himself +in person among the fugitives of Dumont’s division, succeeded in +forming a column which he sent forward to the plateau. It held its +ground for a few minutes, but the bullets whistled so thick, the naked, +treeless fields were swept by such a tornado of shot and shell, that it +was not long before the panic broke out afresh, sweeping the men adown +the slopes, rolling them up as straws are whirled before the wind. And +the general, unwilling to abandon his project, ordered up other +regiments. + +A staff officer galloped by, shouting to Colonel de Vineuil as he +passed an order that was lost in the universal uproar. Hearing, the +colonel was erect in his stirrups in an instant, his face aglow with +the gladness of battle, and pointing to the Calvary with a grand +movement of his sword: + +“Our turn has come at last, boys!” he shouted. “Forward!” + +A thrill of enthusiasm ran through the ranks at the brief address, and +the regiment put itself in motion. Beaudoin’s company was among the +first to get on its feet, which it did to the accompaniment of much +good-natured chaff, the men declaring they were so rusty they could not +move; the gravel must have penetrated their joints. The fire was so +hot, however, that by the time they had advanced a few feet they were +glad to avail themselves of the protection of a shelter trench that lay +in their path, along which they crept in an undignified posture, bent +almost double. + +“Now, young fellow, look out for yourself!” Jean said to Maurice; +“we’re in for it. Don’t let ’em see so much as the end of your nose, +for if you do they will surely snip it off, and keep a sharp lookout +for your legs and arms unless you have more than you care to keep. +Those who come out of this with a whole skin will be lucky.” + +Maurice did not hear him very distinctly; the words were lost in the +all-pervading clamor that buzzed and hummed in the young man’s ears. He +could not have told now whether he was afraid or not; he went forward +because the others did, borne along with them in their headlong rush, +without distinct volition of his own; his sole desire was to have the +affair ended as soon as possible. So true was it that he was a mere +drop in the on-pouring torrent that when the leading files came to the +end of the trench and began to waver at the prospect of climbing the +exposed slope that lay before them, he immediately felt himself seized +by a sensation of panic, and was ready to turn and fly. It was simply +an uncontrollable instinct, a revolt of the muscles, obedient to every +passing breath. + +Some of the men had already faced about when the colonel came hurrying +up. + +“Steady there, my children. You won’t cause me this great sorrow; you +won’t behave like cowards. Remember, the 106th has never turned its +back upon the enemy; will you be the first to disgrace our flag?” + +And he spurred his charger across the path of the fugitives, addressing +them individually, speaking to them, of their country, in a voice that +trembled with emotion. + +Lieutenant Rochas was so moved by his words that he gave way to an +ungovernable fit of anger, raising his sword and belaboring the men +with the flat as if it had been a club. + +“You dirty loafers, I’ll see whether you will go up there or not! I’ll +kick you up! About face! and I’ll break the jaw of the first man that +refuses to obey!” + +But such an extreme measure as kicking a regiment into action was +repugnant to the colonel. + +“No, no, lieutenant; they will follow me. Won’t you, my children? You +won’t let your old colonel fight it out alone with the Prussians! Up +there lies the way; forward!” + +He turned his horse and left the trench, and they did all follow, to a +man, for he would have been considered the lowest of the low who could +have abandoned their leader after that brave, kind speech. He was the +only one, however, who, while crossing the open fields, erect on his +tall horse, was cool and unconcerned; the men scattered, advancing in +open order and availing themselves of every shelter afforded by the +ground. The land sloped upward; there were fully five hundred yards of +stubble and beet fields between them and the Calvary, and in place of +the correctly aligned columns that the spectator sees advancing when a +charge is ordered in field maneuvers, all that was to be seen was a +loose array of men with rounded backs, singly or in small groups, +hugging the ground, now crawling warily a little way on hands and +knees, now dashing forward for the next cover, like huge insects +fighting their way upward to the crest by dint of agility and address. +The enemy’s batteries seemed to have become aware of the movement; +their fire was so rapid that the reports of the guns were blended in +one continuous roar. Five men were killed, a lieutenant was cut in two. + +Maurice and Jean had considered themselves fortunate that their way led +along a hedge behind which they could push forward unseen, but the man +immediately in front of them was shot through the temples and fell back +dead in their arms; they had to cast him down at one side. By this +time, however, the casualties had ceased to excite attention; they were +too numerous. A man went by, uttering frightful shrieks and pressing +his hands upon his protruding entrails; they beheld a horse dragging +himself along with both thighs broken, and these anguishing sights, +these horrors of the battlefield, affected them no longer. They were +suffering from the intolerable heat, the noonday sun that beat upon +their backs and burned like hot coals. + +“How thirsty I am!” Maurice murmured. “My throat is like an ash barrel. +Don’t you notice that smell of something scorching, a smell like +burning woolen?” + +Jean nodded. “It was just the same at Solferino; perhaps it is the +smell that always goes with war. But hold, I have a little brandy left; +we’ll have a sup.” + +And they paused behind the hedge a moment and raised the flask to their +lips, but the brandy, instead of relieving their thirst, burned their +stomach. It irritated them, that nasty taste of burnt rags in their +mouths. Moreover they perceived that their strength was commencing to +fail for want of sustenance and would have liked to take a bite from +the half loaf that Maurice had in his knapsack, but it would not do to +stop and breakfast there under fire, and then they had to keep up with +their comrades. There was a steady stream of men coming up behind them +along the hedge who pressed them forward, and so, doggedly bending +their backs to the task before them, they resumed their course. +Presently they made their final rush and reached the crest. They were +on the plateau, at the very foot of the Calvary, the old weather-beaten +cross that stood between two stunted lindens. + +“Good for our side!” exclaimed Jean; “here we are! But the next thing +is to remain here!” + +He was right; it was not the pleasantest place in the world to be in, +as Lapoulle remarked in a doleful tone that excited the laughter of the +company. They all lay down again, in a field of stubble, and for all +that three men were killed in quick succession. It was pandemonium let +loose up there on the heights; the projectiles from Saint-Menges, +Fleigneux, and Givonne fell in such numbers that the ground fairly +seemed to smoke, as it does at times under a heavy shower of rain. It +was clear that the position could not be maintained unless artillery +was dispatched at once to the support of the troops who had been sent +on such a hopeless undertaking. General Douay, it was said, had given +instructions to bring up two batteries of the reserve artillery, and +the men were every moment turning their heads, watching anxiously for +the guns that did not come. + +“It is absurd, ridiculous!” declared Beaudoin, who was again fidgeting +up and down before the company. “Who ever heard of placing a regiment +in the air like this and giving it no support!” Then, observing a +slight depression on their left, he turned to Rochas: “Don’t you think, +Lieutenant, that the company would be safer there?” + +Rochas stood stock still and shrugged his shoulders. “It is six of one +and half a dozen of the other, Captain. My opinion is that we will do +better to stay where we are.” + +Then the captain, whose principles were opposed to swearing, forgot +himself. + +“But, good God! there won’t a man of us escape! We can’t allow the men +to be murdered like this!” + +And he determined to investigate for himself the advantages of the +position he had mentioned, but had scarcely taken ten steps when he was +lost to sight in the smoke of an exploding shell; a splinter of the +projectile had fractured his right leg. He fell upon his back, emitting +a shrill cry of alarm, like a woman’s. + +“He might have known as much,” Rochas muttered. “There’s no use his +making such a fuss over it; when the dose is fixed for one, he has to +take it.” + +Some members of the company had risen to their feet on seeing their +captain fall, and as he continued to call lustily for assistance, Jean +finally ran to him, immediately followed by Maurice. + +“Friends, friends, for Heaven’s sake do not leave me here; carry me to +the ambulance!” + +“_Dame_, Captain, I don’t know that we shall be able to get so far, but +we can try.” + +As they were discussing how they could best take hold to raise him they +perceived, behind the hedge that had sheltered them on their way up, +two stretcher-bearers who seemed to be waiting for something to do, and +finally, after protracted signaling, induced them to draw near. All +would be well if they could only get the wounded man to the ambulance +without accident, but the way was long and the iron hail more pitiless +than ever. + +The bearers had tightly bandaged the injured limb in order to keep the +bones in position and were about to bear the captain off the field on +what children call a “chair,” formed by joining their hands and +slipping an arm of the patient over each of their necks, when Colonel +de Vineuil, who had heard of the accident, came up, spurring his horse. +He manifested much emotion, for he had known the young man ever since +his graduation from Saint-Cyr. + +“Cheer up, my poor boy; have courage. You are in no danger; the doctors +will save your leg.” + +The captain’s face wore an expression of resignation, as if he had +summoned up all his courage to bear his misfortune manfully. + +“No, my dear Colonel; I feel it is all up with me, and I would rather +have it so. The only thing that distresses me is the waiting for the +inevitable end.” + +The bearers carried him away, and were fortunate enough to reach the +hedge in safety, behind which they trotted swiftly away with their +burden. The colonel’s eyes followed them anxiously, and when he saw +them reach the clump of trees where the ambulance was stationed a look +of deep relief rose to his face. + +“But you, Colonel,” Maurice suddenly exclaimed, “you are wounded too!” + +He had perceived blood dripping from the colonel’s left boot. A +projectile of some description had carried away the heel of the +foot-covering and forced the steel shank into the flesh. + +M. de Vineuil bent over his saddle and glanced unconcernedly at the +member, in which the sensation at that time must have been far from +pleasurable. + +“Yes, yes,” he replied, “it is a little remembrance that I received a +while ago. A mere scratch, that don’t prevent me from sitting my +horse—” And he added, as he turned to resume his position to the rear +of his regiment: “As long as a man can stick on his horse he’s all +right.” + +At last the two batteries of reserve artillery came up. Their arrival +was an immense relief to the anxiously expectant men, as if the guns +were to be a rampart of protection to them and at the same time +demolish the hostile batteries that were thundering against them from +every side. And then, too, it was in itself an exhilarating spectacle +to see the magnificent order they preserved as they came dashing up, +each gun followed by its caisson, the drivers seated on the near horse +and holding the off horse by the bridle, the cannoneers bolt upright on +the chests, the chiefs of detachment riding in their proper position on +the flank. Distances were preserved as accurately as if they were on +parade, and all the time they were tearing across the fields at +headlong speed, with the roar and crash of a hurricane. + +Maurice, who had lain down again, arose and said to Jean in great +excitement: + +“Look! over there on the left, that is Honoré’s battery. I can +recognize the men.” + +Jean gave him a back-handed blow that brought him down to his recumbent +position. + +“Lie down, will you! and make believe dead!” + +But they were both deeply interested in watching the maneuvers of the +battery, and never once removed their eyes from it; it cheered their +heart to witness the cool and intrepid activity of those men, who, they +hoped, might yet bring victory to them. + +The battery had wheeled into position on a bare summit to the left, +where it brought up all standing; then, quick as a flash, the +cannoneers leaped from the chests and unhooked the limbers, and the +drivers, leaving the gun in position, drove fifteen yards to the rear, +where they wheeled again so as to bring team and limber face to the +enemy and there remained, motionless as statues. In less time than it +takes to tell it the guns were in place, with the proper intervals +between them, distributed into three sections of two guns each, each +section commanded by a lieutenant, and over the whole a captain, a long +maypole of a man, who made a terribly conspicuous landmark on the +plateau. And this captain, having first made a brief calculation, was +heard to shout: + +“Sight for sixteen hundred yards!” + +Their fire was to be directed upon a Prussian battery, screened by some +bushes, to the left of Fleigneux, the shells from which were rendering +the position of the Calvary untenable. + +“Honoré’s piece, you see,” Maurice began again, whose excitement was +such that he could not keep still, “Honoré’s piece is in the center +section. There he is now, bending over to speak to the gunner; you +remember Louis, the gunner, don’t you? the little fellow with whom we +had a drink at Vouziers? And that fellow in the rear, who sits so +straight on his handsome chestnut, is Adolphe, the driver—” + +First came the gun with its chief and six cannoneers, then the limber +with its four horses ridden by two men, beyond that the caisson with +its six horses and three drivers, still further to the rear were the +_prolonge_, forge, and battery wagon; and this array of men, horses and +_matériel_ extended to the rear in a straight unbroken line of more +than a hundred yards in length; to say nothing of the spare caisson and +the men and beasts who were to fill the places of those removed by +casualties, who were stationed at one side, as much as possible out of +the enemy’s line of fire. + +And now Honoré was attending to the loading of his gun. The two men +whose duty it was to fetch the cartridge and the projectile returned +from the caisson, where the corporal and the artificer were stationed; +two other cannoneers, standing at the muzzle of the piece, slipped into +the bore the cartridge, a charge of powder in an envelope of serge, and +gently drove it home with the rammer, then in like manner introduced +the shell, the studs of which creaked faintly in the spirals of the +rifling. When the primer was inserted in the vent and all was in +readiness, Honoré thought he would like to point the gun himself for +the first shot, and throwing himself in a semi-recumbent posture on the +trail, working with one hand the screw that regulated the elevation, +with the other he signaled continually to the gunner, who, standing +behind him, moved the piece by imperceptible degrees to right or left +with the assistance of the lever. + +“That ought to be about right,” he said as he arose. + +The captain came up, and stooping until his long body was bent almost +double, verified the elevation. At each gun stood the assistant gunner, +waiting to pull the lanyard that should ignite the fulminate by means +of a serrated wire. And the orders were given in succession, +deliberately, by number: + +“Number one, Fire! Number two, Fire!” + +Six reports were heard, the guns recoiled, and while they were being +brought back to position the chiefs of detachment observed the effect +of the shots and found that the range was short. They made the +necessary correction and the evolution was repeated, in exactly the +same manner as before; and it was that cool precision, that mechanical +routine of duty, without agitation and without haste, that did so much +to maintain the _morale_ of the men. They were a little family, united +by the tie of a common occupation, grouped around the gun, which they +loved and reverenced as if it had been a living thing; it was the +object of all their care and attention, to it all else was subservient, +men, horses, caisson, everything. Thence also arose the spirit of unity +and cohesion that animated the battery at large, making all its members +work together for the common glory and the common good, like a +well-regulated household. + +The 106th had cheered lustily at the completion of the first round; +they were going to make those bloody Prussian guns shut their mouths at +last! but their elation was succeeded by dismay when it was seen that +the projectiles fell short, many of them bursting in the air and never +reaching the bushes that served to mask the enemy’s artillery. + +“Honoré,” Maurice continued, “says that all the other pieces are +popguns and that his old girl is the only one that is good for +anything. Ah, his old girl! He talks as if she were his wife and there +were not another like her in the world! Just notice how jealously he +watches her and makes the men clean her off! I suppose he is afraid she +will overheat herself and take cold!” + +He continued rattling on in this pleasant vein to Jean, both of them +cheered and encouraged by the cool bravery with which the artillerymen +served their guns; but the Prussian batteries, after firing three +rounds, had now got the range, which, too long at the beginning, they +had at last ciphered down to such a fine point that their shells were +landed invariably among the French pieces, while the latter, +notwithstanding the efforts that were made to increase their range, +still continued to place their projectiles short of the enemy’s +position. One of Honoré’s cannoneers was killed while loading the +piece; the others pushed the body out of their way, and the service +went on with the same methodical precision, with neither more nor less +haste. In the midst of the projectiles that fell and burst continually +the same unvarying rhythmical movements went on uninterruptedly about +the gun; the cartridge and shell were introduced, the gun was pointed, +the lanyard pulled, the carriage brought back to place; and all with +such undeviating regularity that the men might have been taken for +automatons, devoid of sight and hearing. + +What impressed Maurice, however, more than anything else, was the +attitude of the drivers, sitting straight and stiff in their saddles +fifteen yards to the rear, face to the enemy. There was Adolphe, the +broad-chested, with his big blond mustache across his rubicund face; +and who shall tell the amount of courage a man must have to enable him +to sit without winking and watch the shells coming toward him, and he +not allowed even to twirl his thumbs by way of diversion! The men who +served the guns had something to occupy their minds, while the drivers, +condemned to immobility, had death constantly before their eyes, and +plenty of leisure to speculate on probabilities. They were made to face +the battlefield because, had they turned their backs to it, the coward +that so often lurks at the bottom of man’s nature might have got the +better of them and swept away man and beast. It is the unseen danger +that makes dastards of us; that which we can see we brave. The army has +no more gallant set of men in its ranks than the drivers in their +obscure position. + +Another man had been killed, two horses of a caisson had been +disemboweled, and the enemy kept up such a murderous fire that there +was a prospect of the entire battery being knocked to pieces should +they persist in holding that position longer. It was time to take some +step to baffle that tremendous fire, notwithstanding the danger there +was in moving, and the captain unhesitatingly gave orders to bring up +the limbers. + +The risky maneuver was executed with lightning speed; the drivers came +up at a gallop, wheeled their limber into position in rear of the gun, +when the cannoneers raised the trail of the piece and hooked on. The +movement, however, collecting as it did, momentarily, men and horses on +the battery front in something of a huddle, created a certain degree of +confusion, of which the enemy took advantage by increasing the rapidity +of their fire; three more men dropped. The teams darted away at +breakneck speed, describing an arc of a circle among the fields, and +the battery took up its new position some fifty or sixty yards more to +the right, on a gentle eminence that was situated on the other flank of +the 106th. The pieces were unlimbered, the drivers resumed their +station at the rear, face to the enemy, and the firing was reopened; +and so little time was lost between leaving their old post and taking +up the new that the earth had barely ceased to tremble under the +concussion. + +Maurice uttered a cry of dismay, when, after three attempts, the +Prussians had again got their range; the first shell landed squarely on +Honoré’s gun. The artilleryman rushed forward, and with a trembling +hand felt to ascertain what damage had been done his pet; a great wedge +had been chipped from the bronze muzzle. But it was not disabled, and +the work went on as before, after they had removed from beneath the +wheels the body of another cannoneer, with whose blood the entire +carriage was besplashed. + +“It was not little Louis; I am glad of that,” said Maurice, continuing +to think aloud. “There he is now, pointing his gun; he must be wounded, +though, for he is only using his left arm. Ah, he is a brave lad, is +little Louis; and how well he and Adolphe get on together, in spite of +their little tiffs, only provided the gunner, the man who serves on +foot, shows a proper amount of respect for the driver, the man who +rides a horse, notwithstanding that the latter is by far the more +ignorant of the two. Now that they are under fire, though, Louis is as +good a man as Adolphe—” + +Jean, who had been watching events in silence, gave utterance to a +distressful cry: + +“They will have to give it up! No troops in the world could stand such +a fire.” + +Within the space of five minutes the second position had become as +untenable as was the first; the projectiles kept falling with the same +persistency, the same deadly precision. A shell dismounted a gun, +fracturing the chase, killing a lieutenant and two men. Not one of the +enemy’s shots failed to reach, and at each discharge they secured a +still greater accuracy of range, so that if the battery should remain +there another five minutes they would not have a gun or a man left. The +crushing fire threatened to wipe them all out of existence. + +Again the captain’s ringing voice was heard ordering up the limbers. +The drivers dashed up at a gallop and wheeled their teams into place to +allow the cannoneers to hook on the guns, but before Adolphe had time +to get up Louis was struck by a fragment of shell that tore open his +throat and broke his jaw; he fell across the trail of the carriage just +as he was on the point of raising it. Adolphe was there instantly, and +beholding his prostrate comrade weltering in his blood, jumped from his +horse and was about to raise him to his saddle and bear him away. And +at that moment, just as the battery was exposed flank to the enemy in +the act of wheeling, offering a fair target, a crashing discharge came, +and Adolphe reeled and fell to the ground, his chest crushed in, with +arms wide extended. In his supreme convulsion he seized his comrade +about the body, and thus they lay, locked in each other’s arms in a +last embrace, “married” even in death. + +Notwithstanding the slaughtered horses and the confusion that that +death-dealing discharge had caused among the men, the battery had +rattled up the slope of a hillock and taken post a few yards from the +spot where Jean and Maurice were lying. For the third time the guns +were unlimbered, the drivers retired to the rear and faced the enemy, +and the cannoneers, with a gallantry that nothing could daunt, at once +reopened fire. + +“It is as if the end of all things were at hand!” said Maurice, the +sound of whose voice was lost in the uproar. + +It seemed indeed as if heaven and earth were confounded in that hideous +din. Great rocks were cleft asunder, the sun was hid from sight at +times in clouds of sulphurous vapor. When the cataclysm was at its +height the horses stood with drooping heads, trembling, dazed with +terror. The captain’s tall form was everywhere upon the eminence; +suddenly he was seen no more; a shell had cut him clean in two, and he +sank, as a ship’s mast that is snapped off at the base. + +But it was about Honoré’s gun, even more than the others, that the +conflict raged, with cool efficiency and obstinate determination. The +non-commissioned officer found it necessary to forget his chevrons for +the time being and lend a hand in working the piece, for he had now but +three cannoneers left; he pointed the gun and pulled the lanyard, while +the others brought ammunition from the caisson, loaded, and handled the +rammer and the sponge. He had sent for men and horses from the battery +reserves that were kept to supply the places of those removed by +casualties, but they were slow in coming, and in the meantime the +survivors must do the work of the dead. It was a great discouragement +to all that their projectiles ranged short and burst almost without +exception in the air, inflicting no injury on the powerful batteries of +the foe, the fire of which was so efficient. And suddenly Honoré let +slip an oath that was heard above the thunder of the battle; ill-luck, +ill-luck, nothing but ill-luck! the right wheel of his piece was +smashed! _Tonnerre de Dieu!_ what a state she was in, the poor darling! +stretched on her side with a broken paw, her nose buried in the ground, +crippled and good for nothing! The sight brought big tears to his eyes, +he laid his trembling hand upon the breech, as if the ardor of his love +might avail to warm his dear mistress back to life. And the best gun of +them all, the only one that had been able to drop a few shells among +the enemy! Then suddenly he conceived a daring project, nothing less +than to repair the injury there and then, under that terrible fire. +Assisted by one of his men he ran back to the caisson and secured the +spare wheel that was attached to the rear axle, and then commenced the +most dangerous operation that can be executed on a battlefield. +Fortunately the extra men and horses that he had sent for came up just +then, and he had two cannoneers to lend him a hand. + +For the third time, however, the strength of the battery was so reduced +as practically to disable it. To push their heroic daring further would +be madness; the order was given to abandon the position definitely. + +“Make haste, comrades!” Honoré exclaimed. “Even if she is fit for no +further service we’ll carry her off; those fellows shan’t have her!” + +To save the gun, even as men risk their life to save the flag; that was +his idea. And he had not ceased to speak when he was stricken down as +by a thunderbolt, his right arm torn from its socket, his left flank +laid open. He had fallen upon his gun he loved so well, and lay there +as if stretched on a bed of honor, with head erect, his unmutilated +face turned toward the enemy, and bearing an expression of proud +defiance that made him beautiful in death. From his torn jacket a +letter had fallen to the ground and lay in the pool of blood that +dribbled slowly from above. + +The only lieutenant left alive shouted the order: “Bring up the +limbers!” + +A caisson had exploded with a roar that rent the skies. They were +obliged to take the horses from another caisson in order to save a gun +of which the team had been killed. And when, for the last time, the +drivers had brought up their smoking horses and the guns had been +limbered up, the whole battery flew away at a gallop and never stopped +until they reached the edge of the wood of la Garenne, nearly twelve +hundred yards away. + +Maurice had seen the whole. He shivered with horror, and murmured +mechanically, in a faint voice: + +“Oh! poor fellow, poor fellow!” + +In addition to this feeling of mental distress he had a horrible +sensation of physical suffering, as if something was gnawing at his +vitals. It was the animal portion of his nature asserting itself; he +was at the end of his endurance, was ready to sink with hunger. His +perceptions were dimmed, he was not even conscious of the dangerous +position the regiment was in now it no longer was protected by the +battery. It was more than likely that the enemy would not long delay to +attack the plateau in force. + +“Look here,” he said to Jean, “I _must_ eat—if I am to be killed for it +the next minute, I must eat.” + +He opened his knapsack and, taking out the bread with shaking hands, +set his teeth in it voraciously. The bullets were whistling above their +heads, two shells exploded only a few yards away, but all was as naught +to him in comparison with his craving hunger. + +“Will you have some, Jean?” + +The corporal was watching him with hungry eyes and a stupid expression +on his face; his stomach was also twinging him. + +“Yes, I don’t care if I do; this suffering is more than I can stand.” + +They divided the loaf between them and each devoured his portion +gluttonously, unmindful of what was going on about them so long as a +crumb remained. And it was at that time that they saw their colonel for +the last time, sitting his big horse, with his blood-stained boot. The +regiment was surrounded on every side; already some of the companies +had left the field. Then, unable longer to restrain their flight, with +tears standing in his eyes and raising his sword above his head: + +“My children,” cried M. de Vineuil, “I commend you to the protection of +God, who thus far has spared us all!” + +He rode off down the hill, surrounded by a swarm of fugitives, and +vanished from their sight. + +Then, they knew not how, Maurice and Jean found themselves once more +behind the hedge, with the remnant of their company. Some forty men at +the outside were all that remained, with Lieutenant Rochas as their +commander, and the regimental standard was with them; the subaltern who +carried it had furled the silk about the staff in order to try to save +it. They made their way along the hedge, as far as it extended, to a +cluster of small trees upon a hillside, where Rochas made them halt and +reopen fire. The men, dispersed in skirmishing order and sufficiently +protected, could hold their ground, the more that an important cavalry +movement was in preparation on their right and regiments of infantry +were being brought up to support it. + +It was at that moment that Maurice comprehended the full scope of that +mighty, irresistible turning movement that was now drawing near +completion. That morning he had watched the Prussians debouching by the +Saint-Albert pass and had seen their advanced guard pushed forward, +first to Saint-Menges, then to Fleigneux, and now, behind the wood of +la Garenne, he could hear the thunder of the artillery of the Guard, +could behold other German uniforms arriving on the scene over the hills +of Givonne. Yet a few moments, it might be, and the circle would be +complete; the Guard would join hands with the Vth corps, surrounding +the French army with a living wall, girdling them about with a belt of +flaming artillery. It was with the resolve to make one supreme, +desperate effort, to try to hew a passage through that advancing wall, +that General Margueritte’s division of the reserve cavalry was massing +behind a protecting crest preparatory to charging. They were about to +charge into the jaws of death, with no possibility of achieving any +useful result, solely for the glory of France and the French army. And +Maurice, whose thoughts turned to Prosper, was a witness of the +terrible spectacle. + +What between the messages that were given him to carry and their +answers, Prosper had been kept busy since daybreak spurring up and down +the plateau of Illy. The cavalrymen had been awakened at peep of dawn, +man by man, without sound of trumpet, and to make their morning coffee +had devised the ingenious expedient of screening their fires with a +greatcoat so as not to attract the attention of the enemy. Then there +came a period when they were left entirely to themselves, with nothing +to occupy them; they seemed to be forgotten by their commanders. They +could hear the sound of the cannonading, could descry the puffs of +smoke, could see the distant movements of the infantry, but were +utterly ignorant of the battle, its importance, and its results. +Prosper, as far as he was concerned, was suffering from want of sleep. +The cumulative fatigue induced by many nights of broken rest, the +invincible somnolency caused by the easy gait of his mount, made life a +burden. He dreamed dreams and saw visions; now he was sleeping +comfortably in a bed between clean sheets, now snoring on the bare +ground among sharpened flints. For minutes at a time he would actually +be sound asleep in his saddle, a lifeless clod, his steed’s +intelligence answering for both. Under such circumstances comrades had +often tumbled from their seats upon the road. They were so fagged that +when they slept the trumpets no longer awakened them; the only way to +rouse them from their lethargy and get them on their feet was to kick +them soundly. + +“But what are they going to do, what are they going to do with us?” +Prosper kept saying to himself. It was the only thing he could think of +to keep himself awake. + +For six hours the cannon had been thundering. As they climbed a hill +two comrades, riding at his side, had been struck down by a shell, and +as they rode onward seven or eight others had bit the dust, pierced by +rifle-balls that came no one could say whence. It was becoming +tiresome, that slow parade, as useless as it was dangerous, up and down +the battlefield. At last—it was about one o’clock—he learned that it +had been decided they were to be killed off in a somewhat more decent +manner. Margueritte’s entire division, comprising three regiments of +chasseurs d’Afrique, one of chasseurs de France, and one of hussars, +had been drawn in and posted in a shallow valley a little to the south +of the Calvary of Illy. The trumpets had sounded: “Dismount!” and then +the officers’ command ran down the line to tighten girths and look to +packs. + +Prosper alighted, stretched his cramped limbs, and gave Zephyr a +friendly pat upon the neck. Poor Zephyr! he felt the degradation of the +ignominious, heartbreaking service they were subjected to almost as +keenly as his master; and not only that, but he had to carry a small +arsenal of stores and implements of various kinds: the holsters stuffed +with his master’s linen and underclothing and the greatcoat rolled +above, the stable suit, blouse, and overalls, and the sack containing +brushes, currycomb, and other articles of equine toilet behind the +saddle, the haversack with rations slung at his side, to say nothing of +such trifles as side-lines and picket-pins, the watering bucket and the +wooden basin. The cavalryman’s tender heart was stirred by a feeling of +compassion, as he tightened up the girth and looked to see that +everything was secure in its place. + +It was a trying moment. Prosper was no more a coward than the next man, +but his mouth was intolerably dry and hot; he lit a cigarette in the +hope that it would relieve the unpleasant sensation. When about to +charge no man can assert with any degree of certainty that he will ride +back again. The suspense lasted some five or six minutes; it was said +that General Margueritte had ridden forward to reconnoiter the ground +over which they were to charge; they were awaiting his return. The five +regiments had been formed in three columns, each column having a depth +of seven squadrons; enough to afford an ample meal to the hostile guns. + +Presently the trumpets rang out: “To horse!” and this was succeeded +almost immediately by the shrill summons: “Draw sabers!” + +The colonel of each regiment had previously ridden out and taken his +proper position, twenty-five yards to the front, the captains were all +at their posts at the head of their squadrons. Then there was another +period of anxious waiting, amid a silence heavy as that of death. Not a +sound, not a breath, there, beneath the blazing sun; nothing, save the +beating of those brave hearts. One order more, the supreme, the +decisive one, and that mass, now so inert and motionless, would become +a resistless tornado, sweeping all before it. + +At that juncture, however, an officer appeared coming over the crest of +the hill in front, wounded, and preserving his seat in the saddle only +by the assistance of a man on either side. No one recognized him at +first, but presently a deep, ominous murmur began to run from squadron +to squadron, which quickly swelled into a furious uproar. It was +General Margueritte, who had received a wound from which he died a few +days later; a musket-ball had passed through both cheeks, carrying away +a portion of the tongue and palate. He was incapable of speech, but +waved his arm in the direction of the enemy. The fury of his men knew +no bounds; their cries rose louder still upon the air. + +“It is our general! Avenge him, avenge him!” + +Then the colonel of the first regiment, raising aloft his saber, +shouted in a voice of thunder: + +“Charge!” + +The trumpets sounded, the column broke into a trot and was away. +Prosper was in the leading squadron, but almost at the extreme right of +the right wing, a position of less danger than the center, upon which +the enemy always naturally concentrate their hottest fire. When they +had topped the summit of the Calvary and began to descend the slope +beyond that led downward into the broad plain he had a distinct view, +some two-thirds of a mile away, of the Prussian squares that were to be +the object of their attack. Beside that vision all the rest was dim and +confused before his eyes; he moved onward as one in a dream, with a +strange ringing in his ears, a sensation of voidness in his mind that +left him incapable of framing an idea. He was a part of the great +engine that tore along, controlled by a superior will. The command ran +along the line: “Keep touch of knees! Keep touch of knees!” in order to +keep the men closed up and give their ranks the resistance and rigidity +of a wall of granite, and as their trot became swifter and swifter and +finally broke into a mad gallop, the chasseurs d’Afrique gave their +wild Arab cry that excited their wiry steeds to the verge of frenzy. +Onward they tore, faster and faster still, until their gallop was a +race of unchained demons, their shouts the shrieks of souls in mortal +agony; onward they plunged amid a storm of bullets that rattled on +casque and breastplate, on buckle and scabbard, with a sound like hail; +into the bosom of that hailstorm flashed that thunderbolt beneath which +the earth shook and trembled, leaving behind it, as it passed, an odor +of burned woolen and the exhalations of wild beasts. + +At five hundred yards the line wavered an instant, then swirled and +broke in a frightful eddy that brought Prosper to the ground. He +clutched Zephyr by the mane and succeeded in recovering his seat. The +center had given way, riddled, almost annihilated as it was by the +musketry fire, while the two wings had wheeled and ridden back a little +way to renew their formation. It was the foreseen, foredoomed +destruction of the leading squadron. Disabled horses covered the +ground, some quiet in death, but many struggling violently in their +strong agony; and everywhere dismounted riders could be seen, running +as fast as their short legs would let them, to capture themselves +another mount. Many horses that had lost their master came galloping +back to the squadron and took their place in line of their own accord, +to rush with their comrades back into the fire again, as if there was +some strange attraction for them in the smell of gunpowder. The charge +was resumed; the second squadron went forward, like the first, at a +constantly accelerated rate of speed, the men bending upon their +horses’ neck, holding the saber along the thigh, ready for use upon the +enemy. Two hundred yards more were gained this time, amid the +thunderous, deafening uproar, but again the center broke under the +storm of bullets; men and horses went down in heaps, and the piled +corpses made an insurmountable barrier for those who followed. Thus was +the second squadron in its turn mown down, annihilated, leaving its +task to be accomplished by those who came after. + +When for the third time the men were called upon to charge and +responded with invincible heroism, Prosper found that his companions +were principally hussars and chasseurs de France. Regiments and +squadrons, as organizations, had ceased to exist; their constituent +elements were drops in the mighty wave that alternately broke and +reared its crest again, to swallow up all that lay in its destructive +path. He had long since lost distinct consciousness of what was going +on around him, and suffered his movements to be guided by his mount, +faithful Zephyr, who had received a wound in the ear that seemed to +madden him. He was now in the center, where all about him horses were +rearing, pawing the air, and falling backward; men were dismounted as +if torn from their saddle by the blast of a tornado, while others, shot +through some vital part, retained their seat and rode onward in the +ranks with vacant, sightless eyes. And looking back over the additional +two hundred yards that this effort had won for them, they could see the +field of yellow stubble strewn thick with dead and dying. Some there +were who had fallen headlong from their saddle and buried their face in +the soft earth. Others had alighted on their back and were staring up +into the sun with terror-stricken eyes that seemed bursting from their +sockets. There was a handsome black horse, an officer’s charger, that +had been disemboweled, and was making frantic efforts to rise, his fore +feet entangled in his entrails. Beneath the fire, that became +constantly more murderous as they drew nearer, the survivors in the +wings wheeled their horses and fell back to concentrate their strength +for a fresh onset. + +Finally it was the fourth squadron, which, on the fourth attempt, +reached the Prussian lines. Prosper made play with his saber, hacking +away at helmets and dark uniforms as well as he could distinguish them, +for all was dim before him, as in a dense mist. Blood flowed in +torrents; Zephyr’s mouth was smeared with it, and to account for it he +said to himself that the good horse must have been using his teeth on +the Prussians. The clamor around him became so great that he could not +hear his own voice, although his throat seemed splitting from the yells +that issued from it. But behind the first Prussian line there was +another, and then another, and then another still. Their gallant +efforts went for nothing; those dense masses of men were like a tangled +jungle that closed around the horses and riders who entered it and +buried them in its rank growths. They might hew down those who were +within reach of their sabers; others stood ready to take their place, +the last squadrons were lost and swallowed up in their vast numbers. +The firing, at point-blank range, was so furious that the men’s +clothing was ignited. Nothing could stand before it, all went down; and +the work that it left unfinished was completed by bayonet and musket +butt. Of the brave men who rode into action that day two-thirds +remained upon the battlefield, and the sole end achieved by that mad +charge was to add another glorious page to history. And then Zephyr, +struck by a musket-ball full in the chest, dropped in a heap, crushing +beneath him Prosper’s right thigh; and the pain was so acute that the +young man fainted. + +Maurice and Jean, who had watched the gallant effort with burning +interest, uttered an exclamation of rage. + +“_Tonnerre de Dieu!_ what bravery wasted!” + +And they resumed their firing from among the trees of the low hill +where they were deployed in skirmishing order. Rochas himself had +picked up an abandoned musket and was blazing away with the rest. But +the plateau of Illy was lost to them by this time beyond hope of +recovery; the Prussians were pouring in upon it from every quarter. It +was somewhere in the neighborhood of two o’clock, and their great +movement was accomplished; the Vth corps and the Guards had effected +their junction, the investment of the French army was complete. + +Jean was suddenly brought to the ground. + +“I am done for,” he murmured. + +He had received what seemed to him like a smart blow of a hammer on the +crown of his head, and his _kepi_ lay behind him with a great furrow +plowed through its top. At first he thought that the bullet had +certainly penetrated the skull and laid bare the brain; his dread of +finding a yawning orifice there was so great that for some seconds he +dared not raise his hand to ascertain the truth. When finally he +ventured, his fingers, on withdrawing them, were red with an abundant +flow of blood, and the pain was so intense that he fainted. + +Just then Rochas gave the order to fall back. The Prussians had crept +up on them and were only two or three hundred yards away; they were in +danger of being captured. + +“Be cool, don’t hurry; face about and give ’em another shot. Rally +behind that low wall that you see down there.” + +Maurice was in despair; he knew not what to do. + +“We are not going to leave our corporal behind, are we, lieutenant?” + +“What are we to do? he has turned up his toes.” + +“No, no! he is breathing still. Take him along!” + +Rochas shrugged his shoulders as if to say they could not bother +themselves for every man that dropped. A wounded man is esteemed of +little value on the battlefield. Then Maurice addressed his +supplications to Lapoulle and Pache. + +“Come, give me a helping hand. I am not strong enough to carry him +unassisted.” + +They were deaf to his entreaties; all they could hear was the voice +that urged them to seek safety for themselves. The Prussians were now +not more than a hundred yards from them; already they were on their +hands and knees, crawling as fast as they could go toward the wall. + +And Maurice, weeping tears of rage, thus left alone with his +unconscious companion, raised him in his arms and endeavored to lug him +away, but he found his puny strength unequal to the task, exhausted as +he was by fatigue and the emotions of the day. At the first step he +took he reeled and fell with his burden. If only he could catch sight +of a stretcher-bearer! He strained his eyes, thought he had discovered +one among the crowd of fugitives, and made frantic gestures of appeal; +no one came, they were left behind, alone. Summoning up his strength +with a determined effort of the will he seized Jean once more and +succeeded in advancing some thirty paces, when a shell burst near them +and he thought that all was ended, that he, too, was to die on the body +of his comrade. + +Slowly, cautiously, Maurice picked himself up. He felt his body, arms, +and legs; nothing, not a scratch. Why should he not look out for +himself and fly, alone? There was time left still; a few bounds would +take him to the wall and he would be saved. His horrible sensation of +fear returned and made him frantic. He was collecting his energies to +break away and run, when a feeling stronger than death intervened and +vanquished the base impulse. What, abandon Jean! he could not do it. It +would be like mutilating his own being; the brotherly affection that +had bourgeoned and grown between him and that rustic had struck its +roots down into his life, too deep to be slain like that. The feeling +went back to the earliest days, was perhaps as old as the world itself; +it was as if there were but they two upon earth, of whom one could not +forsake the other without forsaking himself, and being doomed +thenceforth to an eternity of solitude. Molded of the same clay, +quickened by the same spirit, duty imperiously commanded to save +himself in saving his brother. + +Had it not been for the crust of bread he ate an hour before under the +Prussian shells Maurice could never have done what he did; _how_ he did +it he could never in subsequent days remember. He must have hoisted +Jean upon his shoulders and crawled through the brush and brambles, +falling a dozen times only to pick himself up and go on again, +stumbling at every rut, at every pebble. His indomitable will sustained +him, his dogged resolution would have enabled him to bear a mountain on +his back. Behind the low wall he found Rochas and the few men that were +left of the squad, firing away as stoutly as ever and defending the +flag, which the subaltern held beneath his arm. It had not occurred to +anyone to designate lines of retreat for the several army corps in case +the day should go against them; owing to this want of foresight every +general was at liberty to act as seemed to him best, and at this stage +of the conflict they all found themselves being crowded back upon Sedan +under the steady, unrelaxing pressure of the German armies. The second +division of the 7th corps fell back in comparatively good order, while +the remnants of the other divisions, mingled with the debris of the 1st +corps, were already streaming into the city in terrible disorder, a +roaring torrent of rage and fright that bore all, men and beasts, +before it. + +But to Maurice, at that moment, was granted the satisfaction of seeing +Jean unclose his eyes, and as he was running to a stream that flowed +near by, for water with which to bathe his friend’s face, he was +surprised, looking down on his right into a sheltered valley that lay +between rugged slopes, to behold the same peasant whom he had seen that +morning, still leisurely driving the plow through the furrow with the +assistance of his big white horse. Why should he lose a day? Men might +fight, but none the less the corn would keep on growing; and folks must +live. + + + + +VI. + + +Up on his lofty terrace, whither he had betaken himself to watch how +affairs were shaping, Delaherche at last became impatient and was +seized with an uncontrollable desire for news. He could see that the +enemy’s shells were passing over the city and that the few projectiles +which had fallen on the houses in the vicinity were only responses, +made at long intervals, to the irregular and harmless fire from Fort +Palatinat, but he could discern nothing of the battle, and his +agitation was rising to fever heat; he experienced an imperious longing +for intelligence, which was constantly stimulated by the reflection +that his life and fortune would be in danger should the army be +defeated. He found it impossible to remain there longer, and went +downstairs, leaving behind him the telescope on its tripod, turned on +the German batteries. + +When he had descended, however, he lingered a moment, detained by the +aspect of the central garden of the factory. It was near one o’clock, +and the ambulance was crowded with wounded men; the wagons kept driving +up to the entrance in an unbroken stream. The regular ambulance wagons +of the medical department, two-wheeled and four-wheeled, were too few +in number to meet the demand, and vehicles of every description from +the artillery and other trains, _prolonges_, provision vans, everything +on wheels that could be picked up on the battlefield, came rolling up +with their ghastly loads; and later in the day even carrioles and +market-gardeners’ carts were pressed into the service and harnessed to +horses that were found straying along the roads. Into these motley +conveyances were huddled the men collected from the flying ambulances, +where their hurts had received such hasty attention as could be +afforded. It was a sight to move the most callous to behold the +unloading of those poor wretches, some with a greenish pallor on their +face, others suffused with the purple hue that denotes congestion; many +were in a state of coma, others uttered piercing cries of anguish; some +there were who, in their semi-conscious condition, yielded themselves +to the arms of the attendants with a look of deepest terror in their +eyes, while a few, the minute a hand was laid on them, died of the +consequent shock. They continued to arrive in such numbers that soon +every bed in the vast apartment would have its occupant, and Major +Bouroche had given orders to make use of the straw that had been spread +thickly upon the floor at one end. He and his assistants had thus far +been able to attend to all the cases with reasonable promptness; he had +requested Mme. Delaherche to furnish him with another table, with +mattress and oilcloth cover, for the shed where he had established his +operating room. The assistant would thrust a napkin saturated with +chloroform to the patient’s nostrils, the keen knife flashed in the +air, there was the faint rasping of the saw, barely audible, the blood +spurted in short, sharp jets that were checked immediately. As soon as +one subject had been operated on another was brought in, and they +followed one another in such quick succession that there was barely +time to pass a sponge over the protecting oilcloth. At the extremity of +the grass plot, screened from sight by a clump of lilac bushes, they +had set up a kind of morgue whither they carried the bodies of the +dead, which were removed from the beds without a moment’s delay in +order to make room for the living, and this receptacle also served to +receive the amputated legs, and arms, whatever debris of flesh and bone +remained upon the table. + +Mme. Delaherche and Gilberte, seated at the foot of one of the great +trees, found it hard work to keep pace with the demand for bandages. +Bouroche, who happened to be passing, his face very red, his apron +white no longer, threw a bundle of linen to Delaherche and shouted: + +“Here! be doing something; make yourself useful!” + +But the manufacturer objected. “Oh! excuse me; I must go and try to +pick up some news. One can’t tell whether his neck is safe or not.” +Then, touching his lips to his wife’s hair: “My poor Gilberte, to think +that a shell may burn us out of house and home at any moment! It is +horrible.” + +She was very pale; she raised her head and glanced about her, +shuddering as she did so. Then, involuntarily, her unextinguishable +smile returned to her lips. + +“Oh, horrible, indeed! and all those poor men that they are cutting and +carving. I don’t see how it is that I stay here without fainting.” + +Mme. Delaherche had watched her son as he kissed the young woman’s +hair. She made a movement as if to part them, thinking of that other +man who must have kissed those tresses so short a time ago; then her +old hands trembled, she murmured beneath her breath: + +“What suffering all about us, _mon Dieu!_ It makes one forget his own.” + +Delaherche left them, with the assurance that he would be away no +longer than was necessary to ascertain the true condition of affairs. +In the Rue Maqua he was surprised to observe the crowds of soldiers +that were streaming into the city, without arms and in torn, +dust-stained uniforms. It was in vain, however, that he endeavored to +slake his thirst for news by questioning them; some answered with +vacant, stupid looks that they knew nothing, while others told long +rambling stories, with the maniacal gestures and whirling words of one +bereft of reason. He therefore mechanically turned his steps again +toward the Sous Prefecture as the likeliest quarter in which to look +for information. As he was passing along the Place du Collège two guns, +probably all that remained of some battery, came dashing up to the curb +on a gallop, and were abandoned there. When at last he turned into the +Grande Rue he had further evidence that the advanced guards of the +fugitives were beginning to take possession, of the city; three +dismounted hussars had seated themselves in a doorway and were sharing +a loaf of bread; two others were walking their mounts up and down, +leading them by the bridle, not knowing where to look for stabling for +them; officers were hurrying to and fro distractedly, seemingly without +any distinct purpose. On the Place Turenne a lieutenant counseled him +not to loiter unnecessarily, for the shells had an unpleasant way of +dropping there every now and then; indeed, a splinter had just +demolished the railing about the statue of the great commander who +overran the Palatinate. And as if to emphasize the officer’s advice, +while he was making fast time down the Rue de la Sous Prefecture he saw +two projectiles explode, with a terrible crash, on the Pont de Meuse. + +He was standing in front of the janitor’s lodge, debating with himself +whether it would be best to send in his card and try to interview one +of the aides-de-camp, when he heard a girlish voice calling him by +name. + +“M. Delaherche! Come in here, quick; it is not safe out there.” + +It was Rose, his little operative, whose existence he had quite +forgotten. She might be a useful ally in assisting him to gain access +to headquarters; he entered the lodge and accepted her invitation to be +seated. + +“Just think, mamma is down sick with the worry and confusion; she can’t +leave her bed, so, you see, I have to attend to everything, for papa is +with the National Guards up in the citadel. A little while ago the +Emperor left the building—I suppose he wanted to let people see he is +not a coward—and succeeded in getting as far as the bridge down at the +end of the street. A shell alighted right in front of him; one of his +equerries had his horse killed under him. And then he came back—he +couldn’t do anything else, could he, now?” + +“You must have heard some talk of how the battle is going. What do they +say, those gentlemen upstairs?” + +She looked at him in surprise. Her pretty face was bright and smiling, +with its fluffy golden hair and the clear, childish eyes of one who +bestirred herself among her multifarious duties, in the midst of all +those horrors, which she did not well understand. + +“No, I know nothing. About midday I sent up a letter for Marshal +MacMahon, but it could not be given him right away, because the Emperor +was in the room. They were together nearly an hour, the Marshal lying +on his bed, the Emperor close beside him seated on a chair. That much I +know for certain, because I saw them when the door was opened.” + +“And then, what did they say to each other?” + +She looked at him again, and could not help laughing. + +“Why, I don’t know; how could you expect me to? There’s not a living +soul knows what they said to each other.” + +She was right; he made an apologetic gesture in recognition of the +stupidity of his question. But the thought of that fateful conversation +haunted him; the interest there was in it for him who could have heard +it! What decision had they arrived at? + +“And now,” Rose added, “the Emperor is back in his cabinet again, where +he is having a conference with two generals who have just come in from +the battlefield.” She checked herself, casting a glance at the main +entrance of the building. “See! there is one of them, now—and there +comes the other.” + +He hurried from the room, and in the two generals recognized Ducrot and +Douay, whose horses were standing before the door. He watched them +climb into their saddles and gallop away. They had hastened into the +city, each independently of the other, after the plateau of Illy had +been captured by the enemy, to notify the Emperor that the battle was +lost. They placed the entire situation distinctly before him; the army +and Sedan were even then surrounded on every side; the result could not +help but be disastrous. + +For some minutes the Emperor continued silently to pace the floor of +his cabinet, with the feeble, uncertain step of an invalid. There was +none with him save an aide-de-camp, who stood by the door, erect and +mute. And ever, to and fro, from the window to the fireplace, from the +fireplace to the window, the sovereign tramped wearily, the inscrutable +face now drawn and twitching spasmodically with a nervous tic. The back +was bent, the shoulders bowed, as if the weight of his falling empire +pressed on them more heavily, and the lifeless eyes, veiled by their +heavy lids, told of the anguish of the fatalist who has played his last +card against destiny and lost. Each time, however, that his walk +brought him to the half-open window he gave a start and lingered there +a second. And during one of those brief stoppages he faltered with +trembling lips: + +“Oh! those guns, those guns, that have been going since the morning!” + +The thunder of the batteries on la Marfée and at Frenois seemed, +indeed, to resound with more terrific violence there than elsewhere. It +was one continuous, uninterrupted crash, that shook the windows, nay, +the very walls themselves; an incessant uproar that exasperated the +nerves by its persistency. And he could not banish the reflection from +his mind that, as the struggle was now hopeless, further resistance +would be criminal. What would avail more bloodshed, more maiming and +mangling; why add more corpses to the dead that were already piled high +upon that bloody field? They were vanquished, it was all ended; then +why not stop the slaughter? The abomination of desolation raised its +voice to heaven: let it cease. + +The Emperor, again before the window, trembled and raised his hands to +his ears, as if to shut out those reproachful voices. + +“Oh, those guns, those guns! Will they never be silent!” + +Perhaps the dreadful thought of his responsibilities arose before him, +with the vision of all those thousands of bleeding forms with which his +errors had cumbered the earth; perhaps, again, it was but the +compassionate impulse of the tender-hearted dreamer, of the +well-meaning man whose mind was stocked with humanitarian theories. At +the moment when he beheld utter ruin staring him in the face, in that +frightful whirlwind of destruction that broke him like a reed and +scattered his fortunes in the dust, he could yet find tears for others. +Almost crazed at the thought of the slaughter that was mercilessly +going on so near him, he felt he had not strength to endure it longer; +each report of that accursed cannonade seemed to pierce his heart and +intensified a thousandfold his own private suffering. + +“Oh, those guns, those guns! they must be silenced at once, at once!” + +And that monarch who no longer had a throne, for he had delegated all +his functions to the Empress regent, that chief without an army, since +he had turned over the supreme command to Marshal Bazaine, now felt +that he must once more take the reins in his hand and be the master. +Since they left Châlons he had kept himself in the background, had +issued no orders, content to be a nameless nullity without recognized +position, a cumbrous burden carried about from place to place among the +baggage of his troops, and it was only in their hour of defeat that the +Emperor reasserted itself in him; the one order that he was yet to +give, out of the pity of his sorrowing heart, was to raise the white +flag on the citadel to request an armistice. + +“Those guns, oh! those guns! Take a sheet, someone, a tablecloth, it +matters not what! only hasten, hasten, and see that it is done!” + +The aide-de-camp hurried from the room, and with unsteady steps the +Emperor continued to pace his beat, back and forth, between the window +and the fireplace, while still the batteries kept thundering, shaking +the house from garret to foundation. + +Delaherche was still chatting with Rose in the room below when a +non-commissioned officer of the guard came running in and interrupted +them. + +“Mademoiselle, the house is in confusion, I cannot find a servant. Can +you let me have something from your linen closet, a white cloth of some +kind?” + +“Will a napkin answer?” + +“No, no, it would not be large enough. Half of a sheet, say.” + +Rose, eager to oblige, was already fumbling in her closet. + +“I don’t think I have any half-sheets. No, I don’t see anything that +looks as if it would serve your purpose. Oh, here is something; could +you use a tablecloth?” + +“A tablecloth! just the thing. Nothing could be better.” And he added +as he left the room: “It is to be used as a flag of truce, and hoisted +on the citadel to let the enemy know we want to stop the fighting. Much +obliged, mademoiselle.” + +Delaherche gave a little involuntary start of delight; they were to +have a respite at last, then! Then he thought it might be unpatriotic +to be joyful at such a time, and put on a long face again; but none the +less his heart was very glad and he contemplated with much interest a +colonel and captain, followed by the sergeant, as they hurriedly left +the Sous-Prefecture. The colonel had the tablecloth, rolled in a +bundle, beneath his arm. He thought he should like to follow them, and +took leave of Rose, who was very proud that her napery was to be put to +such use. It was then just striking two o’clock. + +In front of the Hôtel de Ville Delaherche was jostled by a disorderly +mob of half-crazed soldiers who were pushing their way down from the +Faubourg de la Cassine; he lost sight of the colonel, and abandoned his +design of going to witness the raising of the white flag. He certainly +would not be allowed to enter the citadel, and then again he had heard +it reported that shells were falling on the college, and a new terror +filled his mind; his factory might have been burned since he left it. +All his feverish agitation returned to him and he started off on a run; +the rapid motion was a relief to him. But the streets were blocked by +groups of men, at every crossing he was delayed by some new obstacle. +It was only when he reached the Rue Maqua and beheld the monumental +facade of his house intact, no smoke or sign of fire about it, that his +anxiety was allayed, and he heaved a deep sigh of satisfaction. He +entered, and from the doorway shouted to his mother and wife: + +“It is all right! they are hoisting the white flag; the cannonade won’t +last much longer.” + +He said nothing more, for the appearance presented by the ambulance was +truly horrifying. + +In the vast drying-room, the wide door of which was standing open, not +only was every bed occupied, but there was no more room upon the litter +that had been shaken down on the floor at the end of the apartment. +They were commencing to strew straw in the spaces between the beds, the +wounded were crowded together so closely that they were in contact. +Already there were more than two hundred patients there, and more were +arriving constantly; through the lofty windows the pitiless white +daylight streamed in upon that aggregation of suffering humanity. Now +and then an unguarded movement elicited an involuntary cry of anguish. +The death-rattle rose on the warm, damp air. Down the room a low, +mournful wail, almost a lullaby, went on and ceased not. And all about +was silence, intense, profound, the stolid resignation of despair, the +solemn stillness of the death-chamber, broken only by the tread and +whispers of the attendants. Rents in tattered, shell-torn uniforms +disclosed gaping wounds, some of which had received a hasty dressing on +the battlefield, while others were still raw and bleeding. There were +feet, still incased in their coarse shoes, crushed into a mass like +jelly; from knees and elbows, that were as if they had been smashed by +a hammer, depended inert limbs. There were broken hands, and fingers +almost severed, ready to drop, retained only by a strip of skin. Most +numerous among the casualties were the fractures; the poor arms and +legs, red and swollen, throbbed intolerably and were heavy as lead. But +the most dangerous hurts were those in the abdomen, chest, and head. +There were yawning fissures that laid open the entire flank, the +knotted viscera were drawn into great hard lumps beneath the +tight-drawn skin, while as the effect of certain wounds the patient +frothed at the mouth and writhed like an epileptic. Here and there were +cases where the lungs had been penetrated, the puncture now so minute +as to permit no escape of blood, again a wide, deep orifice through +which the red tide of life escaped in torrents; and the internal +hemorrhages, those that were hid from sight, were the most terrible in +their effects, prostrating their victim like a flash, making him black +in the face and delirious. And finally the head, more than any other +portion of the frame, gave evidence of hard treatment; a broken jaw, +the mouth a pulp of teeth and bleeding tongue, an eye torn from its +socket and exposed upon the cheek, a cloven skull that showed the +palpitating brain beneath. Those in whose case the bullet had touched +the brain or spinal marrow were already as dead men, sunk in the +lethargy of coma, while the fractures and other less serious cases +tossed restlessly on their pallets and beseechingly called for water to +quench their thirst. + +Leaving the large room and passing out into the courtyard, the shed +where the operations were going on presented another scene of horror. +In the rush and hurry that had continued unabated since morning it was +impossible to operate on every case that was brought in, so their +attention had been confined to those urgent cases that imperatively +demanded it. Whenever Bouroche’s rapid judgment told him that +amputation was necessary, he proceeded at once to perform it. In the +same way he lost not a moment’s time in probing the wound and +extracting the projectile whenever it had lodged in some locality where +it might do further mischief, as in the muscles of the neck, the region +of the arm pit, the thigh joint, the ligaments of the knee and elbow. +Severed arteries, too, had to be tied without delay. Other wounds were +merely dressed by one of the hospital stewards under his direction and +left to await developments. He had already with his own hand performed +four amputations, the only rest that he allowed himself being to attend +to some minor cases in the intervals between them, and was beginning to +feel fatigue. There were but two tables, his own and another, presided +over by one of his assistants; a sheet had been hung between them, to +isolate the patients from each other. Although the sponge was kept +constantly at work the tables were always red, and the buckets that +were emptied over a bed of daisies a few steps away, the clear water in +which a single tumbler of blood sufficed to redden, seemed to be +buckets of unmixed blood, torrents of blood, inundating the gentle +flowers of the parterre. Although the room was thoroughly ventilated a +nauseating smell arose from the tables and their horrid burdens, +mingled with the sweetly insipid odor of chloroform. + +Delaherche, naturally a soft-hearted man, was in a quiver of +compassionate emotion at the spectacle that lay before his eyes, when +his attention was attracted by a landau that drove up to the door. It +was a private carriage, but doubtless the ambulance attendants had +found none other ready to their hand and had crowded their patients +into it. There were eight of them, sitting on one another’s knees, and +as the last man alighted the manufacturer recognized Captain Beaudoin, +and gave utterance to a cry of terror and surprise. + +“Ah, my poor friend! Wait, I will call my mother and my wife.” + +They came running up, leaving the bandages to be rolled by servants. +The attendants had already raised the captain and brought him into the +room, and were about to lay him down upon a pile of straw when +Delaherche noticed, lying on a bed, a soldier whose ashy face and +staring eyes exhibited no sign of life. + +“Look, is he not dead, that man?” + +“That’s so!” replied the attendant. “He may as well make room for +someone else!” + +He and one of his mates took the body by the arms and legs and carried +it off to the morgue that had been extemporized behind the lilac +bushes. A dozen corpses were already there in a row, stiff and stark, +some drawn out to their full length as if in an attempt to rid +themselves of the agony that racked them, others curled and twisted in +every attitude of suffering. Some seemed to have left the world with a +sneer on their faces, their eyes retroverted till naught was visible +but the whites, the grinning lips parted over the glistening teeth, +while in others, with faces unspeakably sorrowful, big tears still +stood on the cheeks. One, a mere boy, short and slight, half whose face +had been shot away by a cannon-ball, had his two hands clasped +convulsively above his heart, and in them a woman’s photograph, one of +those pale, blurred pictures that are made in the quarters of the poor, +bedabbled with his blood. And at the feet of the dead had been thrown +in a promiscuous pile the amputated arms and legs, the refuse of the +knife and saw of the operating table, just as the butcher sweeps into a +corner of his shop the offal, the worthless odds and ends of flesh and +bone. + +Gilberte shuddered as she looked on Captain Beaudoin. Good God! how +pale he was, stretched out on his mattress, his face so white beneath +the encrusting grime! And the thought that but a few short hours before +he had held her in his arms, radiant in all his manly strength and +beauty, sent a chill of terror to her heart. She kneeled beside him. + +“What a terrible misfortune, my friend! But it won’t amount to +anything, will it?” And she drew her handkerchief from her pocket and +began mechanically to wipe his face, for she could not bear to look at +it thus soiled with powder, sweat, and clay. It seemed to her, too, +that she would be helping him by cleansing him a little. “Will it? it +is only your leg that is hurt; it won’t amount to anything.” + +The captain made an effort to rouse himself from his semi-conscious +state, and opened his eyes. He recognized his friends and greeted them +with a faint smile. + +“Yes, it is only the leg. I was not even aware of being hit; I thought +I had made a misstep and fallen—” He spoke with great difficulty. “Oh! +I am so thirsty!” + +Mme. Delaherche, who was standing at the other side of the mattress, +looking down compassionately on the young man, hastily left the room. +She returned with a glass and a carafe of water into which a little +cognac had been poured, and when the captain had greedily swallowed the +contents of the glass, she distributed what remained in the carafe +among the occupants of the adjacent beds, who begged with trembling +outstretched hands and tearful voices for a drop. A zouave, for whom +there was none left, sobbed like a child in his disappointment. + +Delaherche was meantime trying to gain the major’s ear to see if he +could not prevail on him to take up the captain’s case out of its +regular turn. Bouroche came into the room just then, with his +blood-stained apron and lion’s mane hanging in confusion about his +perspiring face, and the men raised their heads as he passed and +endeavored to stop him, all clamoring at once for recognition and +immediate attention: “This way, major! It’s my turn, major!” Faltering +words of entreaty went up to him, trembling hands clutched at his +garments, but he, wrapped up in the work that lay before him and +puffing with his laborious exertions, continued to plan and calculate +and listened to none of them. He communed with himself aloud, counting +them over with his finger and classifying them, assigning them their +numbers; this one first, then that one, then that other fellow; one, +two, three; the jaw, the arm, then the thigh; while the assistant who +accompanied him on his round made himself all ears in his effort to +memorize his directions. + +“Major,” said Delaherche, plucking him by the sleeve, “there is an +officer over here, Captain Beaudoin—” + +Bouroche interrupted him. “What, Beaudoin here! Ah, the poor devil!” +And he crossed over at once to the side of the wounded man. A single +glance, however, must have sufficed to show him that the case was a bad +one, for he added in the same breath, without even stooping to examine +the injured member: “Good! I will have them bring him to me at once, +just as soon as I am through with the operation that is now in hand.” + +And he went back to the shed, followed by Delaherche, who would not +lose sight of him for fear lest he might forget his promise. + +The business that lay before him now was the rescision of a +shoulder-joint in accordance with Lisfranc’s method, which surgeons +never fail to speak of as a “very pretty” operation, something neat and +expeditious, barely occupying forty seconds in the performance. The +patient was subjected to the influence of chloroform, while an +assistant grasped the shoulder with both hands, the fingers under the +armpit, the thumbs on top. Bouroche, brandishing the long, keen knife, +cried: “Raise him!” seized the deltoid with his left hand and with a +swift movement of the right cut through the flesh of the arm and +severed the muscle; then, with a deft rearward cut, he disarticulated +the joint at a single stroke, and presto! the arm fell on the table, +taken off in three motions. The assistant slipped his thumbs over the +brachial artery in such manner as to close it. “Let him down!” Bouroche +could not restrain a little pleased laugh as he proceeded to secure the +artery, for he had done it in thirty-five seconds. All that was left to +do now was to bring a flap of skin down over the wound and stitch it, +in appearance something like a flat epaulette. It was not only +“pretty,” but exciting, on account of the danger, for a man will pump +all the blood out of his body in two minutes through the brachial, to +say nothing of the risk there is in bringing a patient to a sitting +posture when under the influence of anaesthetics. + +Delaherche was white as a ghost; a thrill of horror ran down his back. +He would have turned and fled, but time was not given him; the arm was +already off. The soldier was a new recruit, a sturdy peasant lad; on +emerging from his state of coma he beheld a hospital attendant carrying +away the amputated limb to conceal it behind the lilacs. Giving a quick +downward glance at his shoulder, he saw the bleeding stump and knew +what had been done, whereon he became furiously angry. + +“Ah, _nom de Dieu!_ what have you been doing to me? It is a shame!” + +Bouroche was too done up to make him an immediate answer, but +presently, in his fatherly way: + +“I acted for the best; I didn’t want to see you kick the bucket, my +boy. Besides, I asked you, and you told me to go ahead.” + +“I told you to go ahead! I did? How could I know what I was saying!” +His anger subsided and he began to weep scalding tears. “What is going +to become of me now?” + +They carried him away and laid him on the straw, and gave the table and +its covering a thorough cleansing; and the buckets of blood-red water +that they threw out across the grass plot gave to the pale daisies a +still deeper hue of crimson. + +When Delaherche had in some degree recovered his equanimity he was +astonished to notice that the bombardment was still going on. Why had +it not been silenced? Rose’s tablecloth must have been hoisted over the +citadel by that time, and yet it seemed as if the fire of the Prussian +batteries was more rapid and furious than ever. The uproar was such +that one could not hear his own voice; the sustained vibration tried +the stoutest nerves. On both operators and patients the effect could +not but be most unfavorable of those incessant detonations that seemed +to penetrate the inmost recesses of one’s being. The entire hospital +was in a state of feverish alarm and apprehension. + +“I supposed it was all over; what can they mean by keeping it up?” +exclaimed Delaherche, who was nervously listening, expecting each shot +would be the last. + +Returning to Bouroche to remind him of his promise and conduct him to +the captain, he was astonished to find him seated on a bundle of straw +before two pails of iced water, into which he had plunged both his +arms, bared to the shoulder. The major, weary and disheartened, +overwhelmed by a sensation of deepest melancholy and dejection, had +reached one of those terrible moments when the practitioner becomes +conscious of his own impotency; he had exhausted his strength, physical +and moral, and taken this means to restore it. And yet he was not a +weakling; he was steady of hand and firm of heart; but the inexorable +question had presented itself to him: “What is the use?” The feeling +that he could accomplish so little, that so much must be left undone, +had suddenly paralyzed him. What was the use? since Death, in spite of +his utmost effort, would always be victorious. Two attendants came in, +bearing Captain Beaudoin on a stretcher. + +“Major,” Delaherche ventured to say, “here is the captain.” + +Bouroche opened his eyes, withdrew his arms from their cold bath, shook +and dried them on the straw. Then, rising to his feet: + +“Ah, yes; the next one—Well, well, the day’s work is not yet done.” And +he shook the tawny locks upon his lion’s head, rejuvenated and +refreshed, restored to himself once more by the invincible habit of +duty and the stern discipline of his profession. + +“Good! just above the right ankle,” said Bouroche, with unusual +garrulity, intended to quiet the nerves of the patient. “You displayed +wisdom in selecting the location of your wound; one is not much the +worse for a hurt in that quarter. Now we’ll just take a little look at +it.” + +But Beaudoin’s persistently lethargic condition evidently alarmed him. +He inspected the contrivance that had been applied by the field +attendant to check the flow of blood, which was simply a cord passed +around the leg outside the trousers and twisted tight with the +assistance of a bayonet sheath, with a growling request to be informed +what infernal ignoramus had done that. Then suddenly he saw how matters +were and was silent; while they were bringing him in from the field in +the overcrowded landau the improvised tourniquet had become loosened +and slipped down, thus giving rise to an extensive hemorrhage. He +relieved his feelings by storming at the hospital steward who was +assisting him. + +“You confounded snail, cut! Are you going to keep me here all day?” + +The attendant cut away the trousers and drawers, then the shoe and +sock, disclosing to view the leg and foot in their pale nudity, stained +with blood. Just over the ankle was a frightful laceration, into which +the splinter of the bursting shell had driven a piece of the red cloth +of the trousers. The muscle protruded from the lips of the gaping +orifice, a roll of whitish, mangled tissue. + +Gilberte had to support herself against one of the uprights of the +shed. Ah! that flesh, that poor flesh that was so white; now all torn +and maimed and bleeding! Despite the horror and terror of the sight she +could not turn away her eyes. + +“Confound it!” Bouroche exclaimed, “they have made a nice mess here!” + +He felt the foot and found it cold; the pulse, if any, was so feeble as +to be undistinguishable. His face was very grave, and he pursed his +lips in a way that was habitual with him when he had a more than +usually serious case to deal with. + +“Confound it,” he repeated, “I don’t like the looks of that foot!” + +The captain, whom his anxiety had finally aroused from his +semi-somnolent state, asked: + +“What were you saying, major?” + +Bouroche’s tactics, whenever an amputation became necessary, were never +to appeal directly to the patient for the customary authorization. He +preferred to have the patient accede to it voluntarily. + +“I was saying that I don’t like the looks of that foot,” he murmured, +as if thinking aloud. “I am afraid we shan’t be able to save it.” + +In a tone of alarm Beaudoin rejoined: “Come, major, there is no use +beating about the bush. What is your opinion?” + +“My opinion is that you are a brave man, captain, and that you are +going to let me do what the necessity of the case demands.” + +To Captain Beaudoin it seemed as if a sort of reddish vapor arose +before his eyes through which he saw things obscurely. He understood. +But notwithstanding the intolerable fear that appeared to be clutching +at his throat, he replied, unaffectedly and bravely: + +“Do as you think best, major.” + +The preparations did not consume much time. The assistant had saturated +a cloth with chloroform and was holding it in readiness; it was at once +applied to the patient’s nostrils. Then, just at the moment that the +brief struggle set in that precedes anaesthesia, two attendants raised +the captain and placed him on the mattress upon his back, in such a +position that the legs should be free; one of them retained his grasp +on the left limb, holding it flexed, while an assistant, seizing the +right, clasped it tightly with both his hands in the region of the +groin in order to compress the arteries. + +Gilberte, when she saw Bouroche approach the victim with the glittering +steel, could endure no more. + +“Oh, don’t! oh, don’t! it is too horrible!” + +And she would have fallen had it not been that Mme. Delaherche put +forth her arm to sustain her. + +“But why do you stay here?” + +Both the women remained, however. They averted their eyes, not wishing +to see the rest; motionless and trembling they stood locked in each +other’s arms, notwithstanding the little love there was between them. + +At no time during the day had the artillery thundered more loudly than +now. It was three o’clock, and Delaherche declared angrily that he gave +it up—he could not understand it. There could be no doubt about it now, +the Prussian batteries, instead of slackening their fire, were +extending it. Why? What had happened? It was as if all the forces of +the nether regions had been unchained; the earth shook, the heavens +were on fire. The ring of flame-belching mouths of bronze that +encircled Sedan, the eight hundred guns of the German armies, that were +served with such activity and raised such an uproar, were expending +their thunders on the adjacent fields; had that concentric fire been +focused upon the city, had the batteries on those commanding heights +once begun to play upon Sedan, it would have been reduced to ashes and +pulverized into dust in less than fifteen minutes. But now the +projectiles were again commencing to fall upon the houses, the crash +that told of ruin and destruction was heard more frequently. One +exploded in the Rue des Voyards, another grazed the tall chimney of the +factory, and the bricks and mortar came tumbling to the ground directly +in front of the shed where the surgeons were at work. Bouroche looked +up and grumbled: + +“Are they trying to finish our wounded for us? Really, this racket is +intolerable.” + +In the meantime an attendant had seized the captain’s leg, and the +major, with a swift circular motion of his hand, made an incision in +the skin below the knee and some two inches below the spot where he +intended to saw the bone; then, still employing the same thin-bladed +knife, that he did not change in order to get on more rapidly, he +loosened the skin on the superior side of the incision and turned it +back, much as one would peel an orange. But just as he was on the point +of dividing the muscles a hospital steward came up and whispered in his +ear: + +“Number two has just slipped his cable.” + +The major did not hear, owing to the fearful uproar. + +“Speak up, can’t you! My ear drums are broken with their d——-d cannon.” + +“Number two has just slipped his cable.” + +“Who is that, number two?” + +“The arm, you know.” + +“Ah, very good! Well, then, you can bring me number three, the jaw.” + +And with wonderful dexterity, never changing his position, he cut +through the muscles clean down to the bone with a single motion of his +wrist. He laid bare the tibia and fibula, introduced between them an +implement to keep them in position, drew the saw across them once, and +they were sundered. And the foot remained in the hands of the attendant +who was holding it. + +The flow of blood had been small, thanks to the pressure maintained by +the assistant higher up the leg, at the thigh. The ligature of the +three arteries was quickly accomplished, but the major shook his head, +and when the assistant had removed his fingers he examined the stump, +murmuring, certain that the patient could not hear as yet: + +“It looks bad; there’s no blood coming from the arterioles.” + +And he completed his diagnosis of the case by an expressive gesture: +Another poor fellow who was soon to answer the great roll-call! while +on his perspiring face was again seen that expression of weariness and +utter dejection, that hopeless, unanswerable: “What is the use?” since +out of every ten cases that they assumed the terrible responsibility of +operating on they did not succeed in saving four. He wiped his +forehead, and set to work to draw down the flap of skin and put in the +three sutures that were to hold it in place. + +Delaherche having told Gilberte that the operation was completed, she +turned her gaze once more upon the table; she caught a glimpse of the +captain’s foot, however, as the attendant was carrying it away to the +place behind the lilacs. The charnel house there continued to receive +fresh occupants; two more corpses had recently been brought in and +added to the ghastly array, one with blackened lips still parted wide +as if rending the air with shrieks of anguish, the other, his form so +contorted and contracted in the convulsions of the last agony that he +was like a stunted, malformed boy. Unfortunately, there was beginning +to be a scarcity of room in the little secluded corner, and the human +debris had commenced to overflow and invade the adjacent alley. The +attendant hesitated a moment, in doubt what to do with the captain’s +foot, then finally concluded to throw it on the general pile. + +“Well, captain, that’s over with,” the major said to Beaudoin when he +regained consciousness. “You’ll be all right now.” + +But the captain did not show the cheeriness that follows a successful +operation. He opened his eyes and made an attempt to raise himself, +then fell back on his pillow, murmuring wearily, in a faint voice: + +“Thanks, major. I’m glad it’s over.” + +He was conscious of the pain, however, when the alcohol of the dressing +touched the raw flesh. He flinched a little, complaining that they were +burning him. And just as they were bringing up the stretcher +preparatory to carrying him back into the other room the factory was +shaken to its foundations by a most terrific explosion; a shell had +burst directly in the rear of the shed, in the small courtyard where +the pump was situated. The glass in the windows was shattered into +fragments, and a dense cloud of smoke came pouring into the ambulance. +The wounded men, stricken with panic terror, arose from their bed of +straw; all were clamoring with affright; all wished to fly at once. + +Delaherche rushed from the building in consternation to see what damage +had been done. Did they mean to burn his house down over his head? What +did it all mean? Why did they open fire again when the Emperor had +ordered that it should cease? + +“Thunder and lightning! Stir yourselves, will you!” Bouroche shouted to +his staff, who were standing about with pallid faces, transfixed by +terror. “Wash off the table; go and bring me in number three!” + +They cleansed the table; and once more the crimson contents of the +buckets were hurled across the grass plot upon the bed of daisies, +which was now a sodden, blood-soaked mat of flowers and verdure. And +Bouroche, to relieve the tedium until the attendants should bring him +“number three,” applied himself to probing for a musket-ball, which, +having first broken the patient’s lower jaw, had lodged in the root of +the tongue. The blood flowed freely and collected on his fingers in +glutinous masses. + +Captain Beaudoin was again resting on his mattress in the large room. +Gilberte and Mme. Delaherche had followed the stretcher when he was +carried from the operating table, and even Delaherche, notwithstanding +his anxiety, came in for a moment’s chat. + +“Lie here and rest a few minutes, Captain. We will have a room prepared +for you, and you shall be our guest.” + +But the wounded man shook off his lethargy and for a moment had command +of his faculties. + +“No, it is not worth while; I feel that I am going to die.” + +And he looked at them with wide eyes, filled with the horror of death. + +“Oh, Captain! why do you talk like that?” murmured Gilberte, with a +shiver, while she forced a smile to her lips. “You will be quite well a +month hence.” + +He shook his head mournfully, and in the room was conscious of no +presence save hers; on all his face was expressed his unutterable +yearning for life, his bitter, almost craven regret that he was to be +snatched away so young, leaving so many joys behind untasted. + +“I am going to die, I am going to die. Oh! ’tis horrible—” + +Then suddenly he became conscious of his torn, soiled uniform and the +grime upon his hands, and it made him feel uncomfortable to be in the +company of women in such a state. It shamed him to show such weakness, +and his desire to look and be the gentleman to the last restored to him +his manhood. When he spoke again it was in a tone almost of +cheerfulness. + +“If I have got to die, though, I would rather it should be with clean +hands. I should count it a great kindness, madame, if you would moisten +a napkin and let me have it.” + +Gilberte sped away and quickly returned with the napkin, with which she +herself cleansed the hands of the dying man. Thenceforth, desirous of +quitting the scene with dignity, he displayed much firmness. Delaherche +did what he could to cheer him, and assisted his wife in the small +attentions she offered for his comfort. Old Mme. Delaherche, too, in +presence of the man whose hours were numbered, felt her enmity +subsiding. She would be silent, she who knew all and had sworn to +impart her knowledge to her son. What would it avail to excite discord +in the household, since death would soon obliterate all trace of the +wrong? + +The end came very soon. Captain Beaudoin, whose strength was ebbing +rapidly, relapsed into his comatose condition, and a cold sweat broke +out and stood in beads upon his neck and forehead. He opened his eyes +again, and began to feebly grope about him with his stiffening fingers, +as if feeling for a covering that was not there, pulling at it with a +gentle, continuous movement, as if to draw it up around his shoulders. + +“It is cold—Oh! it is so cold.” + +And so he passed from life, peacefully, without a struggle; and on his +wasted, tranquil face rested an expression of unspeakable melancholy. + +Delaherche saw to it that the remains, instead of being borne away and +placed among the common dead, were deposited in one of the outbuildings +of the factory. He endeavored to prevail on Gilberte, who was tearful +and disconsolate, to retire to her apartment, but she declared that to +be alone now would be more than her nerves could stand, and begged to +be allowed to remain with her mother-in-law in the ambulance, where the +noise and movement would be a distraction to her. She was seen +presently running to carry a drink of water to a chasseur d’Afrique +whom his fever had made delirious, and she assisted a hospital steward +to dress the hand of a little recruit, a lad of twenty, who had had his +thumb shot away and come in on foot from the battlefield; and as he was +jolly and amusing, treating his wound with all the levity and +nonchalance of the Parisian rollicker, she was soon laughing and joking +as merrily as he. + +While the captain lay dying the cannonade seemed, if that were +possible, to have increased in violence; another shell had landed in +the garden, shattering one of the old elms. Terror-stricken men came +running in to say that all Sedan was in danger of destruction; a great +fire had broken out in the Faubourg de la Cassine. If the bombardment +should continue with such fury for any length of time there would be +nothing left of the city. + +“It can’t be; I am going to see about it!” Delaherche exclaimed, +violently excited. + +“Where are you going, pray?” asked Bouroche. + +“Why, to the Sous-Prefecture, to see what the Emperor means by fooling +us in this way, with his talk of hoisting the white flag.” + +For some few seconds the major stood as if petrified at the idea of +defeat and capitulation, which presented itself to him then for the +first time in the midst of his impotent efforts to save the lives of +the poor maimed creatures they were bringing in to him from the field. +Rage and grief were in his voice as he shouted: + +“Go to the devil, if you will! All you can do won’t keep us from being +soundly whipped!” + +On leaving the factory Delaherche found it no easy task to squeeze his +way through the throng; at every instant the crowd of straggling +soldiers that filled the streets received fresh accessions. He +questioned several of the officers whom he encountered; not one of them +had seen the white flag on the citadel. Finally he met a colonel, who +declared that he had caught a momentary glimpse of it: that it had been +run up and then immediately hauled down. That explained matters; either +the Germans had not seen it, or seeing it appear and disappear so +quickly, had inferred the distressed condition of the French and +redoubled their fire in consequence. There was a story in circulation +how a general officer, enraged beyond control at the sight of the flag, +had wrested it from its bearer, broken the staff, and trampled it in +the mud. And still the Prussian batteries continued to play upon the +city, shells were falling upon the roofs and in the streets, houses +were in flames; a woman had just been killed at the corner of the Rue +Pont de Meuse and the Place Turenne. + +At the Sous-Prefecture Delaherche failed to find Rose at her usual +station in the janitor’s lodge. Everywhere were evidences of disorder; +all the doors were standing open; the reign of terror had commenced. As +there was no sentry or anyone to prevent, he went upstairs, +encountering on the way only a few scared-looking men, none of whom +made any offer to stop him. He had reached the first story and was +hesitating what to do next when he saw the young girl approaching him. + +“Oh, M. Delaherche! isn’t this dreadful! Here, quick! this way, if you +would like to see the Emperor.” + +On the left of the corridor a door stood ajar, and through the narrow +opening a glimpse could be had of the sovereign, who had resumed his +weary, anguished tramp between the fireplace and the window. Back and +forth he shuffled with heavy, dragging steps, and ceased not, despite +his unendurable suffering. An aide-de-camp had just entered the room—it +was he who had failed to close the door behind him—and Delaherche heard +the Emperor ask him in a sorrowfully reproachful voice: + +“What is the reason of this continued firing, sir, after I gave orders +to hoist the white flag?” + +The torture to him had become greater than he could bear, that +never-ceasing cannonade, that seemed to grow more furious with every +minute. Every time he approached the window it pierced him to the +heart. More spilling of blood, more useless squandering of human life! +At every moment the piles of corpses were rising higher on the +battlefield, and his was the responsibility. The compassionate +instincts that entered so largely into his nature revolted at it, and +more than ten times already he had asked that question of those who +approached him. + +“I gave orders to raise the white flag; tell me, why do they continue +firing?” + +The aide-de-camp made answer in a voice so low that Delaherche failed +to catch its purport. The Emperor, moreover, seemed not to pause to +listen, drawn by some irresistible attraction to that window at which, +each time he approached it, he was greeted by that terrible salvo of +artillery that rent and tore his being. His pallor was greater even +than it had been before; his poor, pinched, wan face, on which were +still visible traces of the rouge that had been applied that morning, +bore witness to his anguish. + +At that moment a short, quick-motioned man in dust-soiled uniform, whom +Delaherche recognized as General Lebrun, hurriedly crossed the corridor +and pushed open the door, without waiting to be announced. And scarcely +was he in the room when again was heard the Emperor’s so oft repeated +question. + +“Why do they continue to fire, General, when I have given orders to +hoist the white flag?” + +The aide-de-camp left the apartment, shutting the door behind him, and +Delaherche never knew what was the general’s answer. The vision had +faded from his sight. + +“Ah!” said Rose, “things are going badly; I can see that clearly enough +by all those gentlemen’s faces. It is bad for my tablecloth, too; I am +afraid I shall never see it again; somebody told me it had been torn in +pieces. But it is for the Emperor that I feel most sorry in all this +business, for he is in a great deal worse condition than the marshal; +he would be much better off in his bed than in that room, where he is +wearing himself out with his everlasting walking.” + +She spoke with much feeling, and on her pretty pink and white face +there was an expression of sincere pity, but Delaherche, whose +Bonapartist ardor had somehow cooled considerably during the last two +days, said to himself that she was a little fool. He nevertheless +remained chatting with her a moment in the hall below while waiting for +General Lebrun to take his departure, and when that officer appeared +and left the building he followed him. + +General Lebrun had explained to the Emperor that if it was thought best +to apply for an armistice, etiquette demanded that a letter to that +effect, signed by the commander-in-chief of the French forces, should +be dispatched to the German commander-in-chief. He had also offered to +write the letter, go in search of General de Wimpffen, and obtain his +signature to it. He left the Sous-Prefecture with the letter in his +pocket, but apprehensive he might not succeed in finding de Wimpffen, +entirely ignorant as he was of the general’s whereabouts on the field +of battle. Within the ramparts of Sedan, moreover, the crowd was so +dense that he was compelled to walk his horse, which enabled Delaherche +to keep him in sight until he reached the Minil gate. + +Once outside upon the road, however, General Lebrun struck into a +gallop, and when near Balan had the good fortune to fall in with the +chief. Only a few minutes previous to this the latter had written to +the Emperor: “Sire, come and put yourself at the head of your troops; +they will force a passage through the enemy’s lines for you, or perish +in the attempt;” therefore he flew into a furious passion at the mere +mention of the word armistice. No, no! he would sign nothing, he would +fight it out! This was about half-past three o’clock, and it was +shortly afterward that occurred the gallant, but mad attempt, the last +serious effort of the day, to pierce the Bavarian lines and regain +possession of Bazeilles. In order to put heart into the troops a ruse +was resorted to: in the streets of Sedan and in the fields outside the +walls the shout was raised: “Bazaine is coming up! Bazaine is at hand!” +Ever since morning many had allowed themselves to be deluded by that +hope; each time that the Germans opened fire with a fresh battery it +was confidently asserted to be the guns of the army of Metz. In the +neighborhood of twelve hundred men were collected, soldiers of all +arms, from every corps, and the little column bravely advanced into the +storm of missiles that swept the road, at double time. It was a +splendid spectacle of heroism and endurance while it lasted; the +numerous casualties did not check the ardor of the survivors, nearly +five hundred yards were traversed with a courage and nerve that seemed +almost like madness; but soon there were great gaps in the ranks, the +bravest began to fall back. What could they do against overwhelming +numbers? It was a mad attempt, anyway; the desperate effort of a +commander who could not bring himself to acknowledge that he was +defeated. And it ended by General de Wimpffen finding himself and +General Lebrun alone together on the Bazeilles road, which they had to +make up their mind to abandon to the enemy, for good and all. All that +remained for them to do was to retreat and seek security under the +walls of Sedan. + +Upon losing sight of the general at the Minil gate Delaherche had +hurried back to the factory at the best speed he was capable of, +impelled by an irresistible longing to have another look from his +observatory at what was going on in the distance. Just as he reached +his door, however, his progress was arrested a moment by encountering +Colonel de Vineuil, who, with his blood-stained boot, was being brought +in for treatment in a condition of semi-consciousness, upon a bed of +straw that had been prepared for him on the floor of a +market-gardener’s wagon. The colonel had persisted in his efforts to +collect the scattered fragments of his regiment until he dropped from +his horse. He was immediately carried upstairs and put to bed in a room +on the first floor, and Bouroche, who was summoned at once, finding the +injury not of a serious character, had only to apply a dressing to the +wound, from which he first extracted some bits of the leather of the +boot. The worthy doctor was wrought up to a high pitch of excitement; +he exclaimed, as he went downstairs, that he would rather cut off one +of his own legs than continue working in that unsatisfactory, slovenly +way, without a tithe of either the assistants or the appliances that he +ought to have. Below in the ambulance, indeed, they no longer knew +where to bestow the cases that were brought them, and had been obliged +to have recourse to the lawn, where they laid them on the grass. There +were already two long rows of them, exposed beneath the shrieking +shells, filling the air with their dismal plaints while waiting for his +ministrations. The number of cases brought in since noon exceeded four +hundred, and in response to Bouroche’s repeated appeals for assistance +he had been sent one young doctor from the city. Good as was his will, +he was unequal to the task; he probed, sliced, sawed, sewed like a man +frantic, and was reduced to despair to see his work continually +accumulating before him. Gilberte, satiated with sights of horror, +unable longer to endure the sad spectacle of blood and tears, remained +upstairs with her uncle, the colonel, leaving to Mme. Delaherche the +care of moistening fevered lips and wiping the cold sweat from the brow +of the dying. + +Rapidly climbing the stairs to his terrace, Delaherche endeavored to +form some idea for himself of how matters stood. The city had suffered +less injury than was generally supposed; there was one great +conflagration, however, over in the Faubourg de la Cassine, from which +dense volumes of smoke were rising. Fort Palatinat had discontinued its +fire, doubtless because the ammunition was all expended; the guns +mounted on the Porte de Paris alone continued to make themselves heard +at infrequent intervals. But something that he beheld presently had +greater interest for his eyes than all beside; they had run up the +white flag on the citadel again, but it must be that it was invisible +from the battlefield, for there was no perceptible slackening of the +fire. The Balan road was concealed from his vision by the neighboring +roofs; he was unable to make out what the troops were doing in that +direction. Applying his eye to the telescope, however, which remained +as he had left it, directed on la Marfée, he again beheld the cluster +of officers that he had seen in that same place about midday. The +master of them all, that miniature toy-soldier in lead, half finger +high, in whom he had thought to recognize the King of Prussia, was +there still, erect in his plain, dark uniform before the other +officers, who, in their showy trappings, were for the most part +reclining carelessly on the grass. Among them were officers from +foreign lands, aides-de-camp, generals, high officials, princes; all of +them with field glasses in their hands, with which, since early +morning, they had been watching every phase of the death-struggle of +the army of Châlons, as if they were at the play. And the direful drama +was drawing to its end. + +From among the trees that clothed the summit of la Marfée King William +had just witnessed the junction of his armies. It was an accomplished +fact; the third army, under the leadership of his son, the Crown +Prince, advancing by the way of Saint-Menges and Fleigneux, had secured +possession of the plateau of Illy, while the fourth, commanded by the +Crown Prince of Saxony, turning the wood of la Garenne and, coming up +through Givonne and Daigny, had also reached its appointed rendezvous. +There, too, the XIth and Vth corps had joined hands with the XIIth +corps and the Guards. The gallant but ineffectual charge of +Margueritte’s division in its supreme effort to break through the +hostile lines at the very moment when the circle was being rounded out +had elicited from the king the exclamation: “Ah, the brave fellows!” +Now the great movement, inexorable as fate, the details of which had +been arranged with such mathematical precision, was complete, the jaws +of the vise had closed, and stretching on his either hand far in the +distance, a mighty wall of adamant surrounding the army of the French, +were the countless men and guns that called him master. At the north +the contracting lines maintained a constantly increasing pressure on +the vanquished, forcing them back upon Sedan under the merciless fire +of the batteries that lined the horizon in an array without a break. +Toward the south, at Bazeilles, where the conflict had ceased to rage +and the scene was one of mournful desolation, great clouds of smoke +were rising from the ruins of what had once been happy homes, while the +Bavarians, now masters of Balan, had advanced their batteries to within +three hundred yards of the city gates. And the other batteries, those +posted on the left bank at Pont Maugis, Noyers, Frenois, Wadelincourt, +completing the impenetrable rampart of flame and bringing it around to +the sovereign’s feet on his right, that had been spouting fire +uninterruptedly for nearly twelve hours, now thundered more loudly +still. + +But King William, to give his tired eyes a moment’s rest, dropped his +glass to his side and continued his observations with unassisted +vision. The sun was slanting downward to the woods on his left, about +to set in a sky where there was not a cloud, and the golden light that +lay upon the landscape was so transcendently clear and limpid that the +most insignificant objects stood out with startling distinctness. He +could almost count the houses in Sedan, whose windows flashed back the +level rays of the departing day-star, and the ramparts and +fortifications, outlined in black against the eastern sky, had an +unwonted aspect of frowning massiveness. Then, scattered among the +fields to right and left, were the pretty, smiling villages, reminding +one of the toy villages that come packed in boxes for the little ones; +to the west Donchery, seated at the border of her broad plain; Douzy +and Carignan to the east, among the meadows. Shutting in the picture to +the north was the forest of the Ardennes, an ocean of sunlit verdure, +while the Meuse, loitering with sluggish current through the plain with +many a bend and curve, was like a stream of purest molten gold in that +caressing light. And seen from that height, with the sun’s parting kiss +resting on it, the horrible battlefield, with its blood and smoke, +became an exquisite and highly finished miniature; the dead horsemen +and disemboweled steeds on the plateau of Floing were so many splashes +of bright color; on the right, in the direction of Givonne, those +minute black specks that whirled and eddied with such apparent lack of +aim, like motes dancing in the sunshine, were the retreating fragments +of the beaten army; while on the left a Bavarian battery on the +peninsula of Iges, its guns the size of matches, might have been taken +for some mechanical toy as it performed its evolutions with clockwork +regularity. The victory was crushing, exceeding all that the victor +could have desired or hoped, and the King felt no remorse in presence +of all those corpses, of those thousands of men that were as the dust +upon the roads of that broad valley where, notwithstanding the burning +of Bazeilles, the slaughter of Illy, the anguish of Sedan, impassive +nature yet could don her gayest robe and put on her brightest smile as +the perfect day faded into the tranquil evening. + +But suddenly Delaherche descried a French officer climbing the steep +path up the flank of la Marfée; he was a general, wearing a blue tunic, +mounted on a black horse, and preceded by a hussar bearing a white +flag. It was General Reille, whom the Emperor had entrusted with this +communication for the King of Prussia: “My brother, as it has been +denied me to die at the head of my army, all that is left me is to +surrender my sword to Your Majesty. I am Your Majesty’s affectionate +brother, Napoleon.” Desiring to arrest the butchery and being no longer +master, the Emperor yielded himself a prisoner, in the hope to placate +the conqueror by the sacrifice. And Delaherche saw General Reille rein +up his charger and dismount at ten paces from the King, then advance +and deliver his letter; he was unarmed and merely carried a riding +whip. The sun was setting in a flood of rosy light; the King seated +himself on a chair in the midst of a grassy open space, and resting his +hand on the back of another chair that was held in place by a +secretary, replied that he accepted the sword and would await the +appearance of an officer empowered to settle the terms of the +capitulation. + + + + +VII. + + +As when the ice breaks up and the great cakes come crashing, grinding +down upon the bosom of the swollen stream, carrying away all before +them, so now, from every position about Sedan that had been wrested +from the French, from Floing and the plateau of Illy, from the wood of +la Garenne, the valley of la Givonne and the Bazeilles road, the +stampede commenced; a mad torrent of horses, guns, and affrighted men +came pouring toward the city. It was a most unfortunate inspiration +that brought the army under the walls of that fortified place. There +was too much in the way of temptation there; the shelter that it +afforded the skulker and the deserter, the assurance of safety that +even the bravest beheld behind its ramparts, entailed widespread panic +and demoralization. Down there behind those protecting walls, so +everyone imagined, was safety from that terrible artillery that had +been blazing without intermission for near twelve hours; duty, manhood, +reason were all lost sight of; the man disappeared and was succeeded by +the brute, and their fierce instinct sent them racing wildly for +shelter, seeking a place where they might hide their head and lie down +and sleep. + +When Maurice, bathing Jean’s face with cool water behind the shelter of +their bit of wall, saw his friend open his eyes once more, he uttered +an exclamation of delight. + +“Ah, poor old chap, I was beginning to fear you were done for! And +don’t think I say it to find fault, but really you are not so light as +you were when you were a boy.” + +It seemed to Jean, in his still dazed condition, that he was awaking +from some unpleasant dream. Then his recollection returned to him +slowly, and two big tears rolled down his cheeks. To think that little +Maurice, so frail and slender, whom he had loved and petted like a +child, should have found strength to lug him all that distance! + +“Let’s see what damage your knowledge-box has sustained.” + +The wound was not serious; the bullet had plowed its way through the +scalp and considerable blood had flowed. The hair, which was now matted +with the coagulated gore, had served to stanch the current, therefore +Maurice refrained from applying water to the hurt, so as not to cause +it to bleed afresh. + +“There, you look a little more like a civilized being, now that you +have a clean face on you. Let’s see if I can find something for you to +wear on your head.” And picking up the _kepi_ of a soldier who lay dead +not far away, he tenderly adjusted it on his comrade. “It fits you to a +T. Now if you can only walk everyone will say we are a very +good-looking couple.” + +Jean got on his legs and gave his head a shake to assure himself it was +secure. It seemed a little heavier than usual, that was all; he thought +he should get along well enough. A great wave of tenderness swept +through his simple soul; he caught Maurice in his arms and hugged him +to his bosom, while all he could find to say was: + +“Ah! dear boy, dear boy!” + +But the Prussians were drawing near: it would not answer to loiter +behind the wall. Already Lieutenant Rochas, with what few men were left +him, was retreating, guarding the flag, which the sous-lieutenant still +carried under his arm, rolled around the staff. Lapoulle’s great height +enabled him to fire an occasional shot at the advancing enemy over the +coping of the wall, while Pache had slung his chassepot across his +shoulder by the strap, doubtless considering that he had done a fair +day’s work and it was time to eat and sleep. Maurice and Jean, stooping +until they were bent almost double, hastened to rejoin them. There was +no scarcity of muskets and ammunition; all they had to do was stoop and +pick them up. They equipped themselves afresh, having left everything +behind, knapsacks included, when one lugged the other out of danger on +his shoulders. The wall extended to the wood of la Garenne, and the +little band, believing that now their safety was assured, made a rush +for the protection afforded by some farm buildings, whence they readily +gained the shelter of the trees. + +“Ah!” said Rochas, drawing a long breath, “we will remain here a moment +and get our wind before we resume the offensive.” No adversity could +shake his unwavering faith. + +They had not advanced many steps before all felt that they were +entering the valley of death, but it was useless to think of retracing +their steps; their only line of retreat lay through the wood, and cross +it they must, at every hazard. At that time, instead of la Garenne, its +more fitting name would have been the wood of despair and death; the +Prussians, knowing that the French troops were retiring in that +direction, were riddling it with artillery and musketry. Its shattered +branches tossed and groaned as if enduring the scourging of a mighty +tempest. The shells hewed down the stalwart trees, the bullets brought +the leaves fluttering to the earth in showers; wailing voices seemed to +issue from the cleft trunks, sobs accompanied the little twigs as they +fell bleeding from the parent stem. It might have been taken for the +agony of some vast multitude, held there in chains and unable to flee +under the pelting of that pitiless iron hail; the shrieks, the terror +of thousands of creatures rooted to the ground. Never was anguish so +poignant as of that bombarded forest. + +Maurice and Jean, who by this time had caught up with their companions, +were greatly alarmed. The wood where they then were was a growth of +large trees, and there was no obstacle to their running, but the +bullets came whistling about their ears from every direction, making it +impossible for them to avail themselves of the shelter of the trunks. +Two men were killed, one of them struck in the back, the other in +front. A venerable oak, directly in Maurice’s path, had its trunk +shattered by a shell, and sank, with the stately grace of a mailed +paladin, carrying down all before it, and even as the young man was +leaping back the top of a gigantic ash on his left, struck by another +shell, came crashing to the ground like some tall cathedral spire. +Where could they fly? whither bend their steps? Everywhere the branches +were falling; it was as one who should endeavor to fly from some vast +edifice menaced with destruction, only to find himself in each room he +enters in succession confronted with crumbling walls and ceilings. And +when, in order to escape being crushed by the big trees, they took +refuge in a thicket of bushes, Jean came near being killed by a +projectile, only it fortunately failed to explode. They could no longer +make any progress now on account of the dense growth of the shrubbery; +the supple branches caught them around the shoulders, the rank, tough +grass held them by the ankles, impenetrable walls of brambles rose +before them and blocked their way, while all the time the foliage was +fluttering down about them, clipped by the gigantic scythe that was +mowing down the wood. Another man was struck dead beside them by a +bullet in the forehead, and he retained his erect position, caught in +some vines between two small birch trees. Twenty times, while they were +prisoners in that thicket, did they feel death hovering over them. + +“Holy Virgin!” said Maurice, “we shall never get out of this alive.” + +His face was ashy pale, he was shivering again with terror; and Jean, +always so brave, who had cheered and comforted him that morning, he, +also, was very white and felt a strange, chill sensation creeping down +his spine. It was fear, horrible, contagious, irresistible fear. Again +they were conscious of a consuming thirst, an intolerable dryness of +the mouth, a contraction of the throat, painful as if someone were +choking them. These symptoms were accompanied by nausea and qualms at +the pit of the stomach, while maleficent goblins kept puncturing their +aguish, trembling legs with needles. Another of the physical effects of +their fear was that in the congested condition of the blood vessels of +the retina they beheld thousands upon thousands of small black specks +flitting past them, as if it had been possible to distinguish the +flying bullets. + +“Confound the luck!” Jean stammered. “It is not worth speaking of, but +it’s vexatious all the same, to be here getting one’s head broken for +other folks, when those other folks are at home, smoking their pipe in +comfort.” + +“Yes, that’s so,” Maurice replied, with a wild look. “Why should it be +I rather than someone else?” + +It was the revolt of the individual Ego, the unaltruistic refusal of +the one to make himself a sacrifice for the benefit of the species. + +“And then again,” Jean continued, “if a fellow could but know the +rights of the matter; if he could be sure that any good was to come +from it all.” Then turning his head and glancing at the western sky: +“Anyway, I wish that blamed sun would hurry up and go to roost. Perhaps +they’ll stop fighting when it’s dark.” + +With no distinct idea of what o’clock it was and no means of measuring +the flight of time, he had long been watching the tardy declination of +the fiery disk, which seemed to him to have ceased to move, hanging +there in the heavens over the woods of the left bank. And this was not +owing to any lack of courage on his part; it was simply the +overmastering, ever increasing desire, amounting to an imperious +necessity, to be relieved from the screaming and whistling of those +projectiles, to run away somewhere and find a hole where he might hide +his head and lose himself in oblivion. Were it not for the feeling of +shame that is implanted in men’s breasts and keeps them from showing +the white feather before their comrades, every one of them would lose +his head and run, in spite of himself, like the veriest poltroon. + +Maurice and Jean, meanwhile, were becoming somewhat more accustomed to +their surroundings, and even when their terror was at its highest there +came to them a sort of exalted self-unconsciousness that had in it +something of bravery. They finally reached a point when they did not +even hasten their steps as they made their way through the accursed +wood. The horror of the bombardment was even greater than it had been +previously among that race of sylvan denizens, killed at their post, +struck down on every hand, like gigantic, faithful sentries. In the +delicious twilight that reigned, golden-green, beneath their umbrageous +branches, among the mysterious recesses of romantic, moss-carpeted +retreats, Death showed his ill-favored, grinning face. The solitary +fountains were contaminated; men fell dead in distant nooks whose +depths had hitherto been trod by none save wandering lovers. A bullet +pierced a man’s chest; he had time to utter the one word: “hit!” and +fell forward on his face, stone dead. Upon the lips of another, who had +both legs broken by a shell, the gay laugh remained; unconscious of his +hurt, he supposed he had tripped over a root. Others, injured mortally, +would run on for some yards, jesting and conversing, until suddenly +they went down like a log in the supreme convulsion. The severest +wounds were hardly felt at the moment they were received; it was only +at a later period that the terrible suffering commenced, venting itself +in shrieks and hot tears. + +Ah, that accursed wood, that wood of slaughter and despair, where, amid +the sobbing of the expiring trees, arose by degrees and swelled the +agonized clamor of wounded men. Maurice and Jean saw a zouave, nearly +disemboweled, propped against the trunk of an oak, who kept up a most +terrific howling, without a moment’s intermission. A little way beyond +another man was actually being slowly roasted; his clothing had taken +fire and the flames had run up and caught his beard, while he, +paralyzed by a shot that had broken his back, was silently weeping +scalding tears. Then there was a captain, who, one arm torn from its +socket and his flank laid open to the thigh, was writhing on the ground +in agony unspeakable, beseeching, in heartrending accents, the +by-passers to end his suffering. There were others, and others, and +others still, whose torments may not be described, strewing the +grass-grown paths in such numbers that the utmost caution was required +to avoid treading them under foot. But the dead and wounded had ceased +to count; the comrade who fell by the way was abandoned to his fate, +forgotten as if he had never been. No one turned to look behind. It was +his destiny, poor devil! Next it would be someone else, themselves, +perhaps. + +They were approaching the edge of the wood when a cry of distress was +heard behind them. + +“Help! help!” + +It was the subaltern standard-bearer, who had been shot through the +left lung. He had fallen, the blood pouring in a stream from his mouth, +and as no one heeded his appeal he collected his fast ebbing strength +for another effort: + +“To the colors!” + +Rochas turned and in a single bound was at his side. He took the flag, +the staff of which had been broken in the fall, while the young officer +murmured in words that were choked by the bubbling tide of blood and +froth: + +“Never mind me; I am a goner. Save the flag!” + +And they left him to himself in that charming woodland glade to writhe +in protracted agony upon the ground, tearing up the grass with his +stiffening fingers and praying for death, which would be hours yet ere +it came to end his misery. + +At last they had left the wood and its horrors behind them. Beside +Maurice and Jean all that were left of the little band were Lieutenant +Rochas, Lapoulle and Pache. Gaude, who had strayed away from his +companions, presently came running from a thicket to rejoin them, his +bugle hanging from his neck and thumping against his back with every +step he took. It was a great comfort to them all to find themselves +once again in the open country, where they could draw their breath; and +then, too, there were no longer any whistling bullets and crashing +shells to harass them; the firing had ceased on this side of the +valley. + +The first object they set eyes on was an officer who had reined in his +smoking, steaming charger before a farm-yard gate and was venting his +towering rage in a volley of Billingsgate. It was General +Bourgain-Desfeuilles, the commander of their brigade, covered with dust +and looking as if he was about to tumble from his horse with fatigue. +The chagrin on his gross, high-colored, animal face told how deeply he +took to heart the disaster that he regarded in the light of a personal +misfortune. His command had seen nothing of him since morning. +Doubtless he was somewhere on the battlefield, striving to rally the +remnants of his brigade, for he was not the man to look closely to his +own safety in his rage against those Prussian batteries that had at the +same time destroyed the empire and the fortunes of a rising officer, +the favorite of the Tuileries. + +“_Tonnerre de Dieu!_” he shouted, “is there no one of whom one can ask +a question in this d——-d country?” + +The farmer’s people had apparently taken to the woods. At last a very +old woman appeared at the door, some servant who had been forgotten, or +whose feeble legs had compelled her to remain behind. + +“Hallo, old lady, come here! Which way from here is Belgium?” + +She looked at him stupidly, as one who failed to catch his meaning. +Then he lost all control of himself and effervesced, forgetful that the +woman was only a poor peasant, bellowing that he had no idea of going +back to Sedan to be caught like a rat in a trap; not he! he was going +to make tracks for foreign parts, he was, and d——-d quick, too! Some +soldiers had come up and stood listening. + +“But you won’t get through, General,” spoke up a sergeant; “the +Prussians are everywhere. This morning was the time for you to cut +stick.” + +There were stories even then in circulation of companies that had +become separated from their regiments and crossed the frontier without +any intention of doing so, and of others that, later in the day, had +succeeded in breaking through the enemy’s lines before the armies had +effected their final junction. + +The general shrugged his shoulders impatiently. “What, with a few +daring fellows of your stripe, do you mean to say we couldn’t go where +we please? I think I can find fifty daredevils to risk their skin in +the attempt.” Then, turning again to the old peasant: “_Eh!_ you old +mummy, answer, will you, in the devil’s name! where is the frontier?” + +She understood him this time. She extended her skinny arm in the +direction of the forest. + +“That way, that way!” + +“Eh? What’s that you say? Those houses that we see down there, at the +end of the field?” + +“Oh! farther, much farther. Down yonder, away down yonder!” + +The general seemed as if his anger must suffocate him. “It is too +disgusting, an infernal country like this! one can make neither top nor +tail of it. There was Belgium, right under our nose; we were all afraid +we should put our foot in it without knowing it; and now that one wants +to go there it is somewhere else. No, no! it is too much; I’ve had +enough of it; let them take me prisoner if they will, let them do what +they choose with me; I am going to bed!” And clapping spurs to his +horse, bobbing up and down on his saddle like an inflated wine skin, he +galloped off toward Sedan. + +A winding path conducted the party down into the Fond de Givonne, an +outskirt of the city lying between two hills, where the single village +street, running north and south and sloping gently upward toward the +forest, was lined with gardens and modest houses. This street was just +then so obstructed by flying soldiers that Lieutenant Rochas, with +Pache, Lapoulle, and Gaude, found himself caught in the throng and +unable for the moment to move in either direction. Maurice and Jean had +some difficulty in rejoining them; and all were surprised to hear +themselves hailed by a husky, drunken voice, proceeding from the tavern +on the corner, near which they were blockaded. + +“My stars, if here ain’t the gang! Hallo, boys, how are you? My stars, +I’m glad to see you!” + +They turned, and recognized Chouteau, leaning from a window of the +ground floor of the inn. He seemed to be very drunk, and went on, +interspersing his speech with hiccoughs: + +“Say, fellows, don’t stand on ceremony if you’re thirsty. There’s +enough left for the comrades.” He turned unsteadily and called to +someone who was invisible within the room: “Come here, you lazybones. +Give these gentlemen something to drink—” + +Loubet appeared in turn, advancing with a flourish and holding aloft in +either hand a full bottle, which he waved above his head triumphantly. +He was not so far gone as his companion; with his Parisian _blague_, +imitating the nasal drawl of the coco-venders of the boulevards on a +public holiday, he cried: + +“Here you are, nice and cool, nice and cool! Who’ll have a drink?” + +Nothing had been seen of the precious pair since they had vanished +under pretense of taking Sergeant Sapin into the ambulance. It was +sufficiently evident that since then they had been strolling and seeing +the sights, taking care to keep out of the way of the shells, until +finally they had brought up at this inn that was given over to pillage. + +Lieutenant Rochas was very angry. “Wait a bit, you scoundrels, just +wait, and I’ll attend to your case! deserting and getting drunk while +the rest of your company were under fire!” + +But Chouteau would have none of his reprimand. “See here, you old +lunatic, I want you to understand that the grade of lieutenant is +abolished; we are all free and equal now. Aren’t you satisfied with the +basting the Prussians gave you to-day, or do you want some more?” + +The others had to restrain the lieutenant to keep him from assaulting +the socialist. Loubet himself, dandling his bottles affectionately in +his arms, did what he could to pour oil upon the troubled waters. + +“Quit that, now! what’s the use quarreling, when all men are brothers!” +And catching sight of Lapoulle and Pache, his companions in the squad: +“Don’t stand there like great gawks, you fellows! Come in here and take +something to wash the dust out of your throats.” + +Lapoulle hesitated a moment, dimly conscious of the impropriety there +was in the indulgence when so many poor devils were in such sore +distress, but he was so knocked up with fatigue, so terribly hungry and +thirsty! He said not a word, but suddenly making up his mind, gave one +bound and landed in the room, pushing before him Pache, who, equally +silent, yielded to the temptation he had not strength to resist. And +they were seen no more. + +“The infernal scoundrels!” muttered Rochas. “They deserve to be shot, +every mother’s son of them!” + +He had now remaining with him of his party only Jean, Maurice, and +Gaude, and all four of them, notwithstanding their resistance, were +gradually involved and swallowed up in the torrent of stragglers and +fugitives that streamed along the road, filling its whole width from +ditch to ditch. Soon they were at a distance from the inn. It was the +routed army rolling down upon the ramparts of Sedan, a roily, roaring +flood, such as the disintegrated mass of earth and boulders that the +storm, scouring the mountainside, sweeps down into the valley. From all +the surrounding plateaus, down every slope, up every narrow gorge, by +the Floing road, by Pierremont, by the cemetery, by the Champ de Mars, +as well as through the Fond de Givonne, the same sorry rabble was +streaming cityward in panic haste, and every instant brought fresh +accessions to its numbers. And who could reproach those wretched men, +who, for twelve long, mortal hours, had stood in motionless array under +the murderous artillery of an invisible enemy, against whom they could +do nothing? The batteries now were playing on them from front, flank, +and rear; as they drew nearer the city they presented a fairer mark for +the convergent fire; the guns dealt death and destruction out by +wholesale on that dense, struggling mass of men in that accursed hole, +where there was no escape from the bursting shells. Some regiments of +the 7th corps, more particularly those that had been stationed about +Floing, had left the field in tolerably good order, but in the Fond de +Givonne there was no longer either organization or command; the troops +were a pushing, struggling mob, composed of debris from regiments of +every description, zouaves, turcos, chasseurs, infantry of the line, +most of them without arms, their uniforms soiled and torn, with grimy +hands, blackened faces, bloodshot eyes starting from their sockets and +lips swollen and distorted from their yells of fear or rage. At times a +riderless horse would dash through the throng, overturning those who +were in his path and leaving behind him a long wake of consternation. +Then some guns went thundering by at breakneck speed, a retreating +battery abandoned by its officers, and the drivers, as if drunk, rode +down everything and everyone, giving no word of warning. And still the +shuffling tramp of many feet along the dusty road went on and ceased +not, the close-compacted column pressed on, breast to back, side to +side; a retreat _en masse_, where vacancies in the ranks were filled as +soon as made, all moved by one common impulse, to reach the shelter +that lay before them and be behind a wall. + +Again Jean raised his head and gave an anxious glance toward the west; +through the dense clouds of dust raised by the tramp of that great +multitude the luminary still poured his scorching rays down upon the +exhausted men. The sunset was magnificent, the heavens transparently, +beautifully blue. + +“It’s a nuisance, all the same,” he muttered, “that plaguey sun that +stays up there and won’t go to roost!” + +Suddenly Maurice became aware of the presence of a young woman whom the +movement of the resistless throng had jammed against a wall and who was +in danger of being injured, and on looking more attentively was +astounded to recognize in her his sister Henriette. For near a minute +he stood gazing at her in open-mouthed amazement, and finally it was +she who spoke, without any appearance of surprise, as if she found the +meeting entirely natural. + +“They shot him at Bazeilles—and I was there. Then, in the hope that +they might at least let me have his body, I had an idea—” + +She did not mention either Weiss or the Prussians by name; it seemed to +her that everyone must understand. Maurice did understand. It made his +heart bleed; he gave a great sob. + +“My poor darling!” + +When, about two o’clock, Henriette recovered consciousness, she found +herself at Balan, in the kitchen of some people who were strangers to +her, her head resting on a table, weeping. Almost immediately, however, +she dried her tears; already the heroic element was reasserting itself +in that silent woman, so frail, so gentle, yet of a spirit so +indomitable that she could suffer martyrdom for the faith, or the love, +that was in her. She knew not fear; her quiet, undemonstrative courage +was lofty and invincible. When her distress was deepest she had +summoned up her resolution, devoting her reflections to how she might +recover her husband’s body, so as to give it decent burial. Her first +project was neither more nor less than to make her way back to +Bazeilles, but everyone advised her against this course, assuring her +that it would be absolutely impossible to get through the German lines. +She therefore abandoned the idea, and tried to think of someone among +her acquaintance who would afford her the protection of his company, or +at least assist her in the necessary preliminaries. The person to whom +she determined she would apply was a M. Dubreuil, a cousin of hers, who +had been assistant superintendent of the refinery at Chêne at the time +her husband was employed there; Weiss had been a favorite of his; he +would not refuse her his assistance. Since the time, now two years ago, +when his wife had inherited a handsome fortune, he had been occupying a +pretty villa, called the Hermitage, the terraces of which could be seen +skirting the hillside of a suburb of Sedan, on the further side of the +Fond de Givonne. And thus it was toward the Hermitage that she was now +bending her steps, compelled at every moment to pause before some fresh +obstacle, continually menaced with being knocked down and trampled to +death. + +Maurice, to whom she briefly explained her project, gave it his +approval. + +“Cousin Dubreuil has always been a good friend to us. He will be of +service to you.” + +Then an idea of another nature occurred to him. Lieutenant Rochas was +greatly embarrassed as to what disposition he should make of the flag. +They all were firmly resolved to save it—to do anything rather than +allow it to fall into the hands of the Prussians. It had been suggested +to cut it into pieces, of which each should carry one off under his +shirt, or else to bury it at the foot of a tree, so noting the locality +in memory that they might be able to come and disinter it at some +future day; but the idea of mutilating the flag, or burying it like a +corpse, affected them too painfully, and they were considering if they +might not preserve it in some other manner. When Maurice, therefore, +proposed to entrust the standard to a reliable person who would conceal +it and, in case of necessity, defend it, until such day as he should +restore it to them intact, they all gave their assent. + +“Come,” said the young man, addressing his sister, “we will go with you +to the Hermitage and see if Dubreuil is there. Besides, I do not wish +to leave you without protection.” + +It was no easy matter to extricate themselves from the press, but they +succeeded finally and entered a path that led upward on their left. +They soon found themselves in a region intersected by a perfect +labyrinth of lanes and narrow passages, a district where truck farms +and gardens predominated, interspersed with an occasional villa and +small holdings of extremely irregular outline, and these lanes and +passages wound circuitously between blank walls, turning sharp corners +at every few steps and bringing up abruptly in the cul-de-sac of some +courtyard, affording admirable facilities for carrying on a guerilla +warfare; there were spots where ten men might defend themselves for +hours against a regiment. Desultory firing was already beginning to be +heard, for the suburb commanded Balan, and the Bavarians were already +coming up on the other side of the valley. + +When Maurice and Henriette, who were in the rear of the others, had +turned once to the left, then to the right and then to the left again, +following the course of two interminable walls, they suddenly came out +before the Hermitage, the door of which stood wide open. The grounds, +at the top of which was a small park, were terraced off in three broad +terraces, on one of which stood the residence, a roomy, rectangular +structure, approached by an avenue of venerable elms. Facing it, and +separated from it by the deep, narrow valley, with its steeply sloping +banks, were other similar country seats, backed by a wood. + +Henriette’s anxiety was aroused at sight of the open door, “They are +not at home,” she said; “they must have gone away.” + +The truth was that Dubreuil had decided the day before to take his wife +and children to Bouillon, where they would be in safety from the +disaster he felt was impending. And yet the house was not unoccupied; +even at a distance and through the intervening trees the approaching +party were conscious of movements going on within its walls. As the +young woman advanced into the avenue she recoiled before the dead body +of a Prussian soldier. + +“The devil!” exclaimed Rochas; “so they have already been exchanging +civilities in this quarter!” + +Then all hands, desiring to ascertain what was going on, hurried +forward to the house, and there their curiosity was quickly gratified; +the doors and windows of the _rez-de-chaussée_ had been smashed in with +musket-butts and the yawning apertures disclosed the destruction that +the marauders had wrought in the rooms within, while on the graveled +terrace lay various articles of furniture that had been hurled from the +stoop. Particularly noticeable was a drawing-room suite in sky-blue +satin, its sofa and twelve fauteuils piled in dire confusion, +helter-skelter, on and around a great center table, the marble top of +which was broken in twain. And there were zouaves, chasseurs, liners, +and men of the infanterie de marine running to and fro excitedly behind +the buildings and in the alleys, discharging their pieces into the +little wood that faced them across the valley. + +“Lieutenant,” a zouave said to Rochas, by way of explanation, “we found +a pack of those dirty Prussian hounds here, smashing things and raising +Cain generally. We settled their hash for them, as you can see for +yourself; only they will be coming back here presently, ten to our one, +and that won’t be so pleasant.” + +Three other corpses of Prussian soldiers were stretched upon the +terrace. As Henriette was looking at them absently, her thoughts +doubtless far away with her husband, who, amid the blood and ashes of +Bazeilles, was also sleeping his last sleep, a bullet whistled close to +her head and struck a tree that stood behind her. Jean sprang forward. + +“Madame, don’t stay there. Go inside the house, quick, quick!” + +His heart overflowed with pity as he beheld the change her terrible +affliction had wrought in her, and he recalled her image as she had +appeared to him only the day before, her face bright with the kindly +smile of the happy, loving wife. At first he had found no word to say +to her, hardly knowing even if she would recognize him. He felt that he +could gladly give his life, if that would serve to restore her peace of +mind. + +“Go inside, and don’t come out. At the first sign of danger we will +come for you, and we will all escape together by way of the wood up +yonder.” + +But she apathetically replied: + +“Ah, M. Jean, what is the use?” + +Her brother, however, was also urging her, and finally she ascended the +stoop and took her position within the vestibule, whence her vision +commanded a view of the avenue in its entire length. She was a +spectator of the ensuing combat. + +Maurice and Jean had posted themselves behind one of the elms near the +house. The gigantic trunks of the centenarian monarchs were amply +sufficient to afford shelter to two men. A little way from them Gaude, +the bugler, had joined forces with Lieutenant Rochas, who, unwilling to +confide the flag to other hands, had rested it against the tree at his +side while he handled his musket. And every trunk had its defenders; +from end to end the avenue was lined with men covered, Indian fashion, +by the trees, who only exposed their head when ready to fire. + +In the wood across the valley the Prussians appeared to be receiving +re-enforcements, for their fire gradually grew warmer. There was no one +to be seen; at most, the swiftly vanishing form now and then of a man +changing his position. A villa, with green shutters, was occupied by +their sharpshooters, who fired from the half-open windows of the +_rez-de-chaussée_. It was about four o’clock, and the noise of the +cannonade in the distance was diminishing, the guns were being silenced +one by one; and there they were, French and Prussians, in that +out-of-the-way-corner whence they could not see the white flag floating +over the citadel, still engaged in the work of mutual slaughter, as if +their quarrel had been a personal one. Notwithstanding the armistice +there were many such points where the battle continued to rage until it +was too dark to see; the rattle of musketry was heard in the faubourg +of the Fond de Givonne and in the gardens of Petit-Pont long after it +had ceased elsewhere. + +For a quarter of an hour the bullets flew thick and fast from one side +of the valley to the other. Now and again someone who was so incautious +as to expose himself went down with a ball in his head or chest. There +were three men lying dead in the avenue. The rattling in the throat of +another man who had fallen prone upon his face was something horrible +to listen to, and no one thought to go and turn him on his back to ease +his dying agony. Jean, who happened to look around just at that moment, +beheld Henriette glide tranquilly down the steps, approach the wounded +man and turn him over, then slip a knapsack beneath his head by way of +pillow. He ran and seized her and forcibly brought her back behind the +tree where he and Maurice were posted. + +“Do you wish to be killed?” + +She appeared to be entirely unconscious of the danger to which she had +exposed herself. + +“Why, no—but I am afraid to remain in that house, all alone. I would +rather be outside.” + +And so she stayed with them. They seated her on the ground at their +feet, against the trunk of the tree, and went on expending the few +cartridges that were left them, blazing away to right and left, with +such fury that they quite forgot their sensations of fear and fatigue. +They were utterly unconscious of what was going on around them, acting +mechanically, with but one end in view; even the instinct of +self-preservation had deserted them. + +“Look, Maurice,” suddenly said Henriette; “that dead soldier there +before us, does he not belong to the Prussian Guard?” + +She had been eying attentively for the past minute or two one of the +dead bodies that the enemy had left behind them when they retreated, a +short, thick-set young man, with big mustaches, lying upon his side on +the gravel of the terrace. + +The chin-strap had broken, releasing the spiked helmet, which had +rolled away a few steps. And it was indisputable that the body was +attired in the uniform of the Guard; the dark gray trousers, the blue +tunic with white facings, the greatcoat rolled and worn, belt-wise, +across the shoulder. + +“It is the Guard uniform,” she said; “I am quite certain of it. It is +exactly like the colored plate I have at home, and then the photograph +that Cousin Gunther sent us—” She stopped suddenly, and with her +unconcerned, fearless air, before anyone could make a motion to detain +her, walked up to the corpse, bent down and read the number of the +regiment. “Ah, the Forty-third!” she exclaimed. “I knew it.” + +And she returned to her position, while a storm of bullets whistled +around her ears. “Yes, the Forty-third; Cousin Gunther’s +regiment—something told me it must be so. Ah! if my poor husband were +only here!” + +After that all Jean’s and Maurice’s entreaties were ineffectual to make +her keep quiet. She was feverishly restless, constantly protruding her +head to peer into the opposite wood, evidently harassed by some anxiety +that preyed upon her mind. Her companions continued to load and fire +with the same blind fury, pushing her back with their knee whenever she +exposed herself too rashly. It looked as if the Prussians were +beginning to consider that their numbers would warrant them in +attacking, for they showed themselves more frequently and there were +evidences of preparations going on behind the trees. They were +suffering severely, however, from the fire of the French, whose bullets +at that short range rarely failed to bring down their man. + +“That may be your cousin,” said Jean. “Look, that officer over there, +who has just come out of the house with the green shutters.” + +He was a captain, as could be seen by the gold braid on the collar of +his tunic and the golden eagle on his helmet that flashed back the +level ray of the setting sun. He had discarded his epaulettes, and +carrying his saber in his right hand, was shouting an order in a sharp, +imperative voice; and the distance between them was so small, a scant +two hundred yards, that every detail of his trim, slender figure was +plainly discernible, as well as the pinkish, stern face and slight +blond mustache. + +Henriette scrutinized him with attentive eyes. “It is he,” she replied, +apparently unsurprised. “I recognize him perfectly.” + +With a look of concentrated rage Maurice drew his piece to his shoulder +and covered him. “The cousin—Ah! sure as there is a God in heaven he +shall pay for Weiss.” + +But, quivering with excitement, she jumped to her feet and knocked up +the weapon, whose charge was wasted on the air. + +“Stop, stop! we must not kill acquaintances, relatives! It is too +barbarous.” + +And, all her womanly instincts coming back to her, she sank down behind +the tree and gave way to a fit of violent weeping. The horror of it all +was too much for her; in her great dread and sorrow she was forgetful +of all beside. + +Rochas, meantime, was in his element. He had excited the few zouaves +and other troops around him to such a pitch of frenzy, their fire had +become so murderously effective at sight of the Prussians, that the +latter first wavered and then retreated to the shelter of their wood. + +“Stand your ground, my boys! don’t give way an inch! Aha, see ’em run, +the cowards! we’ll fix their flint for ’em!” + +He was in high spirits and seemed to have recovered all his unbounded +confidence, certain that victory was yet to crown their efforts. There +had been no defeat. The handful of men before him stood in his eyes for +the united armies of Germany, and he was going to destroy them at his +leisure. All his long, lean form, all his thin, bony face, where the +huge nose curved down upon the self-willed, sensual mouth, exhaled a +laughing, vain-glorious satisfaction, the joy of the conquering trooper +who goes through the world with his sweetheart on his arm and a bottle +of good wine in his hand. + +“_Parbleu_, my children, what are we here for, I’d like to know, if not +to lick ’em out of their boots? and that’s the way this affair is going +to end, just mark my words. We shouldn’t know ourselves any longer if +we should let ourselves be beaten. Beaten! come, come, that is too +good! When the neighbors tread on our toes, or when we feel we are +beginning to grow rusty for want of something to do, we just turn to +and give ’em a thrashing; that’s all there is to it. Come, boys, let +’em have it once more, and you’ll see ’em run like so many +jackrabbits!” + +He bellowed and gesticulated like a lunatic, and was such a good fellow +withal in the comforting illusion of his ignorance that the men were +inoculated with his confidence. He suddenly broke out again: + +“And we’ll kick ’em, we’ll kick ’em, we’ll kick ’em to the frontier! +Victory, victory!” + +But at that juncture, just as the enemy across the valley seemed really +to be falling back, a hot fire of musketry came pouring in on them from +the left. It was a repetition of the everlasting flanking movement that +had done the Prussians such good service; a strong detachment of the +Guards had crept around toward the French rear through the Fond de +Givonne. It was useless to think of holding the position longer; the +little band of men who were defending the terraces were caught between +two fires and menaced with being cut off from Sedan. Men fell on every +side, and for a moment the confusion was extreme; the Prussians were +already scaling the wall of the park, and advancing along the pathways. +Some zouaves rushed forward to repel them, and there was a fierce +hand-to-hand struggle with the bayonet. There was one zouave, a big, +handsome, brown-bearded man, bare-headed and with his jacket hanging in +tatters from his shoulders, who did his work with appalling +thoroughness, driving his reeking bayonet home through splintering +bones and yielding tissues, cleansing it of the gore that it had +contracted from one man by plunging it into the flesh of another; and +when it broke he laid about him, smashing many a skull, with the butt +of his musket; and when finally he made a misstep and lost his weapon +he sprung, bare-handed, for the throat of a burly Prussian, with such +tigerish fierceness that both men rolled over and over on the gravel to +the shattered kitchen door, clasped in a mortal embrace. The trees of +the park looked down on many such scenes of slaughter, and the green +lawn was piled with corpses. But it was before the stoop, around the +sky-blue sofa and fauteuils, that the conflict raged with greatest +fury; a maddened mob of savages, firing at one another at point-blank +range, so that hair and beards were set on fire, tearing one another +with teeth and nails when a knife was wanting to slash the adversary’s +throat. + +Then Gaude, with his sorrowful face, the face of a man who has had his +troubles of which he does not care to speak, was seized with a sort of +sudden heroic madness. At that moment of irretrievable defeat, when he +must have known that the company was annihilated and that there was not +a man left to answer his summons, he grasped his bugle, carried it to +his lips and sounded the general, in so tempestuous, ear-splitting +strains that one would have said he wished to wake the dead. Nearer and +nearer came the Prussians, but he never stirred, only sounding the call +the louder, with all the strength of his lungs. He fell, pierced with +many bullets, and his spirit passed in one long-drawn, parting wail +that died away and was lost upon the shuddering air. + +Rochas made no attempt to fly; he seemed unable to comprehend. Even +more erect than usual, he waited the end, stammering: + +“Well, what’s the matter? what’s the matter?” + +Such a possibility had never entered his head as that they could be +defeated. They were changing everything in these degenerate days, even +to the manner of fighting; had not those fellows a right to remain on +their own side of the valley and wait for the French to go and attack +them? There was no use killing them; as fast as they were killed more +kept popping up. What kind of a d——-d war was it, anyway, where they +were able to collect ten men against their opponent’s one, where they +never showed their face until evening, after blazing away at you all +day with their artillery until you didn’t know on which end you were +standing? Aghast and confounded, having failed so far to acquire the +first idea of the rationale of the campaign, he was dimly conscious of +the existence of some mysterious, superior method which he could not +comprehend, against which he ceased to struggle, although in his dogged +stubbornness he kept repeating mechanically: + +“Courage, my children! victory is before us!” + +Meanwhile he had stooped and clutched the flag. That was his last, his +only thought, to save the flag, retreating again, if necessary, so that +it might not be defiled by contact with Prussian hands. But the staff, +although it was broken, became entangled in his legs; he narrowly +escaped falling. The bullets whistled past him, he felt that death was +near; he stripped the silk from the staff and tore it into shreds, +striving to destroy it utterly. And then it was that, stricken at once +in the neck, chest, and legs, he sank to earth amid the bright +tri-colored rags, as if they had been his pall. He survived a moment +yet, gazing before him with fixed, dilated eyes, reading, perhaps, in +the vision he beheld on the horizon the stern lesson that War conveys, +the cruel, vital struggle that is to be accepted not otherwise than +gravely, reverently, as immutable law. Then a slight tremor ran through +his frame, and darkness succeeded to his infantine bewilderment; he +passed away, like some poor dumb, lowly creature of a day, a joyous +insect that mighty, impassive Nature, in her relentless fatality, has +caught and crushed. In him died all a legend. + +When the Prussians began to draw near Jean and Maurice had retreated, +retiring from tree to tree, face to the enemy, and always, as far as +possible, keeping Henriette behind them. They did not give over firing, +discharging their pieces and then falling back to seek a fresh cover. +Maurice knew where there was a little wicket in the wall at the upper +part of the park, and they were so fortunate as to find it unfastened. +With lighter hearts when they had left it behind them, they found +themselves in a narrow by-road that wound between two high walls, but +after following it for some distance the sound of firing in front +caused them to turn into a path on their left. As luck would have it, +it ended in an _impasse_; they had to retrace their steps, running the +gauntlet of the bullets, and take the turning to the right. When they +came to exchange reminiscences in later days they could never agree on +which road they had taken. In that tangled network of suburban lanes +and passages there was firing still going on from every corner that +afforded a shelter, protracted battles raged at the gates of farmyards, +everything that could be converted into a barricade had its defenders, +from whom the assailants tried to wrest it; all with the utmost fury +and vindictiveness. And all at once they came out upon the Fond de +Givonne road, not far from Sedan. + +For the third time Jean raised his eyes toward the western sky, that +was all aflame with a bright, rosy light; and he heaved a sigh of +unspeakable relief. + +“Ah, that pig of a sun! at last he is going to bed!” + +And they ran with might and main, all three of them, never once +stopping to draw breath. About them, filling the road in all its +breadth, was the rear-guard of fugitives from the battlefield, still +flowing onward with the irresistible momentum of an unchained mountain +torrent. When they came to the Balan gate they had a long period of +waiting in the midst of the impatient, ungovernable throng. The chains +of the drawbridge had given way, and the only path across the fosse was +by the foot-bridge, so that the guns and horses had to turn back and +seek admission by the bridge of the château, where the jam was said to +be even still more fearful. At the gate of la Cassine, too, people were +trampled to death in their eagerness to gain admittance. From all the +adjacent heights the terror-stricken fragments of the army came +tumbling into the city, as into a cesspool, with the hollow roar of +pent-up water that has burst its dam. The fatal attraction of those +walls had ended by making cowards of the bravest; men trod one another +down in their blind haste to be under cover. + +Maurice had caught Henriette in his arms, and in a voice that trembled +with suspense: + +“It cannot be,” he said, “that they will have the cruelty to close the +gate and shut us out.” + +That was what the crowd feared would be done. To right and left, +however, upon the glacis soldiers were already arranging their +bivouacs, while entire batteries, guns, caissons, and horses, in +confusion worse confounded, had thrown themselves pell-mell into the +fosse for safety. + +But now shrill, impatient bugle calls rose on the evening air, followed +soon by the long-drawn strains of retreat. They were summoning the +belated soldiers back to their comrades, who came running in, singly +and in groups. A dropping fire of musketry still continued in the +faubourgs, but it was gradually dying out. Heavy guards were stationed +on the banquette behind the parapet to protect the approaches, and at +last the gate was closed. The Prussians were within a hundred yards of +the sally-port; they could be seen moving on the Balan road, tranquilly +establishing themselves in the houses and gardens. + +Maurice and Jean, pushing Henriette before them to protect her from the +jostling of the throng, were among the last to enter Sedan. Six o’clock +was striking. The artillery fire had ceased nearly an hour ago. Soon +the distant musketry fire, too, was silenced. Then, to the deafening +uproar, to the vengeful thunder that had been roaring since morning, +there succeeded a stillness as of death. Night came, and with it came a +boding silence, fraught with terror. + + + + +VIII. + + +At half-past five o’clock, after the closing of the gates, Delaherche, +in his eager thirst for news, now that he knew the battle lost, had +again returned to the Sous-Prefecture. He hung persistently about the +approaches of the janitor’s lodge, tramping up and down the paved +courtyard with feverish impatience, for more than three hours, watching +for every officer who came up and interviewing him, and thus it was +that he had become acquainted, piecemeal, with the rapid series of +events; how General de Wimpffen had tendered his resignation and then +withdrawn it upon the peremptory refusal of Generals Ducrot and Douay +to append their names to the articles of capitulation, how the Emperor +had thereupon invested the General with full authority to proceed to +the Prussian headquarters and treat for the surrender of the vanquished +army on the most advantageous terms obtainable; how, finally, a council +of war had been convened with the object of deciding what possibilities +there were of further protracting the struggle successfully by the +defense of the fortress. During the deliberations of this council, +which consisted of some twenty officers of the highest rank and seemed +to him as if it would never end, the cloth manufacturer climbed the +steps of the huge public building at least twenty times, and at last +his curiosity was gratified by beholding General de Wimpffen emerge, +very red in the face and his eyelids puffed and swollen with tears, +behind whom came two other generals and a colonel. They leaped into the +saddle and rode away over the Pont de Meuse. The bells had struck eight +some time before; the inevitable capitulation was now to be +accomplished, from which there was no escape. + +Delaherche, somewhat relieved in mind by what he had heard and seen, +remembered that it was a long time since he had tasted food and +resolved to turn his steps homeward, but the terrific crowd that had +collected since he first came made him pause in dismay. It is no +exaggeration to say that the streets and squares were so congested, so +thronged, so densely packed with horses, men, and guns, that one would +have declared the closely compacted mass could only have been squeezed +and wedged in there thus by the effort of some gigantic mechanism. +While the ramparts were occupied by the bivouacs of such regiments as +had fallen back in good order, the city had been invaded and submerged +by an angry, surging, desperate flood, the broken remnants of the +various corps, stragglers and fugitives from all arms of the service, +and the dammed-up tide made it impossible for one to stir foot or hand. +The wheels of the guns, of the caissons, and the innumerable vehicles +of every description, had interlocked and were tangled in confusion +worse confounded, while the poor horses, flogged unmercifully by their +drivers and pulled, now in this direction, now in that, could only +dance in their bewilderment, unable to move a step either forward or +back. And the men, deaf to reproaches and threats alike, forced their +way into the houses, devoured whatever they could lay hands on, flung +themselves down to sleep wherever they could find a vacant space, it +might be in the best bedroom or in the cellar. Many of them had fallen +in doorways, where they blocked the vestibule; others, without strength +to go farther, lay extended on the sidewalks and slept the sleep of +death, not even rising when some by-passer trod on them and bruised an +arm or leg, preferring the risk of death to the fatigue of changing +their location. + +These things all helped to make Delaherche still more keenly conscious +of the necessity of immediate capitulation. There were some quarters in +which numerous caissons were packed so close together that they were in +contact, and a single Prussian shell alighting on one of them must +inevitably have exploded them all, entailing the immediate destruction +of the city by conflagration. Then, too, what could be accomplished +with such an assemblage of miserable wretches, deprived of all their +powers, mental and physical, by reason of their long-endured +privations, and destitute of either ammunition or subsistence? Merely +to clear the streets and reduce them to a condition of something like +order would require a whole day. The place was entirely incapable of +defense, having neither guns nor provisions. + +These were the considerations that had prevailed at the council among +those more reasonable officers who, in the midst of their grief and +sorrow for their country and the army, had retained a clear and +undistorted view of the situation as it was; and the more hot-headed +among them, those who cried with emotion that it was impossible for an +army to surrender thus, had been compelled to bow their head upon their +breast in silence and admit that they had no practicable scheme to +offer whereby the conflict might be recommenced on the morrow. + +In the Place Turenne and Place du Rivage, Delaherche succeeded with the +greatest difficulty in working his way through the press. As he passed +the Hotel of the Golden Cross a sorrowful vision greeted his eyes, that +of the generals seated in the dining room, gloomily silent, around the +empty board; there was nothing left to eat in the house, not even +bread. General Bourgain-Desfeuilles, however, who had been storming and +vociferating in the kitchen, appeared to have found something, for he +suddenly held his peace and ran away swiftly up the stairs, holding in +his hands a large paper parcel of a greasy aspect. Such was the crowd +assembled there, to stare through the lighted windows upon the guests +assembled around that famine-stricken _table d’hote_, that the +manufacturer was obliged to make vigorous play with his elbows, and was +frequently driven back by some wild rush of the mob and lost all the +distance, and more, that he had just gained. In the Grande Rue, +however, the obstacles became actually impassable, and there was a +moment when he was inclined to give up in despair; a complete battery +seemed to have been driven in there and the guns and _matériel_ piled, +pell-mell, on top of one another. Deciding finally to take the bull by +the horns, he leaped to the axle of a piece and so pursued his way, +jumping from wheel to wheel, straddling the guns, at the imminent risk +of breaking his legs, if not his neck. Afterward it was some horses +that blocked his way, and he made himself lowly and stooped, creeping +among the feet and underneath the bellies of the sorry jades, who were +ready to die of inanition, like their masters. Then, when after a +quarter of an hour’s laborious effort he reached the junction of the +Rue Saint-Michel, he was terrified at the prospect of the dangers and +obstacles that he had still to face, and which, instead of diminishing, +seemed to be increasing, and made up his mind to turn down the street +above mentioned, which would take him into the Rue des Laboureurs; he +hoped that by taking these usually quiet and deserted passages he +should escape the crowd and reach his home in safety. As luck would +have it he almost directly came upon a house of ill-fame to which a +band of drunken soldiers were in process of laying siege, and +considering that a stray shot, should one reach him in the fracas, +would be equally as unpleasant as one intended for him, he made haste +to retrace his steps. Resolving to have done with it he pushed on to +the end of the Grande Rue, now gaining a few feet by balancing himself, +rope-walker fashion, along the pole of some vehicle, now climbing over +an army wagon that barred his way. At the Place du Collège he was +carried along—bodily on the shoulders of the throng for a space of +thirty paces; he fell to the ground, narrowly escaped a set of +fractured ribs, and saved himself only by the proximity of a friendly +iron railing, by the bars of which he pulled himself to his feet. And +when at last he reached the Rue Maqua, inundated with perspiration, his +clothing almost torn from his back, he found that he had been more than +an hour in coming from the Sous-Prefecture, a distance which in +ordinary times he was accustomed to accomplish in less than five +minutes. + +Major Bouroche, with the intention of keeping the ambulance and garden +from being overrun with intruders, had caused two sentries to be +mounted at the door. This measure was a source of great comfort to +Delaherche, who had begun to contemplate the possibilities of his house +being subjected to pillage. The sight of the ambulance in the garden, +dimly lighted by a few candles and exhaling its fetid, feverish +emanations, caused him a fresh constriction of the heart; then, +stumbling over the body of a soldier who was stretched in slumber on +the stone pavement of the walk, he supposed him to be one of the +fugitives who had managed to find his way in there from outside, until, +calling to mind the 7th corps treasure that had been deposited there +and the sentry who had been set over it, he saw how matters stood: the +poor fellow, stationed there since early morning, had been overlooked +by his superiors and had succumbed to his fatigue. Besides, the house +seemed quite deserted; the ground floor was black as Egypt, and the +doors stood wide open. The servants were doubtless all at the +ambulance, for there was no one in the kitchen, which was faintly +illuminated by the light of a wretched little smoky lamp. He lit a +candle and ascended the main staircase very softly, in order not to +awaken his wife and mother, whom he had begged to go to bed early after +a day where the stress, both mental and physical, had been so intense. + +On entering his study, however, he beheld a sight that caused his eyes +to dilate with astonishment. Upon the sofa on which Captain Beaudoin +had snatched a few hours’ repose the day before a soldier lay +outstretched; and he could not understand the reason of it until he had +looked and recognized young Maurice Levasseur, Henriette’s brother. He +was still more surprised when, on turning his head, he perceived, +stretched on the floor and wrapped in a bed quilt, another soldier, +that Jean, whom he had seen for a moment just before the battle. It was +plain that the poor fellows, in their distress and fatigue after the +conflict, not knowing where else to bestow themselves, had sought +refuge there; they were crushed, annihilated, like dead men. He did not +linger there, but pushed on to his wife’s chamber, which was the next +room on the corridor. A lamp was burning on a table in a corner; the +profound silence seemed to shudder. Gilberte had thrown herself +crosswise on the bed, fully dressed, doubtless in order to be prepared +for any catastrophe, and was sleeping peacefully, while, seated on a +chair at her side with her head declined and resting lightly on the +very edge of the mattress, Henriette was also slumbering, with a +fitful, agitated sleep, while big tears welled up beneath her swollen +eyelids. He contemplated them silently for a moment, strongly tempted +to awake and question the young woman in order to ascertain what she +knew. Had she succeeded in reaching Bazeilles? and why was it that she +was back there? Perhaps she would be able to give him some tidings of +his dyehouse were he to ask her? A feeling of compassion stayed him, +however, and he was about to leave the room when his mother, +ghost-like, appeared at the threshold of the open door and beckoned him +to follow her. + +As they were passing through the dining room he expressed his surprise. + +“What, have you not been abed to-night?” + +She shook her head, then said below her breath: + +“I cannot sleep; I have been sitting in an easy-chair beside the +colonel. He is very feverish; he awakes at every instant, almost, and +then plies me with questions. I don’t know how to answer them. Come in +and see him, you.” + +M. de Vineuil had fallen asleep again. His long face, now brightly red, +barred by the sweeping mustache that fell across it like a snowy +avalanche, was scarce distinguishable on the pillow. Mme. Delaherche +had placed a newspaper before the lamp and that corner of the room was +lost in semi-darkness, while all the intensity of the bright lamplight +was concentrated on her where she sat, uncompromisingly erect, in her +fauteuil, her hands crossed before her in her lap, her vague eyes bent +on space, in sorrowful reverie. + +“I think he must have heard you,” she murmured; “he is awaking again.” + +It was so; the colonel, without moving his head, had reopened his eyes +and bent them on Delaherche. He recognized him, and immediately asked +in a voice that his exhausted condition made tremulous: + +“It is all over, is it not? We have capitulated.” + +The manufacturer, who encountered the look his mother cast on him at +that moment, was on the point of equivocating. But what good would it +do? A look of discouragement passed across his face. + +“What else remained to do? A single glance at the streets of the city +would convince you. General de Wimpffen has just set out for Prussian +general headquarters to discuss conditions.” + +M. de Vineuil’s eyes closed again, his long frame was shaken with a +protracted shiver of supremely bitter grief, and this deep, long-drawn +moan escaped his lips: + +“Ah! merciful God, merciful God!” And without opening his eyes he went +on in faltering, broken accents: “Ah! the plan I spoke of +yesterday—they should have adopted it. Yes, I knew the country; I spoke +of my apprehensions to the general, but even him they would not listen +to. Occupy all the heights up there to the north, from Saint-Menges to +Fleigneux, with your army looking down on and commanding Sedan, able at +any time to move on Vrigne-aux-Bois, mistress of Saint-Albert’s +pass—and there we are; our positions are impregnable, the Mézières road +is under our control—” + +His speech became more confused as he proceeded; he stammered a few +more unintelligible words, while the vision of the battle that had been +born of his fever little by little grew blurred and dim and at last was +effaced by slumber. He slept, and in his sleep perhaps the honest +officer’s dreams were dreams of victory. + +“Does the major speak favorably of his case?” Delaherche inquired in a +whisper. + +Madame Delaherche nodded affirmatively. + +“Those wounds in the foot are dreadful things, though,” he went on. “I +suppose he is likely to be laid up for a long time, isn’t he?” + +She made him no answer this time, as if all her being, all her +faculties were concentrated on contemplating the great calamity of +their defeat. She was of another age; she was a survivor of that strong +old race of frontier burghers who defended their towns so valiantly in +the good days gone by. The clean-cut lines of her stern, set face, with +its fleshless, uncompromising nose and thin lips, which the brilliant +light of the lamp brought out in high relief against the darkness of +the room, told the full extent of her stifled rage and grief and the +wound sustained by her antique patriotism, the revolt of which refused +even to let her sleep. + +About that time Delaherche became conscious of a sensation of +isolation, accompanied by a most uncomfortable feeling of physical +distress. His hunger was asserting itself again, a griping, intolerable +hunger, and he persuaded himself that it was debility alone that was +thus robbing him of courage and resolution. He tiptoed softly from the +room and, with his candle, again made his way down to the kitchen, but +the spectacle he witnessed there was even still more cheerless; the +range cold and fireless, the closets empty, the floor strewn with a +disorderly litter of towels, napkins, dish-clouts and women’s aprons; +as if the hurricane of disaster had swept through that place as well, +bearing away on its wings all the charm and cheer that appertain +naturally to the things we eat and drink. At first he thought he was +not going to discover so much as a crust, what was left over of the +bread having all found its way to the ambulance in the form of soup. At +last, however, in the dark corner of a cupboard he came across the +remainder of the beans from yesterday’s dinner, where they had been +forgotten, and ate them. He accomplished his luxurious repast without +the formality of sitting down, without the accompaniment of salt and +butter, for which he did not care to trouble himself to ascend to the +floor above, desirous only to get away as speedily as possible from +that dismal kitchen, where the blinking, smoking little lamp perfumed +the air with fumes of petroleum. + +It was not much more than ten o’clock, and Delaherche had no other +occupation than to speculate on the various probabilities connected +with the signing of the capitulation. A persistent apprehension haunted +him; a dread lest the conflict might be renewed, and the horrible +thought of what the consequences must be in such an event, of which he +could not speak, but which rested on his bosom like an incubus. When he +had reascended to his study, where he found Maurice and Jean in exactly +the same position he had left them in, it was all in vain that he +settled himself comfortably in his favorite easy-chair; sleep would not +come to him; just as he was on the point of losing himself the crash of +a shell would arouse him with a great start. It was the frightful +cannonade of the day, the echoes of which were still ringing in his +ears; and he would listen breathlessly for a moment, then sit and +shudder at the equally appalling silence by which he was now +surrounded. As he could not sleep he preferred to move about; he +wandered aimlessly among the rooms, taking care to avoid that in which +his mother was sitting by the colonel’s bedside, for the steady gaze +with which she watched him as he tramped nervously up and down had +finally had the effect of disconcerting him. Twice he returned to see +if Henriette had not awakened, and he paused an instant to glance at +his wife’s pretty face, so calmly peaceful, on which seemed to be +flitting something like the faint shadow of a smile. Then, knowing not +what to do, he went downstairs again, came back, moved about from room +to room, until it was nearly two in the morning, wearying his ears with +trying to decipher some meaning in the sounds that came to him from +without. + +This condition of affairs could not last. Delaherche resolved to return +once more to the Sous-Prefecture, feeling assured that all rest would +be quite out of the question for him so long as his ignorance +continued. A feeling of despair seized him, however, when he went +downstairs and looked out upon the densely crowded street, where the +confusion seemed to be worse than ever; never would he have the +strength to fight his way to the Place Turenne and back again through +obstacles the mere memory of which caused every bone in his body to +ache again. And he was mentally discussing matters, when who should +come up but Major Bouroche, panting, perspiring, and swearing. + +“_Tonnerre de Dieu!_ I wonder if my head’s on my shoulders or not!” + +He had been obliged to visit the Hôtel de Ville to see the mayor about +his supply of chloroform, and urge him to issue a requisition for a +quantity, for he had many operations to perform, his stock of the drug +was exhausted, and he was afraid, he said, that he should be compelled +to carve up the poor devils without putting them to sleep. + +“Well?” inquired Delaherche. + +“Well, they can’t even tell whether the apothecaries have any or not!” + +But the manufacturer was thinking of other things than chloroform. “No, +no,” he continued. “Have they brought matters to a conclusion yet? Have +they signed the agreement with the Prussians?” + +The major made a gesture of impatience. “There is nothing concluded,” +he cried. “It appears that those scoundrels are making demands out of +all reason. Ah, well; let ’em commence afresh, then, and we’ll all +leave our bones here. That will be best!” + +Delaherche’s face grew very pale as he listened. “But are you quite +sure these things are so?” + +“I was told them by those fellows of the municipal council, who are in +permanent session at the city hall. An officer had been dispatched from +the Sous-Prefecture to lay the whole affair before them.” + +And he went on to furnish additional details. The interview had taken +place at the Château de Bellevue, near Donchery, and the participants +were General de Wimpffen, General von Moltke, and Bismarck. A stern and +inflexible man was that von Moltke, a terrible man to deal with! He +began by demonstrating that he was perfectly acquainted with the +hopeless situation of the French army; it was destitute of ammunition +and subsistence, demoralization and disorder pervaded its ranks, it was +utterly powerless to break the iron circle by which it was girt about; +while on the other hand the German armies occupied commanding positions +from which they could lay the city in ashes in two hours. Coldly, +unimpassionedly, he stated his terms: the entire French army to +surrender arms and baggage and be treated as prisoners of war. Bismarck +took no part in the discussion beyond giving the general his support, +occasionally showing his teeth, like a big mastiff, inclined to be +pacific on the whole, but quite ready to rend and tear should there be +occasion for it. General de Wimpffen in reply protested with all the +force he had at his command against these conditions, the most severe +that ever were imposed on a vanquished army. He spoke of his personal +grief and ill-fortune, the bravery of the troops, the danger there was +in driving a proud nation to extremity; for three hours he spoke with +all the energy and eloquence of despair, alternately threatening and +entreating, demanding that they should content themselves with +interning their prisoners in France, or even in Algeria; and in the end +the only concession granted was, that the officers might retain their +swords, and those among them who should enter into a solemn +arrangement, attested by a written parole, to serve no more during the +war, might return to their homes. Finally, the armistice to be +prolonged until the next morning at ten o’clock; if at that time the +terms had not been accepted, the Prussian batteries would reopen fire +and the city would be burned. + +“That’s stupid!” exclaimed Delaherche; “they have no right to burn a +city that has done nothing to deserve it!” + +The major gave him still further food for anxiety by adding that some +officers whom he had met at the Hotel de l’Europe were talking of +making a sortie _en masse_ just before daylight. An extremely excited +state of feeling had prevailed since the tenor of the German demands +had become known, and measures the most extravagant were proposed and +discussed. No one seemed to be deterred by the consideration that it +would be dishonorable to break the truce, taking advantage of the +darkness and giving the enemy no notification, and the wildest, most +visionary schemes were offered; they would resume the march on +Carignan, hewing their way through the Bavarians, which they could do +in the black night; they would recapture the plateau of Illy by a +surprise; they would raise the blockade of the Mézières road, or, by a +determined, simultaneous rush, would force the German lines and throw +themselves into Belgium. Others there were, indeed, who, feeling the +hopelessness of their position, said nothing; they would have accepted +any terms, signed any paper, with a glad cry of relief, simply to have +the affair ended and done with. + +“Good-night!” Bouroche said in conclusion. “I am going to try to sleep +a couple of hours; I need it badly.” + +When left by himself Delaherche could hardly breathe. What, could it be +true that they were going to fight again, were going to burn and raze +Sedan! It was certainly to be, soon as the morrow’s sun should be high +enough upon the hills to light the horror of the sacrifice. And once +again he almost unconsciously climbed the steep ladder that led to the +roofs and found himself standing among the chimneys, at the edge of the +narrow terrace that overlooked the city; but at that hour of the night +the darkness was intense and he could distinguish absolutely nothing +amid the swirling waves of the Cimmerian sea that lay beneath him. Then +the buildings of the factory below were the first objects which, one by +one, disentangled themselves from the shadows and stood out before his +vision in indistinct masses, which he had no difficulty in recognizing: +the engine-house, the shops, the drying rooms, the storehouses, and +when he reflected that within twenty-four hours there would remain of +that imposing block of buildings, his fortune and his pride, naught +save charred timbers and crumbling walls, he overflowed with pity for +himself. He raised his glance thence once more to the horizon, and sent +it traveling in a circuit around that profound, mysterious veil of +blackness behind which lay slumbering the menace of the morrow. To the +south, in the direction of Bazeilles, a few quivering little flames +that rose fitfully on the air told where had been the site of the +unhappy village, while toward the north the farmhouse in the wood of la +Garenne, that had been fired late in the afternoon, was burning still, +and the trees about were dyed of a deep red with the ruddy blaze. +Beyond the intermittent flashing of those two baleful fires no light to +be seen; the brooding silence unbroken by any sound save those +half-heard mutterings that pass through the air like harbingers of +evil; about them, everywhere, the unfathomable abyss, dead and +lifeless. Off there in the distance, very far away, perhaps, perhaps +upon the ramparts, was a sound of someone weeping. It was all in vain +that he strained his eyes to pierce the veil, to see something of Liry, +la Marfée, the batteries of Frenois, and Wadelincourt, that encircling +belt of bronze monsters of which he could instinctively feel the +presence there, with their outstretched necks and yawning, ravenous +muzzles. And as he recalled his glance and let it fall upon the city +that lay around and beneath him, he heard its frightened breathing. It +was not alone the unquiet slumbers of the soldiers who had fallen in +the streets, the blending of inarticulate sounds produced by that +gathering of guns, men, and horses; what he fancied he could +distinguish was the insomnia, the alarmed watchfulness of his bourgeois +neighbors, who, no more than he, could sleep, quivering with feverish +terrors, awaiting anxiously the coming of the day. They all must be +aware that the capitulation had not been signed, and were all counting +the hours, quaking at the thought that should it not be signed the sole +resource left them would be to go down into their cellars and wait for +their own walls to tumble in on them and crush the life from their +bodies. The voice of one in sore straits came up, it seemed to him, +from the Rue des Voyards, shouting: “Help! murder!” amid the clash of +arms. He bent over the terrace to look, then remained aloft there in +the murky thickness of the night where there was not a star to cheer +him, wrapped in such an ecstasy of terror that the hairs of his body +stood erect. + +Below-stairs, at early daybreak, Maurice awoke upon his sofa. He was +sore and stiff as if he had been racked; he did not stir, but lay +looking listlessly at the windows, which gradually grew white under the +light of a cloudy dawn. The hateful memories of the day before all came +back to him with that distinctness that characterizes the impressions +of our first waking, how they had fought, fled, surrendered. It all +rose before his vision, down to the very least detail, and he brooded +with horrible anguish on the defeat, whose reproachful echoes seemed to +penetrate to the inmost fibers of his being, as if he felt that all the +responsibility of it was his. And he went on to reason on the cause of +the evil, analyzing himself, reverting to his old habit of bitter and +unavailing self-reproach. He would have felt so brave, so glorious had +victory remained with them! And now, in defeat, weak and nervous as a +woman, he once again gave way to one of those overwhelming fits of +despair in which the entire world, seemed to him to be foundering. +Nothing was left them; the end of France was come. His frame was shaken +by a storm of sobs, he wept hot tears, and joining his hands, the +prayers of his childhood rose to his lips in stammering accents. + +“O God! take me unto Thee! O God! take unto Thyself all those who are +weary and heavy-laden!” + +Jean, lying on the floor wrapped in his bed-quilt, began to show some +signs of life. Finally, astonished at what he heard, he arose to a +sitting posture. + +“What is the matter, youngster? Are you ill?” Then, with a glimmering +perception of how matters stood, he adopted a more paternal tone. +“Come, tell me what the matter is. You must not let yourself be worried +by such a little thing as this, you know.” + +“Ah!” exclaimed Maurice, “it is all up with us, _va_! we are Prussians +now, and we may as well make up our mind to it.” + +As the peasant, with the hard-headedness of the uneducated, expressed +surprise to hear him talk thus, he endeavored to make it clear to him +that, the race being degenerate and exhausted, it must disappear and +make room for a newer and more vigorous strain. But the other, with an +obstinate shake of the head, would not listen to the explanation. + +“What! would you try to make me believe that my bit of land is no +longer mine? that I would permit the Prussians to take it from me while +I am alive and my two arms are left to me? Come, come!” + +Then painfully, in such terms as he could command, he went on to tell +how affairs looked to him. They had received an all-fired good basting, +that was sure as sure could be! but they were not all dead yet, he +didn’t believe; there were some left, and those would suffice to +rebuild the house if they only behaved themselves, working hard and not +drinking up what they earned. When a family has trouble, if its members +work and put by a little something, they will pull through, in spite of +all the bad luck in the world. And further, it is not such a bad thing +to get a good cuffing once in a way; it sets one thinking. And, great +heavens! if a man has something rotten about him, if he has gangrene in +his arms or legs that is spreading all the time, isn’t it better to +take a hatchet and lop them off rather than die as he would from +cholera? + +“All up, all up! Ah, no, no! no, no!” he repeated several times. “It is +not all up with me, I know very well it is not.” + +And notwithstanding his seedy condition and demoralized appearance, his +hair all matted and pasted to his head by the blood that had flowed +from his wound, he drew himself up defiantly, animated by a keen desire +to live, to take up the tools of his trade or put his hand to the plow, +in order, to use his own expression, to “rebuild the house.” He was of +the old soil where reason and obstinacy grow side by side, of the land +of toil and thrift. + +“All the same, though,” he continued, “I am sorry for the Emperor. +Affairs seemed to be going on well; the farmers were getting a good +price for their grain. But surely it was bad judgment on his part to +allow himself to become involved in this business!” + +Maurice, who was still in “the blues,” spoke regretfully: “Ah, the +Emperor! I always liked him in my heart, in spite of my republican +ideas. Yes, I had it in the blood, on account of my grandfather, I +suppose. And now that that limb is rotten and we shall have to lop it +off, what is going to become of us?” + +His eyes began to wander, and his voice and manner evinced such +distress that Jean became alarmed and was about to rise and go to him, +when Henriette came into the room. She had just awakened on hearing the +sound of voices in the room adjoining hers. The pale light of a cloudy +morning now illuminated the apartment. + +“You come just in time to give him a scolding,” he said, with an +affectation of liveliness. “He is not a good boy this morning.” + +But the sight of his sister’s pale, sad face and the recollection of +her affliction had had a salutary effect on Maurice by determining a +sudden crisis of tenderness. He opened his arms and took her to his +bosom, and when she rested her head upon his shoulder, when he held her +locked in a close embrace, a feeling of great gentleness pervaded him +and they mingled their tears. + +“Ah, my poor, poor darling, why have I not more strength and courage to +console you! for my sorrows are as nothing compared with yours. That +good, faithful Weiss, the husband who loved you so fondly! What will +become of you? You have always been the victim; always, and never a +murmur from your lips. Think of the sorrow I have already caused you, +and who can say that I shall not cause you still more in the future!” + +She was silencing him, placing her hand upon his mouth, when Delaherche +came into the room, beside himself with indignation. While still on the +terrace he had been seized by one of those uncontrollable nervous fits +of hunger that are aggravated by fatigue, and had descended to the +kitchen in quest of something warm to drink, where he had found, +keeping company with his cook, a relative of hers, a carpenter of +Bazeilles, whom she was in the act of treating to a bowl of hot wine. +This person, who had been one of the last to leave the place while the +conflagrations were at their height, had told him that his dyehouse was +utterly destroyed, nothing left of it but a heap of ruins. + +“The robbers, the thieves! Would you have believed it, _hein_?” he +stammered, addressing Jean and Maurice. “There is no hope left; they +mean to burn Sedan this morning as they burned Bazeilles yesterday. I’m +ruined, I’m ruined!” The scar that Henriette bore on her forehead +attracted his attention, and he remembered that he had not spoken to +her yet. “It is true, you went there, after all; you got that wound—Ah! +poor Weiss!” + +And seeing by the young woman’s tears that she was acquainted with her +husband’s fate, he abruptly blurted out the horrible bit of news that +the carpenter had communicated to him among the rest. + +“Poor Weiss! it seems they burned him. Yes, after shooting all the +civilians who were caught with arms in their hands, they threw their +bodies into the flames of a burning house and poured petroleum over +them.” + +Henriette was horror-stricken as she listened. Her tears burst forth, +her frame was shaken by her sobs. My God, my God, not even the poor +comfort of going to claim her dear dead and give him decent sepulture; +his ashes were to be scattered by the winds of heaven! Maurice had +again clasped her in his arms and spoke to her endearingly, calling her +his poor Cinderella, beseeching her not to take the matter so to heart, +a brave woman as she was. + +After a time, during which no word was spoken, Delaherche, who had been +standing at the window watching the growing day, suddenly turned and +addressed the two soldiers: + +“By the way, I was near forgetting. What I came up here to tell you is +this: down in the courtyard, in the shed where the treasure chests were +deposited, there is an officer who is about to distribute the money +among the men, so as to keep the Prussians from getting it. You had +better go down, for a little money may be useful to you, that is, +provided we are all alive a few hours hence.” + +The advice was good, and Maurice and Jean acted on it, having first +prevailed on Henriette to take her brother’s place on the sofa. If she +could not go to sleep again, she would at least be securing some +repose. As for Delaherche, he passed through the adjoining chamber, +where Gilberte with her tranquil, pretty face was slumbering still as +soundly as a child, neither the sound of conversation nor even +Henriette’s sobs having availed to make her change her position. From +there he went to the apartment where his mother was watching at Colonel +de Vineuil’s bedside, and thrust his head through the door; the old +lady was asleep in her fauteuil, while the colonel, his eyes closed, +was like a corpse. He opened them to their full extent and asked: + +“Well, it’s all over, isn’t it?” + +Irritated by the question, which detained him at the very moment when +he thought he should be able to slip away unobserved, Delaherche gave a +wrathful look and murmured, sinking his voice: + +“Oh, yes, all over! until it begins again! There is nothing signed.” + +The colonel went on in a voice scarcely higher than a whisper; delirium +was setting in. + +“Merciful God, let me die before the end! I do not hear the guns. Why +have they ceased firing? Up there at Saint-Menges, at Fleigneux, we +have command of all the roads; should the Prussians dare turn Sedan and +attack us, we will drive them into the Meuse. The city is there, an +insurmountable obstacle between us and them; our positions, too, are +the stronger. Forward! the 7th corps will lead, the 12th will protect +the retreat—” + +And his fingers kept drumming on the counterpane with a measured +movement, as if keeping time with the trot of the charger he was riding +in his vision. Gradually the motion became slower and slower as his +words became more indistinct and he sank off into slumber. It ceased, +and he lay motionless and still, as if the breath had left his body. + +“Lie still and rest,” Delaherche whispered; “when I have news I will +return.” + +Then, having first assured himself that he had not disturbed his +mother’s slumber, he slipped away and disappeared. + +Jean and Maurice, on descending to the shed in the courtyard, had found +there an officer of the pay department, seated on a common kitchen +chair behind a little unpainted pine table, who, without pen, ink, or +paper, without taking receipts or indulging in formalities of any kind, +was dispensing fortunes. He simply stuck his hand into the open mouth +of the bags filled with bright gold pieces, and as the sergeants of the +7th corps passed in line before him he filled their _kepis_, never +counting what he bestowed with such rapid liberality. The understanding +was that the sergeants were subsequently to divide what they received +with the surviving men of their half-sections. Each of them received +his portion awkwardly, as if it had been a ration of meat or coffee, +then stalked off in an embarrassed, self-conscious sort of way, +transferring the contents of the _kepi_ to his trousers’ pockets so as +not to display his wealth to the world at large. And not a word was +spoken; there was not a sound to be heard but the crystalline chink and +rattle of the coin as it was received by those poor devils, dumfounded +to see the responsibility of such riches thrust on them when there was +not a place in the city where they could purchase a loaf of bread or a +quart of wine. + +When Jean and Maurice appeared before him the officer, who was holding +outstretched his hand filled, as usual, with louis, drew it back. + +“Neither of you fellows is a sergeant. No one except sergeants is +entitled to receive the money.” Then, in haste to be done with his +task, he changed his mind: “Never mind, though; here, you corporal, +take this. Step lively, now. Next man!” + +And he dropped the gold coins into the _kepi_ that Jean held out to +him. The latter, oppressed by the magnitude of the amount, nearly six +hundred francs, insisted that Maurice should take one-half. No one +could say what might happen; they might be parted from each other. + +They made the division in the garden, before the ambulance, and when +they had concluded their financial business they entered, having +recognized on the straw near the entrance the drummer-boy of their +company, Bastian, a fat, good-natured little fellow, who had had the +ill-luck to receive a spent ball in the groin about five o’clock the +day before, when the battle was ended. He had been dying by inches for +the last twelve hours. + +In the dim, white light of morning, at that hour of awakening, the +sight of the ambulance sent a chill of horror through them. Three more +patients had died during the night, without anyone being aware of it, +and the attendants were hurriedly bearing away the corpses in order to +make room for others. Those who had been operated on the day before +opened wide their eyes in their somnolent, semi-conscious state, and +looked with dazed astonishment on that vast dormitory of suffering, +where the victims of the knife, only half-slaughtered, rested on their +straw. It was in vain that some attempts had been made the night before +to clean up the room after the bloody work of the operations; there +were great splotches of blood on the ill-swept floor; in a bucket of +water a great sponge was floating, stained with red, for all the world +like a human brain; a hand, its fingers crushed and broken, had been +overlooked and lay on the floor of the shed. It was the parings and +trimmings of the human butcher shop, the horrible waste and refuse that +ensues upon a day of slaughter, viewed in the cold, raw light of dawn. + +Bouroche, who, after a few hours of repose, had already resumed his +duties, stopped in front of the wounded drummer-boy, Bastian, then +passed on with an imperceptible shrug of his shoulders. A hopeless +case; nothing to be done. The lad had opened his eyes, however, and +emerging from the comatose state in which he had been lying, was +eagerly watching a sergeant who, his _kepi_ filled with gold in his +hand, had come into the room to see if there were any of his men among +those poor wretches. He found two, and to each of them gave twenty +francs. Other sergeants came in, and the gold began to fall in showers +upon the straw, among the dying men. Bastian, who had managed to raise +himself, stretched out his two hands, even then shaking in the final +agony. + +“Don’t forget me! don’t forget me!” + +The sergeant would have passed on and gone his way, as Bouroche had +done. What good could money do there? Then yielding to a kindly +impulse, he threw some coins, never stopping to count them, into the +poor hands that were already cold. + +“Don’t forget me! don’t forget me!” + +Bastian fell backward on his straw. For a long time he groped with +stiffening fingers for the elusive gold, which seemed to avoid him. And +thus he died. + +“The gentleman has blown his candle out; good-night!” said a little, +black, wizened zouave, who occupied the next bed. “It’s vexatious, when +one has the wherewithal to pay for wetting his whistle!” + +He had his left foot done up in splints. Nevertheless he managed to +raise himself on his knees and elbows and in this posture crawl over to +the dead man, whom he relieved of all his money, forcing open his +hands, rummaging among his clothing and the folds of his capote. When +he got back to his place, noticing that he was observed, he simply +said: + +“There’s no use letting the stuff be wasted, is there?” + +Maurice, sick at heart in that atmosphere of human distress and +suffering, had long since dragged Jean away. As they passed out through +the shed where the operations were performed they saw Bouroche +preparing to amputate the leg of a poor little man of twenty, without +chloroform, he having been unable to obtain a further supply of the +anaesthetic. And they fled, running, so as not to hear the poor boy’s +shrieks. + +Delaherche, who came in from the street just then, beckoned to them and +shouted: + +“Come upstairs, come, quick! we are going to have breakfast. The cook +has succeeded in procuring some milk, and it is well she did, for we +are all in great need of something to warm our stomachs.” And +notwithstanding his efforts to do so, he could not entirely repress his +delight and exultation. With a radiant countenance he added, lowering +his voice: “It is all right this time. General de Wimpffen has set out +again for the German headquarters to sign the capitulation.” + +Ah, how much those words meant to him, what comfort there was in them, +what relief! his horrid nightmare dispelled, his property saved from +destruction, his daily life to be resumed, under changed conditions, it +is true, but still it was to go on, it was not to cease! It was little +Rose who had told him of the occurrences of the morning at the +Sous-Prefecture; the girl had come hastening through the streets, now +somewhat less choked than they had been, to obtain a supply of bread +from an aunt of hers who kept a baker’s shop in the quarter; it was +striking nine o’clock. As early as eight General de Wimpffen had +convened another council of war, consisting of more than thirty +generals, to whom he related the results that had been reached so far, +the hard conditions imposed by the victorious foe, and his own +fruitless efforts to secure a mitigation of them. His emotion was such +that his hands shook like a leaf, his eyes were suffused with tears. He +was still addressing the assemblage when a colonel of the German staff +presented himself, on behalf of General von Moltke, to remind them +that, unless a decision were arrived at by ten o’clock, their guns +would open fire on the city of Sedan. With this horrible alternative +before them the council could do nothing save authorize the general to +proceed once more to the Château of Bellevue and accept the terms of +the victors. He must have accomplished his mission by that time, and +the entire French army were prisoners of war. + +When she had concluded her narrative Rose launched out into a detailed +account of the tremendous excitement the tidings had produced in the +city. At the Sous-Prefecture she had seen officers tear the epaulettes +from their shoulders, weeping meanwhile like children. Cavalrymen had +thrown their sabers from the Pont de Meuse into the river; an entire +regiment of cuirassiers had passed, each man tossing his blade over the +parapet and sorrowfully watching the water close over it. In the +streets many soldiers grasped their muskets by the barrel and smashed +them against a wall, while there were artillerymen who removed the +mechanism from the mitrailleuses and flung it into the sewer. Some +there were who buried or burned the regimental standards. In the Place +Turenne an old sergeant climbed upon a gate-post and harangued the +throng as if he had suddenly taken leave of his senses, reviling the +leaders, stigmatizing them as poltroons and cowards. Others seemed as +if dazed, shedding big tears in silence, and others also, it must be +confessed (and it is probable that they were in the majority), betrayed +by their laughing eyes and pleased expression the satisfaction they +felt at the change in affairs. There was an end to their suffering at +last; they were prisoners of war, they could not be obliged to fight +any more! For so many days they had been distressed by those long, +weary marches, with never food enough to satisfy their appetite! And +then, too, they were the weaker; what use was there in fighting? If +their chiefs had betrayed them, had sold them to the enemy, so much the +better; it would be the sooner ended! It was such a delicious thing to +think of, that they were to have white bread to eat, were to sleep +between sheets! + +As Delaherche was about to enter the dining room in company with +Maurice and Jean, his mother called to him from above. + +“Come up here, please; I am anxious about the colonel.” + +M. de Vineuil, with wide-open eyes, was talking rapidly and excitedly +of the subject that filled his bewildered brain. + +“The Prussians have cut us off from Mézières, but what matters it! See, +they have outmarched us and got possession of the plain of Donchery; +soon they will be up with the wood of la Falizette and flank us there, +while more of them are coming up along the valley of the Givonne. The +frontier is behind us; let us kill as many of them as we can and cross +it at a bound. Yesterday, yes, that is what I would have advised—” + +At that moment his burning eyes lighted on Delaherche. He recognized +him; the sight seemed to sober him and dispel the hallucination under +which he was laboring, and coming back to the terrible reality, he +asked for the third time: + +“It is all over, is it not?” + +The manufacturer explosively blurted out the expression of his +satisfaction; he could not restrain it. + +“Ah, yes, God be praised! it is all over, completely over. The +capitulation must be signed by this time.” + +The colonel raised himself at a bound to a sitting posture, +notwithstanding his bandaged foot; he took his sword from the chair by +the bedside where it lay and made an attempt to break it, but his hands +trembled too violently, and the blade slipped from his fingers. + +“Look out! he will cut himself!” Delaherche cried in alarm. “Take that +thing away from him; it is dangerous!” + +Mme. Delaherche took possession of the sword. With a feeling of +compassionate respect for the poor colonel’s grief and despair she did +not conceal it, as her son bade her do, but with a single vigorous +effort snapped it across her knee, with a strength of which she herself +would never have supposed her poor old hands capable. The colonel laid +himself down again, casting a look of extreme gentleness upon his old +friend, who went back to her chair and seated herself in her usual +rigid attitude. + +In the dining room the cook had meantime served bowls of hot coffee and +milk for the entire party. Henriette and Gilberte had awakened, the +latter, completely restored by her long and refreshing slumber, with +bright eyes and smiling face; she embraced most tenderly her friend, +whom she pitied, she said, from the bottom of her heart. Maurice seated +himself beside his sister, while Jean, who was unused to polite +society, but could not decline the invitation that was extended to him, +was Delaherche’s right-hand neighbor. It was Mme. Delaherche’s custom +not to come to the table with the family; a servant carried her a bowl, +which she drank while sitting by the colonel. The party of five, +however, who sat down together, although they commenced their meal in +silence, soon became cheerful and talkative. Why should they not +rejoice and be glad to find themselves there, safe and sound, with food +before them to satisfy their hunger, when the country round about was +covered with thousands upon thousands of poor starving wretches? In the +cool, spacious dining room the snow-white tablecloth was a delight to +the eye and the steaming _café au lait_ seemed delicious. + +They conversed, Delaherche, who had recovered his assurance and was +again the wealthy manufacturer, the condescending patron courting +popularity, severe only toward those who failed to succeed, spoke of +Napoleon III., whose face as he saw it last continued to haunt his +memory. He addressed himself to Jean, having that simple-minded young +man as his neighbor. “Yes, sir, the Emperor has deceived me, and I +don’t hesitate to say so. His henchmen may put in the plea of +mitigating circumstances, but it won’t go down, sir; he is evidently +the first, the only cause of our misfortunes.” + +He had quite forgotten that only a few months before he had been an +ardent Bonapartist and had labored to ensure the success of the +plebiscite, and now he who was henceforth to be known as the Man of +Sedan was not even worthy to be pitied; he ascribed to him every known +iniquity. + +“A man of no capacity, as everyone is now compelled to admit; but let +that pass, I say nothing of that. A visionary, a theorist, an +unbalanced mind, with whom affairs seemed to succeed as long as he had +luck on his side. And there’s no use, don’t you see, sir, in attempting +to work on our sympathies and excite our commiseration by telling us +that he was deceived, that the opposition refused him the necessary +grants of men and money. It is he who has deceived us, he whose crimes +and blunders have landed us in the horrible muddle where we are.” + +Maurice, who preferred to say nothing on the subject, could not help +smiling, while Jean, embarrassed by the political turn the conversation +had taken and fearful lest he might make some ill-timed remark, simply +replied: + +“They say he is a brave man, though.” + +But those few words, modestly expressed, fairly made Delaherche jump. +All his past fear and alarm, all the mental anguish he had suffered, +burst from his lips in a cry of concentrated passion, closely allied to +hatred. + +“A brave man, forsooth; and what does that amount to! Are you aware, +sir, that my factory was struck three times by Prussian shells, and +that it is no fault of the Emperor’s that it was not burned! Are you +aware that I, I shall lose a hundred thousand francs by this idiotic +business! No, no; France invaded, pillaged, and laid waste, our +industries compelled to shut down, our commerce ruined; it is a little +too much, I tell you! One brave man like that is quite sufficient; may +the Lord preserve us from any more of them! He is down in the blood and +mire, and there let him remain!” + +And he made a forcible gesture with his closed fist as if thrusting +down and holding under the water some poor wretch who was struggling to +save himself, then finished his coffee, smacking his lips like a true +gourmand. Gilberte waited on Henriette as if she had been a child, +laughing a little involuntary laugh when the latter made some +exhibition of absent-mindedness. And when at last the coffee had all +been drunk they still lingered on in the peaceful quiet of the great +cool dining room. + +And at that same hour Napoleon III. was in the weaver’s lowly cottage +on the Donchery road. As early as five o’clock in the morning he had +insisted on leaving the Sous-Prefecture; he felt ill at ease in Sedan, +which was at once a menace and a reproach to him, and moreover he +thought he might, in some measure, alleviate the sufferings of his +tender heart by obtaining more favorable terms for his unfortunate +army. His object was to have a personal interview with the King of +Prussia. He had taken his place in a hired caleche and been driven +along the broad highway, with its row of lofty poplars on either side, +and this first stage of his journey into exile, accomplished in the +chill air of early dawn, must have reminded him forcibly of the +grandeur that had been his and that he was putting behind him forever. +It was on this road that he had his encounter with Bismarck, who came +hurrying to meet him in an old cap and coarse, greased boots, with the +sole object of keeping him occupied and preventing him from seeing the +King until the capitulation should have been signed. The King was still +at Vendresse, some nine miles away. Where was he to go? What roof would +afford him shelter while he waited? In his own country, so far away, +the Palace of the Tuileries had disappeared from his sight, swallowed +up in the bosom of a storm-cloud, and he was never to see it more. +Sedan seemed already to have receded into the distance, leagues and +leagues, and to be parted from him by a river of blood. In France there +were no longer imperial châteaus, nor official residences, nor even a +chimney-nook in the house of the humblest functionary, where he would +have dared to enter and claim hospitality. And it was in the house of +the weaver that he determined to seek shelter, the squalid cottage that +stood close to the roadside, with its scanty kitchen-garden inclosed by +a hedge and its front of a single story with little forbidding windows. +The room above-stairs was simply whitewashed and had a tiled floor; the +only furniture was a common pine table and two straw-bottomed chairs. +He spent two hours there, at first in company with Bismarck, who smiled +to hear him speak of generosity, after that alone in silent misery, +flattening his ashy face against the panes, taking his last look at +French soil and at the Meuse, winding in and out, so beautiful, among +the broad fertile fields. + +Then the next day and the days that came after were other wretched +stages of that journey; the Château of Bellevue, a pretty bourgeois +retreat overlooking the river, where he rested that night, where he +shed tears after his interview with King William; the sorrowful +departure, that most miserable flight in a hired caleche over remote +roads to the north of the city, which he avoided, not caring to face +the wrath of the vanquished troops and the starving citizens, making a +wide circuit over cross-roads by Floing, Fleigneux, and Illy and +crossing the stream on a bridge of boats, laid down by the Prussians at +Iges; the tragic encounter, the story of which has been so often told, +that occurred on the corpse-cumbered plateau of Illy: the miserable +Emperor, whose state was such that his horse could not be allowed to +trot, had sunk under some more than usually violent attack of his +complaint, mechanically smoking, perhaps, his everlasting cigarette, +when a band of haggard, dusty, blood-stained prisoners, who were being +conducted from Fleigneux to Sedan, were forced to leave the road to let +the carriage pass and stood watching it from the ditch; those who were +at the head of the line merely eyed him in silence; presently a hoarse, +sullen murmur began to make itself heard, and finally, as the caleche +proceeded down the line, the men burst out with a storm of yells and +cat-calls, shaking their fists and calling down maledictions on the +head of him who had been their ruler. After that came the interminable +journey across the battlefield, as far as Givonne, amid scenes of havoc +and devastation, amid the dead, who lay with staring eyes upturned that +seemed to be full of menace; came, too, the bare, dreary fields, the +great silent forest, then the frontier, running along the summit of a +ridge, marked only by a stone, facing a wooden post that seemed ready +to fall, and beyond the soil of Belgium, the end of all, with its road +bordered with gloomy hemlocks descending sharply into the narrow +valley. + +And that first night of exile, that he spent at a common inn, the Hotel +de la Poste at Bouillon, what a night it was! When the Emperor showed +himself at his window in deference to the throng of French refugees and +sight-seers that filled the place, he was greeted with a storm of +hisses and hostile murmurs. The apartment assigned him, the three +windows of which opened on the public square and on the Semoy, was the +typical tawdry bedroom of the provincial inn with its conventional +furnishings: the chairs covered with crimson damask, the mahogany +_armoire à glace_, and on the mantel the imitation bronze clock, +flanked by a pair of conch shells and vases of artificial flowers under +glass covers. On either side of the door was a little single bed, to +one of which the wearied aide-de-camp betook himself at nine o’clock +and was immediately wrapped in soundest slumber. On the other the +Emperor, to whom the god of sleep was less benignant, tossed almost the +whole night through, and if he arose to try to quiet his excited nerves +by walking, the sole distraction that his eyes encountered was a pair +of engravings that were hung to right and left of the chimney, one +depicting Rouget de Lisle singing the Marseillaise, the other a crude +representation of the Last Judgment, the dead rising from their graves +at the sound of the Archangel’s trump, the resurrection of the victims +of the battlefield, about to appear before their God to bear witness +against their rulers. + +The imperial baggage train, cause in its day of so much scandal, had +been left behind at Sedan, where it rested in ignominious hiding behind +the Sous-Préfet’s lilac bushes. It puzzled the authorities somewhat to +devise means for ridding themselves of what was to them a _bête noire_, +for getting it away from the city unseen by the famishing multitude, +upon whom the sight of its flaunting splendor would have produced much +the same effect that a red rag does on a maddened bull. They waited +until there came an unusually dark night, when horses, carriages, and +baggage-wagons, with their silver stew-pans, plate, linen, and baskets +of fine wines, all trooped out of Sedan in deepest mystery and shaped +their course for Belgium, noiselessly, without beat of drum, over the +least frequented roads like a thief stealing away in the night. + + + + +PART THIRD + + + + +I. + + +All the long, long day of the battle Silvine, up on Remilly hill, where +Father Fouchard’s little farm was situated, but her heart and soul +absent with Honoré amid the dangers of the conflict, never once took +her eyes from off Sedan, where the guns were roaring. The following +day, moreover, her anxiety was even greater still, being increased by +her inability to obtain any definite tidings, for the Prussians who +were guarding the roads in the vicinity refused to answer questions, as +much from reasons of policy as because they knew but very little +themselves. The bright sun of the day before was no longer visible, and +showers had fallen, making the valley look less cheerful than usual in +the wan light. + +Toward evening Father Fouchard, who was also haunted by a sensation of +uneasiness in the midst of his studied taciturnity, was standing on his +doorstep reflecting on the probable outcome of events. His son had no +place in his thoughts, but he was speculating how he best might convert +the misfortunes of others into fortune for himself, and as he revolved +these considerations in his mind he noticed a tall, strapping young +fellow, dressed in the peasant’s blouse, who had been strolling up and +down the road for the last minute or so, looking as if he did not know +what to do with himself. His astonishment on recognizing him was so +great that he called him aloud by name, notwithstanding that three +Prussians happened to be passing at the time. + +“Why, Prosper! Is that you?” + +The chasseur d’Afrique imposed silence on him with an emphatic gesture; +then, coming closer, he said in an undertone: + +“Yes, it is I. I have had enough of fighting for nothing, and I cut my +lucky. Say, Father Fouchard, you don’t happen to be in need of a +laborer on your farm, do you?” + +All the old man’s prudence came back to him in a twinkling. He _was_ +looking for someone to help him, but it would be better not to say so +at once. + +“A lad on the farm? faith, no—not just now. Come in, though, all the +same, and have a glass. I shan’t leave you out on the road when you’re +in trouble, that’s sure.” + +Silvine, in the kitchen, was setting the pot of soup on the fire, while +little Charlot was hanging by her skirts, frolicking and laughing. She +did not recognize Prosper at first, although they had formerly served +together in the same household, and it was not until she came in, +bringing a bottle of wine and two glasses, that she looked him squarely +in the face. She uttered a cry of joy and surprise; her sole thought +was of Honoré. + +“Ah, you were there, weren’t you? Is Honoré all right?” + +Prosper’s answer was ready to slip from his tongue; he hesitated. For +the last two days he had been living in a dream, among a rapid +succession of strange, ill-defined events which left behind them no +precise memory, as a man starts, half-awakened, from a slumber peopled +with fantastic visions. It was true, doubtless, he believed he had seen +Honoré lying upon a cannon, dead, but he would not have cared to swear +to it; what use is there in afflicting people when one is not certain? + +“Honoré,” he murmured, “I don’t know, I couldn’t say.” + +She continued to press him with her questions, looking at him steadily. + +“You did not see him, then?” + +He waved his hands before him with a slow, uncertain motion and an +expressive shake of the head. + +“How can you expect one to remember! There were such lots of things, +such lots of things. Look you, of all that d——-d battle, if I was to +die for it this minute, I could not tell you that much—no, not even the +place where I was. I believe men get to be no better than idiots, ’pon +my word I do!” And tossing off a glass of wine, he sat gloomily silent, +his vacant eyes turned inward on the dark recesses of his memory. “All +that I remember is that it was beginning to be dark when I recovered +consciousness. I went down while we were charging, and then the sun was +very high. I must have been lying there for hours, my right leg caught +under poor old Zephyr, who had received a piece of shell in the middle +of his chest. There was nothing to laugh at in my position, I can tell +you; the dead comrades lying around me in piles, not a living soul in +sight, and the certainty that I should have to kick the bucket too +unless someone came to put me on my legs again. Gently, gently, I tried +to free my leg, but it was no use; Zephyr’s weight must have been fully +up to that of the five hundred thousand devils. He was warm still. I +patted him, I spoke to him, saying all the pretty things I could think +of, and here’s a thing, do you see, that I shall never forget as long +as I live: he opened his eyes and made an effort to raise his poor old +head, which was resting on the ground beside my own. Then we had a talk +together: ‘Poor old fellow,’ says I, ‘I don’t want to say a word to +hurt your feelings, but you must want to see me croak with you, you +hold me down so hard.’ Of course he didn’t say he did; he couldn’t, but +for all that I could read in his great sorrowful eyes how bad he felt +to have to part with me. And I can’t say how the thing happened, +whether he intended it or whether it was part of the death struggle, +but all at once he gave himself a great shake that sent him rolling +away to one side. I was enabled to get on my feet once more, but ah! in +what a pickle; my leg was swollen and heavy as a leg of lead. Never +mind, I took Zephyr’s head in my arms and kept on talking to him, +telling him all the kind thoughts I had in my heart, that he was a good +horse, that I loved him dearly, that I should never forget him. He +listened to me, he seemed to be so pleased! Then he had another long +convulsion, and so he died, with his big vacant eyes fixed on me till +the last. It is very strange, though, and I don’t suppose anyone will +believe me; still, it is the simple truth that great, big tears were +standing in his eyes. Poor old Zephyr, he cried just like a man—” + +At this point Prosper’s emotion got the better of him; tears choked his +utterance and he was obliged to break off. He gulped down another glass +of wine and went on with his narrative in disjointed, incomplete +sentences. It kept growing darker and darker, until there was only a +narrow streak of red light on the horizon at the verge of the +battlefield; the shadows of the dead horses seemed to be projected +across the plain to an infinite distance. The pain and stiffness in his +leg kept him from moving; he must have remained for a long time beside +Zephyr. Then, with his fears as an incentive, he had managed to get on +his feet and hobble away; it was an imperative necessity to him not to +be alone, to find comrades who would share his fears with him and make +them less. Thus from every nook and corner of the battlefield, from +hedges and ditches and clumps of bushes, the wounded who had been left +behind dragged themselves painfully in search of companionship, forming +when possible little bands of four or five, finding it less hard to +agonize and die in the company of their fellow-beings. In the wood of +la Garenne Prosper fell in with two men of the 43d regiment; they were +not wounded, but had burrowed in the underbrush like rabbits, waiting +for the coming of the night. When they learned that he was familiar +with the roads they communicated to him their plan, which was to +traverse the woods under cover of the darkness and make their escape +into Belgium. At first he declined to share their undertaking, for he +would have preferred to proceed direct to Remilly, where he was certain +to find a refuge, but where was he to obtain the blouse and trousers +that he required as a disguise? to say nothing of the impracticability +of getting past the numerous Prussian pickets and outposts that filled +the valley all the way from la Garenne to Remilly. He therefore ended +by consenting to act as guide to the two comrades. His leg was less +stiff than it had been, and they were so fortunate as to secure a loaf +of bread at a farmhouse. Nine o’clock was striking from the church of a +village in the distance as they resumed their way. The only point where +they encountered any danger worth mentioning was at la Chapelle, where +they fell directly into the midst of a Prussian advanced post before +they were aware of it; the enemy flew to arms and blazed away into the +darkness, while they, throwing themselves on the ground and alternately +crawling and running until the fire slackened, ultimately regained the +shelter of the trees. After that they kept to the woods, observing the +utmost vigilance. At a bend in the road, they crept up behind an +out-lying picket and, leaping on his back, buried a knife in his +throat. Then the road was free before them and they no longer had to +observe precaution; they went ahead, laughing and whistling. It was +about three in the morning when they reached a little Belgian village, +where they knocked up a worthy farmer, who at once opened his barn to +them; they snuggled among the hay and slept soundly until morning. + +The sun was high in the heavens when Prosper awoke. As he opened his +eyes and looked about him, while the two comrades were still snoring, +he beheld their entertainer engaged in hitching a horse to a great +carriole loaded with bread, rice, coffee, sugar, and all sorts of +eatables, the whole concealed under sacks of charcoal, and a little +questioning elicited from the good man the fact that he had two married +daughters living at Raucourt, in France, whom the passage of the +Bavarian troops had left entirely destitute, and that the provisions in +the carriole were intended for them. He had procured that very morning +the safe-conduct that was required for the journey. Prosper was +immediately seized by an uncontrollable desire to take a seat in that +carriole and return to the country that he loved so and for which his +heart was yearning with such a violent nostalgia. It was perfectly +simple; the farmer would have to pass through Remilly to reach +Raucourt; he would alight there. The matter was arranged in three +minutes; he obtained a loan of the longed-for blouse and trousers, and +the farmer gave out, wherever they stopped, that he was his servant; so +that about six o’clock he got down in front of the church, not having +been stopped more than two or three times by the German outposts. + +They were all silent for a while, then: “No, I had enough of it!” said +Prosper. “If they had but set us at work that amounted to something, as +out there in Africa! but this going up the hill only to come down +again, the feeling that one is of no earthly use to anyone, that is no +kind of a life at all. And then I should be lonely, now that poor +Zephyr is dead; all that is left me to do is to go to work on a farm. +That will be better than living among the Prussians as a prisoner, +don’t you think so? You have horses, Father Fouchard; try me, and see +whether or not I will love them and take good care of them.” + +The old fellow’s eyes gleamed, but he touched glasses once more with +the other and concluded the arrangement without any evidence of +eagerness. + +“Very well; I wish to be of service to you as far as lies in my power; +I will take you. As regards the question of wages, though, you must not +speak of it until the war is over, for really I am not in need of +anyone and the times are too hard.” + +Silvine, who had remained seated with Charlot on her lap, had never +once taken her eyes from Prosper’s face. When she saw him rise with the +intention of going to the stable and making immediate acquaintance with +its four-footed inhabitants, she again asked: + +“Then you say you did not see Honoré?” + +The question repeated thus abruptly made him start, as if it had +suddenly cast a flood of light in upon an obscure corner of his memory. +He hesitated for a little, but finally came to a decision and spoke. + +“See here, I did not wish to grieve you just now, but I don’t believe +Honoré will ever come back.” + +“Never come back—what do you mean?” + +“Yes, I believe that the Prussians did his business for him. I saw him +lying across his gun, his head erect, with a great wound just beneath +the heart.” + +There was silence in the room. Silvine’s pallor was frightful to +behold, while Father Fouchard displayed his interest in the narrative +by replacing upon the table his glass, into which he had just poured +what wine remained in the bottle. + +“Are you quite certain?” she asked in a choking voice. + +“_Dame_! as certain as one can be of a thing he has seen with his own +two eyes. It was on a little hillock, with three trees in a group right +beside it; it seems to me I could go to the spot blindfolded.” + +If it was true she had nothing left to live for. That lad who had been +so good to her, who had forgiven her her fault, had plighted his troth +and was to marry her when he came home at the end of the campaign! and +they had robbed her of him, they had murdered him, and he was lying out +there on the battlefield with a wound under the heart! She had never +known how strong her love for him had been, and now the thought that +she was to see him no more, that he who was hers was hers no longer, +aroused her almost to a pitch of madness and made her forget her usual +tranquil resignation. She set Charlot roughly down upon the floor, +exclaiming: + +“Good! I shall not believe that story until I see the evidence of it, +until I see it with my own eyes. Since you know the spot you shall +conduct me to it. And if it is true, if we find him, we will bring him +home with us.” + +Her tears allowed her to say no more; she bowed her head upon the +table, her frame convulsed by long-drawn, tumultuous sobs that shook +her from head to foot, while the child, not knowing what to make of +such unusual treatment at his mother’s hands, also commenced to weep +violently. She caught him up and pressed him to her heart, with +distracted, stammering words: + +“My poor child! my poor child!” + +Consternation was depicted on old Fouchard’s face. Appearances +notwithstanding, he did love his son, after a fashion of his own. +Memories of the past came back to him, of days long vanished, when his +wife was still living and Honoré was a boy at school, and two big tears +appeared in his small red eyes and trickled down his old leathery +cheeks. He had not wept before in more than ten years. In the end he +grew angry at the thought of that son who was his and upon whom he was +never to set eyes again; he rapped out an oath or two. + +“_Nom de Dieu!_ it is provoking all the same, to have only one boy, and +that he should be taken from you!” + +When their agitation had in a measure subsided, however, Fouchard was +annoyed that Silvine still continued to talk of going to search for +Honoré’s body out there on the battlefield. She made no further noisy +demonstration, but harbored her purpose with the dogged silence of +despair, and he failed to recognize in her the docile, obedient servant +who was wont to perform her daily tasks without a murmur; her great, +submissive eyes, in which lay the chief beauty of her face, had assumed +an expression of stern determination, while beneath her thick brown +hair her cheeks and brow wore a pallor that was like death. She had +torn off the red kerchief that was knotted about her neck, and was +entirely in black, like a widow in her weeds. It was all in vain that +he tried to impress on her the difficulties of the undertaking, the +dangers she would be subjected to, the little hope there was of +recovering the corpse; she did not even take the trouble to answer him, +and he saw clearly that unless he seconded her in her plan she would +start out alone and do some unwise thing, and this aspect of the case +worried him on account of the complications that might arise between +him and the Prussian authorities. He therefore finally decided to go +and lay the matter before the mayor of Remilly, who was a kind of +distant cousin of his, and they two between them concocted a story: +Silvine was to pass as the actual widow of Honoré, Prosper became her +brother, so that the Bavarian colonel, who had his quarters in the +Hotel of the Maltese Cross down in the lower part of the village, made +no difficulty about granting a pass which authorized the brother and +sister to bring home the body of the husband, provided they could find +it. By this time it was night; the only concession that could be +obtained from the young woman was that she would delay starting on her +expedition until morning. + +When morning came old Fouchard could not be prevailed on to allow one +of his horses to be taken, fearing he might never set eyes on it again. +What assurance had he that the Prussians would not confiscate the +entire equipage? At last he consented, though with very bad grace, to +loan her the donkey, a little gray animal, and his cart, which, though +small, would be large enough to hold a dead man. He gave minute +instructions to Prosper, who had had a good night’s sleep, but was +anxious and thoughtful at the prospect of the expedition now that, +being rested and refreshed, he attempted to remember something of the +battle. At the last moment Silvine went and took the counterpane from +her own bed, folding and spreading it on the floor of the cart. Just as +she was about to start she came running back to embrace Charlot. + +“I entrust him to your care, Father Fouchard; keep an eye on him and +see that he doesn’t get hold of the matches.” + +“Yes, yes; never fear!” + +They were late in getting off; it was near seven o’clock when the +little procession, the donkey, hanging his head and drawing the narrow +cart, leading, descended the steep hill of Remilly. It had rained +heavily during the night, and the roads were become rivers of mud; +great lowering clouds hung in the heavens, imparting an air of +cheerless desolation to the scene. + +Prosper, wishing to save all the distance he could, had determined on +taking the route that lay through the city of Sedan, but before they +reached Pont-Maugis a Prussian outpost halted the cart and held it for +over an hour, and finally, after their pass had been referred, one +after another, to four or five officials, they were told they might +resume their journey, but only on condition of taking the longer, +roundabout route by way of Bazeilles, to do which they would have to +turn into a cross-road on their left. No reason was assigned; their +object was probably to avoid adding to the crowd that encumbered the +streets of the city. When Silvine crossed the Meuse by the railroad +bridge, that ill-starred bridge that the French had failed to destroy +and which, moreover, had been the cause of such slaughter among the +Bavarians, she beheld the corpse of an artilleryman floating lazily +down with the sluggish current. It caught among some rushes near the +bank, hung there a moment, then swung clear and started afresh on its +downward way. + +Bazeilles, through which they passed from end to end at a slow walk, +afforded a spectacle of ruin and desolation, the worst that war can +perpetrate when it sweeps with devastating force, like a cyclone, +through a land. The dead had been removed; there was not a single +corpse to be seen in the village streets, and the rain had washed away +the blood; pools of reddish water were to be seen here and there in the +roadway, with repulsive, frowzy-looking debris, matted masses that one +could not help associating in his mind with human hair. But what +shocked and saddened one more than all the rest was the ruin that was +visible everywhere; that charming village, only three days before so +bright and smiling, with its pretty houses standing in their well-kept +gardens, now razed, demolished, annihilated, nothing left of all its +beauties save a few smoke-stained walls. The church was burning still, +a huge pyre of smoldering beams and girders, whence streamed +continually upward a column of dense black smoke that, spreading in the +heavens, overshadowed the city like a gigantic funeral pall. Entire +streets had been swept away, not a house left on either side, nor any +trace that houses had ever been there, save the calcined stone-work +lying in the gutter in a pasty mess of soot and ashes, the whole lost +in the viscid, ink-black mud of the thoroughfare. Where streets +intersected the corner houses were razed down to their foundations, as +if they had been carried away bodily by the fiery blast that blew +there. Others had suffered less; one in particular, owing to some +chance, had escaped almost without injury, while its neighbors on +either hand, literally torn to pieces by the iron hail, were like gaunt +skeletons. An unbearable stench was everywhere, noticeable, the +nauseating odor that follows a great fire, aggravated by the +penetrating smell of petroleum, that had been used without stint upon +floors and walls. Then, too, there was the pitiful, mute spectacle of +the household goods that the people had endeavored to save, the poor +furniture that had been thrown from windows and smashed upon the +sidewalk, crazy tables with broken legs, presses with cloven sides and +split doors, linen, also, torn and soiled, that was trodden under foot; +all the sorry crumbs, the unconsidered trifles of the pillage, of which +the destruction was being completed by the dissolving rain. Through the +breach in a shattered house-front a clock was visible, securely +fastened high up on the wall above the mantel-shelf, that had +miraculously escaped intact. + +“The beasts! the pigs!” growled Prosper, whose blood, though he was no +longer a soldier, ran hot at the sight of such atrocities. + +He doubled his fists, and Silvine, who was white as a ghost, had to +exert the influence of her glance to calm him every time they +encountered a sentry on their way. The Bavarians had posted sentinels +near all the houses that were still burning, and it seemed as if those +men, with loaded muskets and fixed bayonets, were guarding the fires in +order that the flames might finish their work. They drove away the mere +sightseers who strolled about in the vicinity, and the persons who had +an interest there as well, employing first a menacing gesture, and in +case that was not sufficient, uttering a single brief, guttural word of +command. A young woman, her hair streaming about her shoulders, her +gown plastered with mud, persisted in hanging about the smoking ruins +of a little house, of which she desired to search the hot ashes, +notwithstanding the prohibition of the sentry. The report ran that the +woman’s little baby had been burned with the house. And all at once, as +the Bavarian was roughly thrusting her aside with his heavy hand, she +turned on him, vomiting in his face all her despair and rage, lashing +him with taunts and insults that were redolent of the gutter, with +obscene words which likely afforded her some consolation in her grief +and distress. He could not have understood her, for he drew back a pace +or two, eying her with apprehension. Three comrades came running up and +relieved him of the fury, whom they led away screaming at the top of +her voice. Before the ruins of another house a man and two little +girls, all three so weary and miserable that they could not stand, lay +on the bare ground, sobbing as if their hearts would break; they had +seen their little all go up in smoke and flame, and had no place to go, +no place to lay their head. But just then a patrol went by, dispersing +the knots of idlers, and the street again assumed its deserted aspect, +peopled only by the stern, sullen sentries, vigilant to see that their +iniquitous instructions were enforced. + +“The beasts! the pigs!” Prosper repeated in a stifled voice. “How I +should like, oh! how I should like to kill a few of them!” + +Silvine again made him be silent. She shuddered. A dog, shut up in a +carriage-house that the flames had spared and forgotten there for the +last two days, kept up an incessant, continuous howling, in a key so +inexpressibly mournful that a brooding horror seemed to pervade the +low, leaden sky, from which a drizzling rain had now begun to fall. +They were then just abreast of the park of Montivilliers, and there +they witnessed a most horrible sight. Three great covered carts, those +carts that pass along the streets in the early morning before it is +light and collect the city’s filth and garbage, stood there in a row, +loaded with corpses; and now, instead of refuse, they were being filled +with dead, stopping wherever there was a body to be loaded, then going +on again with the heavy rumbling of their wheels to make another stop +further on, threading Bazeilles in its every nook and corner until +their hideous cargo overflowed. They were waiting now upon the public +road to be driven to the place of their discharge, the neighboring +potter’s field. Feet were seen projecting from the mass into the air. A +head, half-severed from its trunk, hung over the side of the vehicle. +When the three lumbering vans started again, swaying and jolting over +the inequalities of the road, a long, white hand was hanging outward +from one of them; the hand caught upon the wheel, and little by little +the iron tire destroyed it, eating through skin and flesh clean down to +the bones. + +By the time they reached Balan the rain had ceased, and Prosper +prevailed on Silvine to eat a bit of the bread he had had the foresight +to bring with them. When they were near Sedan, however, they were +brought to a halt by another Prussian post, and this time the +consequences threatened to be serious; the officer stormed at them, and +even refused to restore their pass, which he declared, in excellent +French, to be a forgery. Acting on his orders some soldiers had run the +donkey and the little cart under a shed. What were they to do? were +they to be forced to abandon their undertaking? Silvine was in despair, +when all at once she thought of M. Dubreuil, Father Fouchard’s +relative, with whom she had some slight acquaintance and whose place, +the Hermitage, was only a few hundred yards distant, on the summit of +the eminence that overlooked the faubourg. Perhaps he might have some +influence with the military, seeing that he was a citizen of the place. +As they were allowed their freedom, conditionally upon abandoning their +equipage, she left the donkey and cart under the shed and bade Prosper +accompany her. They ascended the hill on a run, found the gate of the +Hermitage standing wide open, and on turning into the avenue of secular +elms beheld a spectacle that filled them with amazement. + +“The devil!” said Prosper; “there are a lot of fellows who seem to be +taking things easy!” + +On the fine-crushed gravel of the terrace, at the bottom of the steps +that led to the house, was a merry company. Arranged in order around a +marble-topped table were a sofa and some easy-chairs in sky-blue satin, +forming a sort of fantastic open-air drawing-room, which must have been +thoroughly soaked by the rain of the preceding day. Two zouaves, seated +in a lounging attitude at either end of the sofa, seemed to be laughing +boisterously. A little infantryman, who occupied one of the fauteuils, +his head bent forward, was apparently holding his sides to keep them +from splitting. Three others were seated in a negligent pose, their +elbows resting on the arms of their chairs, while a chasseur had his +hand extended as if in the act of taking a glass from the table. They +had evidently discovered the location of the cellar, and were enjoying +themselves. + +“But how in the world do they happen to be here?” murmured Prosper, +whose stupefaction increased as he drew nearer to them. “Have the +rascals forgotten there are Prussians about?” + +But Silvine, whose eyes had dilated far beyond their natural size, +suddenly uttered an exclamation of horror. The soldiers never moved +hand or foot; they were stone dead. The two zouaves were stiff and +cold; they both had had the face shot away, the nose was gone, the eyes +were torn from their sockets. If there appeared to be a laugh on the +face of him who was holding his sides, it was because a bullet had cut +a great furrow through the lower portion of his countenance, smashing +all his teeth. The spectacle was an unimaginably horrible one, those +poor wretches laughing and conversing in their attitude of manikins, +with glassy eyes and open mouths, when Death had laid his icy hand on +them and they were never more to know the warmth and motion of life. +Had they dragged themselves, still living, to that place, so as to die +in one another’s company? or was it not rather a ghastly prank of the +Prussians, who had collected the bodies and placed them in a circle +about the table, out of derision for the traditional gayety of the +French nation? + +“It’s a queer start, though, all the same,” muttered Prosper, whose +face was very pale. And casting a look at the other dead who lay +scattered about the avenue, under the trees and on the turf, some +thirty brave fellows, among them Lieutenant Rochas, riddled with wounds +and surrounded still by the shreds of the flag, he added seriously and +with great respect: “There must have been some very pretty fighting +about here! I don’t much believe we shall find the bourgeois for whom +you are looking.” + +Silvine entered the house, the doors and windows of which had been +battered in and afforded admission to the damp, cold air from without. +It was clear enough that there was no one there; the masters must have +taken their departure before the battle. She continued to prosecute her +search, however, and had entered the kitchen, when she gave utterance +to another cry of terror. Beneath the sink were two bodies, fast locked +in each other’s arms in mortal embrace, one of them a zouave, a +handsome, brown-bearded man, the other a huge Prussian with red hair. +The teeth of the former were set in the latter’s cheek, their arms, +stiff in death, had not relaxed their terrible hug, binding the pair +with such a bond of everlasting hate and fury that ultimately it was +found necessary to bury them in a common grave. + +Then Prosper made haste to lead Silvine away, since they could +accomplish nothing in that house where Death had taken up his abode, +and upon their return, despairing, to the post where the donkey and +cart had been detained, it so chanced that they found, in company with +the officer who had treated them so harshly, a general on his way to +visit the battlefield. This gentleman requested to be allowed to see +the pass, which he examined attentively and restored to Silvine; then, +with an expression of compassion on his face, he gave directions that +the poor woman should have her donkey returned to her and be allowed to +go in quest of her husband’s body. Stopping only long enough to thank +her benefactor, she and her companion, with the cart trundling after +them, set out for the Fond de Givonne, obedient to the instructions +that were again given them not to pass through Sedan. + +After that they bent their course to the left in order to reach the +plateau of Illy by the road that crosses the wood of la Garenne, but +here again they were delayed; twenty times they nearly abandoned all +hope of getting through the wood, so numerous were the obstacles they +encountered. At every step their way was barred by huge trees that had +been laid low by the artillery fire, stretched on the ground like +mighty giants fallen. It was the part of the forest that had suffered +so severely from the cannonade, where the projectiles had plowed their +way through the secular growths as they might have done through a +square of the Old Guard, meeting in either case with the sturdy +resistance of veterans. Everywhere the earth was cumbered with gigantic +trunks, stripped of their leaves and branches, pierced and mangled, +even as mortals might have been, and this wholesale destruction, the +sight of the poor limbs, maimed, slaughtered and weeping tears of sap, +inspired the beholder with the sickening horror of a human battlefield. +There were corpses of men there, too; soldiers, who had stood +fraternally by the trees and fallen with them. A lieutenant, from whose +mouth exuded a bloody froth, had been tearing up the grass by handfuls +in his agony, and his stiffened fingers were still buried in the +ground. A little farther on a captain, prone on his stomach, had raised +his head to vent his anguish in yells and screams, and death had caught +and fixed him in that strange attitude. Others seemed to be slumbering +among the herbage, while a zouave; whose blue sash had taken fire, had +had his hair and beard burned completely from his head. And several +times it happened, as they traversed those woodland glades, that they +had to remove a body from the path before the donkey could proceed on +his way. Presently they came to a little valley, where the sights of +horror abruptly ended. The battle had evidently turned at this point +and expended its force in another direction, leaving this peaceful nook +of nature untouched. The trees were all uninjured; the carpet of +velvety moss was undefiled by blood. A little brook coursed merrily +among the duckweed, the path that ran along its bank was shaded by tall +beeches. A penetrating charm, a tender peacefulness pervaded the +solitude of the lovely spot, where the living waters gave up their +coolness to the air and the leaves whispered softly in the silence. + +Prosper had stopped to let the donkey drink from the stream. + +“Ah, how pleasant it is here!” he involuntarily exclaimed in his +delight. + +Silvine cast an astonished look about her, as if wondering how it was +that she, too, could feel the influence of the peaceful scene. Why +should there be repose and happiness in that hidden nook, when +surrounding it on every side were sorrow and affliction? She made a +gesture of impatience. + +“Quick, quick, let us be gone. Where is the spot? Where did you tell me +you saw Honoré?” + +And when, at some fifty paces from there, they at last came out on the +plateau of Illy, the level plain unrolled itself in its full extent +before their vision. It was the real, the true battlefield that they +beheld now, the bare fields stretching away to the horizon under the +wan, cheerless sky, whence showers were streaming down continually. +There were no piles of dead visible; all the Prussians must have been +buried by this time, for there was not a single one to be seen among +the corpses of the French that were scattered here and there, along the +roads and in the fields, as the conflict had swayed in one direction or +another. The first that they encountered was a sergeant, propped +against a hedge, a superb man, in the bloom of his youthful vigor; his +face was tranquil and a smile seemed to rest on his parted lips. A +hundred paces further on, however, they beheld another, lying across +the road, who had been mutilated most frightfully, his head almost +entirely shot away, his shoulders covered with great splotches of brain +matter. Then, as they advanced further into the field, after the single +bodies, distributed here and there, they came across little groups; +they saw seven men aligned in single rank, kneeling and with their +muskets at the shoulder in the position of aim, who had been hit as +they were about to fire, while close beside them a subaltern had also +fallen as he was in the act of giving the word of command. After that +the road led along the brink of a little ravine, and there they beheld +a spectacle that aroused their horror to the highest pitch as they +looked down into the chasm, into which an entire company seemed to have +been blown by the fiery blast; it was choked with corpses, a landslide, +an avalanche of maimed and mutilated men, bent and twisted in an +inextricable tangle, who with convulsed fingers had caught at the +yellow clay of the bank to save themselves in their descent, +fruitlessly. And a dusky flock of ravens flew away, croaking noisily, +and swarms of flies, thousands upon thousands of them, attracted by the +odor of fresh blood, were buzzing over the bodies and returning +incessantly. + +“Where is the spot?” Silvine asked again. + +They were then passing a plowed field that was completely covered with +knapsacks. It was manifest that some regiment had been roughly handled +there, and the men, in a moment of panic, had relieved themselves of +their burdens. The debris of every sort with which the ground was +thickly strewn served to explain the episodes of the conflict. There +was a stubble field where the scattered _kepis_, resembling huge +poppies, shreds of uniforms, epaulettes, and sword-belts told the story +of one of those infrequent hand-to-hand contests in the fierce +artillery duel that had lasted twelve hours. But the objects that were +encountered most frequently, at every step, in fact, were abandoned +weapons, sabers, bayonets, and, more particularly, chassepots; and so +numerous were they that they seemed to have sprouted from the earth, a +harvest that had matured in a single ill-omened day. Porringers and +buckets, also, were scattered along the roads, together with the +heterogeneous contents of knapsacks, rice, brushes, clothing, +cartridges. The fields everywhere presented an uniform scene of +devastation: fences destroyed, trees blighted as if they had been +struck by lightning, the very soil itself torn by shells, compacted and +hardened by the tramp of countless feet, and so maltreated that it +seemed as if seasons must elapse before it could again become +productive. Everything had been drenched and soaked by the rain of the +preceding day; an odor arose and hung in the air persistently, that +odor of the battlefield that smells like fermenting straw and burning +cloth, a mixture of rottenness and gunpowder. + +Silvine, who was beginning to weary of those fields of death over which +she had tramped so many long miles, looked about her with increasing +distrust and uneasiness. + +“Where is the spot? where is it?” + +But Prosper made no answer; he also was becoming uneasy. What +distressed him even more than the sights of suffering among his +fellow-soldiers was the dead horses, the poor brutes that lay +outstretched upon their side, that were met with in great numbers. Many +of them presented a most pitiful spectacle, in all sorts of harrowing +attitudes, with heads torn from the body, with lacerated flanks from +which the entrails protruded. Many were resting on their back, with +their four feet elevated in the air like signals of distress. The +entire extent of the broad plain was dotted with them. There were some +that death had not released after their two days’ agony; at the +faintest sound they would raise their head, turning it eagerly from +right to left, then let it fall again upon the ground, while others lay +motionless and momentarily gave utterance to that shrill scream which +one who has heard it can never forget, the lament of the dying horse, +so piercingly mournful that earth and heaven seemed to shudder in +unison with it. And Prosper, with a bleeding heart, thought of poor +Zephyr, and told himself that perhaps he might see him once again. + +Suddenly he became aware that the ground was trembling under the +thundering hoof-beats of a headlong charge. He turned to look, and had +barely time to shout to his companion: + +“The horses, the horses! Get behind that wall!” + +From the summit of a neighboring eminence a hundred riderless horses, +some of them still bearing the saddle and master’s kit, were plunging +down upon them at break-neck speed. They were cavalry mounts that had +lost their masters and remained on the battlefield, and instinct had +counseled them to associate together in a band. They had had neither +hay nor oats for two days, and had cropped the scanty grass from off +the plain, shorn the hedge-rows of leaves and twigs, gnawed the bark +from the trees, and when they felt the pangs of hunger pricking at +their vitals like a keen spur, they started all together at a mad +gallop and charged across the deserted, silent fields, crushing the +dead out of all human shape, extinguishing the last spark of life in +the wounded. + +The band came on like a whirlwind; Silvine had only time to pull the +donkey and cart to one side where they would be protected by the wall. + +“_Mon Dieu!_ we shall be killed!” + +But the horses had taken the obstacle in their stride and were already +scouring away in the distance on the other side with a rumble like that +of a receding thunder-storm; striking into a sunken road they pursued +it as far as the corner of a little wood, behind which they were lost +to sight. + +Silvine, when she had brought the cart back into the road, insisted +that Prosper should answer her question before they proceeded further. + +“Come, where is it? You told me you could find the spot with your eyes +bandaged; where is it? We have reached the ground.” + +He, drawing himself up and anxiously scanning the horizon in every +direction, seemed to become more and more perplexed. + +“There were three trees, I must find those three trees in the first +place. Ah, _dame_! see here, one’s sight is not of the clearest when he +is fighting, and it is no such easy matter to remember afterward the +roads one has passed over!” + +Then perceiving people to his left, two men and a woman, it occurred to +him to question them, but the woman ran away at his approach and the +men repulsed him with threatening gestures; and he saw others of the +same stripe, clad in sordid rags, unspeakably filthy, with the +ill-favored faces of thieves and murderers, and they all shunned him, +slinking away among the corpses like jackals or other unclean, creeping +beasts. Then he noticed that wherever these villainous gentry passed +the dead behind them were shoeless, their bare, white feet exposed, +devoid of covering, and he saw how it was: they were the tramps and +thugs who followed the German armies for the sake of plundering the +dead, the detestable crew who followed in the wake of the invasion in +order that they might reap their harvest from the field of blood. A +tall, lean fellow arose in front of him and scurried away on a run, a +sack slung across his shoulder, the watches and small coins, proceeds +of his robberies, jingling in his pockets. + +A boy about fourteen or fifteen years old, however, allowed Prosper to +approach him, and when the latter, seeing him to be French, rated him +soundly, the boy spoke up in his defense. What, was it wrong for a poor +fellow to earn his living? He was collecting chassepots, and received +five sous for every chassepot he brought in. He had run away from his +village that morning, having eaten nothing since the day before, and +engaged himself to a contractor from Luxembourg, who had an arrangement +with the Prussians by virtue of which he was to gather the muskets from +the field of battle, the Germans fearing that should the scattered arms +be collected by the peasants of the frontier, they might be conveyed +into Belgium and thence find their way back to France. And so it was +that there was quite a flock of poor devils hunting for muskets and +earning their five sous, rummaging among the herbage, like the women +who may be seen in the meadows, bent nearly double, gathering +dandelions. + +“It’s a dirty business,” Prosper growled. + +“What would you have! A chap must eat,” the boy replied. “I am not +robbing anyone.” + +Then, as he did not belong to that neighborhood and could not give the +information that Prosper wanted, he pointed out a little farmhouse not +far away where he had seen some people stirring. + +Prosper thanked him and was moving away to rejoin Silvine when he +caught sight of a chassepot, partially buried in a furrow. His first +thought was to say nothing of his discovery; then he turned about +suddenly and shouted, as if he could not help it: + +“Hallo! here’s one; that will make five sous more for you.” + +As they approached the farmhouse Silvine noticed other peasants engaged +with spades and picks in digging long trenches; but these men were +under the direct command of Prussian officers, who, with nothing more +formidable than a light walking-stick in their hands, stood by, stiff +and silent, and superintended the work. They had requisitioned the +inhabitants of all the villages of the vicinity in this manner, fearing +that decomposition might be hastened, owing to the rainy weather. Two +cart-loads of dead bodies were standing near, and a gang of men was +unloading them, laying the corpses side by side in close contiguity to +one another, not searching them, not even looking at their faces, while +two men followed after, equipped with great shovels, and covered the +row with a layer of earth, so thin that the ground had already begun to +crack beneath the showers. The work was so badly and hastily done that +before two weeks should have elapsed each of those fissures would be +breathing forth pestilence. Silvine could not resist the impulse to +pause at the brink of the trench and look at those pitiful corpses as +they were brought forward, one after another. She was possessed by a +horrible fear that in each fresh body the men brought from the cart she +might recognize Honoré. Was not that he, that poor wretch whose left +eye had been destroyed? No! Perhaps that one with the fractured jaw was +he? The one thing certain to her mind was that if she did not make +haste to find him, wherever he might be on that boundless, +indeterminate plateau, they would pick him up and bury him in a common +grave with the others. She therefore hurried to rejoin Prosper, who had +gone on to the farmhouse with the cart. + +“_Mon Dieu!_ how is it that you are not better informed? Where is the +place? Ask the people, question them.” + +There were none but Prussians at the farm, however, together with a +woman servant and her child, just come in from the woods, where they +had been near perishing of thirst and hunger. The scene was one of +patriarchal simplicity and well-earned repose after the fatigues of the +last few days. Some of the soldiers had hung their uniforms from a +clothes-line and were giving them a thorough brushing, another was +putting a patch on his trousers, with great neatness and dexterity, +while the cook of the detachment had built a great fire in the middle +of the courtyard on which the soup was boiling in a huge pot from which +ascended a most appetizing odor of cabbage and bacon. There is no +denying that the Prussians generally displayed great moderation toward +the inhabitants of the country after the conquest, which was made the +easier to them by the spirit of discipline that prevailed among the +troops. These men might have been taken for peaceable citizens just +come in from their daily avocations, smoking their long pipes. On a +bench beside the door sat a stout, red-bearded man, who had taken up +the servant’s child, a little urchin five or six years old, and was +dandling it and talking baby-talk to it in German, delighted to see the +little one laugh at the harsh syllables which it could not understand. + +Prosper, fearing there might be more trouble in store for them, had +turned his back on the soldiers immediately on entering, but those +Prussians were really good fellows; they smiled at the little donkey, +and did not even trouble themselves to ask for a sight of the pass. + +Then ensued a wild, aimless scamper across the bosom of the great, +sinister plain. The sun, now sinking rapidly toward the horizon, showed +its face for a moment from between two clouds. Was night to descend and +surprise them in the midst of that vast charnel-house? Another shower +came down; the sun was obscured, the rain and mist formed an +impenetrable barrier about them, so that the country around, roads, +fields, trees, was shut out from their vision. Prosper knew not where +they were; he was lost, and admitted it: his memory was all astray, he +could recall nothing precise of the occurrences of that terrible day +but one before. Behind them, his head lowered almost to the ground, the +little donkey trotted along resignedly, dragging the cart, with his +customary docility. First they took a northerly course, then they +returned toward Sedan. They had lost their bearings and could not tell +in which direction they were going; twice they noticed that they were +passing localities that they had passed before and retraced their +steps. They had doubtless been traveling in a circle, and there came a +moment when in their exhaustion and despair they stopped at a place +where three roads met, without courage to pursue their search further, +the rain pelting down on them, lost and utterly miserable in the midst +of a sea of mud. + +But they heard the sound of groans, and hastening to a lonely little +house on their left, found there, in one of the bedrooms, two wounded +men. All the doors were standing open; the two unfortunates had +succeeded in dragging themselves thus far and had thrown themselves on +the beds, and for the two days that they had been alternately shivering +and burning, their wounds having received no attention, they had seen +no one, not a living soul. They were tortured by a consuming thirst, +and the beating of the rain against the window-panes added to their +torment, but they could not move hand or foot. Hence, when they heard +Silvine approaching, the first word that escaped their lips was: +“Drink! Give us to drink!” that longing, pathetic cry, with which the +wounded always pursue the by-passer whenever the sound of footsteps +arouses them from their lethargy. There were many cases similar to +this, where men were overlooked in remote corners, whither they had +fled for refuge. Some were picked up even five and six days later, when +their sores were filled with maggots and their sufferings had rendered +them delirious. + +When Silvine had given the wretched men a drink Prosper, who, in the +more sorely injured of the twain, had recognized a comrade of his +regiment, a chasseur d’Afrique, saw that they could not be far from the +ground over which Margueritte’s division had charged, inasmuch as the +poor devil had been able to drag himself to that house. All the +information he could get from him, however, was of the vaguest; yes, it +was over that way; you turned to the left, after passing a big field of +potatoes. + +Immediately she was in possession of this slender clue Silvine insisted +on starting out again. An inferior officer of the medical department +chanced to pass with a cart just then, collecting the dead; she hailed +him and notified him of the presence of the wounded men, then, throwing +the donkey’s bridle across her arm, urged him along over the muddy +road, eager to reach the designated spot, beyond the big potato field. +When they had gone some distance she stopped, yielding to her despair. + +“My God, where is the place! Where can it be?” + +Prosper looked about him, taxing his recollection fruitlessly. + +“I told you, it is close beside the place where we made our charge. If +only I could find my poor Zephyr—” + +And he cast a wistful look on the dead horses that lay around them. It +had been his secret hope, his dearest wish, during the entire time they +had been wandering over the plateau, to see his mount once more, to bid +him a last farewell. + +“It ought to be somewhere in this vicinity,” he suddenly said. “See! +over there to the left, there are the three trees. You see the +wheel-tracks? And, look, over yonder is a broken-down caisson. We have +found the spot; we are here at last!” + +Quivering with emotion, Silvine darted forward and eagerly scanned the +faces of two corpses, two artillerymen who had fallen by the roadside. + +“He is not here! He is not here! You cannot have seen aright. Yes, that +is it; some delusion must have cheated your eyes.” And little by little +an air-drawn hope, a wild delight crept into her mind. “If you were +mistaken, if he should be alive! And be sure he is alive, since he is +not here!” + +Suddenly she gave utterance to a low, smothered cry. She had turned, +and was standing on the very position that the battery had occupied. +The scene was most frightful, the ground torn and fissured as by an +earthquake and covered with wreckage of every description, the dead +lying as they had fallen in every imaginable attitude of horror, arms +bent and twisted, legs doubled under them, heads thrown back, the lips +parted over the white teeth as if their last breath had been expended +in shouting defiance to the foe. A corporal had died with his hands +pressed convulsively to his eyes, unable longer to endure the dread +spectacle. Some gold coins that a lieutenant carried in a belt about +his body had been spilled at the same time as his life-blood, and lay +scattered among his entrails. There were Adolphe, the driver, and the +gunner, Louis, clasped in each other’s arms in a fierce embrace, their +sightless orbs starting from their sockets, mated even in death. And +there, at last, was Honoré, recumbent on his disabled gun as on a bed +of honor, with the great rent in his side that had let out his young +life, his face, unmutilated and beautiful in its stern anger, still +turned defiantly toward the Prussian batteries. + +“Oh! my friend,” sobbed Silvine, “my friend, my friend—” + +She had fallen to her knees on the damp, cold ground, her hands joined +as if in prayer, in an outburst of frantic grief. The word friend, the +only name by which it occurred to her to address him, told the story of +the tender affection she had lost in that man, so good, so loving, who +had forgiven her, had meant to make her his wife, despite the ugly +past. And now all hope was dead within her bosom, there was nothing +left to make life desirable. She had never loved another; she would put +away her love for him at the bottom of her heart and hold it sacred +there. The rain had ceased; a flock of crows that circled above the +three trees, croaking dismally, affected her like a menace of evil. Was +he to be taken from her again, her cherished dead, whom she had +recovered with such difficulty? She dragged herself along upon her +knees, and with a trembling hand brushed away the hungry flies that +were buzzing about her friend’s wide-open eyes. + +She caught sight of a bit of blood-stained paper between Honoré’s +stiffened fingers. It troubled her; she tried to gain possession of the +paper, pulling at it gently, but the dead man would not surrender it, +seemingly tightening his hold on it, guarding it so jealously that it +could not have been taken from him without tearing it in bits. It was +the letter she had written him, that he had always carried next his +heart, and that he had taken from its hiding place in the moment of his +supreme agony, as if to bid her a last farewell. It seemed so strange, +was such a revelation, that he should have died thinking of her; when +she saw what it was a profound delight filled her soul in the midst of +her affliction. Yes, surely, she would leave it with him, the letter +that was so dear to him! she would not take it from him, since he was +so bent on carrying it with him to the grave. Her tears flowed afresh, +but they were beneficent tears this time, and brought healing and +comfort with them. She arose and kissed his hands, kissed him on the +forehead, uttering meanwhile but that one word, which was in itself a +prolonged caress: + +“My friend! my friend—” + +Meantime the sun was declining; Prosper had gone and taken the +counterpane from the cart, and between them they raised Honoré’s body, +slowly, reverently, and laid it on the bed-covering, which they had +stretched upon the ground; then, first wrapping him in its folds, they +bore him to the cart. It was threatening to rain again, and they had +started on their return, forming, with the donkey, a sorrowful little +cortége on the broad bosom of the accursed plain, when a deep rumbling +as of thunder was heard in the distance. Prosper turned his head and +had only time to shout: + +“The horses! the horses!” + +It was the starving, abandoned cavalry mounts making another charge. +They came up this time in a deep mass across a wide, smooth field, +manes and tails streaming in the wind, froth flying from their +nostrils, and the level rays of the fiery setting sun sent the shadow +of the infuriated herd clean across the plateau. Silvine rushed forward +and planted herself before the cart, raising her arms above her head as +if her puny form might have power to check them. Fortunately the ground +fell off just at that point, causing them to swerve to the left; +otherwise they would have crushed donkey, cart, and all to powder. The +earth trembled, and their hoofs sent a volley of clods and small stones +flying through the air, one of which struck the donkey on the head and +wounded him. The last that was seen of them they were tearing down a +ravine. + +“It’s hunger that starts them off like that,” said Prosper. “Poor +beasts!” + +Silvine, having bandaged the donkey’s ear with her handkerchief, took +him again by the bridle, and the mournful little procession began to +retrace its steps across the plateau, to cover the two leagues that lay +between it and Remilly. Prosper had turned and cast a look on the dead +horses, his heart heavy within him to leave the field without having +seen Zephyr. + +A little below the wood of la Garenne, as they were about to turn off +to the left to take the road that they had traversed that morning, they +encountered another German post and were again obliged to exhibit their +pass. And the officer in command, instead of telling them to avoid +Sedan, ordered them to keep straight on their course and pass through +the city; otherwise they would be arrested. This was the most recent +order; it was not for them to question it. Moreover, their journey +would be shortened by a mile and a quarter, which they did not regret, +weary and foot-sore as they were. + +When they were within Sedan, however, they found their progress +retarded owing to a singular cause. As soon as they had passed the +fortifications their nostrils were saluted by such a stench, they were +obliged to wade through such a mass of abominable filth, reaching +almost to their knees, as fairly turned their stomachs. The city, where +for three days a hundred thousand men had lived without the slightest +provision being made for decency or cleanliness, had become a cesspool, +a foul sewer, and this devil’s broth was thickened by all sorts of +solid matter, rotting hay and straw, stable litter, and the excreta of +animals. The carcasses of the horses, too, that were knocked on the +head, skinned, and cut up in the public squares, in full view of +everyone, had their full share in contaminating the atmosphere; the +entrails lay decaying in the hot sunshine, the bones and heads were +left lying on the pavement, where they attracted swarms of flies. +Pestilence would surely break out in the city unless they made haste to +rid themselves of all that carrion, of that stratum of impurity, which, +in the Rue de Minil, the Rue Maqua, and even on the Place Turenne, +reached a depth of twelve inches. The Prussian authorities had taken +the matter up, and their placards were to be seen posted about the +city, requisitioning the inhabitants, irrespective of rank, laborers, +merchants, bourgeois, magistrates, for the morrow; they were ordered to +assemble, armed with brooms and shovels, and apply themselves to the +task, and were warned that they would be subjected to heavy penalties +if the city was not clean by night. The President of the Tribunal had +taken time by the forelock, and might even then be seen scraping away +at the pavement before his door and loading the results of his labors +upon a wheelbarrow with a fire-shovel. + +Silvine and Prosper, who had selected the Grande Rue as their route for +traversing the city, advanced but slowly through that lake of +malodorous slime. In addition to that the place was in a state of +ferment and agitation that made it necessary for them to pull up almost +at every moment. It was the time that the Prussians had selected for +searching the houses in order to unearth those soldiers, who, +determined that they would not give themselves up, had hidden +themselves away. When, at about two o’clock of the preceding day, +General de Wimpffen had returned from the château of Bellevue after +signing the capitulation, the report immediately began to circulate +that the surrendered troops were to be held under guard in the +peninsula of Iges until such time as arrangements could be perfected +for sending them off to Germany. Some few officers had expressed their +intention of taking advantage of that stipulation which accorded them +their liberty conditionally on their signing an agreement not to serve +again during the campaign. Only one general, so it was said, +Bourgain-Desfeuilles, alleging his rheumatism as a reason, had bound +himself by that pledge, and when, that very morning, his carriage had +driven up to the door of the Hotel of the Golden Cross and he had taken +his seat in it to leave the city, the people had hooted and hissed him +unmercifully. The operation of disarming had been going on since break +of day; the manner of its performance was, the troops defiled by +battalions on the Place Turenne, where each man deposited his musket +and bayonet on the pile, like a mountain of old iron, which kept rising +higher and higher, in a corner of the place. There was a Prussian +detachment there under the command of a young officer, a tall, pale +youth, wearing a sky-blue tunic and a cap adorned with a cock’s +feather, who superintended operations with a lofty but soldier-like +air, his hands encased in white gloves. A zouave, in a fit of +insubordination, having refused to give up his chassepot, the officer +ordered that he be taken away, adding, in the same even tone of voice: +“And let him be shot forthwith!” The rest of the battalion continued to +defile with a sullen and dejected air, throwing down their arms +mechanically, as if in haste to have the ceremony ended. But who could +estimate the number of those who had disarmed themselves voluntarily, +those whose muskets lay scattered over the country, out yonder on the +field of battle? And how many, too, within the last twenty-four hours +had concealed themselves, flattering themselves with the hope that they +might escape in the confusion that reigned everywhere! There was +scarcely a house but had its crew of those headstrong idiots who +refused to respond when called on, hiding away in corners and shamming +death; the German patrols that were sent through the city even +discovered them stowed away under beds. And as many, even after they +were unearthed, stubbornly persisted in remaining in the cellars +whither they had fled for shelter, the patrols were obliged to fire on +them through the coal-holes. It was a man-hunt, a brutal and cruel +battue, during which the city resounded with rifle-shots and outlandish +oaths. + +At the Pont du Meuse they found a throng which the donkey was unable to +penetrate and were brought to a stand-still. The officer commanding the +guard at the bridge, suspecting they were endeavoring to carry on an +illicit traffic in bread or meat, insisted on seeing with his own eyes +what was contained in the cart; drawing aside the covering, he gazed +for an instant on the corpse with a feeling expression, then motioned +them to go their way. Still, however, they were unable to get forward, +the crowd momentarily grew denser and denser; one of the first +detachments of French prisoners was being conducted to the peninsula of +Iges under escort of a Prussian guard. The sorry band streamed on in +long array, the men in their tattered, dirty uniforms crowding one +another, treading on one another’s heels, with bowed heads and +sidelong, hang-dog looks, the dejected gait and bearing of the +vanquished to whom had been left not even so much as a knife with which +to cut their throat. The harsh, curt orders of the guard urging them +forward resounded like the cracking of a whip in the silence, which was +unbroken save for the plashing of their coarse shoes through the +semi-liquid mud. Another shower began to fall, and there could be no +more sorrowful sight than that band of disheartened soldiers, shuffling +along through the rain, like beggars and vagabonds on the public +highway. + +All at once Prosper, whose heart was beating as if it would burst his +bosom with repressed sorrow and indignation, nudged Silvine and called +her attention to two soldiers who were passing at the moment. He had +recognized Maurice and Jean, trudging along with their companions, like +brothers, side by side. They were near the end of the line, and as +there was now no impediment in their way, he was enabled to keep them +in view as far as the Faubourg of Torcy, as they traversed the level +road which leads to Iges between gardens and truck farms. + +“Ah!” murmured Silvine, distressed by what she had just seen, fixing +her eyes on Honoré’s body, “it may be that the dead have the better +part!” + +Night descended while they were at Wadelincourt, and it was pitchy dark +long before they reached Remilly. Father Fouchard was greatly surprised +to behold the body of his son, for he had felt certain that it would +never be recovered. He had been attending to business during the day, +and had completed an excellent bargain; the market price for officers’ +chargers was twenty francs, and he had bought three for forty-five +francs. + + + + +II. + + +The crush was so great as the column of prisoners was leaving Torcy +that Maurice, who had stopped a moment to buy some tobacco, was parted +from Jean, and with all his efforts was unable thereafter to catch up +with his regiment through the dense masses of men that filled the road. +When he at last reached the bridge that spans the canal which +intersects the peninsula of Iges at its base, he found himself in a +mixed company of chasseurs d’Afrique and troops of the infanterie de +marine. + +There were two pieces of artillery stationed at the bridge, their +muzzles turned upon the interior of the peninsula; it was a place easy +of access, but from which exit would seem to be attended with some +difficulties. Immediately beyond the canal was a comfortable house, +where the Prussians had established a post, commanded by a captain, +upon which devolved the duty of receiving and guarding the prisoners. +The formalities observed were not excessive; they merely counted the +men, as if they had been sheep, as they came streaming in a huddle +across the bridge, without troubling themselves overmuch about uniforms +or organizations, after which the prisoners were free of the fields and +at liberty to select their dwelling-place wherever chance and the road +they were on might direct. + +The first thing that Maurice did was to address a question to a +Bavarian officer, who was seated astride upon a chair, enjoying a +tranquil smoke. + +“The 106th of the line, sir, can you tell me where I shall find it?” + +Either the officer was unlike most German officers and did not +understand French, or thought it a good joke to mystify a poor devil of +a soldier. He smiled and raised his hand, indicating by his motion that +the other was to keep following the road he was pursuing. + +Although Maurice had spent a good part of his life in the neighborhood +he had never before been on the peninsula; he proceeded to explore his +new surroundings, as a mariner might do when cast by a tempest on the +shore of a desolate island. He first skirted the Tour à Glaire, a very +handsome country-place, whose small park, situated as it was on the +bank of the Meuse, possessed a peculiarly attractive charm. After that +the road ran parallel with the river, of which the sluggish current +flowed on the right hand at the foot of high, steep banks. The way from +there was a gradually ascending one, until it wound around the gentle +eminence that occupied the central portion of the peninsula, and there +were abandoned quarries there and excavations in the ground, in which a +network of narrow paths had their termination. A little further on was +a mill, seated on the border of the stream. Then the road curved and +pursued a descending course until it entered the village of Iges, which +was built on the hillside and connected by a ferry with the further +shore, just opposite the rope-walk at Saint-Albert. Last of all came +meadows and cultivated fields, a broad expanse of level, treeless +country, around which the river swept in a wide, circling bend. In vain +had Maurice scrutinized every inch of uneven ground on the hillside; +all he could distinguish there was cavalry and artillery, preparing +their quarters for the night. He made further inquiries, applying among +others to a corporal of chasseurs d’Afrique, who could give him no +information. The prospect for finding his regiment looked bad; night +was coming down, and, leg-weary and disheartened, he seated himself for +a moment on a stone by the wayside. + +As he sat there, abandoning himself to the sensation of loneliness and +despair that crept over him, he beheld before him, across the Meuse, +the accursed fields where he had fought the day but one before. Bitter +memories rose to his mind, in the fading light of that day of gloom and +rain, as he surveyed the saturated, miry expanse of country that rose +from the river’s bank and was lost on the horizon. The defile of +Saint-Albert, the narrow road by which the Prussians had gained their +rear, ran along the bend of the stream as far as the white cliffs of +the quarries of Montimont. The summits of the trees in the wood of la +Falizette rose in rounded, fleecy masses over the rising ground of +Seugnon. Directly before his eyes, a little to the left, was +Saint-Menges, the road from which descended by a gentle slope and ended +at the ferry; there, too, were the mamelon of Hattoy in the center, and +Illy, in the far distance, in the background, and Fleigneux, almost +hidden in its shallow vale, and Floing, less remote, on the right. He +recognized the plateau where he had spent interminable hours among the +cabbages, and the eminences that the reserve artillery had struggled so +gallantly to hold, where he had seen Honoré meet his death on his +dismounted gun. And it was as if the baleful scene were again before +him with all its abominations, steeping his mind in horror and disgust, +until he was sick at heart. + +The reflection that soon it would be quite dark and it would not do to +loiter there, however, caused him to resume his researches. He said to +himself that perhaps the regiment was encamped somewhere beyond the +village on the low ground, but the only ones he encountered there were +some prowlers, and he decided to make the circuit of the peninsula, +following the bend of the stream. As he was passing through a field of +potatoes he was sufficiently thoughtful to dig a few of the tubers and +put them in his pockets; they were not ripe, but he had nothing better, +for Jean, as luck would have it, had insisted on carrying both the two +loaves of bread that Delaherche had given them when they left his +house. He was somewhat surprised at the number of horses he met with, +roaming about the uncultivated lands, that fell off in an easy descent +from the central elevation to the Meuse, in the direction of Donchery. +Why should they have brought all those animals with them? how were they +to be fed? And now it was night in earnest, and quite dark, when he +came to a small piece of woods on the water’s brink, in which he was +surprised to find the cent-gardes of the Emperor’s escort, providing +for their creature comforts and drying themselves before roaring fires. +These gentlemen, who had a separate encampment to themselves, had +comfortable tents; their kettles were boiling merrily, there was a +milch cow tied to a tree. It did not take Maurice long to see that he +was not regarded with favor in that quarter, poor devil of an +infantryman that he was, with his ragged, mud-stained uniform. They +graciously accorded him permission to roast his potatoes in the ashes +of their fires, however, and he withdrew to the shelter of a tree, some +hundred yards away, to eat them. It was no longer raining; the sky was +clear, the stars were shining brilliantly in the dark blue vault. He +saw that he should have to spend the night in the open air and defer +his researches until the morrow. He was so utterly used up that he +could go no further; the trees would afford him some protection in case +it came on to rain again. + +The strangeness of his situation, however, and the thought of his vast +prison house, open to the winds of heaven, would not let him sleep. It +had been an extremely clever move on the part of the Prussians to +select that place of confinement for the eighty thousand men who +constituted the remnant of the army of Châlons. The peninsula was +approximately three miles long by one wide, affording abundant space +for the broken fragments of the vanquished host, and Maurice could not +fail to observe that it was surrounded on every side by water, the bend +of the Meuse encircling it on the north, east and west, while on the +south, at the base, connecting the two arms of the loop at the point +where they drew together most closely, was the canal. Here alone was an +outlet, the bridge, that was defended by two guns; wherefore it may be +seen that the guarding of the camp was a comparatively easy task, +notwithstanding its great extent. He had already taken note of the +chain of sentries on the farther bank, a soldier being stationed by the +waterside at every fifty paces, with orders to fire on any man who +should attempt to escape by swimming. In the rear the different posts +were connected by patrols of uhlans, while further in the distance, +scattered over the broad fields, were the dark lines of the Prussian +regiments; a threefold living, moving wall, immuring the captive army. + +Maurice, in his sleeplessness, lay gazing with wide-open eyes into the +blackness of the night, illuminated here and there by the smoldering +watch-fires; the motionless forms of the sentinels were dimly visible +beyond the pale ribbon of the Meuse. Erect they stood, duskier spots +against the dusky shadows, beneath the faint light of the twinkling +stars, and at regular intervals their guttural call came to his ears, a +menacing watch-cry that was drowned in the hoarse murmur of the river +in the distance. At sound of those unmelodious phrases in a foreign +tongue, rising on the still air of a starlit night in the sunny land of +France, the vision of the past again rose before him: all that he had +beheld in memory an hour before, the plateau of Illy cumbered still +with dead, the accursed country round about Sedan that had been the +scene of such dire disaster; and resting on the ground in that cool, +damp corner of a wood, his head pillowed on a root, he again yielded to +the feeling of despair that had overwhelmed him the day before while +lying on Delaherche’s sofa. And that which, intensifying the suffering +of his wounded pride, now harassed and tortured him, was the question +of the morrow, the feverish longing to know how deep had been their +fall, how great the wreck and ruin sustained by their world of +yesterday. The Emperor had surrendered his sword to King William; was +not, therefore, the abominable war ended? But he recalled the remark he +had heard made by two of the Bavarians of the guard who had escorted +the prisoners to Iges: “We’re all in France, we’re all bound for +Paris!” In his semi-somnolent, dreamy state the vision of what was to +be suddenly rose before his eyes: the empire overturned and swept away +amid a howl of universal execration, the republic proclaimed with an +outburst of patriotic fervor, while the legend of ’92 would incite men +to emulate the glorious past, and, flocking to the standards, drive +from the country’s soil the hated foreigner with armies of brave +volunteers. He reflected confusedly upon all the aspects of the case, +and speculations followed one another in swift succession through his +poor wearied brain: the harsh terms imposed by the victors, the +bitterness of defeat, the determination of the vanquished to resist +even to the last drop of blood, the fate of those eighty thousand men, +his companions, who were to be captives for weeks, months, years, +perhaps, first on the peninsula and afterward in German fortresses. The +foundations were giving way, and everything was going down, down to the +bottomless depths of perdition. + +The call of the sentinels, now loud, now low, seemed to sound more +faintly in his ears and to be receding in the distance, when suddenly, +as he turned on his hard couch, a shot rent the deep silence. A hollow +groan rose on the calm air of night, there was a splashing in the +water, the brief struggle of one who sinks to rise no more. It was some +poor wretch who had attempted to escape by swimming the Meuse and had +received a bullet in his brain. + +The next morning Maurice was up and stirring with the sun. The sky was +cloudless; he was desirous to rejoin Jean and his other comrades of the +company with the least possible delay. For a moment he had an idea of +going to see what there was in the interior of the peninsula, then +resolved he would first complete its circuit. And on reaching the canal +his eyes were greeted with the sight of the 106th—or rather what was +left of it—a thousand men, encamped along the river bank among some +waste lands, with no protection save a row of slender poplars. If he +had only turned to the left the night before instead of pursuing a +straight course he could have been with his regiment at once. And he +noticed that almost all the line regiments were collected along that +part of the bank that extends from the Tour à Glaire to the Château of +Villette—another bourgeois country place, situated more in the +direction of Donchery and surrounded by a few hovels—all of them having +selected their bivouac near the bridge, sole issue from their prison, +as sheep will instinctively huddle together close to the door of their +fold, knowing that sooner or later it will be opened for them. + +Jean uttered a cry of pleasure. “Ah, so it’s you, at last! I had begun +to think you were in the river.” + +He was there with what remained of the squad, Pache and Lapoulle, +Loubet and Chouteau. The last named had slept under doorways in Sedan +until the attention of the Prussian provost guard had finally restored +them to their regiment. The corporal, moreover, was the only surviving +officer of the company, death having taken away Sergeant Sapin, +Lieutenant Rochas and Captain Beaudoin, and although the victors had +abolished distinction of rank among the prisoners, deciding that +obedience was due to the German officers alone, the four men had, +nevertheless, rallied to him, knowing him to be a leader of prudence +and experience, upon whom they could rely in circumstances of +difficulty. Thus it was that peace and harmony reigned among them that +morning, notwithstanding the stupidity of some and the evil designs of +others. In the first place, the night before he had found them a place +to sleep in that was comparatively dry, where they had stretched +themselves on the ground, the only thing they had left in the way of +protection from the weather being the half of a shelter-tent. After +that he had managed to secure some wood and a kettle, in which Loubet +made coffee for them, the comforting warmth of which had fortified +their stomachs. The rain had ceased, the day gave promise of being +bright and warm, they had a small supply of biscuit and bacon left, and +then, as Chouteau said, it was a comfort to have no orders to obey, to +have their fill of loafing. They were prisoners, it was true, but there +was plenty of room to move about. Moreover, they would be away from +there in two or three days. Under these circumstances the day, which +was Sunday, the 4th, passed pleasantly enough. + +Maurice, whose courage had returned to him now that he was with the +comrades once more, found nothing to annoy him except the Prussian +bands, which played all the afternoon beyond the canal. Toward evening +there was vocal music, and the men sang in chorus. They could be seen +outside the chain of sentries, walking to and fro in little groups and +singing solemn melodies in a loud, ringing voice in honor of the +Sabbath. + +“Confound those bands!” Maurice at last impatiently exclaimed. “They +will drive me wild!” + +Jean, whose nerves were less susceptible, shrugged his shoulders. + +“_Dame_! they have reason to feel good; and then perhaps they think it +affords us pleasure. It hasn’t been such a bad day; don’t let’s find +fault.” + +As night approached, however, the rain began to fall again. Some of the +men had taken possession of what few unoccupied houses there were on +the peninsula, others were provided with tents that they erected, but +by far the greater number, without shelter of any sort, destitute of +blankets even, were compelled to pass the night in the open air, +exposed to the pouring rain. + +About one o’clock Maurice, who had been sleeping soundly as a result of +his fatigue, awoke and found himself in the middle of a miniature lake. +The trenches, swollen by the heavy downpour, had overflowed and +inundated the ground where he lay. Chouteau’s and Loubet’s wrath vented +itself in a volley of maledictions, while Pache shook Lapoulle, who, +unmindful of his ducking, slept through it all as if he was never to +wake again. Then Jean, remembering the row of poplars on the bank of +the canal, collected his little band and ran thither for shelter; and +there they passed the remainder of that wretched night, crouching with +their backs to the trees, their legs doubled under them, so as to +expose as little of their persons as might be to the big drops. + +The next day, and the day succeeding it, the weather was truly +detestable, what with the continual showers, that came down so +copiously and at such frequent intervals that the men’s clothing had +not time to dry on their backs. They were threatened with famine, too; +there was not a biscuit left in camp, and the coffee and bacon were +exhausted. During those two days, Monday and Tuesday, they existed on +potatoes that they dug in the adjacent fields, and even those +vegetables had become so scarce toward the end of the second day that +those soldiers who had money paid as high as five sous apiece for them. +It was true that the bugles sounded the call for “distribution”; the +corporal had nearly run his legs off trying to be the first to reach a +great shed near the Tour à Glaire, where it was reported that rations +of bread were to be issued, but on the occasion of a first visit he had +waited there three hours and gone away empty-handed, and on a second +had become involved in a quarrel with a Bavarian. It was well known +that the French officers were themselves in deep distress and powerless +to assist their men; had the German staff driven the vanquished army +out there in the mud and rain with the intention of letting them starve +to death? Not the first step seemed to have been taken, not an effort +had been made, to provide for the subsistence of those eighty thousand +men in that hell on earth that the soldiers subsequently christened +Camp Misery, a name that the bravest of them could never hear mentioned +in later days without a shudder. + +On his return from his wearisome and fruitless expedition to the shed, +Jean forgot his usual placidity and gave way to anger. + +“What do they mean by calling us up when there’s nothing for us? I’ll +be hanged if I’ll put myself out for them another time!” + +And yet, whenever there was a call, he hurried off again. It was +inhuman to sound the bugles thus, merely because regulations prescribed +certain calls at certain hours, and it had another effect that was near +breaking Maurice’s heart. Every time that the trumpets sounded the +French horses, that were running free on the other side of the canal, +came rushing up and dashed into the water to rejoin their squadron, as +excited at the well-known sound as they would be at the touch of the +spur; but in their exhausted condition they were swept away by the +current and few attained the shore. It was a cruel sight to see their +struggles; they were drowned in great numbers, and their bodies, +decomposing and swelling in the hot sunshine, drifted on the bosom of +the canal. As for those of them that got to land, they seemed as if +stricken with sudden madness, galloping wildly off and hiding among the +waste places of the peninsula. + +“More bones for the crows to pick!” sorrowfully said Maurice, +remembering the great droves of horses that he had encountered on a +previous occasion. “If we remain here a few days we shall all be +devouring one another. Poor brutes!” + +The night between Tuesday and Wednesday was most terrible of all, and +Jean, who was beginning to feel seriously alarmed for Maurice’s +feverish state, made him wrap himself in an old blanket that they had +purchased from a zouave for ten francs, while he, with no protection +save his water-soaked capote, cheerfully took the drenching of the +deluge which that night pelted down without cessation. Their position +under the poplars had become untenable; it was a streaming river of +mud, the water rested in deep puddles on the surface of the saturated +ground. What was worst of all was that they had to suffer on an empty +stomach, the evening meal of the six men having consisted of two beets +which they had been compelled to eat raw, having no dry wood to make a +fire with, and the sweet taste and refreshing coolness of the +vegetables had quickly been succeeded by an intolerable burning +sensation. Some cases of dysentery had appeared among the men, caused +by fatigue, improper food and the persistent humidity of the +atmosphere. More than ten times that night did Jean stretch forth his +hand to see that Maurice had not uncovered himself in the movements of +his slumber, and thus he kept watch and ward over his friend—his back +supported by the same tree-trunk, his legs in a pool of water—with +tenderness unspeakable. Since the day that on the plateau of Illy his +comrade had carried him off in his arms and saved him from the +Prussians he had repaid the debt a hundred-fold. He stopped not to +reason on it; it was the free gift of all his being, the total +forgetfulness of self for love of the other, the finest, most delicate, +grandest exhibition of friendship possible, and that, too, in a +peasant, whose lot had always been the lowly one of a tiller of the +soil and who had never risen far above the earth, who could not find +words to express what he felt, acting purely from instinct, in all +simplicity of soul. Many a time already he had taken the food from his +mouth, as the men of the squad were wont to say; now he would have +divested himself of his skin if with it he might have covered the +other, to protect his shoulders, to warm his feet. And in the midst of +the savage egoism that surrounded them, among that aggregation of +suffering humanity whose worst appetites were inflamed and intensified +by hunger, he perhaps owed it to his complete abnegation of self that +he had preserved thus far his tranquillity of mind and his vigorous +health, for he among them all, his great strength unimpaired, alone +maintained his composure and something like a level head. + +After that distressful night Jean determined to carry into execution a +plan that he had been reflecting over since the day previous. + +“See here, little one, we can get nothing to eat, and everyone seems to +have forgotten us here in this beastly hole; now unless we want to die +the death of dogs, it behooves us to stir about a bit. How are your +legs?” + +The sun had come out again, fortunately, and Maurice was warmed and +comforted. + +“Oh, my legs are all right!” + +“Then we’ll start off on an exploring expedition. We’ve money in our +pockets, and the deuce is in it if we can’t find something to buy. And +we won’t bother our heads about the others; they don’t deserve it. Let +them take care of themselves.” + +The truth was that Loubet and Chouteau had disgusted him by their +trickiness and low selfishness, stealing whatever they could lay hands +on and never dividing with their comrades, while no good was to be got +out of Lapoulle, the brute, and Pache, the sniveling devotee. + +The pair, therefore, Maurice and Jean, started out by the road along +the Meuse which the former had traversed once before, on the night of +his arrival. At the Tour à Glaire the park and dwelling-house presented +a sorrowful spectacle of pillage and devastation, the trim lawns cut up +and destroyed, the trees felled, the mansion dismantled. A ragged, +dirty crew of soldiers, with hollow cheeks and eyes preternaturally +bright from fever, had taken possession of the place and were living +like beasts in the filthy chambers, not daring to leave their quarters +for a moment lest someone else might come along and occupy them. A +little further on they passed the cavalry and artillery, encamped on +the hillsides, once so conspicuous by reason of the neatness and +jauntiness of their appearance, now run to seed like all the rest, +their organization gone, demoralized by that terrible, torturing hunger +that drove the horses wild and sent the men straggling through the +fields in plundering bands. Below them, to the right, they beheld an +apparently interminable line of artillerymen and chasseurs d’Afrique +defiling slowly before the mill; the miller was selling them flour, +measuring out two handfuls into their handkerchiefs for a franc. The +prospect of the long wait that lay before them, should they take their +place at the end of the line, determined them to pass on, in the hope +that some better opportunity would present itself at the village of +Iges; but great was their consternation when they reached it to find +the little place as bare and empty as an Algerian village through which +has passed a swarm of locusts; not a crumb, not a fragment of anything +eatable, neither bread, nor meat, nor vegetables, the wretched +inhabitants utterly destitute. General Lebrun was said to be there, +closeted with the mayor. He had been endeavoring, ineffectually, to +arrange for an issue of bonds, redeemable at the close of the war, in +order to facilitate the victualing of the troops. Money had ceased to +have any value when there was nothing that it could purchase. The day +before two francs had been paid for a biscuit, seven francs for a +bottle of wine, a small glass of brandy was twenty sous, a pipeful of +tobacco ten sous. And now officers, sword in hand, had to stand guard +before the general’s house and the neighboring hovels, for bands of +marauders were constantly passing, breaking down doors and stealing +even the oil from the lamps and drinking it. + +Three zouaves invited Maurice and Jean to join them. Five would do the +work more effectually than three. + +“Come along. There are horses dying in plenty, and if we can but get +some dry wood—” + +Then they fell to work on the miserable cabin of a poor peasant, +smashing the closet doors, tearing the thatch from the roof. Some +officers, who came up on a run, threatened them with their revolvers +and put them to flight. + +Jean, who saw that the few villagers who had remained at Iges were no +better off than the soldiers, perceived he had made a mistake in +passing the mill without buying some flour. + +“There may be some left; we had best go back.” + +But Maurice was so reduced from inanition and was beginning to suffer +so from fatigue that he left him behind in a sheltered nook among the +quarries, seated on a fragment of rock, his face turned upon the wide +horizon of Sedan. He, after waiting in line for two long hours, finally +returned with some flour wrapped in a piece of rag. And they ate it +uncooked, dipping it up in their hands, unable to devise any other way. +It was not so very bad; It had no particular flavor, only the insipid +taste of dough. Their breakfast, such as it was, did them some good, +however. They were even so fortunate as to discover a little pool of +rain-water, comparatively pure, in a hollow of a rock, at which they +quenched their thirst with great satisfaction. + +But when Jean proposed that they should spend the remainder of the +afternoon there, Maurice negatived the motion with a great display of +violence. + +“No, no; not here! I should be ill if I were to have that scene before +my eyes for any length of time—” With a hand that trembled he pointed +to the remote horizon, the hill of Hattoy, the plateaux of Floing and +Illy, the wood of la Garenne, those abhorred, detested fields of +slaughter and defeat. “While you were away just now I was obliged to +turn my back on it, else I should have broken out and howled with rage. +Yes, I should have howled like a dog tormented by boys—you can’t +imagine how it hurts me; it drives me crazy!” + +Jean looked at him in surprise; he could not understand that pride, +sensitive as a raw sore, that made defeat so bitter to him; he was +alarmed to behold in his eyes that wandering, flighty look that he had +seen there before. He affected to treat the matter lightly. + +“Good! we’ll seek another country; that’s easy enough to do.” + +Then they wandered as long as daylight lasted, wherever the paths they +took conducted them. They visited the level portion of the peninsula in +the hope of finding more potatoes there, but the artillerymen had +obtained a plow and turned up the ground, and not a single potato had +escaped their sharp eyes. They retraced their steps, and again they +passed through throngs of listless, glassy-eyed, starving soldiers, +strewing the ground with their debilitated forms, falling by hundreds +in the bright sunshine from sheer exhaustion. They were themselves many +times overcome by fatigue and forced to sit down and rest; then their +deep-seated sensation of suffering would bring them to their feet again +and they would recommence their wandering, like animals impelled by +instinct to move on perpetually in quest of pasturage. It seemed to +them to last for years, and yet the moments sped by rapidly. In the +more inland region, over Donchery way, they received a fright from the +horses and sought the protection of a wall, where they remained a long +time, too exhausted to rise, watching with vague, lack-luster eyes the +wild course of the crazed beasts as they raced athwart the red western +sky where the sun was sinking. + +As Maurice had foreseen, the thousands of horses that shared the +captivity of the army, and for which it was impossible to provide +forage, constituted a peril that grew greater day by day. At first they +had nibbled the vegetation and gnawed the bark off trees, then had +attacked the fences and whatever wooden structures they came across, +and now they seemed ready to devour one another. It was a frequent +occurrence to see one of them throw himself upon another and tear out +great tufts from his mane or tail, which he would grind between his +teeth, slavering meanwhile at the mouth profusely. But it was at night +that they became most terrible, as if they were visited by visions of +terror in the darkness. They collected in droves, and, attracted by the +straw, made furious rushes upon what few tents there were, overturning +and demolishing them. It was to no purpose that the men built great +fires to keep them away; the device only served to madden them the +more. Their shrill cries were so full of anguish, so dreadful to the +ear, that they might have been mistaken for the howls of wild beasts. +Were they driven away, they returned, more numerous and fiercer than +before. Scarce a moment passed but out in the darkness could be heard +the shriek of anguish of some unfortunate soldier whom the crazed +beasts had crushed in their wild stampede. + +The sun was still above the horizon when Jean and Maurice, on their way +back to the camp, were astonished by meeting with the four men of the +squad, lurking in a ditch, apparently for no good purpose. Loubet +hailed them at once, and Chouteau constituted himself spokesman: + +“We are considering ways and means for dining this evening. We shall +die if we go on this way; it is thirty-six hours since we have had +anything to put in our stomach—so, as there are horses plenty, and +horse-meat isn’t such bad eating—” + +“You’ll join us, won’t you, corporal?” said Loubet, interrupting, “for, +with such a big, strong animal to handle, the more of us there are the +better it will be. See, there is one, off yonder, that we’ve been +keeping an eye on for the last hour; that big bay that is in such a bad +way. He’ll be all the easier to finish.” + +And he pointed to a horse that was dying of starvation, on the edge of +what had once been a field of beets. He had fallen on his flank, and +every now and then would raise his head and look about him pleadingly, +with a deep inhalation that sounded like a sigh. + +“Ah, how long we have to wait!” grumbled Lapoulle, who was suffering +torment from his fierce appetite. “I’ll go and kill him—shall I?” + +But Loubet stopped him. Much obliged! and have the Prussians down on +them, who had given notice that death would be the penalty for killing +a horse, fearing that the carcass would breed a pestilence. They must +wait until it was dark. And that was the reason why the four men were +lurking in the ditch, waiting, with glistening, hungry eyes fixed on +the dying brute. + +“Corporal,” asked Pache, in a voice that faltered a little, “you have +lots of ideas in your head; couldn’t you kill him painlessly?” + +Jean refused the cruel task with a gesture of disgust. What, kill that +poor beast that was even then in its death agony! oh, no, no! His first +impulse had been to fly and take Maurice with him, that neither of them +might be concerned in the revolting butchery; but looking at his +companion and beholding him so pale and faint, he reproached himself +for such an excess of sensibility. What were animals created for after +all, _mon Dieu_, unless to afford sustenance to man! They could not +allow themselves to starve when there was food within reach. And it +rejoiced him to see Maurice cheer up a little at the prospect of +eating; he said in his easy, good-natured way: + +“Faith, you’re wrong there; I’ve no ideas in my head, and if he has got +to be killed without pain—” + +“Oh! that’s all one to me,” interrupted Lapoulle. “I’ll show you.” + +The two newcomers seated themselves in the ditch and joined the others +in their expectancy. Now and again one of the men would rise and make +certain that the horse was still there, its neck outstretched to catch +the cool exhalations of the Meuse and the last rays of the setting sun, +as if bidding farewell to life. And when at last twilight crept slowly +o’er the scene the six men were erect upon their feet, impatient that +night was so tardy in its coming, casting furtive, frightened looks +about them to see they were not observed. + +“Ah, _zut_!” exclaimed Chouteau, “the time is come!” + +Objects were still discernible in the fields by the uncertain, +mysterious light “between dog and wolf,” and Lapoulle went forward +first, followed by the five others. He had taken from the ditch a +large, rounded boulder, and, with it in his two brawny hands, rushing +upon the horse, commenced to batter at his skull as with a club. At the +second blow, however, the horse, stung by the pain, attempted to get on +his feet. Chouteau and Loubet had thrown themselves across his legs and +were endeavoring to hold him down, shouting to the others to help them. +The poor brute’s cries were almost human in their accent of terror and +distress; he struggled desperately to shake off his assailants, and +would have broken them like a reed had he not been half dead with +inanition. The movements of his head prevented the blows from taking +effect; Lapoulle was unable to despatch him. + +“_Nom de Dieu!_ how hard his bones are! Hold him, somebody, until I +finish him.” + +Jean and Maurice stood looking at the scene in silent horror; they +heard not Chouteau’s appeals for assistance; were powerless to raise a +hand. And Pache, in a sudden outburst of piety and pity, dropped on his +knees, joined his hands, and began to mumble the prayers that are +repeated at the bedside of the dying. + +“Merciful God, have pity on him. Let him, good Lord, depart in peace—” + +Again Lapoulle struck ineffectually, with no other effect than to +destroy an ear of the wretched creature, that threw back its head and +gave utterance to a loud, shrill scream. + +“Hold on!” growled Chouteau; “this won’t do; he’ll get us all in the +lockup. We must end the matter. Hold him fast, Loubet.” + +He took from his pocket a penknife, a small affair of which the blade +was scarcely longer than a man’s finger, and casting himself prone on +the animal’s body and passing an arm about its neck, began to hack away +at the live flesh, cutting away great morsels, until he found and +severed the artery. He leaped quickly to one side; the blood spurted +forth in a torrent, as when the plug is removed from a fountain, while +the feet stirred feebly and convulsive movements ran along the skin, +succeeding one another like waves of the sea. It was near five minutes +before the horse was dead. His great eyes, dilated wide and filled with +melancholy and affright, were fixed upon the wan-visaged men who stood +waiting for him to die; then they grew dim and the light died from out +them. + +“Merciful God,” muttered Pache, still on his knees, “keep him in thy +holy protection—succor him, Lord, and grant him eternal rest.” + +Afterward, when the creature’s movements had ceased, they were at a +loss to know where the best cut lay and how they were to get at it. +Loubet, who was something of a Jack-of-all-trades, showed them what was +to be done in order to secure the loin, but as he was a tyro at the +butchering business and, moreover, had only his small penknife to work +with, he quickly lost his way amid the warm, quivering flesh. And +Lapoulle, in his impatience, having attempted to be of assistance by +making an incision in the belly, for which there was no necessity +whatever, the scene of bloodshed became truly sickening. They wallowed +in the gore and entrails that covered the ground about them, like a +pack of ravening wolves collected around the carcass of their prey, +fleshing their keen fangs in it. + +“I don’t know what cut that may be,” Loubet said at last, rising to his +feet with a huge lump of meat in his hands, “but by the time we’ve +eaten it, I don’t believe any of us will be hungry.” + +Jean and Maurice had averted their eyes in horror from the disgusting +spectacle; still, however, the pangs of hunger were gnawing at their +vitals, and when the band slunk rapidly away, so as not to be caught in +the vicinity of the incriminating carcass, they followed it. Chouteau +had discovered three large beets, that had somehow been overlooked by +previous visitors to the field, and carried them off with him. Loubet +had loaded the meat on Lapoulle’s shoulders so as to have his own arms +free, while Pache carried the kettle that belonged to the squad, which +they had brought with them on the chance of finding something to cook +in it. And the six men ran as if their lives were at stake, never +stopping to take breath, as if they heard the pursuers at their heels. + +Suddenly Loubet brought the others to a halt. + +“It’s idiotic to run like this; let’s decide where we shall go to cook +the stuff.” + +Jean, who was beginning to recover his self-possession, proposed the +quarries. They were only three hundred yards distant, and in them were +secret recesses in abundance where they could kindle a fire without +being seen. When they reached the spot, however, difficulties of every +description presented themselves. First, there was the question of +wood; fortunately a laborer, who had been repairing the road, had gone +home and left his wheelbarrow behind him; Lapoulle quickly reduced it +to fragments with the heel of his boot. Then there was no water to be +had that was fit to drink; the hot sunshine had dried up all the pools +of rain-water. True there was a pump at the Tour à Glaire, but that was +too far away, and besides it was never accessible before midnight; the +men forming in long lines with their bowls and porringers, only too +happy when, after waiting for hours, they could escape from the jam +with their supply of the precious fluid unspilled. As for the few wells +in the neighborhood, they had been dry for the last two days, and the +bucket brought up nothing save mud and slime. Their sole resource +appeared to be the water of the Meuse, which was parted from them by +the road. + +“I’ll take the kettle and go and fill it,” said Jean. + +The others objected. + +“No, no! We don’t want to be poisoned; it is full of dead bodies!” + +They spoke the truth. The Meuse was constantly bringing down corpses of +men and horses; they could be seen floating with the current at any +moment of the day, swollen and of a greenish hue, in the early stages +of decomposition. Often they were caught in the weeds and bushes on the +bank, where they remained to poison the atmosphere, swinging to the +tide with a gentle, tremulous motion that imparted to them a semblance +of life. Nearly every soldier who had drunk that abominable water had +suffered from nausea and colic, often succeeded afterward by dysentery. +It seemed as if they must make up their mind to use it, however, as +there was no other; Maurice explained that there would be no danger in +drinking it after it was boiled. + +“Very well, then; I’ll go,” said Jean. And he started, taking Lapoulle +with him to carry the kettle. + +By the time they got the kettle filled and on the fire it was quite +dark. Loubet had peeled the beets and thrown them into the water to +cook—a feast fit for the gods, he declared it would be—and fed the fire +with fragments of the wheelbarrow, for they were all suffering so from +hunger that they could have eaten the meat before the pot began to +boil. Their huge shadows danced fantastically in the firelight on the +rocky walls of the quarry. Then they found it impossible longer to +restrain their appetite, and threw themselves upon the unclean mess, +tearing the flesh with eager, trembling fingers and dividing it among +them, too impatient even to make use of the knife. But, famishing as +they were, their stomachs revolted; they felt the want of salt, they +could not swallow that tasteless, sickening broth, those chunks of +half-cooked, viscid meat that had a taste like clay. Some among them +had a fit of vomiting. Pache was very ill. Chouteau and Loubet heaped +maledictions on that infernal old nag, that had caused them such +trouble to get him to the pot and then given them the colic. Lapoulle +was the only one among them who ate abundantly, but he was in a very +bad way that night when, with his three comrades, he returned to their +resting-place under the poplars by the canal. + +On their way back to camp Maurice, without uttering a word, took +advantage of the darkness to seize Jean by the arm and drag him into a +by-path. Their comrades inspired him with unconquerable disgust; he +thought he should like to go and sleep in the little wood where he had +spent his first night on the peninsula. It was a good idea, and Jean +commended it highly when he had laid himself down on the warm, dry +ground, under the shelter of the dense foliage. They remained there +until the sun was high in the heavens, and enjoyed a sound, refreshing +slumber, which restored to them something of their strength. + +The following day was Thursday, but they had ceased to note the days; +they were simply glad to observe that the weather seemed to be coming +off fine again. Jean overcame Maurice’s repugnance and prevailed on him +to return to the canal, to see if their regiment was not to move that +day. Not a day passed now but detachments of prisoners, a thousand to +twelve hundred strong, were sent off to the fortresses in Germany. The +day but one before they had seen, drawn up in front of the Prussian +headquarters, a column of officers of various grades, who were going to +Pont-a-Mousson, there to take the railway. Everyone was possessed with +a wild, feverish longing to get away from that camp where they had seen +such suffering. Ah! if it but might be their turn! And when they found +the 106th still encamped on the bank of the canal, in the inevitable +disorder consequent upon such distress, their courage failed them and +they despaired. + +Jean and Maurice that day thought they saw a prospect of obtaining +something to eat. All the morning a lively traffic had been going on +between the prisoners and the Bavarians on the other side of the canal; +the former would wrap their money in a handkerchief and toss it across +to the opposite shore, the latter would return the handkerchief with a +loaf of coarse brown bread, or a plug of their common, damp tobacco. +Even soldiers who had no money were not debarred from participating in +this commerce, employing, instead of currency, their white uniform +gloves, for which the Germans appeared to have a weakness. For two +hours packages were flying across the canal in its entire length under +this primitive system of exchanges. But when Maurice dispatched his +cravat with a five-franc piece tied in it to the other bank, the +Bavarian who was to return him a loaf of bread gave it, whether from +awkwardness or malice, such an ineffectual toss that it fell in the +water. The incident elicited shouts of laughter from the Germans. Twice +again Maurice repeated the experiment, and twice his loaf went to feed +the fishes. At last the Prussian officers, attracted by the uproar, +came running up and prohibited their men from selling anything to the +prisoners, threatening them with dire penalties and punishments in case +of disobedience. The traffic came to a sudden end, and Jean had hard +work to pacify Maurice, who shook his fists at the scamps, shouting to +them to give him back his five-franc pieces. + +This was another terrible day, notwithstanding the warm, bright +sunshine. Twice the bugle sounded and sent Jean hurrying off to the +shed whence rations were supposed to be issued, but on each occasion he +only got his toes trod on and his ribs racked in the crush. The +Prussians, whose organization was so wonderfully complete, continued to +manifest the same brutal inattention to the necessities of the +vanquished army. On the representations of Generals Douay and Lebrun, +they had indeed sent in a few sheep as well as some wagon-loads of +bread, but so little care was taken to guard them that the sheep were +carried off bodily and the wagons pillaged as soon as they reached the +bridge, the consequence of which was that the troops who were encamped +a hundred yards further on were no better off than before; it was only +the worst element, the plunderers and bummers, who benefited by the +provision trains. And thereon Jean, who, as he said, saw how the trick +was done, brought Maurice with him to the bridge to keep an eye on the +victuals. + +It was four o’clock, and they had not had a morsel to eat all that +beautiful bright Thursday, when suddenly their eyes were gladdened by +the sight of Delaherche. A few among the citizens of Sedan had with +infinite difficulty obtained permission to visit the prisoners, to whom +they carried provisions, and Maurice had on several occasions expressed +his surprise at his failure to receive any tidings of his sister. As +soon as they recognized Delaherche in the distance, carrying a large +basket and with a loaf of bread under either arm, they darted forward +fast as their legs could carry them, but even thus they were too late; +a crowding, jostling mob closed in, and in the confusion the dazed +manufacturer was relieved of his basket and one of his loaves, which +vanished from his sight so expeditiously that he was never able to tell +the manner of their disappearance. + +“Ah, my poor friends!” he stammered, utterly crestfallen in his +bewilderment and stupefaction, he who but a moment before had come +through the gate with a smile on his lips and an air of +good-fellowship, magnanimously forgetting his superior advantages in +his desire for popularity. + +Jean had taken possession of the remaining loaf and saved it from the +hungry crew, and while he and Maurice, seated by the roadside, were +making great inroads in it, Delaherche opened his budget of news for +their benefit. His wife, the Lord be praised! was very well, but he was +greatly alarmed for the colonel, who had sunk into a condition of deep +prostration, although his mother continued to bear him company from +morning until night. + +“And my sister?” Maurice inquired. + +“Ah, yes! your sister; true. She insisted on coming with me; it was she +who brought the two loaves of bread. She had to remain over yonder, +though, on the other side of the canal; the sentries wouldn’t let her +pass the gate. You know the Prussians have strictly prohibited the +presence of women in the peninsula.” + +Then he spoke of Henriette, and of her fruitless attempts to see her +brother and come to his assistance. Once in Sedan chance had brought +her face to face with Cousin Gunther, the man who was captain in the +Prussian Guards. He had passed her with his haughty, supercilious air, +pretending not to recognize her. She, also, with a sensation of +loathing, as if she were in the presence of one of her husband’s +murderers, had hurried on with quickened steps; then, with a sudden +change of purpose for which she could not account, had turned back and +told him all the manner of Weiss’s death, in harsh accents of reproach. +And he, thus learning how horribly a relative had met his fate, had +taken the matter coolly; it was the fortune of war; the same thing +might have happened to himself. His face, rendered stoically impassive +by the discipline of the soldier, had barely betrayed the faintest +evidence of interest. After that, when she informed him that her +brother was a prisoner and besought him to use his influence to obtain +for her an opportunity of seeing him, he had excused himself on the +ground that he was powerless in the matter; the instructions were +explicit and might not be disobeyed. He appeared to place the +regimental orderly book on a par with the Bible. She left him with the +clearly defined impression that he believed he was in the country for +the sole purpose of sitting in judgment on the French people, with all +the intolerance and arrogance of the hereditary enemy, swollen by his +personal hatred for the nation whom it had devolved on him to chastise. + +“And now,” said Delaherche in conclusion, “you won’t have to go to bed +supperless to-night; you have had a little something to eat. The worst +is that I am afraid I shall not be able to secure another pass.” + +He asked them if there was anything he could do for them outside, and +obligingly consented to take charge of some pencil-written letters +confided to him by other soldiers, for the Bavarians had more than once +been seen to laugh as they lighted their pipes with missives which they +had promised to forward. Then, when Jean and Maurice had accompanied +him to the gate, he exclaimed: + +“Look! over yonder, there’s Henriette! Don’t you see her waving her +handkerchief?” + +True enough, among the crowd beyond the line of sentinels they +distinguished a little, thin, pale face, a white dot that trembled in +the sunshine. Both were deeply affected, and, with moist eyes, raising +their hands above their head, answered her salutation by waving them +frantically in the air. + +The following day was Friday, and it was then that Maurice felt that +his cup of horror was full to overflowing. After another night of +tranquil slumber in the little wood he was so fortunate as to secure +another meal, Jean having come across an old woman at the Château of +Villette who was selling bread at ten francs the pound. But that day +they witnessed a spectacle of which the horror remained imprinted on +their minds for many weeks and months. + +The day before Chouteau had noticed that Pache had ceased complaining +and was going about with a careless, satisfied air, as a man might do +who had dined well. He immediately jumped at the conclusion that the +sly fox must have a concealed treasure somewhere, the more so that he +had seen him absent himself for near an hour that morning and come back +with a smile lurking on his face and his mouth filled with unswallowed +food. It must be that he had had a windfall, had probably joined some +marauding party and laid in a stock of provisions. And Chouteau labored +with Loubet and Lapoulle to stir up bad feeling against the comrade, +with the latter more particularly. _Hein!_ wasn’t he a dirty dog, if he +had something to eat, not to go snacks with the comrades! He ought to +have a lesson that he would remember, for his selfishness. + +“To-night we’ll keep a watch on him, don’t you see. We’ll learn whether +he dares to stuff himself on the sly, when so many poor devils are +starving all around him.” + +“Yes, yes, that’s the talk! we’ll follow him,” Lapoulle angrily +declared. “We’ll see about it!” + +He doubled his fists; he was like a crazy man whenever the subject of +eating was mentioned in his presence. His enormous appetite caused him +to suffer more than the others; his torment at times was such that he +had been known to stuff his mouth with grass. For more than thirty-six +hours, since the night when they had supped on horseflesh and he had +contracted a terrible dysentery in consequence, he had been without +food, for he was so little able to look out for himself that, +notwithstanding his bovine strength, whenever he joined the others in a +marauding raid he never got his share of the booty. He would have been +willing to give his blood for a pound of bread. + +As it was beginning to be dark Pache stealthily made his way to the +Tour à Glaire and slipped into the park, while the three others +cautiously followed him at a distance. + +“It won’t do to let him suspect anything,” said Chouteau. “Be on your +guard in case he should look around.” + +But when he had advanced another hundred paces Pache evidently had no +idea there was anyone near, for he began to hurry forward at a swift +gait, not so much as casting a look behind. They had no difficulty in +tracking him to the adjacent quarries, where they fell on him as he was +in the act of removing two great flat stones, to take from the cavity +beneath part of a loaf of bread. It was the last of his store; he had +enough left for one more meal. + +“You dirty, sniveling priest’s whelp!” roared Lapoulle, “so that is why +you sneak away from us! Give me that; it’s my share!” + +Why should he give his bread? Weak and puny as he was, his slight form +dilated with anger, while he clutched the loaf against his bosom with +all the strength he could master. For he also was hungry. + +“Let me alone. It’s mine.” + +Then, at sight of Lapoulle’s raised fist, he broke away and ran, +sliding down the steep banks of the quarries, making his way across the +bare fields in the direction of Donchery, the three others after him in +hot pursuit. He gained on them, however, being lighter than they, and +possessed by such overmastering fear, so determined to hold on to what +was his property, that his speed seemed to rival the wind. He had +already covered more than half a mile and was approaching the little +wood on the margin of the stream when he encountered Jean and Maurice, +who were on their way back to their resting-place for the night. He +addressed them an appealing, distressful cry as he passed; while they, +astounded by the wild hunt that went fleeting by, stood motionless at +the edge of a field, and thus it was that they beheld the ensuing +tragedy. + +As luck would have it, Pache tripped over a stone and fell. In an +instant the others were on top of him—shouting, swearing, their passion +roused to such a pitch of frenzy that they were like wolves that had +run down their prey. + +“Give me that,” yelled Lapoulle, “or by G-d I’ll kill you!” + +And he had raised his fist again when Chouteau, taking from his pocket +the penknife with which he had slaughtered the horse and opening it, +placed it in his hand. + +“Here, take it! the knife!” + +But Jean meantime had come hurrying up, desirous to prevent the +mischief he saw brewing, losing his wits like the rest of them, +indiscreetly speaking of putting them all in the guardhouse; whereon +Loubet, with an ugly laugh, told him he must be a Prussian, since they +had no longer any commanders, and the Prussians were the only ones who +issued orders. + +“_Nom de Dieu!_” Lapoulle repeated, “will you give me that?” + +Despite the terror that blanched his cheeks Pache hugged the bread more +closely to his bosom, with the obstinacy of the peasant who never cedes +a jot or tittle of that which is his. + +“No!” + +Then in a second all was over; the brute drove the knife into the +other’s throat with such violence that the wretched man did not even +utter a cry. His arms relaxed, the bread fell to the ground, into the +pool of blood that had spurted from the wound. + +At sight of the imbecile, uncalled-for murder, Maurice, who had until +then been a silent spectator of the scene, appeared as if stricken by a +sudden fit of madness. He raved and gesticulated, shaking his fist in +the face of the three men and calling them murderers, assassins, with a +violence that shook his frame from head to foot. But Lapoulle seemed +not even to hear him. Squatted on the ground beside the corpse, he was +devouring the bloodstained bread, an expression of stupid ferocity on +his face, with a loud grinding of his great jaws, while Chouteau and +Loubet, seeing him thus terrible in the gratification of his wild-beast +appetite, did not even dare claim their portion. + +By this time night had fallen, a pleasant night with a clear sky +thick-set with stars, and Maurice and Jean, who had regained the +shelter of their little wood, presently perceived Lapoulle wandering up +and down the river bank. The two others had vanished, had doubtless +returned to the encampment by the canal, their mind troubled by reason +of the corpse they left behind them. He, on the other hand, seemed to +dread going to rejoin the comrades. When he was more himself and his +brutish, sluggish intellect showed him the full extent of his crime, he +had evidently experienced a twinge of anguish that made motion a +necessity, and not daring to return to the interior of the peninsula, +where he would have to face the body of his victim, had sought the bank +of the stream, where he was now tramping to and fro with uneven, +faltering steps. What was going on within the recesses of that darkened +mind that guided the actions of that creature, so degraded as to be +scarce higher than the animal? Was it the awakening of remorse? or only +the fear lest his crime might be discovered? He could not remain there; +he paced his beat as a wild beast shambles up and down its cage, with a +sudden and ever-increasing longing to fly, a longing that ached and +pained like a physical hurt, from which he felt he should die, could he +do nothing to satisfy it. Quick, quick, he must fly, must fly at once, +from that prison where he had slain a fellow-being. And yet, the coward +in him, it may be, gaining the supremacy, he threw himself on the +ground, and for a long time lay crouched among the herbage. + +And Maurice said to Jean in his horror and disgust: + +“See here, I cannot remain longer in this place; I tell you plainly I +should go mad. I am surprised that the physical part of me holds out as +it does; my bodily health is not so bad, but the mind is going; yes! it +is going, I am certain of it. If you leave me another day in this hell +I am lost. I beg you, let us go away, let us start at once!” + +And he went on to propound the wildest schemes for getting away. They +would swim the Meuse, would cast themselves on the sentries and +strangle them with a cord he had in his pocket, or would beat out their +brains with rocks, or would buy them over with the money they had left +and don their uniform to pass through the Prussian lines. + +“My dear boy, be silent!” Jean sadly answered; “it frightens me to hear +you talk so wildly. Is there any reason in what you say, are any of +your plans feasible? Wait; to-morrow we’ll see about it. Be silent!” + +He, although his heart, no less than his friend’s, was wrung by the +horrors that surrounded them on every side, had preserved his mental +balance amid the debilitating effects of famine, among the grisly +visions of that existence than which none could approach more nearly +the depth of human misery. And as his companion’s frenzy continued to +increase and he talked of casting himself into the Meuse, he was +obliged to restrain him, even to the point of using violence, scolding +and supplicating, tears standing in his eyes. Then suddenly he said: + +“See! look there!” + +A splash was heard coming from the river, and they saw it was Lapoulle, +who had finally decided to attempt to escape by the stream, first +removing his capote in order that it might not hinder his movements; +and his white shirt made a spot of brightness that was distinctly +visible upon the dusky bosom of the moving water. He was swimming +up-stream with a leisurely movement, doubtless on the lookout for a +place where he might land with safety, while on the opposite shore +there was no difficulty in discerning the shadowy forms of the +sentries, erect and motionless in the semi-obscurity. There came a +sudden flash that tore the black veil of night, a report that went with +bellowing echoes and spent itself among the rocks of Montimont. The +water boiled and bubbled for an instant, as it does under the wild +efforts of an unpracticed oarsman. And that was all; Lapoulle’s body, +the white spot on the dusky stream, floated away, lifeless, upon the +tide. + +The next day, which was Saturday, Jean aroused Maurice as soon as it +was day and they returned to the camp of the 106th, with the hope that +they might move that day, but there were no orders; it seemed as though +the regiment’s existence were forgotten. Many of the troops had been +sent away, the peninsula was being depopulated, and sickness was +terribly prevalent among those who were left behind. For eight long +days disease had been germinating in that hell on earth; the rains had +ceased, but the blazing, scorching sunlight had only wrought a change +of evils. The excessive heat completed the exhaustion of the men and +gave to the numerous cases of dysentery an alarmingly epidemic +character. The excreta of that army of sick poisoned the air with their +noxious emanations. No one could approach the Meuse or the canal, owing +to the overpowering stench that rose from the bodies of drowned +soldiers and horses that lay festering among the weeds. And the horses, +that dropped in the fields from inanition, were decomposing so rapidly +and forming such a fruitful source of pestilence that the Prussians, +commencing to be alarmed on their own account, had provided picks and +shovels and forced the prisoners to bury them. + +That day, however, was the last on which they suffered from famine. As +their numbers were so greatly reduced and provisions kept pouring in +from every quarter, they passed at a single bound from the extreme of +destitution to the most abundant plenty. Bread, meat, and wine, even, +were to be had without stint; eating went on from morning till night, +until they were ready to drop. Darkness descended, and they were eating +still; in some quarters the gorging was continued until the next +morning. To many it proved fatal. + +That whole day Jean made it his sole business to keep watch over +Maurice, who he saw was ripe for some rash action. He had been +drinking; he spoke of his intention of cuffing a Prussian officer in +order that he might be sent away. And at night Jean, having discovered +an unoccupied corner in the cellar of one of the outbuildings at the +Tour à Glaire, thought it advisable to go and sleep there with his +companion, thinking that a good night’s rest would do him good, but it +turned out to be the worst night in all their experience, a night of +terror during which neither of them closed an eye. The cellar was +inhabited by other soldiers; lying in the same corner were two who were +dying of dysentery, and as soon as it was fairly dark they commenced to +relieve their sufferings by moans and inarticulate cries, a hideous +death-rattle that went on uninterruptedly until morning. These sounds +finally became so horrific there in the intense darkness, that the +others who were resting there, wishing to sleep, allowed their anger to +get the better of them and shouted to the dying men to be silent. They +did not hear; the rattle went on, drowning all other sounds, while from +without came the drunken clamor of those who were eating and drinking +still, with insatiable appetite. + +Then commenced for Maurice a period of agony unspeakable. He would have +fled from the awful sounds that brought the cold sweat of anguish in +great drops to his brow, but when he arose and attempted to grope his +way out he trod on the limbs of those extended there, and finally fell +to the ground, a living man immured there in the darkness with the +dying. He made no further effort to escape from this last trial. The +entire frightful disaster arose before his mind, from the time of their +departure from Rheims to the crushing defeat of Sedan. It seemed to him +that in that night, in the inky blackness of that cellar, where the +groans of two dying soldiers drove sleep from the eyelids of their +comrades, the ordeal of the army of Châlons had reached its climax. At +each of the stations of its passion the army of despair, the expiatory +band, driven forward to the sacrifice, had spent its life-blood in +atonement for the faults of others; and now, unhonored amid disaster, +covered with contumely, it was enduring martyrdom in that cruel +scourging, the severity of which it had done nothing to deserve. He +felt it was too much; he was heartsick with rage and grief, hungering +for justice, burning with a fierce desire to be avenged on destiny. + +When daylight appeared one of the soldiers was dead, the other was +lingering on in protracted agony. + +“Come along, little one,” Jean gently said; “we’ll go and get a breath +of fresh air; it will do us good.” + +But when the pair emerged into the pure, warm morning air and, pursuing +the river bank, were near the village of Iges, Maurice grew flightier +still, and extending his hand toward the vast expanse of sunlit +battlefield, the plateau of Illy in front of them, Saint-Menges to the +left, the wood of la Garenne to the right, he cried: + +“No, I cannot, I cannot bear to look on it! The sight pierces my heart +and drives me mad. Take me away, oh! take me away, at once, at once!” + +It was Sunday once more; the bells were pealing from the steeples of +Sedan, while the music of a German military band floated on the air in +the distance. There were still no orders for their regiment to move, +and Jean, alarmed to see Maurice’s deliriousness increasing, determined +to attempt the execution of a plan that he had been maturing in his +mind for the last twenty-four hours. On the road before the tents of +the Prussians another regiment, the 5th of the line, was drawn up in +readiness for departure. Great confusion prevailed in the column, and +an officer, whose knowledge of the French language was imperfect, had +been unable to complete the roster of the prisoners. Then the two +friends, having first torn from their uniform coat the collar and +buttons in order that the number might not betray their identity, +quietly took their place in the ranks and soon had the satisfaction of +crossing the bridge and leaving the chain of sentries behind them. The +same idea must have presented itself to Loubet and Chouteau, for they +caught sight of them somewhat further to the rear, peering anxiously +about them with the guilty eyes of murderers. + +Ah, what comfort there was for them in that first blissful moment! +Outside their prison the sunlight was brighter, the air more bracing; +it was like a resurrection, a bright renewal of all their hopes. +Whatever evil fortune might have in store for them, they dreaded it +not; they snapped their fingers at it in their delight at having seen +the last of the horrors of Camp Misery. + + + + +III. + + +That morning Maurice and Jean listened for the last time to the gay, +ringing notes of the French bugles, and now they were on their way to +Pont-a-Mousson, marching in the ranks of the convoy of prisoners, which +was guarded front and rear by platoons of Prussian infantry, while a +file of men with fixed bayonets flanked the column on either side. +Whenever they came to a German post they heard only the lugubrious, +ear-piercing strains of the Prussian trumpets. + +Maurice was glad to observe that the column took the left-hand road and +would pass through Sedan; perhaps he would have an opportunity of +seeing his sister Henriette. All the pleasure, however, that he had +experienced at his release from that foul cesspool where he had spent +nine days of agony was dashed to the ground and destroyed during the +three-mile march from the peninsula of Iges to the city. It was but +another form of his old distress to behold that array of prisoners, +shuffling timorously through the dust of the road, like a flock of +sheep with the dog at their heels. There is no spectacle in all the +world more pitiful than that of a column of vanquished troops being +marched off into captivity under guard of their conquerors, without +arms, their empty hands hanging idly at their sides; and these men, +clad in rags and tatters, besmeared with the filth in which they had +lain for more than a week, gaunt and wasted after their long fast, were +more like vagabonds than soldiers; they resembled loathsome, horribly +dirty tramps, whom the gendarmes would have picked up along the +highways and consigned to the lockup. As they passed through the +Faubourg of Torcy, where men paused on the sidewalks and women came to +their doors to regard them with mournful, compassionate interest, the +blush of shame rose to Maurice’s cheek, he hung his head and a bitter +taste came to his mouth. + +Jean, whose epidermis was thicker and mind more practical, thought only +of their stupidity in not having brought off with them a loaf of bread +apiece. In the hurry of their abrupt departure they had even gone off +without breakfasting, and hunger soon made its presence felt by the +nerveless sensation in their legs. Others among the prisoners appeared +to be in the same boat, for they held out money, begging the people of +the place to sell them something to eat. There was one, an extremely +tall man, apparently very ill, who displayed a gold piece, extending it +above the heads of the soldiers of the escort; and he was almost +frantic that he could purchase nothing. Just at that time Jean, who had +been keeping his eyes open, perceived a bakery a short distance ahead, +before which were piled a dozen loaves of bread; he immediately got his +money ready and, as the column passed, tossed the baker a five-franc +piece and endeavored to secure two of the loaves; then, when the +Prussian who was marching at his side pushed him back roughly into the +ranks, he protested, demanding that he be allowed to recover his money +from the baker. But at that juncture the captain commanding the +detachment, a short, bald-headed man with a brutal expression of face, +came hastening up; he raised his revolver over Jean’s head as if about +to strike him with the butt, declaring with an oath that he would brain +the first man that dared to lift a finger. And the rest of the captives +continued to shamble on, stirring up the dust of the road with their +shuffling feet, with eyes averted and shoulders bowed, cowed and +abjectly submissive as a drove of cattle. + +“Oh! how good it would seem to slap the fellow’s face just once!” +murmured Maurice, as if he meant it. “How I should like to let him have +just one from the shoulder, and drive his teeth down his dirty throat!” + +And during the remainder of their march he could not endure to look on +that captain, with his ugly, supercilious face. + +They had entered Sedan and were crossing the Pont de Meuse, and the +scenes of violence and brutality became more numerous than ever. A +woman darted forward and would have embraced a boyish young +sergeant—likely she was his mother—and was repulsed with a blow from a +musket-butt that felled her to the ground. On the Place Turenne the +guards hustled and maltreated some citizens because they cast +provisions to the prisoners. In the Grande Rue one of the convoy fell +in endeavoring to secure a bottle that a lady extended to him, and was +assisted to his feet with kicks. For a week now Sedan had witnessed the +saddening spectacle of the defeated driven like cattle through its +streets, and seemed no more accustomed to it than at the beginning; +each time a fresh detachment passed the city was stirred to its very +depths by a movement of pity and indignation. + +Jean had recovered his equanimity; his thoughts, like Maurice’s, +reverted to Henriette, and the idea occurred to him that they might see +Delaherche somewhere among the throng. He gave his friend a nudge of +the elbow. + +“Keep your eyes open if we pass through their street presently, will +you?” + +They had scarce more than struck into the Rue Maqua, indeed, when they +became aware of several pairs of eyes turned on the column from one of +the tall windows of the factory, and as they drew nearer recognized +Delaherche and his wife Gilberte, their elbows resting on the railing +of the balcony, and behind them the tall, rigid form of old Madame +Delaherche. They had a supply of bread with them, and the manufacturer +was tossing the loaves down into the hands that were upstretched with +tremulous eagerness to receive them. Maurice saw at once that his +sister was not there, while Jean anxiously watched the flying loaves, +fearing there might none be left for them. They both had raised their +arms and were waving them frantically above their head, shouting +meanwhile with all the force of their lungs: + +“Here we are! This way, this way!” + +The Delaherches seemed delighted to see them in the midst of their +surprise. Their faces, pallid with emotion, suddenly brightened, and +they displayed by the warmth of their gestures the pleasure they +experienced in the encounter. There was one solitary loaf left, which +Gilberte insisted on throwing with her own hands, and pitched it into +Jean’s extended arms in such a charmingly awkward way that she gave a +winsome laugh at her own expense. Maurice, unable to stop on account of +the pressure from the rear, turned his head and shouted, in a tone of +anxious inquiry: + +“And Henriette? Henriette?” + +Delaherche replied with a long farrago, but his voice was inaudible in +the shuffling tramp of so many feet. He seemed to understand that the +young man had failed to catch his meaning, for he gesticulated like a +semaphore; there was one gesture in particular that he repeated several +times, extending his arm with a sweeping motion toward the south, +apparently intending to convey the idea of some point in the remote +distance: Off there, away off there. Already the head of the column was +wheeling into the Rue du Minil, the facade of the factory was lost to +sight, together with the kindly faces of the three Delaherches; the +last the two friends saw of them was the fluttering of the white +handkerchief with which Gilberte waved them a farewell. + +“What did he say?” asked Jean. + +Maurice, in a fever of anxiety, was still looking to the rear where +there was nothing to be seen. “I don’t know; I could not understand +him; I shall have no peace of mind until I hear from her.” + +And the trailing, shambling line crept slowly onward, the Prussians +urging on the weary men with the brutality of conquerors; the column +left the city by the Minil gate in straggling, long-drawn array, +hastening their steps, like sheep at whose heels the dogs are snapping. + +When they passed through Bazeilles Jean and Maurice thought of Weiss, +and cast their eyes about in an effort to distinguish the site of the +little house that had been defended with such bravery. While they were +at Camp Misery they had heard the woeful tale of slaughter and +conflagration that had blotted the pretty village from existence, and +the abominations that they now beheld exceeded all they had dreamed of +or imagined. At the expiration of twelve days the ruins were smoking +still; the tottering walls had fallen in, there were not ten houses +standing. It afforded them some small comfort, however, to meet a +procession of carts and wheelbarrows loaded with Bavarian helmets and +muskets that had been collected after the conflict. That evidence of +the chastisement that had been inflicted on those murderers and +incendiaries went far toward mitigating the affliction of defeat. + +The column was to halt at Douzy to give the men an opportunity to eat +breakfast. It was not without much suffering that they reached that +place; already the prisoners’ strength was giving out, exhausted as +they were by their ten days of fasting. Those who the day before had +availed of the abundant supplies to gorge themselves were seized with +vertigo, their enfeebled legs refused to support their weight, and +their gluttony, far from restoring their lost strength, was a further +source of weakness to them. The consequence was that, when the train +was halted in a meadow to the left of the village, these poor creatures +flung themselves upon the ground with no desire to eat. Wine was +wanting; some charitable women who came, bringing a few bottles, were +driven off by the sentries. One of them in her affright fell and +sprained her ankle, and there ensued a painful scene of tears and +hysterics, during which the Prussians confiscated the bottles and drank +their contents amid jeers and insulting laughter. This tender +compassion of the peasants for the poor soldiers who were being led +away into captivity was manifested constantly along the route, while it +was said the harshness they displayed toward the generals amounted +almost to cruelty. At that same Douzy, only a few days previously, the +villagers had hooted and reviled a number of paroled officers who were +on their way to Pont-a-Mousson. The roads were not safe for general +officers; men wearing the blouse—escaped soldiers, or deserters, it may +be—fell on them with pitch-forks and endeavored to take their life as +traitors, credulously pinning their faith to that legend of bargain and +sale which, even twenty years later, was to continue to shed its +opprobrium upon those leaders who had commanded armies in that +campaign. + +Maurice and Jean ate half their bread, and were so fortunate as to have +a mouthful of brandy with which to wash it down, thanks to the kindness +of a worthy old farmer. When the order was given to resume their +advance, however, the distress throughout the convoy was extreme. They +were to halt for the night at Mouzon, and although the march was a +short one, it seemed as if it would tax the men’s strength more +severely than they could bear; they could not get on their feet without +giving utterance to cries of pain, so stiff did their tired legs become +the moment they stopped to rest. Many removed their shoes to relieve +their galled and bleeding feet. Dysentery continued to rage; a man fell +before they had gone half a mile, and they had to prop him against a +wall and leave him. A little further on two others sank at the foot of +a hedge, and it was night before an old woman came along and picked +them up. All were stumbling, tottering, and dragging themselves along, +supporting their forms with canes, which the Prussians, perhaps in +derision, had suffered them to cut at the margin of a wood. They were a +straggling array of tramps and beggars, covered with sores, haggard, +emaciated, and footsore; a sight to bring tears to the eyes of the most +stony-hearted. And the guards continued to be as brutally strict as +ever; those who for any purpose attempted to leave the ranks were +driven back with blows, and the platoon that brought up the rear had +orders to prod with their bayonets those who hung back. A sergeant +having refused to go further, the captain summoned two of his men and +instructed them to seize him, one by either arm, and in this manner the +wretched man was dragged over the ground until he agreed to walk. And +what made the whole thing more bitter and harder to endure was the +utter insignificance of that little pimply-faced, bald-headed officer, +so insufferably consequential in his brutality, who took advantage of +his knowledge of French to vituperate the prisoners in it in curt, +incisive words that cut and stung like the lash of a whip. + +“Oh!” Maurice furiously exclaimed, “to get the puppy in my hands and +drain him of his blood, drop by drop!” + +His powers of endurance were almost exhausted, but it was his rage that +he had to choke down, even more than his fatigue, that was cause of his +suffering. Everything exasperated him and set on edge his tingling +nerves; the harsh notes of the Prussian trumpets particularly, which +inspired him with a desire to scream each time he heard them. He felt +he should never reach the end of their cruel journey without some +outbreak that would bring down on him the utmost severity of the guard. +Even now, when traversing the smallest hamlets, he suffered horribly +and felt as if he should die with shame to behold the eyes of the women +fixed pityingly on him; what would it be when they should enter +Germany, and the populace of the great cities should crowd the streets +to laugh and jeer at them as they passed? And he pictured to himself +the cattle cars into which they would be crowded for transportation, +the discomforts and humiliations they would have to suffer on the +journey, the dismal life in German fortresses under the leaden, wintry +sky. No, no; he would have none of it; better to take the risk of +leaving his bones by the roadside on French soil than go and rot off +yonder, for months and months, perhaps, in the dark depths of a +casemate. + +“Listen,” he said below his breath to Jean, who was walking at his +side; “we will wait until we come to a wood; then we’ll break through +the guards and run for it among the trees. The Belgian frontier is not +far away; we shall have no trouble in finding someone to guide us to +it.” + +Jean, accustomed as he was to look at things coolly and calculate +chances, put his veto on the mad scheme, although he, too, in his +revolt, was beginning to meditate the possibilities of an escape. + +“Have you taken leave of your senses! the guard will fire on us, and we +shall both be killed.” + +But Maurice replied there was a chance the soldiers might not hit them, +and then, after all, if their aim should prove true, it would not +matter so very much. + +“Very well!” rejoined Jean, “but what is going to become of us +afterward, dressed in uniform as we are? You know perfectly well that +the country is swarming in every direction with Prussian troops; we +could not go far unless we had other clothes to put on. No, no, my lad, +it’s too risky; I’ll not let you attempt such an insane project.” + +And he took the young man’s arm and held it pressed against his side, +as if they were mutually sustaining each other, continuing meanwhile to +chide and soothe him in a tone that was at once rough and affectionate. + +Just then the sound of a whispered conversation close behind them +caused them to turn and look around. It was Chouteau and Loubet, who +had left the peninsula of Iges that morning at the same time as they, +and whom they had managed to steer clear of until the present moment. +Now the two worthies were close at their heels, and Chouteau must have +overheard Maurice’s words, his plan for escaping through the mazes of a +forest, for he had adopted it on his own behalf. His breath was hot +upon their neck as he murmured: + +“Say, comrades, count us in on that. That’s a capital idea of yours, to +skip the ranch. Some of the boys have gone already, and sure we’re not +going to be such fools as to let those bloody pigs drag us away like +dogs into their infernal country. What do you say, eh? Shall we four +make a break for liberty?” + +Maurice’s excitement was rising to fever-heat again; Jean turned and +said to the tempter: + +“If you are so anxious to get away, why don’t you go? there’s nothing +to prevent you. What are you up to, any way?” + +He flinched a little before the corporal’s direct glance, and allowed +the true motive of his proposal to escape him. + +“_Dame_! it would be better that four should share the undertaking. One +or two of us might have a chance of getting off.” + +Then Jean, with an emphatic shake of the head, refused to have anything +whatever to do with the matter; he distrusted the gentleman, he said, +as he was afraid he would play them some of his dirty tricks. He had to +exert all his authority with Maurice to retain him on his side, for at +that very moment an opportunity presented itself for attempting the +enterprise; they were passing the border of a small but very dense +wood, separated from the road only by the width of a field that was +covered by a thick growth of underbrush. Why should they not dash +across that field and vanish in the thicket? was there not safety for +them in that direction? + +Loubet had so far said nothing. His mind was made up, however, that he +was not going to Germany to run to seed in one of their dungeons, and +his nose, mobile as a hound’s, was sniffing the atmosphere, his shifty +eyes were watching for the favorable moment. He would trust to his legs +and his mother wit, which had always helped him out of his scrapes thus +far. His decision was quickly made. + +“Ah, _zut_! I’ve had enough of it; I’m off!” + +He broke through the line of the escort, and with a single bound was in +the field, Chouteau following his example and running at his side. Two +of the Prussian soldiers immediately started in pursuit, but the others +seemed dazed, and it did not occur to them to send a ball after the +fugitives. The entire episode was so soon over that it was not easy to +note its different phases. Loubet dodged and doubled among the bushes +and it appeared as if he would certainly succeed in getting off, while +Chouteau, less nimble, was on the point of being captured, but the +latter, summoning up all his energies in a supreme burst of speed, +caught up with his comrade and dexterously tripped him; and while the +two Prussians were lumbering up to secure the fallen man, the other +darted into the wood and vanished. The guard, finally remembering that +they had muskets, fired a few ineffectual shots, and there was some +attempt made to search the thicket, which resulted in nothing. + +Meantime the two soldiers were pummeling poor Loubet, who had not +regained his feet. The captain came running up, beside himself with +anger, and talked of making an example, and with this encouragement +kicks and cuffs and blows from musket-butts continued to rain down upon +the wretched man with such fury that when at last they stood him on his +feet he was found to have an arm broken and his skull fractured. A +peasant came along, driving a cart, in which he was placed, but he died +before reaching Mouzon. + +“You see,” was all that Jean said to Maurice. + +The two friends cast a look in the direction of the wood that +sufficiently expressed their sentiments toward the scoundrel who had +gained his freedom by such base means, while their hearts were stirred +with feelings of deepest compassion for the poor devil whom he had made +his victim, a guzzler and a toper, who certainly did not amount to +much, but a merry, good-natured fellow all the same, and nobody’s fool. +And that was always the way with those who kept bad company, Jean +moralizingly observed: they might be very fly, but sooner or later a +bigger rascal was sure to come along and make a meal of them. + +Notwithstanding this terrible lesson Maurice, upon reaching Mouzon, was +still possessed by his unalterable determination to attempt an escape. +The prisoners were in such an exhausted condition when they reached the +place that the Prussians had to assist them to set up the few tents +that were placed at their disposal. The camp was formed near the town, +on low and marshy ground, and the worst of the business was that +another convoy having occupied the spot the day before, the field was +absolutely invisible under the superincumbent filth; it was no better +than a common cesspool, of unimaginable foulness. The sole means the +men had of self-protection was to scatter over the ground some large +flat stones, of which they were so fortunate as to find a number in the +vicinity. By way of compensation they had a somewhat less hard time of +it that evening; the strictness of their guardians was relaxed a little +once the captain had disappeared, doubtless to seek the comforts of an +inn. The sentries began by winking at the irregularity of the +proceeding when some children came along and commenced to toss fruit, +apples and pears, over their heads to the prisoners; the next thing was +they allowed the people of the neighborhood to enter the lines, so that +in a short time the camp was swarming with impromptu merchants, men and +women, offering for sale bread, wine, cigars, even. Those who had money +had no trouble in supplying their needs so far as eating, drinking, and +smoking were concerned. A bustling animation prevailed in the dim +twilight; it was like a corner of the market place in a town where a +fair is being held. + +But Maurice drew Jean behind their tent and again said to him in his +nervous, flighty way: + +“I can’t stand it; I shall make an effort to get away as soon as it is +dark. To-morrow our course will take us away from the frontier; it will +be too late.” + +“Very well, we’ll try it,” Jean replied, his powers of resistance +exhausted, his imagination, too, seduced by the pleasing idea of +freedom. “They can’t do more than kill us.” + +After that he began to scrutinize more narrowly the venders who +surrounded him on every side. There were some among the comrades who +had succeeded in supplying themselves with blouse and trousers, and it +was reported that some of the charitable people of the place had +regular stocks of garments on hand, designed to assist prisoners in +escaping. And almost immediately his attention was attracted to a +pretty girl, a tall blonde of sixteen with a pair of magnificent eyes, +who had on her arm a basket containing three loaves of bread. She was +not crying her wares like the rest; an anxious, engaging smile played +on her red lips, her manner was hesitating. He looked her steadily in +the face; their glances met and for an instant remained confounded. +Then she came up, with the embarrassed smile of a girl unaccustomed to +such business. + +“Do you wish to buy some bread?” + +He made no reply, but questioned her by an imperceptible movement of +the eyelids. On her answering yes, by an affirmative nod of the head, +he asked in a very low tone of voice: + +“There is clothing?” + +“Yes, under the loaves.” + +Then she began to cry her merchandise aloud: “Bread! bread! who’ll buy +my bread?” But when Maurice would have slipped a twenty-franc piece +into her fingers she drew back her hand abruptly and ran away, leaving +the basket with them. The last they saw of her was the happy, tender +look in her pretty eyes, as in the distance she turned and smiled on +them. + +When they were in possession of the basket Jean and Maurice found +difficulties staring them in the face. They had strayed away from their +tent, and in their agitated condition felt they should never succeed in +finding it again. Where were they to bestow themselves? and how effect +their change of garments? It seemed to them that the eyes of the entire +assemblage were focused on the basket, which Jean carried with an +awkward air, as if it contained dynamite, and that its contents must be +plainly visible to everyone. It would not do to waste time, however; +they must be up and doing. They stepped into the first vacant tent they +came to, where each of them hurriedly slipped on a pair of trousers and +donned a blouse, having first deposited their discarded uniforms in the +basket, which they placed on the ground in a dark corner of the tent +and abandoned to its fate. There was a circumstance that gave them no +small uneasiness, however; they found only one head-covering, a knitted +woolen cap, which Jean insisted Maurice should wear. The former, +fearing his bare-headedness might excite suspicion, was hanging about +the precincts of the camp on the lookout for a covering of some +description, when it occurred to him to purchase his hat from an +extremely dirty old man who was selling cigars. + +“Brussels cigars, three sous apiece, two for five!” + +Customs regulations were in abeyance since the battle of Sedan, and the +imports of Belgian merchandise had been greatly stimulated. The old man +had been making a handsome profit from his traffic, but that did not +prevent him from driving a sharp bargain when he understood the reason +why the two men wanted to buy his hat, a greasy old affair of felt with +a great hole in its crown. He finally consented to part with it for two +five-franc pieces, grumbling that he should certainly have a cold in +his head. + +Then Jean had another idea, which was neither more nor less than to buy +out the old fellow’s stock in trade, the two dozen cigars that remained +unsold. The bargain effected, he pulled his hat down over his eyes and +began to cry in the itinerant hawker’s drawling tone: + +“Here you are, Brussels cigars, two for three sous, two for three +sous!” + +Their safety was now assured. He signaled Maurice to go on before. It +happened to the latter to discover an umbrella lying on the grass; he +picked it up and, as a few drops of rain began to fall just then, +opened it tranquilly as they were about to pass the line of sentries. + +“Two for three sous, two for three sous, Brussels cigars!” + +It took Jean less than two minutes to dispose of his stock of +merchandise. The men came crowding about him with chaff and laughter: a +reasonable fellow, that; he didn’t rob poor chaps of their money! The +Prussians themselves were attracted by such unheard-of bargains, and he +was compelled to trade with them. He had all the time been working his +way toward the edge of the enceinte, and his last two cigars went to a +big sergeant with an immense beard, who could not speak a word of +French. + +“Don’t walk so fast, confound it!” Jean breathed in a whisper behind +Maurice’s back. “You’ll have them after us.” + +Their legs seemed inclined to run away with them, although they did +their best to strike a sober gait. It caused them a great effort to +pause a moment at a cross-roads, where a number of people were +collected before an inn. Some villagers were chatting peaceably with +German soldiers, and the two runaways made a pretense of listening, and +even hazarded a few observations on the weather and the probability of +the rain continuing during the night. They trembled when they beheld a +man, a fleshy gentleman, eying them attentively, but as he smiled with +an air of great good-nature they thought they might venture to address +him, asking in a whisper: + +“Can you tell us if the road to Belgium is guarded, sir?” + +“Yes, it is; but you will be safe if you cross this wood and afterward +cut across the fields, to the left.” + +Once they were in the wood, in the deep, dark silence of the slumbering +trees, where no sound reached their ears, where nothing stirred and +they believed their safety was assured them, they sank into each +other’s arms in an uncontrollable impulse of emotion. Maurice was +sobbing violently, while big tears trickled slowly down Jean’s cheeks. +It was the natural revulsion of their overtaxed feelings after the +long-protracted ordeal they had passed through, the joy and delight of +their mutual assurance that their troubles were at an end, and that +thenceforth suffering and they were to be strangers. And united by the +memory of what they had endured together in ties closer than those of +brotherhood, they clasped each other in a wild embrace, and the kiss +that they exchanged at that moment seemed to them to possess a savor +and a poignancy such as they had never experienced before in all their +life; a kiss such as they never could receive from lips of woman, +sealing their undying friendship, giving additional confirmation to the +certainty that thereafter their two hearts would be but one, for all +eternity. + +When they had separated at last: “Little one,” said Jean, in a +trembling voice, “it is well for us to be here, but we are not at the +end. We must look about a bit and try to find our bearings.” + +Maurice, although he had no acquaintance with that part of the +frontier, declared that all they had to do was to pursue a straight +course, whereon they resumed their way, moving among the trees in +Indian file with the greatest circumspection, until they reached the +edge of the thicket. There, mindful of the injunction of the +kind-hearted villager, they were about to turn to the left and take a +short cut across the fields, but on coming to a road, bordered with a +row of poplars on either side they beheld directly in their path the +watch-fire of a Prussian detachment. The bayonet of the sentry, pacing +his beat, gleamed in the ruddy light, the men were finishing their soup +and conversing; the fugitives stood not upon the order of their going, +but plunged into the recesses of the wood again, in mortal terror lest +they might be pursued. They thought they heard the sound of voices, of +footsteps on their trail, and thus for over an hour they wandered at +random among the copses, until all idea of locality was obliterated +from their brain; now racing like affrighted animals through the +underbrush, again brought up all standing, the cold sweat trickling +down their face, before a tree in which they beheld a Prussian. And the +end of it was that they again came out on the poplar-bordered road not +more than ten paces from the sentry, and quite near the soldiers, who +were toasting their toes in tranquil comfort. + +“Hang the luck!” grumbled Jean. “This must be an enchanted wood.” + +This time, however, they had been heard. The sound of snapping twigs +and rolling stones betrayed them. And as they did not answer the +challenge of the sentry, but made off at the double-quick, the men +seized their muskets and sent a shower of bullets crashing through the +thicket, into which the fugitives had plunged incontinently. + +“_Nom de Dieu!_” ejaculated Jean, with a stifled cry of pain. + +He had received something that felt like the cut of a whip in the calf +of his left leg, but the impact was so violent that it drove him up +against a tree. + +“Are you hurt?” Maurice anxiously inquired. + +“Yes, and in the leg, worse luck!” + +They both stood holding their breath and listening, in dread expectancy +of hearing their pursuers clamoring at their heels; but the firing had +ceased and nothing stirred amid the intense stillness that had again +settled down upon the wood and the surrounding country. It was evident +that the Prussians had no inclination to beat up the thicket. + +Jean, who was doing his best to keep on his feet; forced back a groan. +Maurice sustained him with his arm. + +“Can’t you walk?” + +“I should say not!” He gave way to a fit of rage, he, always so +self-contained. He clenched his fists, could have thumped himself. “God +in Heaven, if this is not hard luck! to have one’s legs knocked from +under him at the very time he is most in need of them! It’s too bad, +too bad, by my soul it is! Go on, you, and put yourself in safety!” + +But Maurice laughed quietly as he answered: + +“That is silly talk!” + +He took his friend’s arm and helped him along, for neither of them had +any desire to linger there. When, laboriously and by dint of heroic +effort, they had advanced some half-dozen paces further, they halted +again with renewed alarm at beholding before them a house, standing at +the margin of the wood, apparently a sort of farmhouse. Not a light was +visible at any of the windows, the open courtyard gate yawned upon the +dark and deserted dwelling. And when they plucked up their courage a +little and ventured to enter the courtyard, great was their surprise to +find a horse standing there with a saddle on his back, with nothing to +indicate the why or wherefore of his being there. Perhaps it was the +owner’s intention to return, perhaps he was lying behind a bush with a +bullet in his brain. They never learned how it was. + +But Maurice had conceived a new scheme, which appeared to afford him +great satisfaction. + +“See here, the frontier is too far away; we should never succeed in +reaching it without a guide. What do you say to changing our plan and +going to Uncle Fouchard’s, at Remilly? I am so well acquainted with +every inch of the road that I’m sure I could take you there with my +eyes bandaged. Don’t you think it’s a good idea, eh? I’ll put you on +this horse, and I suppose Uncle Fouchard will grumble, but he’ll take +us in.” + +Before starting he wished to take a look at the injured leg. There were +two orifices; the ball appeared to have entered the limb and passed +out, fracturing the tibia in its course. The flow of blood had not been +great; he did nothing more than bandage the upper part of the calf +tightly with his handkerchief. + +“Do you fly, and leave me here,” Jean said again. + +“Hold your tongue; you are silly!” + +When Jean was seated firmly in the saddle Maurice took the bridle and +they made a start. It was somewhere about eleven o’clock, and he hoped +to make the journey in three hours, even if they should be unable to +proceed faster than a walk. A difficulty that he had not thought of +until then, however, presented itself to his mind and for a moment +filled him with consternation: how were they to cross the Meuse in +order to get to the left bank? The bridge at Mouzon would certainly be +guarded. At last he remembered that there was a ferry lower down the +stream, at Villers, and trusting to luck to befriend him, he shaped his +course for that village, striking across the meadows and tilled fields +of the right bank. All went well enough at first; they had only to +dodge a cavalry patrol which forced them to hide in the shadow of a +wall and remain there half an hour. Then the rain began to come down in +earnest and his progress became more laborious, compelled as he was to +tramp through the sodden fields beside the horse, which fortunately +showed itself to be a fine specimen of the equine race, and perfectly +gentle. On reaching Villers he found that his trust in the blind +goddess, Fortune, had not been misplaced; the ferryman, who, at that +late hour, had just returned from setting a Bavarian officer across the +river, took them at once and landed them on the other shore without +delay or accident. + +And it was not until they reached the village, where they narrowly +escaped falling into the clutches of the pickets who were stationed +along the entire length of the Remilly road, that their dangers and +hardships really commenced; again they were obliged to take to the +fields, feeling their way along blind paths and cart-tracks that could +scarcely be discerned in the darkness. The most trivial obstacle +sufficed to drive them a long way out of their course. They squeezed +through hedges, scrambled down and up the steep banks of ditches, +forced a passage for themselves through the densest thickets. Jean, in +whom a low fever had developed under the drizzling rain, had sunk down +crosswise on his saddle in a condition of semi-consciousness, holding +on with both hands by the horse’s mane, while Maurice, who had slipped +the bridle over his right arm, had to steady him by the legs to keep +him from tumbling to the ground. For more than a league, for two long, +weary hours that seemed like an eternity, did they toil onward in this +fatiguing way; floundering, stumbling, slipping in such a manner that +it seemed at every moment as if men and beast must land together in a +heap at the bottom of some descent. The spectacle they presented was +one of utter, abject misery, besplashed with mud, the horse trembling +in every limb, the man upon his back a helpless mass, as if at his last +gasp, the other, wild-eyed and pale as death, keeping his feet only by +an effort of fraternal love. Day was breaking; it was not far from five +o’clock when at last they came to Remilly. + +In the courtyard of his little farmhouse, which was situated at the +extremity of the pass of Harancourt, overlooking the village, Father +Fouchard was stowing away in his carriole the carcasses of two sheep +that he had slaughtered the day before. The sight of his nephew, coming +to him at that hour and in that sorry plight, caused him such +perturbation of spirit that, after the first explanatory words, he +roughly cried: + +“You want me to take you in, you and your friend? and then settle +matters with the Prussians afterward, I suppose. I’m much obliged to +you, but no! I might as well die right straight off and have done with +it.” + +He did not go so far, however, as to prohibit Maurice and Prosper from +taking Jean from the horse and laying him on the great table in the +kitchen. Silvine ran and got the bolster from her bed and slipped it +beneath the head of the wounded man, who was still unconscious. But it +irritated the old fellow to see the man lying on his table; he grumbled +and fretted, saying that the kitchen was no place for him; why did they +not take him away to the hospital at once? since there fortunately was +a hospital at Remilly, near the church, in the old schoolhouse; and +there was a big room in it, with everything nice and comfortable. + +“To the hospital!” Maurice hotly replied, “and have the Prussians pack +him off to Germany as soon as he is well, for you know they treat all +the wounded as prisoners of war. Do you take me for a fool, uncle? I +did not bring him here to give him up.” + +Things were beginning to look dubious, the uncle was threatening to +pitch them out upon the road, when someone mentioned Henriette’s name. + +“What about Henriette?” inquired the young man. + +And he learned that his sister had been an inmate of the house at +Remilly for the last two days; her affliction had weighed so heavily on +her that life at Sedan, where her existence had hitherto been a happy +one, was become a burden greater than she could bear. Chancing to meet +with Doctor Dalichamp of Raucourt, with whom she was acquainted, her +conversation with him had been the means of bringing her to take up her +abode with Father Fouchard, in whose house she had a little bedroom, in +order to devote herself entirely to the care of the sufferers in the +neighboring hospital. That alone, she said, would serve to quiet her +bitter memories. She paid her board and was the means of introducing +many small comforts into the life of the farmhouse, which caused Father +Fouchard to regard her with an eye of favor. The weather was always +fine with him, provided he was making money. + +“Ah! so my sister is here,” said Maurice. “That must have been what M. +Delaherche wished to tell me, with his gestures that I could not +understand. Very well; if she is here, that settles it; we shall +remain.” + +Notwithstanding his fatigue he started off at once in quest of her at +the ambulance, where she had been on duty during the preceding night, +while the uncle cursed his luck that kept him from being off with the +carriole to sell his mutton among the neighboring villages, so long as +the confounded business that he had got mixed up in remained +unfinished. + +When Maurice returned with Henriette they caught the old man making a +critical examination of the horse, that Prosper had led away to the +stable. The animal seemed to please him; he was knocked up, but showed +signs of strength and endurance. The young man laughed and told his +uncle he might have him as a gift if he fancied him, while Henriette, +taking her relative aside, assured him Jean should be no expense to +him; that she would take charge of him and nurse him, and he might have +the little room behind the cow-stables, where no Prussian would ever +think to look for him. And Father Fouchard, still wearing a very sulky +face and but half convinced that there was anything to be made out of +the affair, finally closed the discussion by jumping into his carriole +and driving off, leaving her at liberty to act as she pleased. + +It took Henriette but a few minutes, with the assistance of Silvine and +Prosper, to put the room in order; then she had Jean brought in and +they laid him on a cool, clean bed, he giving no sign of life during +the operation save to mutter some unintelligible words. He opened his +eyes and looked about him, but seemed not to be conscious of anyone’s +presence in the room. Maurice, who was just beginning to be aware how +utterly prostrated he was by his fatigue, was drinking a glass of wine +and eating a bit of cold meat, left over from the yesterday’s dinner, +when Doctor Dalichamp came in, as was his daily custom previous to +visiting the hospital, and the young man, in his anxiety for his +friend, mustered up his strength to follow him, together with his +sister, to the bedside of the patient. + +The doctor was a short, thick-set man, with a big round head, on which +the hair, as well as the fringe of beard about his face, had long since +begun to be tinged with gray. The skin of his ruddy, mottled face was +tough and indurated as a peasant’s, spending as he did most of his time +in the open air, always on the go to relieve the sufferings of his +fellow-creatures; while the large, bright eyes, the massive nose, +indicative of obstinacy, and the benignant if somewhat sensual mouth +bore witness to the lifelong charities and good works of the honest +country doctor; a little brusque at times, not a man of genius, but +whom many years of practice in his profession had made an excellent +healer. + +When he had examined Jean, still in a comatose state, he murmured: + +“I am very much afraid that amputation will be necessary.” + +The words produced a painful impression on Maurice and Henriette. +Presently, however, he added: + +“Perhaps we may be able to save the leg, but it will require the utmost +care and attention, and will take a very long time. For the moment his +physical and mental depression is such that the only thing to do is to +let him sleep. To-morrow we shall know more.” + +Then, having applied a dressing to the wound, he turned to Maurice, +whom he had known in bygone days, when he was a boy. + +“And you, my good fellow, would be better off in bed than sitting +there.” + +The young man continued to gaze before him into vacancy, as if he had +not heard. In the confused hallucination that was due to his fatigue he +developed a kind of delirium, a supersensitive nervous excitation that +embraced all he had suffered in mind and body since the beginning of +the campaign. The spectacle of his friend’s wretched state, his own +condition, scarce less pitiful, defeated, his hands tied, good for +nothing, the reflection that all those heroic efforts had culminated in +such disaster, all combined to incite him to frantic rebellion against +destiny. At last he spoke. + +“It is not ended; no, no! we have not seen the end, and I must go away. +Since _he_ must lie there on his back for weeks, for months, perhaps, I +cannot stay; I must go, I must go at once. You will assist me, won’t +you, doctor? you will supply me with the means to escape and get back +to Paris?” + +Pale and trembling, Henriette threw her arms about him and caught him +to her bosom. + +“What words are those you speak? enfeebled as you are, after all the +suffering you have endured! but think not I shall let you go; you shall +stay here with me! Have you not paid the debt you owe your country? and +should you not think of me, too, whom you would leave to loneliness? of +me, who have nothing now in all the wide world save you?” + +Their tears flowed and were mingled. They held each other in a wild +tumultuous embrace, with that fond affection which, in twins, often +seems as if it antedated existence. But for all that his exaltation did +not subside, but assumed a higher pitch. + +“I tell you I must go. Should I not go I feel I should die of grief and +shame. You can have no idea how my blood boils and seethes in my veins +at the thought of remaining here in idleness. I tell you that this +business is not going to end thus, that we must be avenged. On whom, on +what? Ah! that I cannot tell; but avenged we must and shall be for such +misfortune, in order that we may yet have courage to live on!” + +Doctor Dalichamp, who had been watching the scene with intense +interest, cautioned Henriette by signal to make no reply. Maurice would +doubtless be more rational after he should have slept; and sleep he +did, all that day and all the succeeding night, for more than twenty +hours, and never stirred hand or foot. When he awoke next morning, +however, he was as inflexible as ever in his determination to go away. +The fever had subsided; he was gloomy and restless, in haste to +withdraw himself from influences that he feared might weaken his +patriotic fervor. His sister, with many tears, made up her mind that he +must be allowed to have his way, and Doctor Dalichamp, when he came to +make his morning visit, promised to do what he could to facilitate the +young man’s escape by turning over to him the papers of a hospital +attendant who had died recently at Raucourt. It was arranged that +Maurice should don the gray blouse with the red cross of Geneva on its +sleeve and pass through Belgium, thence to make his way as best he +might to Paris, access to which was as yet uninterrupted. + +He did not leave the house that day, keeping himself out of sight and +waiting for night to come. He scarcely opened his mouth, although he +did make an attempt to enlist the new farm-hand in his enterprise. + +“Say, Prosper, don’t you feel as if you would like to go back and have +one more look at the Prussians?” + +The ex-chasseur d’Afrique, who was eating a cheese sandwich, stopped +and held his knife suspended in the air. + +“It don’t strike me that it is worth while, from what we were allowed +to see of them before. Why should you wish me to go back there, when +the only use our generals can find for the cavalry is to send it in +after the battle is ended and let it be cut to pieces? No, faith, I’m +sick of the business, giving us such dirty work as that to do!” There +was silence between them for a moment; then he went on, doubtless to +quiet the reproaches of his conscience as a soldier: “And then the work +is too heavy here just now; the plowing is just commencing, and then +there’ll be the fall sowing to be looked after. We must think of the +farm work, mustn’t we? for fighting is well enough in its way, but what +would become of us if we should cease to till the ground? You see how +it is; I can’t leave my work. Not that I am particularly in love with +Father Fouchard, for I doubt very strongly if I shall ever see the +color of his money, but the beasties are beginning to take to me, and +faith! when I was up there in the Old Field this morning, and gave a +look at that d——d Sedan lying yonder in the distance, you can’t tell +how good it made me feel to be guiding my oxen and driving the plow +through the furrow, all alone in the bright sunshine.” + +As soon as it was fairly dark, Doctor Dalichamp came driving up in his +old gig. It was his intention to see Maurice to the frontier. Father +Fouchard, well pleased to be rid of one of his guests at least, stepped +out upon the road to watch and make sure there were none of the enemy’s +patrols prowling in the neighborhood, while Silvine put a few stitches +in the blouse of the defunct ambulance man, on the sleeve of which the +red cross of the corps was prominently displayed. The doctor, before +taking his place in the vehicle, examined Jean’s leg anew, but could +not as yet promise that he would be able to save it. The patient was +still in a profound lethargy, recognizing no one, never opening his +mouth to speak, and Maurice was about to leave him without the comfort +of a farewell, when, bending over to give him a last embrace, he saw +him open his eyes to their full extent; the lips parted, and in a faint +voice he said: + +“You are going away?” And in reply to their astonished looks: “Yes, I +heard what you said, though I could not stir. Take the remainder of the +money, then. Put your hand in my trousers’ pocket and take it.” + +Each of them had remaining nearly two hundred francs of the sum they +had received from the corps paymaster. + +But Maurice protested. “The money!” he exclaimed. “Why, you have more +need of it than I, who have the use of both my legs. Two hundred francs +will be abundantly sufficient to see me to Paris, and to get knocked in +the head afterward won’t cost me a penny. I thank you, though, old +fellow, all the same, and good-by and good-luck to you; thanks, too, +for having always been so good and thoughtful, for, had it not been for +you, I should certainly be lying now at the bottom of some ditch, like +a dead dog.” + +Jean made a deprecating gesture. “Hush. You owe me nothing; we are +quits. Would not the Prussians have gathered me in out there the other +day had you not picked me up and carried me off on your back? and +yesterday again you saved me from their clutches. Twice have I been +beholden to you for my life, and now I am in your debt. Ah, how unhappy +I shall be when I am no longer with you!” His voice trembled and tears +rose to his eyes. “Kiss me, dear boy!” + +They embraced, and, as it had been in the wood the day before, that +kiss set the seal to the brotherhood of dangers braved in each other’s +company, those few weeks of soldier’s life in common that had served to +bind their hearts together with closer ties than years of ordinary +friendship could have done. Days of famine, sleepless nights, the +fatigue of the weary march, death ever present to their eyes, these +things made the foundation on which their affection rested. When two +hearts have thus by mutual gift bestowed themselves the one upon the +other and become fused and molten into one, is it possible ever to +sever the connection? But the kiss they had exchanged the day before, +among the darkling shadows of the forest, was replete with the joy of +their new-found safety and the hope that their escape awakened in their +bosom, while this was the kiss of parting, full of anguish and doubt +unutterable. Would they meet again some day? and how, under what +circumstances of sorrow or of gladness? + +Doctor Dalichamp had clambered into his gig and was calling to Maurice. +The young man threw all his heart and soul into the embrace he gave his +sister Henriette, who, pale as death in her black mourning garments, +looked on his face in silence through her tears. + +“He whom I leave to your care is my brother. Watch over him, love him +as I love him!” + + + + +IV. + + +Jean’s chamber was a large room, with floor of brick and whitewashed +walls, that had once done duty as a store-room for the fruit grown on +the farm. A faint, pleasant odor of pears and apples lingered there +still, and for furniture there was an iron bedstead, a pine table and +two chairs, to say nothing of a huge old walnut clothes-press, +tremendously deep and wide, that looked as if it might hold an army. A +lazy, restful quiet reigned there all day long, broken only by the +deadened sounds that came from the adjacent stables, the faint lowing +of the cattle, the occasional thud of a hoof upon the earthen floor. +The window, which had a southern aspect, let in a flood of cheerful +sunlight; all the view it afforded was a bit of hillside and a wheat +field, edged by a little wood. And this mysterious chamber was so well +hidden from prying eyes that never a one in all the world would have +suspected its existence. + +As it was to be her kingdom, Henriette constituted herself lawmaker +from the beginning. The regulation was that no one save she and the +doctor should have access to Jean; this in order to avert suspicion. +Silvine, even, was never to set foot in the room unless by direction. +Early each morning the two women came in and put things to rights, and +after that, all the long day, the door was as impenetrable as if it had +been a wall of stone. And thus it was that Jean found himself suddenly +secluded from the world, after many weeks of tumultuous activity, +seeing no face save that of the gentle woman whose footfall on the +floor gave back no sound. She appeared to him, as he had beheld her for +the first time down yonder in Sedan, like an apparition, with her +somewhat large mouth, her delicate, small features, her hair the hue of +ripened grain, hovering about his bedside and ministering to his wants +with an air of infinite goodness. + +The patient’s fever was so violent during the first few days that +Henriette scarce ever left him. Doctor Dalichamp dropped in every +morning on his way to the hospital and examined and dressed the wound. +As the ball had passed out, after breaking the tibia, he was surprised +that the case presented no better aspect; he feared there was a +splinter of the bone remaining there that he had not succeeded in +finding with the probe, and that might make resection necessary. He +mentioned the matter to Jean, but the young man could not endure the +thought of an operation that would leave him with one leg shorter than +the other and lame him permanently. No, no! he would rather die than be +a cripple for life. So the good doctor, leaving the wound to develop +further symptoms, confined himself for the present to applying a +dressing of lint saturated with sweet oil and phenic acid having first +inserted a drain—an India rubber tube—to carry off the pus. He frankly +told his patient, however, that unless he submitted to an operation he +must not hope to have the use of his limb for a very long time. Still, +after the second week, the fever subsided and the young man’s general +condition was improved, so long as he could be content to rest quiet in +his bed. + +Then Jean’s and Henriette’s relations began to be established on a more +systematic basis. Fixed habits commenced to prevail; it seemed to them +that they had never lived otherwise—that they were to go on living +forever in that way. All the hours and moments that she did not devote +to the ambulance were spent with him; she saw to it that he had his +food and drink at proper intervals. She assisted him to turn in bed +with a strength of wrist that no one, seeing her slender arms, would +have supposed was in her. At times they would converse; but as a +general thing, especially in the earlier days, they had not much to +say. They never seemed to tire of each other’s company, though. On the +whole it was a very pleasant life they led in that calm, restful +atmosphere, he with the horrible scenes of the battlefield still fresh +in his memory, she in her widow’s weeds, her heart bruised and bleeding +with the great loss she had sustained. At first he had experienced a +sensation of embarrassment, for he felt she was his superior, almost a +lady, indeed, while he had never been aught more than a common soldier +and a peasant. He could barely read and write. When finally he came to +see that she affected no airs of superiority, but treated him on the +footing of an equal, his confidence returned to him in a measure and he +showed himself in his true colors, as a man of intelligence by reason +of his sound, unpretentious common sense. Besides, he was surprised at +times to think he could note a change was gradually coming over him; it +seemed to him that his mind was less torpid than it had been, that it +was clearer and more active, that he had novel ideas in his head, and +more of them; could it be that the abominable life he had been leading +for the last two months, his horrible sufferings, physical and moral, +had exerted a refining influence on him? But that which assisted him +most to overcome his shyness was to find that she was really not so +very much wiser than he. She was but a little child when, at her +mother’s death, she became the household drudge, with her three men to +care for, as she herself expressed it—her grandfather, her father, and +her brother—and she had not had the time to lay in a large stock of +learning. She could read and write, could spell words that were not too +long, and “do sums,” if they were not too intricate; and that was the +extent of her acquirement. And if she continued to intimidate him +still, if he considered her far and away the superior of all other +women upon earth, it was because he knew the ineffable tenderness, the +goodness of heart, the unflinching courage, that animated that frail +little body, who went about her duties silently and met them as if they +had been pleasures. + +They had in Maurice a subject of conversation that was of common +interest to them both and of which they never wearied. It was to +Maurice’s friend, his brother, to whom she was devoting herself thus +tenderly, the brave, kind man, so ready with his aid in time of +trouble, who she felt had made her so many times his debtor. She was +full to overflowing with a sentiment of deepest gratitude and +affection, that went on widening and deepening as she came to know him +better and recognize his sterling qualities of head and heart, and he, +whom she was tending like a little child, was actuated by such grateful +sentiments that he would have liked to kiss her hands each time she +gave him a cup of bouillon. Day by day did this bond of tender sympathy +draw them nearer to each other in that profound solitude amid which +they lived, harassed by an anxiety that they shared in common. When he +had utterly exhausted his recollections of the dismal march from Rheims +to Sedan, to the particulars of which she never seemed to tire of +listening, the same question always rose to their lips: what was +Maurice doing then? why did he not write? Could it be that the blockade +of Paris was already complete, and was that the reason why they +received no news? They had as yet had but one letter from him, written +at Rouen, three days after his leaving them, in which he briefly stated +that he had reached that city on his way to Paris, after a long and +devious journey. And then for a week there had been no further word; +the silence had remained unbroken. + +In the morning, after Doctor Dalichamp had attended to his patient, he +liked to sit a while and chat, putting his cares aside for the moment. +Sometimes he also returned at evening and made a longer visit, and it +was in this way that they learned what was going on in the great world +outside their peaceful solitude and the terrible calamities that were +desolating their country. He was their only source of intelligence; his +heart, which beat with patriotic ardor, overflowed with rage and grief +at every fresh defeat, and thus it was that his sole topic of +conversation was the victorious progress of the Prussians, who, since +Sedan, had spread themselves over France like the waves of some black +ocean. Each day brought its own tidings of disaster, and resting +disconsolately on one of the two chairs that stood by the bedside, he +would tell in mournful tones and with trembling gestures of the +increasing gravity of the situation. Oftentimes he came with his +pockets stuffed with Belgian newspapers, which he would leave behind +him when he went away. And thus the echoes of defeat, days, weeks, +after the event, reverberated in that quiet room, serving to unite yet +more closely in community of sorrow the two poor sufferers who were +shut within its walls. + +It was from some of those old newspapers that Henriette read to Jean +the occurrences at Metz, the Titanic struggle that was three times +renewed, separated on each occasion by a day’s interval. The story was +already five weeks old, but it was new to him, and he listened with a +bleeding heart to the repetition of the miserable narrative of defeat +to which he was not a stranger. In the deathly stillness of the room +the incidents of the woeful tale unfolded themselves as Henriette, with +the sing-song enunciation of a schoolgirl, picked out her words and +sentences. When, after Froeschwiller and Spickeren, the 1st corps, +routed and broken into fragments, had swept away with it the 5th, the +other corps stationed along the frontier _en échelon_ from Metz to +Bitche, first wavering, then retreating in their consternation at those +reverses, had ultimately concentrated before the intrenched camp on the +right bank of the Moselle. But what waste of precious time was there, +when they should not have lost a moment in retreating on Paris, a +movement that was presently to be attended with such difficulty! The +Emperor had been compelled to turn over the supreme command to Marshal +Bazaine, to whom everyone looked with confidence for a victory. Then, +on the 14th[3] came the affair of Borny, when the army was attacked at +the moment when it was at last about to cross the stream, having to +sustain the onset of two German armies: Steinmetz’s, which was encamped +in observation in front of the intrenched camp, and Prince Frederick +Charles’s, which had passed the river higher up and come down along the +left bank in order to bar the French from access to their country; +Borny, where the firing did not begin until it was three o’clock; +Borny, that barren victory, at the end of which the French remained +masters of their positions, but which left them astride the Moselle, +tied hand and foot, while the turning movement of the second German +army was being successfully accomplished. After that, on the 16th, was +the battle of Rezonville; all our corps were at last across the stream, +although, owing to the confusion that prevailed at the junction of the +Mars-la-Tour and Etain roads, which the Prussians had gained possession +of early in the morning by a brilliant movement of their cavalry and +artillery, the 3d and 4th corps were hindered in their march and unable +to get up; a slow, dragging, confused battle, which, up to two o’clock, +Bazaine, with only a handful of men opposed to him, should have won, +but which he wound up by losing, thanks to his inexplicable fear of +being cut off from Metz; a battle of immense extent, spreading over +leagues of hill and plain, where the French, attacked in front and +flank, seemed willing to do almost anything except advance, affording +the enemy time to concentrate and to all appearances co-operating with +them to ensure the success of the Prussian plan, which was to force +their withdrawal to the other side of the river. And on the 18th, after +their retirement to the intrenched camp, Saint-Privat was fought, the +culmination of the gigantic struggle, where the line of battle extended +more than eight miles in length, two hundred thousand Germans with +seven hundred guns arrayed against a hundred and twenty thousand French +with but five hundred guns, the Germans facing toward Germany, the +French toward France, as if invaders and invaded had inverted their +roles in the singular tactical movements that had been going on; after +two o’clock the conflict was most sanguinary, the Prussian Guard being +repulsed with tremendous slaughter and Bazaine, with a left wing that +withstood the onsets of the enemy like a wall of adamant, for a long +time victorious, up to the moment, at the approach of evening, when the +weaker right wing was compelled by the terrific losses it had sustained +to abandon Saint-Privat, involving in its rout the remainder of the +army, which, defeated and driven back under the walls of Metz, was +thenceforth to be imprisoned in a circle of flame and iron. + + [3] August.—TR. + + +As Henriette pursued her reading Jean momentarily interrupted her to +say: + +“Ah, well! and to think that we fellows, after leaving Rheims, were +looking for Bazaine! They were always telling us he was coming; now I +can see why he never came!” + +The marshal’s despatch, dated the 19th, after the battle of +Saint-Privat, in which he spoke of resuming his retrograde movement by +way of Montmedy, that despatch which had for its effect the advance of +the army of Châlons, would seem to have been nothing more than the +report of a defeated general, desirous to present matters under their +most favorable aspect, and it was not until a considerably later +period, the 29th, when the tidings of the approach of this relieving +army had reached him through the Prussian lines, that he attempted a +final effort, on the right bank this time, at Noiseville, but in such a +feeble, half-hearted way that on the 1st of September, the day when the +army of Châlons was annihilated at Sedan, the army of Metz fell back to +advance no more, and became as if dead to France. The marshal, whose +conduct up to that time may fairly be characterized as that of a leader +of only moderate ability, neglecting his opportunities and failing to +move when the roads were open to him, after that blockaded by forces +greatly superior to his own, was now about to be seduced by alluring +visions of political greatness and become a conspirator and a traitor. + +But in the papers that Doctor Dalichamp brought them Bazaine was still +the great man and the gallant soldier, to whom France looked for her +salvation. + +And Jean wanted certain passages read to him again, in order that he +might more clearly understand how it was that while the third German +army, under the Crown Prince of Prussia, had been leading them such a +dance, and the first and second were besieging Metz, the latter were so +strong in men and guns that it had been possible to form from them a +fourth army, which, under the Crown Prince of Saxony, had done so much +to decide the fortune of the day at Sedan. Then, having obtained the +information he desired, resting on that bed of suffering to which his +wound condemned him, he forced himself to hope in spite of all. + +“That’s how it is, you see; we were not so strong as they! No one can +ever get at the rights of such matters while the fighting is going on. +Never mind, though; you have read the figures as the newspapers give +them: Bazaine has a hundred and fifty thousand men with him, he has +three hundred thousand small arms and more than five hundred pieces of +artillery; take my word for it, he is not going to let himself be +caught in such a scrape as we were. The fellows all say he is a tough +man to deal with; depend on it he’s fixing up a nasty dose for the +enemy, and he’ll make ’em swallow it.” + +Henriette nodded her head and appeared to agree with him, in order to +keep him in a cheerful frame of mind. She could not follow those +complicated operations of the armies, but had a presentiment of coming, +inevitable evil. Her voice was fresh and clear; she could have gone on +reading thus for hours; only too glad to have it in her power to +relieve the tedium of his long day, though at times, when she came to +some narrative of slaughter, her eyes would fill with tears that made +the words upon the printed page a blur. She was doubtless thinking of +her husband’s fate, how he had been shot down at the foot of the wall +and his body desecrated by the touch of the Bavarian officer’s boot. + +“If it gives you such pain,” Jean said in surprise, “you need not read +the battles; skip them.” + +But, gentle and self-sacrificing as ever, she recovered herself +immediately. + +“No, no; don’t mind my weakness; I assure you it is a pleasure to me.” + +One evening early in October, when the wind was blowing a small +hurricane outside, she came in from the ambulance and entered the room +with an excited air, saying: + +“A letter from Maurice! the doctor just gave it me.” + +With each succeeding morning the twain had been becoming more and more +alarmed that the young man sent them no word, and now that for a whole +week it had been rumored everywhere that the investment of Paris was +complete, they were more disturbed in mind than ever, despairing of +receiving tidings, asking themselves what could have happened him after +he left Rouen. And now the reason of the long silence was made clear to +them: the letter that he had addressed from Paris to Doctor Dalichamp +on the 18th, the very day that ended railway communication with Havre, +had gone astray and had only reached them at last by a miracle, after a +long and circuitous journey. + +“Ah, the dear boy!” said Jean, radiant with delight. “Read it to me, +quick!” + +The wind was howling and shrieking more dismally than ever, the window +of the apartment strained and rattled as if someone were trying to +force an entrance. Henriette went and got the little lamp, and placing +it on the table beside the bed applied herself to the reading of the +missive, so close to Jean that their faces almost touched. There was a +sensation of warmth and comfort in the peaceful room amid the roaring +of the storm that raged without. + +It was a long letter of eight closely filled pages, in which Maurice +first told how, soon after his arrival on the 16th, he had had the good +fortune to get into a line regiment that was being recruited up to its +full strength. Then, reverting to facts of history, he described in +brief but vigorous terms the principal events of that month of terror: +how Paris, recovering her sanity in a measure after the madness into +which the disasters of Wissembourg and Froeschwiller had driven her, +had comforted herself with hopes of future victories, had cheered +herself with fresh illusions, such as lying stories of the army’s +successes, the appointment of Bazaine to the chief command, the _levée +en masse_, bogus dispatches, which the ministers themselves read from +the tribune, telling of hecatombs of slaughtered Prussians. And then he +went on to tell how, on the 3d of September, the thunderbolt had a +second time burst over the unhappy capital: all hope gone, the +misinformed, abused, confiding city dazed by that crushing blow of +destiny, the cries: “Down with the Empire!” that resounded at night +upon the boulevards, the brief and gloomy session of the Chamber at +which Jules Favre read the draft of the bill that conceded the popular +demand. Then on the next day, the ever-memorable 4th of September, was +the upheaval of all things, the second Empire swept from existence in +atonement for its mistakes and crimes, the entire population of the +capital in the streets, a torrent of humanity a half a million strong +filling the Place de la Concorde and streaming onward in the bright +sunshine of that beautiful Sabbath day to the great gates of the Corps +Législatif, feebly guarded by a handful of troops, who up-ended their +muskets in the air in token of sympathy with the populace—smashing in +the doors, swarming into the assembly chambers, whence Jules Favre, +Gambetta and other deputies of the Left were even then on the point of +departing to proclaim the Republic at the Hôtel de Ville; while on the +Place Saint-Germain-l’Auxerrois a little wicket of the Louvre opened +timidly and gave exit to the Empress-regent, attired in black garments +and accompanied by a single female friend, both the women trembling +with affright and striving to conceal themselves in the depths of the +public cab, which went jolting with its scared inmates from the +Tuileries, through whose apartments the mob was at that moment +streaming. On the same day Napoleon III. left the inn at Bouillon, +where he had passed his first night of exile, bending his way toward +Wilhelmshohe. + +Here Jean, a thoughtful expression on his face, interrupted Henriette. + +“Then we have a republic now? So much the better, if it is going to +help us whip the Prussians!” + +But he shook his head; he had always been taught to look distrustfully +on republics when he was a peasant. And then, too, it did not seem to +him a good thing that they should be of differing minds when the enemy +was fronting them. After all, though, it was manifest there had to be a +change of some kind, since everyone knew the Empire was rotten to the +core and the people would have no more of it. + +Henriette finished the letter, which concluded with a mention of the +approach of the German armies. On the 13th, the day when a committee of +the Government of National Defense had established its quarters at +Tours, their advanced guards had been seen at Lagny, to the east of +Paris. On the 14th and 15th they were at the very gates of the city, at +Creteil and Joinville-le-Pont. On the 18th, however, the day when +Maurice wrote, he seemed to have ceased to believe in the possibility +of maintaining a strict blockade of Paris; he appeared to be under the +influence of one of his hot fits of blind confidence, characterising +the siege as a senseless and impudent enterprise that would come to an +ignominious end before they were three weeks older, relying on the +armies that the provinces would surely send to their relief, to say +nothing of the army of Metz, that was already advancing by way of +Verdun and Rheims. And the links of the iron chain that their enemies +had forged for them had been riveted together; it encompassed Paris, +and now Paris was a city shut off from all the world, whence no letter, +no word of tidings longer came, the huge prison-house of two millions +of living beings, who were to their neighbors as if they were not. + +Henriette was oppressed by a sense of melancholy. “Ah, merciful +heaven!” she murmured, “how long will all this last, and shall we ever +see him more!” + +A more furious blast bent the sturdy trees out-doors and made the +timbers of the old farmhouse creak and groan. Think of the sufferings +the poor fellows would have to endure should the winter be severe, +fighting in the snow, without bread, without fire! + +“Bah!” rejoined Jean, “that’s a very nice letter of his, and it’s a +comfort to have heard from him. We must not despair.” + +Thus, day by day, the month of October ran its course, with gray +melancholy skies, and if ever the wind went down for a short space it +was only to bring the clouds back in darker, heavier masses. Jean’s +wound was healing very slowly; the outflow from the drain was not the +“laudable pus” which would have permitted the doctor to remove the +appliance, and the patient was in a very enfeebled state, refusing, +however, to be operated on in his dread of being left a cripple. An +atmosphere of expectant resignation, disturbed at times by transient +misgivings for which there was no apparent cause, pervaded the +slumberous little chamber, to which the tidings from abroad came in +vague, indeterminate shape, like the distorted visions of an evil +dream. The hateful war, with its butcheries and disasters, was still +raging out there in the world, in some quarter unknown to them, without +their ever being able to learn the real course of events, without their +being conscious of aught save the wails and groans that seemed to fill +the air from their mangled, bleeding country. And the dead leaves +rustled in the paths as the wind swept them before it beneath the +gloomy sky, and over the naked fields brooded a funereal silence, +broken only by the cawing of the crows, presage of a bitter winter. + +A principal subject of conversation between them at this time was the +hospital, which Henriette never left except to come and cheer Jean with +her company. When she came in at evening he would question her, making +the acquaintance of each of her charges, desirous to know who would die +and who recover; while she, whose heart and soul were in her +occupation, never wearied, but related the occurrences of the day in +their minutest details. + +“Ah,” she would always say, “the poor boys, the poor boys!” + +It was not the ambulance of the battlefield, where the blood from the +wounded came in a fresh, bright stream, where the flesh the surgeon’s +knife cut into was firm and healthy; it was the decay and rottenness of +the hospital, where the odor of fever and gangrene hung in the air, +damp with the exhalations of the lingering convalescents and those who +were dying by inches. Doctor Dalichamp had had the greatest difficulty +in procuring the necessary beds, sheets and pillows, and every day he +had to accomplish miracles to keep his patients alive, to obtain for +them bread, meat and desiccated vegetables, to say nothing of bandages, +compresses and other appliances. As the Prussian officers in charge of +the military hospital in Sedan had refused him everything, even +chloroform, he was accustomed to send to Belgium for what he required. +And yet he had made no discrimination between French and Germans; he +was even then caring for a dozen Bavarian soldiers who had been brought +in there from Bazeilles. Those bitter adversaries who but a short time +before had been trying to cut each other’s throat now lay side by side, +their passions calmed by suffering. And what abodes of distress and +misery they were, those two long rooms in the old schoolhouse of +Remilly, where, in the crude light that streamed through the tall +windows, some thirty beds in each were arranged on either side of a +narrow passage. + +As late even as ten days after the battle wounded men had been +discovered in obscure corners, where they had been overlooked, and +brought in for treatment. There were four who had crawled into a vacant +house at Balan and remained there, without attendance, kept from +starving in some way, no one could tell how, probably by the charity of +some kind-hearted neighbor, and their wounds were alive with maggots; +they were as dead men, their system poisoned by the corruption that +exuded from their wounds. There was a purulency, that nothing could +check or overcome, that hovered over the rows of beds and emptied them. +As soon as the door was passed one’s nostrils were assailed by the odor +of mortifying flesh. From drains inserted in festering sores fetid +matter trickled, drop by drop. Oftentimes it became necessary to reopen +old wounds in order to extract a fragment of bone that had been +overlooked. Then abscesses would form, to break out after an interval +in some remote portion of the body. Their strength all gone, reduced to +skeletons, with ashen, clayey faces, the miserable wretches suffered +the torments of the damned. Some, so weakened they could scarcely draw +their breath, lay all day long upon their back, with tight shut, +darkened eyes, like corpses in which decomposition had already set in; +while others, denied the boon of sleep, tossing in restless +wakefulness, drenched with the cold sweat that streamed from every +pore, raved like lunatics, as if their suffering had made them mad. And +whether they were calm or violent, it mattered not; when the contagion +of the fever reached them, then was the end at hand, the poison doing +its work, flying from bed to bed, sweeping them all away in one mass of +corruption. + +But worst of all was the condemned cell, the room to which were +assigned those who were attacked by dysentery, typhus or small-pox. +There were many cases of black small-pox. The patients writhed and +shrieked in unceasing delirium, or sat erect in bed with the look of +specters. Others had pneumonia and were wasting beneath the stress of +their frightful cough. There were others again who maintained a +continuous howling and were comforted only when their burning, +throbbing wound was sprayed with cold water. The great hour of the day, +the one that was looked forward to with eager expectancy, was that of +the doctor’s morning visit, when the beds were opened and aired and an +opportunity was afforded their occupants to stretch their limbs, +cramped by remaining long in one position. And it was the hour of dread +and terror as well, for not a day passed that, as the doctor went his +rounds, he was not pained to see on some poor devil’s skin the bluish +spots that denoted the presence of gangrene. The operation would be +appointed for the following day, when a few more inches of the leg or +arm would be sliced away. Often the gangrene kept mounting higher and +higher, and amputation had to be repeated until the entire limb was +gone. + +Every evening on her return Henriette answered Jean’s questions in the +same tone of compassion: + +“Ah, the poor boys, the poor boys!” + +And her particulars never varied; they were the story of the daily +recurring torments of that earthly hell. There had been an amputation +at the shoulder-joint, a foot had been taken off, a humerus resected; +but would gangrene or purulent contagion be clement and spare the +patient? Or else they had been burying some one of their inmates, most +frequently a Frenchman, now and then a German. Scarcely a day passed +but a coarse coffin, hastily knocked together from four pine boards, +left the hospital at the twilight hour, accompanied by a single one of +the attendants, often by the young woman herself, that a +fellow-creature might not be laid away in his grave like a dog. In the +little cemetery at Remilly two trenches had been dug, and there they +slumbered, side by side, French to the right, Germans to the left, +their enmity forgotten in their narrow bed. + +Jean, without ever having seen them, had come to feel an interest in +certain among the patients. He would ask for tidings of them. + +“And ‘Poor boy,’ how is he getting on to-day?” + +This was a little soldier, a private in the 5th of the line, not yet +twenty years old, who had doubtless enlisted as a volunteer. The +by-name: “Poor boy” had been given him and had stuck because he always +used the words in speaking of himself, and when one day he was asked +the reason he replied that that was the name by which his mother had +always called him. Poor boy he was, in truth, for he was dying of +pleurisy brought on by a wound in his left side. + +“Ah, poor fellow,” replied Henriette, who had conceived a special +fondness for this one of her charges, “he is no better; he coughed all +the afternoon. It pained my heart to hear him.” + +“And your bear, Gutman, how about him?” pursued Jean, with a faint +smile. “Is the doctor’s report more favorable?” + +“Yes, he thinks he may be able to save his life. But the poor man +suffers dreadfully.” + +Although they both felt the deepest compassion for him, they never +spoke of Gutman but a smile of gentle amusement came to their lips. +Almost immediately upon entering on her duties at the hospital the +young woman had been shocked to recognize in that Bavarian soldier the +features: big blue eyes, red hair and beard and massive nose, of the +man who had carried her away in his arms the day they shot her husband +at Bazeilles. He recognized her as well, but could not speak; a musket +ball, entering at the back of the neck, had carried away half his +tongue. For two days she recoiled with horror, an involuntary shudder +passed through her frame, each time she had to approach his bed, but +presently her heart began to melt under the imploring, very gentle +looks with which he followed her movements in the room. Was he not the +blood-splashed monster, with eyes ablaze with furious rage, whose +memory was ever present to her mind? It cost her an effort to recognize +him now in that submissive, uncomplaining creature, who bore his +terrible suffering with such cheerful resignation. The nature of his +affliction, which is not of frequent occurrence, enlisted for him the +sympathies of the entire hospital. It was not even certain that his +name was Gutman; he was called so because the only sound he succeeded +in articulating was a word of two syllables that resembled that more +than it did anything else. As regarded all other particulars concerning +him everyone was in the dark; it was generally believed, however, that +he was married and had children. He seemed to understand a few words of +French, for he would answer questions that were put to him with an +emphatic motion of the head: “Married?” yes, yes! “Children?” yes, yes! +The interest and excitement he displayed one day that he saw some flour +induced them to believe he might have been a miller. And that was all. +Where was the mill, whose wheel had ceased to turn? In what distant +Bavarian village were the wife and children now weeping their lost +husband and father? Was he to die, nameless, unknown, in that foreign +country, and leave his dear ones forever ignorant of his fate? + +“To-day,” Henriette told Jean one evening, “Gutman kissed his hand to +me. I cannot give him a drink of water, or render him any other +trifling service, but he manifests his gratitude by the most +extravagant demonstrations. Don’t smile; it is too terrible to be +buried thus alive before one’s time has come.” + +Toward the end of October Jean’s condition began to improve. The doctor +thought he might venture to remove the drain, although he still looked +apprehensive whenever he examined the wound, which, nevertheless +appeared to be healing as rapidly as could be expected. The +convalescent was able to leave his bed, and spent hours at a time +pacing his room or seated at the window, looking out on the cheerless, +leaden sky. Then time began to hang heavy on his hands; he spoke of +finding something to do, asked if he could not be of service on the +farm. Among the secret cares that disturbed his mind was the question +of money, for he did not suppose he could have lain there for six long +weeks and not exhaust his little fortune of two hundred francs, and if +Father Fouchard continued to afford him hospitality it must be that +Henriette had been paying his board. The thought distressed him +greatly; he did not know how to bring about an explanation with her, +and it was with a feeling of deep satisfaction that he accepted the +position of assistant at the farm, with the understanding that he was +to help Silvine with the housework, while Prosper was to be continued +in charge of the out-door labors. + +Notwithstanding the hardness of the times Father Fouchard could well +afford to take on another hand, for his affairs were prospering. While +the whole country was in the throes of dissolution and bleeding at +every limb, he had succeeded in so extending his butchering business +that he was now slaughtering three and even four times as many animals +as he had ever done before. It was said that since the 31st of August +he had been carrying on a most lucrative business with the Prussians. +He who on the 30th had stood at his door with his cocked gun in his +hand and refused to sell a crust of bread to the starving soldiers of +the 7th corps had on the following day, upon the first appearance of +the enemy, opened up as dealer in all kinds of supplies, had +disinterred from his cellar immense stocks of provisions, had brought +back his flocks and herds from the fastnesses where he had concealed +them; and since that day he had been one of the heaviest purveyors of +meat to the German armies, exhibiting consummate address in bargaining +with them and in getting his money promptly for his merchandise. Other +dealers at times suffered great inconvenience from the insolent +arbitrariness of the victors, whereas he never sold them a sack of +flour, a cask of wine or a quarter of beef that he did not get his pay +for it as soon as delivered in good hard cash. It made a good deal of +talk in Remilly; people said it was scandalous on the part of a man +whom the war had deprived of his only son, whose grave he never +visited, but left to be cared for by Silvine; but nevertheless they all +looked up to him with respect as a man who was making his fortune while +others, even the shrewdest, were having a hard time of it to keep body +and soul together. And he, with a sly leer out of his small red eyes, +would shrug his shoulders and growl in his bull-headed way: + +“Who talks of patriotism! I am more a patriot than any of them. Would +you call it patriotism to fill those bloody Prussians’ mouths gratis? +What they get from me they have to pay for. Folks will see how it is +some of these days!” + +On the second day of his employment Jean remained too long on foot, and +the doctor’s secret fears proved not to be unfounded; the wound opened, +the leg became greatly inflamed and swollen, he was compelled to take +to his bed again. Dalichamp suspected that the mischief was due to a +spicule of bone that the two consecutive days of violent exercise had +served to liberate. He explored the wound and was so fortunate as to +find the fragment, but there was a shock attending the operation, +succeeded by a high fever, which exhausted all Jean’s strength. He had +never in his life been reduced to a condition of such debility: his +recovery promised to be a work of time, and faithful Henriette resumed +her position as nurse and companion in the little chamber, where winter +with icy breath now began to make its presence felt. It was early +November, already the east wind had brought on its wings a smart flurry +of snow, and between those four bare walls, on the uncarpeted floor +where even the tall, gaunt old clothes-press seemed to shiver with +discomfort, the cold was extreme. As there was no fireplace in the room +they determined to set up a stove, of which the purring, droning murmur +assisted to brighten their solitude a bit. + +The days wore on, monotonously, and that first week of the relapse was +to Jean and Henriette the dreariest and saddest in all their long, +unsought intimacy. Would their suffering never end? were they to hope +for no surcease of misery, the danger always springing up afresh? At +every moment their thoughts sped away to Maurice, from whom they had +received no further word. They were told that others were getting +letters, brief notes written on tissue paper and brought in by +carrier-pigeons. Doubtless the bullet of some hated German had slain +the messenger that, winging its way through the free air of heaven, was +bringing them their missive of joy and love. Everything seemed to +retire into dim obscurity, to die and be swallowed up in the depths of +the premature winter. Intelligence of the war only reached them a long +time after the occurrence of events, the few newspapers that Doctor +Dalichamp still continued to supply them with were often a week old by +the time they reached their hands. And their dejection was largely +owing to their want of information, to what they did not know and yet +instinctively felt to be the truth, to the prolonged death-wail that, +spite of all, came to their ears across the frozen fields in the deep +silence that lay upon the country. + +One morning the doctor came to them in a condition of deepest +discouragement. With a trembling hand he drew from his pocket a Belgian +newspaper and threw it on the bed, exclaiming: + +“Alas, my friends, poor France is murdered; Bazaine has played the +traitor!” + +Jean, who had been dozing, his back supported by a couple of pillows, +suddenly became wide-awake. + +“What, a traitor?” + +“Yes, he has surrendered Metz and the army. It is the experience of +Sedan over again, only this time they drain us of our last drop of +life-blood.” Then taking up the paper and reading from it: “One hundred +and fifty thousand prisoners, one hundred and fifty-three eagles and +standards, one hundred and forty-one field guns, seventy-six machine +guns, eight hundred casemate and barbette guns, three hundred thousand +muskets, two thousand military train wagons, material for eighty-five +batteries—” + +And he went on giving further particulars: how Marshal Bazaine had been +blockaded in Metz with the army, bound hand and foot, making no effort +to break the wall of adamant that surrounded him; the doubtful +relations that existed between him and Prince Frederick Charles, his +indecision and fluctuating political combinations, his ambition to play +a great role in history, but a role that he seemed not to have fixed +upon himself; then all the dirty business of parleys and conferences, +and the communications by means of lying, unsavory emissaries with +Bismarck, King William and the Empress-regent, who in the end put her +foot down and refused to negotiate with the enemy on the basis of a +cession of territory; and, finally, the inevitable catastrophe, the +completion of the web that destiny had been weaving, famine in Metz, a +compulsory capitulation, officers and men, hope and courage gone, +reduced to accept the bitter terms of the victor. France no longer had +an army. + +“In God’s name!” Jean ejaculated in a deep, low voice. He had not fully +understood it all, but until then Bazaine had always been for him the +great captain, the one man to whom they were to look for salvation. +“What is left us to do now? What will become of them at Paris?” + +The doctor was just coming to the news from Paris, which was of a +disastrous character. He called their attention to the fact that the +paper from which he was reading was dated November 5. The surrender of +Metz had been consummated on the 27th of October, and the tidings were +not known in Paris until the 30th. Coming, as it did, upon the heels of +the reverses recently sustained at Chevilly, Bagneux and la Malmaison, +after the conflict at Bourget and the loss of that position, the +intelligence had burst like a thunderbolt over the desperate populace, +angered and disgusted by the feebleness and impotency of the government +of National Defense. And thus it was that on the following day, the +31st, the city was threatened with a general insurrection, an immense +throng of angry men, a mob ripe for mischief, collecting on the Place +de l’Hôtel de Ville, whence they swarmed into the halls and public +offices, making prisoners the members of the Government, whom the +National Guard rescued later in the day only because they feared the +triumph of those incendiaries who were clamoring for the commune. And +the Belgian journal wound up with a few stinging comments on the great +City of Paris, thus torn by civil war when the enemy was at its gates. +Was it not the presage of approaching decomposition, the puddle of +blood and mire that was to engulf a world? + +“That’s true enough!” said Jean, whose face was very white. “They’ve no +business to be squabbling when the Prussians are at hand!” + +But Henriette, who had said nothing as yet, always making it her rule +to hold her tongue when politics were under discussion, could not +restrain a cry that rose from her heart. Her thoughts were ever with +her brother. + +“_Mon Dieu_, I hope that Maurice, with all the foolish ideas he has in +his head, won’t let himself get mixed up in this business!” + +They were all silent in their distress; and it was the doctor, who was +ardently patriotic, who resumed the conversation. + +“Never mind; if there are no more soldiers, others will grow. Metz has +surrendered, Paris may surrender, even; but it don’t follow from that +that France is wiped out. Yes, the strong-box is all right, as our +peasants say, and we will live on in spite of all.” + +It was clear, however, that he was hoping against hope. He spoke of the +army that was collecting on the Loire, whose initial performances, in +the neighborhood of Arthenay, had not been of the most promising; it +would become seasoned and would march to the relief of Paris. His +enthusiasm was aroused to boiling pitch by the proclamations of +Gambetta, who had left Paris by balloon on the 7th of October and two +days later established his headquarters at Tours, calling on every +citizen to fly to arms, and instinct with a spirit at once so virile +and so sagacious that the entire country gave its adhesion to the +dictatorial powers assumed for the public safety. And was there not +talk of forming another army in the North, and yet another in the East, +of causing soldiers to spring from the ground by sheer force of faith? +It was to be the awakening of the provinces, the creation of all that +was wanting by exercise of indomitable will, the determination to +continue the struggle until the last sou was spent, the last drop of +blood shed. + +“Bah!” said the doctor in conclusion as he arose to go, “I have many a +time given up a patient, and a week later found him as lively as a +cricket.” + +Jean smiled. “Doctor, hurry up and make a well man of me, so I can go +back to my post down yonder.” + +But those evil tidings left Henriette and him in a terribly +disheartened state. There came another cold wave, with snow, and when +the next day Henriette came in shivering from the hospital she told her +friend that Gutman was dead. The intense cold had proved fatal to many +among the wounded; it was emptying the rows of beds. The miserable man +whom the loss of his tongue had condemned to silence had lain two days +in the throes of death. During his last hour she had remained seated at +his bedside, unable to resist the supplication of his pleading gaze. He +seemed to be speaking to her with his tearful eyes, trying to tell, it +may be, his real name and the name of the village, so far away, where a +wife and little ones were watching for his return. And he had gone from +them a stranger, known of none, sending her a last kiss with his +uncertain, stiffening fingers, as if to thank her once again for all +her gentle care. She was the only one who accompanied the remains to +the cemetery, where the frozen earth, the unfriendly soil of the +stranger’s country, rattled with a dull, hollow sound on the pine +coffin, mingled with flakes of snow. + +The next day, again, Henriette said upon her return at evening: + +“‘Poor boy’ is dead.” She could not keep back her tears at mention of +his name. “If you could but have seen and heard him in his pitiful +delirium! He kept calling me: ‘Mamma! mamma!’ and stretched his poor +thin arms out to me so entreatingly that I had to take him on my lap. +His suffering had so wasted him that he was no heavier than a boy of +ten, poor fellow. And I held and soothed him, so that he might die in +peace; yes, I held him in my arms, I whom he called his mother and who +was but a few years older than himself. He wept, and I myself could not +restrain my tears; you can see I am weeping still—” Her utterance was +choked with sobs; she had to pause. “Before his death he murmured +several times the name which he had given himself: ‘Poor boy, poor +boy!’ Ah, how just the designation! poor boys they are indeed, some of +them so young and all so brave, whom your hateful war maims and mangles +and causes to suffer so before they are laid away at last in their +narrow bed!” + +Never a day passed now but Henriette came in at night in this anguished +state, caused by some new death, and the suffering of others had the +effect of bringing them together even more closely still during the +sorrowful hours that they spent, secluded from all the world, in the +silent, tranquil chamber. And yet those hours were full of sweetness, +too, for affection, a feeling which they believed to be a brother’s and +sister’s love, had sprung up in those two hearts which little by little +had come to know each other’s worth. To him, with his observant, +thoughtful nature, their long intimacy had proved an elevating +influence, while she, noting his unfailing kindness of heart and +evenness of temper, had ceased to remember that he was one of the lowly +of the earth and had been a tiller of the soil before he became a +soldier. Their understanding was perfect; they made a very good couple, +as Silvine said with her grave smile. There was never the least +embarrassment between them; when she dressed his leg the calm serenity +that dwelt in the eyes of both was undisturbed. Always attired in +black, in her widow’s garments, it seemed almost as if she had ceased +to be a woman. + +But during those long afternoons when Jean was left to himself he could +not help giving way to speculation. The sentiment he experienced for +his friend was one of boundless gratitude, a sort of religious +reverence, which would have made him repel the idea of love as if it +were a sort of sacrilege. And yet he told himself that had he had a +wife like her, so gentle, so loving, so helpful, his life would have +been an earthly paradise. His great misfortune, his unhappy marriage, +the evil years he had spent at Rognes, his wife’s tragic end, all the +sad past, arose before him with a softened feeling of regret, with an +undefined hope for the future, but without distinct purpose to try +another effort to master happiness. He closed his eyes and dropped off +into a doze, and then he had a confused vision of being at Remilly, +married again and owner of a bit of land, sufficient to support a +family of honest folks whose wants were not extravagant. But it was all +a dream, lighter than thistle-down; he knew it could never, never be. +He believed his heart to be capable of no emotion stronger than +friendship, he loved Henriette as he did solely because he was +Maurice’s brother. And then that vague dream of marriage had come to be +in some measure a comfort to him, one of those fancies of the +imagination that we know is never to be realized and with which we +fondle ourselves in our hours of melancholy. + +For her part, such thoughts had never for a moment presented themselves +to Henriette’s mind. Since the day of the horrible tragedy at Bazeilles +her bruised heart had lain numb and lifeless in her bosom, and if +consolation in the shape of a new affection had found its way thither, +it could not be otherwise than without her knowledge; the latent +movement of the seed deep-buried in the earth, which bursts its sheath +and germinates, unseen of human eye. She failed even to perceive the +pleasure it afforded her to remain for hours at a time by Jean’s +bedside, reading to him those newspapers that never brought them +tidings save of evil. Never had her pulses beat more rapidly at the +touch of his hand, never had she dwelt in dreamy rapture on the vision +of the future with a longing to be loved once more. And yet it was in +that chamber alone that she found comfort and oblivion. When she was +there, busying herself with noiseless diligence for her patient’s +well-being, she was at peace; it seemed to her that soon her brother +would return and all would be well, they would all lead a life of +happiness together and never more be parted. And it appeared to her so +natural that things should end thus that she talked of their relations +without the slightest feeling of embarrassment, without once thinking +to question her heart more closely, unaware that she had already made +the chaste surrender of it. + +But as she was on the point of leaving for the hospital one afternoon +she looked into the kitchen as she passed and saw there a Prussian +captain and two other officers, and the icy terror that filled her at +the sight, then, for the first time, opened her eyes to the deep +affection she had conceived for Jean. It was plain that the men had +heard of the wounded man’s presence at the farm and were come to claim +him; he was to be torn from them and led away captive to the dungeon of +some dark fortress deep in Germany. She listened tremblingly, her heart +beating tumultuously. + +The captain, a big, stout man, who spoke French with scarce a trace of +foreign accent, was rating old Fouchard soundly. + +“Things can’t go on in this way; you are not dealing squarely by us. I +came myself to give you warning, once for all, that if the thing +happens again I shall take other steps to remedy it; and I promise you +the consequences will not be agreeable.” + +Though entirely master of all his faculties the old scamp assumed an +air of consternation, pretending not to understand, his mouth agape, +his arms describing frantic circles on the air. + +“How is that, sir, how is that?” + +“Oh, come, there’s no use attempting to pull the wool over my eyes; you +know perfectly well that the three beeves you sold me on Sunday last +were rotten—yes, diseased, and rotten through and through; they must +have been where there was infection, for they poisoned my men; there +are two of them in such a bad way that they may be dead by this time +for all I know.” + +Fouchard’s manner was expressive of virtuous indignation. “What, my +cattle diseased! why, there’s no better meat in all the country; a sick +woman might feed on it to build her up!” And he whined and sniveled, +thumping himself on the chest and calling God to witness he was an +honest man; he would cut off his right hand rather than sell bad meat. +For more than thirty years he had been known throughout the +neighborhood, and not a living soul could say he had ever been wronged +in weight or quality. “They were as sound as a dollar, sir, and if your +men had the belly-ache it was because they ate too much—unless some +villain hocussed the pot—” + +And so he ran on, with such a flux of words and absurd theories that +finally the captain, his patience exhausted, cut him short. + +“Enough! You have had your warning; see you profit by it! And there is +another matter: we have our suspicions that all you people of this +village give aid and comfort to the francs-tireurs of the wood of +Dieulet, who killed another of our sentries day before yesterday. Mind +what I say; be careful!” + +When the Prussians were gone Father Fouchard shrugged his shoulders +with a contemptuous sneer. Why, yes, of course he sold them carcasses +that had never been near the slaughter house; that was all they would +ever get to eat from him. If a peasant had a cow die on his hands of +the rinderpest, or if he found a dead ox lying in the ditch, was not +the carrion good enough for those dirty Prussians? To say nothing of +the pleasure there was in getting a big price out of them for tainted +meat at which a dog would turn up his nose. He turned and winked slyly +at Henriette, who was glad to have her fears dispelled, muttering +triumphantly: + +“Say, little girl, what do you think now of the wicked people who go +about circulating the story that I am not a patriot? Why don’t they do +as I do, eh? sell the blackguards carrion and put their money in their +pocket. Not a patriot! why, good Heavens! I shall have killed more of +them with my diseased cattle than many a soldier with his chassepot!” + +When the story reached Jean’s ears, however, he was greatly disturbed. +If the German authorities suspected that the people of Remilly were +harboring the francs-tireurs from Dieulet wood they might at any time +come and beat up his quarters and unearth him from his retreat. The +idea that he should be the means of compromising his hosts or bringing +trouble to Henriette was unendurable to him. Yielding to the young +woman’s entreaties, however, he consented to delay his departure yet +for a few days, for his wound was very slow in healing and he was not +strong enough to go away and join one of the regiments in the field, +either in the North or on the Loire. + +From that time forward, up to the middle of December, the stress of +their anxiety and mental suffering exceeded even what had gone before. +The cold was grown to be so intense that the stove no longer sufficed +to heat the great, barn-like room. When they looked from their window +on the crust of snow that covered the frozen earth they thought of +Maurice, entombed down yonder in distant Paris, that was now become a +city of death and desolation, from which they scarcely ever received +reliable intelligence. Ever the same questions were on their lips: what +was he doing, why did he not let them hear from him? They dared not +voice their dreadful doubts and fears; perhaps he was ill, or wounded; +perhaps even he was dead. The scanty and vague tidings that continued +to reach them occasionally through the newspapers were not calculated +to reassure them. After numerous lying reports of successful sorties, +circulated one day only to be contradicted the next, there was a rumor +of a great victory gained by General Ducrot at Champigny on the 2d of +December; but they speedily learned that on the following day the +general, abandoning the positions he had won, had been forced to +recross the Marne and send his troops into cantonments in the wood of +Vincennes. With each new day the Parisians saw themselves subjected to +fresh suffering and privation: famine was beginning to make itself +felt; the authorities, having first requisitioned horned cattle, were +now doing the same with potatoes, gas was no longer furnished to +private houses, and soon the fiery flight of the projectiles could be +traced as they tore through the darkness of the unlighted streets. And +so it was that neither of them could draw a breath or eat a mouthful +without being haunted by the image of Maurice and those two million +living beings, imprisoned in their gigantic sepulcher. + +From every quarter, moreover, from the northern as well as from the +central districts, most discouraging advices continued to arrive. In +the north the 22d army corps, composed of gardes mobiles, depot +companies from various regiments and such officers and men as had not +been involved in the disasters of Sedan and Metz, had been forced to +abandon Amiens and retreat on Arras, and on the 5th of December Rouen +had also fallen into the hands of the enemy, after a mere pretense of +resistance on the part of its demoralized, scanty garrison. In the +center the victory of Coulmiers, achieved on the 3d of November by the +army of the Loire, had resuscitated for a moment the hopes of the +country: Orleans was to be reoccupied, the Bavarians were to be put to +flight, the movement by way of Étampes was to culminate in the relief +of Paris; but on December 5 Prince Frederick Charles had retaken +Orleans and cut in two the army of the Loire, of which three corps fell +back on Bourges and Vierzon, while the remaining two, commanded by +General Chanzy, retired to Mans, fighting and falling back alternately +for a whole week, most gallantly. The Prussians were everywhere, at +Dijon and at Dieppe, at Vierzon as well as at Mans. And almost every +morning came the intelligence of some fortified place that had +capitulated, unable longer to hold out under the bombardment. +Strasbourg had succumbed as early as the 28th of September, after +standing forty-six days of siege and thirty-seven of shelling, her +walls razed and her buildings riddled by more than two hundred thousand +projectiles. The citadel of Laon had been blown into the air; Toul had +surrendered; and following them, a melancholy catalogue, came Soissons +with its hundred and twenty-eight pieces of artillery, Verdun, which +numbered a hundred and thirty-six, Neufbrisach with a hundred, La Fere +with seventy, Montmedy, sixty-five. Thionville was in flames, +Phalsbourg had only opened her gates after a desperate resistance that +lasted eighty days. It seemed as if all France were doomed to burn and +be reduced to ruins by the never-ceasing cannonade. + +One morning that Jean manifested a fixed determination to be gone, +Henriette seized both his hands and held them tight clasped in hers. + +“Ah, no! I beg you, do not go and leave me here alone. You are not +strong enough; wait a few days yet, only a few days. I will let you go, +I promise you I will, whenever the doctor says you are well enough to +go and fight.” + + + + +V. + + +The cold was intense on that December evening. Silvine and Prosper, +together with little Charlot, were alone in the great kitchen of the +farmhouse, she busy with her sewing, he whittling away at a whip that +he proposed should be more than usually ornate. It was seven o’clock; +they had dined at six, not waiting for Father Fouchard, who they +supposed had been detained at Raucourt, where there was a scarcity of +meat, and Henriette, whose turn it was to watch that night at the +hospital, had just left the house, after cautioning Silvine to be sure +to replenish Jean’s stove with coal before she went to bed. + +Outside a sky of inky blackness overhung the white expanse of snow. No +sound came from the village, buried among the drifts; all that was to +be heard in the kitchen was the scraping of Prosper’s knife as he +fashioned elaborate rosettes and lozenges on the dogwood stock. Now and +then he stopped and cast a glance at Charlot, whose flaxen head was +nodding drowsily. When the child fell asleep at last the silence seemed +more profound than ever. The mother noiselessly changed the position of +the candle that the light might not strike the eyes of her little one; +then sitting down to her sewing again, she sank into a deep reverie. +And Prosper, after a further period of hesitation, finally mustered up +courage to disburden himself of what he wished to say. + +“Listen, Silvine; I have something to tell you. I have been watching +for an opportunity to speak to you in private—” + +Alarmed by his preface, she raised her eyes and looked him in the face. + +“This is what it is. You’ll forgive me for frightening you, but it is +best you should be forewarned. In Remilly this morning, at the corner +by the church, I saw Goliah; I saw him as plain as I see you sitting +there. Oh, no! there can be no mistake; I was not dreaming!” + +Her face suddenly became white as death; all she was capable of +uttering was a stifled moan: + +“My God! my God!” + +Prosper went on, in words calculated to give her least alarm, and +related what he had learned during the day by questioning one person +and another. No one doubted now that Goliah was a spy, that he had +formerly come and settled in the country with the purpose of +acquainting himself with its roads, its resources, the most +insignificant details pertaining to the life of its inhabitants. Men +reminded one another of the time when he had worked for Father Fouchard +on his farm and of his sudden disappearance; they spoke of the places +he had had subsequently to that over toward Beaumont and Raucourt. And +now he was back again, holding a position of some sort at the military +post of Sedan, its duties apparently not very well defined, going about +from one village to another, denouncing this man, fining that, keeping +an eye to the filling of the requisitions that made the peasants’ lives +a burden to them. That very morning he had frightened the people of +Remilly almost out of their wits in relation to a delivery of flour, +alleging it was short in weight and had not been furnished within the +specified time. + +“You are forewarned,” said Prosper in conclusion, “and now you’ll know +what to do when he shows his face here—” + +She interrupted him with a terrified cry. + +“Do you think he will come here?” + +“_Dame_! it appears to me extremely probable he will. It would show +great lack of curiosity if he didn’t, since he knows he has a young one +here that he has never seen. And then there’s you, besides, and you’re +not so very homely but he might like to have another look at you.” + +She gave him an entreating glance that silenced his rude attempt at +gallantry. Charlot, awakened by the sound of their voices, had raised +his head. With the blinking eyes of one suddenly aroused from slumber +he looked about the room, and recalled the words that some idle fellow +of the village had taught him; and with the solemn gravity of a little +man of three he announced: + +“Dey’re loafers, de Prussians!” + +His mother went and caught him frantically in her arms and seated him +on her lap. Ah! the poor little waif, at once her delight and her +despair, whom she loved with all her soul and who brought the tears to +her eyes every time she looked on him, flesh of her flesh, whom it +wrung her heart to hear the urchins with whom he consorted in the +street tauntingly call “the little Prussian!” She kissed him, as if she +would have forced the words back into his mouth. + +“Who taught my darling such naughty words? It’s not nice; you must not +say them again, my loved one.” + +Whereon Charlot, with the persistency of childhood, laughing and +squirming, made haste to reiterate: + +“Dey’re dirty loafers, de Prussians!” + +And when his mother burst into tears he clung about her neck and also +began to howl dismally. _Mon Dieu_, what new evil was in store for her! +Was it not enough that she had lost in Honoré the one single hope of +her life, the assured promise of oblivion and future happiness? and was +that man to appear upon the scene again to make her misery complete? + +“Come,” she murmured, “come along, darling, and go to bed. Mamma will +kiss her little boy all the same, for he does not know the sorrow he +causes her.” + +And she went from the room, leaving Prosper alone. The good fellow, not +to add to her embarrassment, had averted his eyes from her face and was +apparently devoting his entire attention to his carving. + +Before putting Charlot to bed it was Silvine’s nightly custom to take +him in to say good-night to Jean, with whom the youngster was on terms +of great friendship. As she entered the room that evening, holding her +candle before her, she beheld the convalescent seated upright in bed, +his open eyes peering into the obscurity. What, was he not asleep? +Faith, no; he had been ruminating on all sorts of subjects in the +silence of the winter night; and while she was cramming the stove with +coal he frolicked for a moment with Charlot, who rolled and tumbled on +the bed like a young kitten. He knew Silvine’s story, and had a very +kindly feeling for the meek, courageous girl whom misfortune had tried +so sorely, mourning the only man she had ever loved, her sole comfort +that child of shame whose existence was a daily reproach to her. When +she had replaced the lid on the stove, therefore, and came to the +bedside to take the boy from his arms, he perceived by her red eyes +that she had been weeping. What, had she been having more trouble? But +she would not answer his question: some other day she would tell him +what it was if it seemed worth the while. _Mon Dieu!_ was not her life +one of continual suffering now? + +Silvine was at last lugging Charlot away in her arms when there arose +from the courtyard of the farm a confused sound of steps and voices. +Jean listened in astonishment. + +“What is it? It can’t be Father Fouchard returning, for I did not hear +his wagon wheels.” Lying on his back in his silent chamber, with +nothing to occupy his mind, he had become acquainted with every detail +of the routine of home life on the farm, of which the sounds were all +familiar to his ears. Presently he added: “Ah, I see; it is those men +again, the francs-tireurs from Dieulet, after something to eat.” + +“Quick, I must be gone!” said Silvine, hurrying from the room and +leaving him again in darkness. “I must make haste and see they get +their loaves.” + +A loud knocking was heard at the kitchen door and Prosper, who was +beginning to tire of his solitude, was holding a hesitating parley with +the visitors. He did not like to admit strangers when the master was +away, fearing he might be held responsible for any damage that might +ensue. His good luck befriended him in this instance, however, for just +then Father Fouchard’s carriole came lumbering up the acclivity, the +tramp of the horse’s feet resounding faintly on the snow that covered +the road. It was the old man who welcomed the newcomers. + +“Ah, good! it’s you fellows. What have you on that wheelbarrow?” + +Sambuc, lean and hungry as a robber and wrapped in the folds of a blue +woolen blouse many times too large for him, did not even hear the +farmer; he was storming angrily at Prosper, his honest brother, as he +called him, who had only then made up his mind to unbar the door. + +“Say, you! do you take us for beggars that you leave us standing in the +cold in weather such as this?” + +But Prosper did not trouble himself to make any other reply than was +expressed in a contemptuous shrug of the shoulders, and while he was +leading the horse off to the stable old Fouchard, bending over the +wheelbarrow, again spoke up. + +“So, it’s two dead sheep you’ve brought me. It’s lucky it’s freezing +weather, otherwise we should know what they are by the smell.” + +Cabasse and Ducat, Sambuc’s two trusty henchmen, who accompanied him in +all his expeditions, raised their voices in protest. + +“Oh!” cried the first, with his loud-mouthed Provençal volubility, +“they’ve only been dead three days. They’re some of the animals that +died on the Raffins farm, where the disease has been putting in its +fine work of late.” + +“_Procumbit humi bos_,” spouted the other, the ex-court officer whose +excessive predilection for the ladies had got him into difficulties, +and who was fond of airing his Latin on occasion. + +Father Fouchard shook his head and continued to disparage their +merchandise, declaring it was too “high.” Finally he took the three men +into the kitchen, where he concluded the business by saying: + +“After all, they’ll have to take it and make the best of it. It comes +just in season, for there’s not a cutlet left in Raucourt. When a man’s +hungry he’ll eat anything, won’t he?” And very well pleased at heart, +he called to Silvine, who just then came in from putting Charlot to +bed: “Let’s have some glasses; we are going to drink to the downfall of +old Bismarck.” + +Fouchard maintained amicable relations with these francs-tireurs from +Dieulet wood, who for some three months past had been emerging at +nightfall from the fastnesses where they made their lurking place, +killing and robbing a Prussian whenever they could steal upon him +unawares, descending on the farms and plundering the peasants when +there was a scarcity of the other kind of game. They were the terror of +all the villages in the vicinity, and the more so that every time a +provision train was attacked or a sentry murdered the German +authorities avenged themselves on the adjacent hamlets, the inhabitants +of which they accused of abetting the outrages, inflicting heavy +penalties on them, carrying off their mayors as prisoners, burning +their poor hovels. Nothing would have pleased the peasants more than to +deliver Sambuc and his band to the enemy, and they were only deterred +from doing so by their fear of being shot in the back at a turn in the +road some night should their attempt fail of success. + +It had occurred to Fouchard to inaugurate a traffic with them. Roaming +about the country in every direction, peering with their sharp eyes +into ditches and cattle sheds, they had become his purveyors of dead +animals. Never an ox or a sheep within a radius of three leagues was +stricken down by disease but they came by night with their barrow and +wheeled it away to him, and he paid them in provisions, most generally +in bread, that Silvine baked in great batches expressly for the +purpose. Besides, if he had no great love for them, he experienced a +secret feeling of admiration for the francs-tireurs, a set of handy +rascals who went their way and snapped their fingers at the world, and +although he was making a fortune from his dealings with the Prussians, +he could never refrain from chuckling to himself with grim, savage +laughter as often as he heard that one of them had been found lying at +the roadside with his throat cut. + +“Your good health!” said he, touching glasses with the three men. Then, +wiping his mouth with the back of his hand: “Say, have you heard of the +fuss they’re making over the two headless uhlans that they picked up +over there near Villecourt? Villecourt was burned yesterday, you know; +they say it was the penalty the village had to pay for harboring you. +You’ll have to be prudent, don’t you see, and not show yourselves about +here for a time. I’ll see the bread is sent you somewhere.” + +Sambuc shrugged his shoulders and laughed contemptuously. What did he +care for the Prussians, the dirty cowards! And all at once he exploded +in a fit of anger, pounding the table with his fist. + +“_Tonnerre de Dieu!_ I don’t mind the uhlans so much; they’re not so +bad, but it’s the other one I’d like to get a chance at once—you know +whom I mean, the other fellow, the spy, the man who used to work for +you.” + +“Goliah?” said Father Fouchard. + +Silvine, who had resumed her sewing, dropped it in her lap and listened +with intense interest. + +“That’s his name, Goliah! Ah, the brigand! he is as familiar with every +inch of the wood of Dieulet as I am with my pocket, and he’s like +enough to get us pinched some fine morning. I heard of him to-day at +the Maltese Cross making his boast that he would settle our business +for us before we’re a week older. A dirty hound, he is, and he served +as guide to the Prussians the day before the battle of Beaumont; I +leave it to these fellows if he didn’t.” + +“It’s as true as there’s a candle standing on that table!” attested +Cabasse. + +“_Per silentia amica lunæ_,” added Ducat, whose quotations were not +always conspicuous for their appositeness. + +But Sambuc again brought his heavy fist down upon the table. “He has +been tried and adjudged guilty, the scoundrel! If ever you hear of his +being in the neighborhood just send me word, and his head shall go and +keep company with the heads of the two uhlans in the Meuse; yes, by +G-d! I pledge you my word it shall.” + +There was silence. Silvine was very white, and gazed at the men with +unwinking, staring eyes. + +“Those are things best not be talked too much about,” old Fouchard +prudently declared. “Your health, and good-night to you.” + +They emptied the second bottle, and Prosper, who had returned from the +stable, lent a hand to load upon the wheelbarrow, whence the dead sheep +had been removed, the loaves that Silvine had placed in an old +grain-sack. But he turned his back and made no reply when his brother +and the other two men, wheeling the barrow before them through the +snow, stalked away and were lost to sight in the darkness, repeating: + +“Good-night, good-night! _au plaisir!_” + +They had breakfasted the following morning, and Father Fouchard was +alone in the kitchen when the door was thrown open and Goliah in the +flesh entered the room, big and burly, with the ruddy hue of health on +his face and his tranquil smile. If the old man experienced anything in +the nature of a shock at the suddenness of the apparition he let no +evidence of it escape him. He peered at the other through his +half-closed lids while he came forward and shook his former employer +warmly by the hand. + +“How are you, Father Fouchard?” + +Then only the old peasant seemed to recognize him. + +“Hallo, my boy, is it you? You’ve been filling out; how fat you are!” + +And he eyed him from head to foot as he stood there, clad in a sort of +soldier’s greatcoat of coarse blue cloth, with a cap of the same +material, wearing a comfortable, prosperous air of self-content. His +speech betrayed no foreign accent, moreover; he spoke with the slow, +thick utterance of the peasants of the district. + +“Yes, Father Fouchard, it’s I in person. I didn’t like to be in the +neighborhood without dropping in just to say how-do-you-do to you.” + +The old man could not rid himself of a feeling of distrust. What was +the fellow after, anyway? Could he have heard of the francs-tireurs’ +visit to the farmhouse the night before? That was something he must try +to ascertain. First of all, however, it would be best to treat him +politely, as he seemed to have come there in a friendly spirit. + +“Well, my lad, since you are so pleasant we’ll have a glass together +for old times’ sake.” + +He went himself and got a bottle and two glasses. Such expenditure of +wine went to his heart, but one must know how to be liberal when he has +business on hand. The scene of the preceding night was repeated, they +touched glasses with the same words, the same gestures. + +“Here’s to your good health, Father Fouchard.” + +“And here’s to yours, my lad.” + +Then Goliah unbent and his face assumed an expression of satisfaction; +he looked about him like a man pleased with the sight of objects that +recalled bygone times. He did not speak of the past, however, nor, for +the matter of that, did he speak of the present. The conversation ran +on the extremely cold weather, which would interfere with farming +operations; there was one good thing to be said for the snow, however: +it would kill off the insects. He barely alluded, with a slightly +pained expression, to the partially concealed hatred, the affright and +scorn, with which he had been received in the other houses of Remilly. +Every man owes allegiance to his country, doesn’t he? It is quite clear +he should serve his country as well as he knows how. In France, +however, no one looked at the matter in that light; there were things +about which people had very queer notions. And as the old man listened +and looked at that broad, innocent, good-natured face, beaming with +frankness and good-will, he said to himself that surely that excellent +fellow had had no evil designs in coming there. + +“So you are all alone to-day, Father Fouchard?” + +“Oh, no; Silvine is out at the barn, feeding the cows. Would you like +to see her?” + +Goliah laughed. “Well, yes. To be quite frank with you, it was on +Silvine’s account that I came.” + +Old Fouchard felt as if a great load had been taken off his mind; he +went to the door and shouted at the top of his voice: + +“Silvine! Silvine! There’s someone here to see you.” + +And he went away about his business without further apprehension, since +the lass was there to look out for the property. A man must be in a bad +way, he reflected, to let a fancy for a girl keep such a hold on him +after such a length of time, years and years. + +When Silvine entered the room she was not surprised to find herself in +presence of Goliah, who remained seated and contemplated her with his +broad smile, in which, however, there was a trace of embarrassment. She +had been expecting him, and stood stock-still immediately she stepped +across the doorsill, nerving herself and bracing all her faculties. +Little Charlot came running up and hid among her petticoats, astonished +and frightened to see a strange man there. Then succeeded a few seconds +of awkward silence. + +“And this is the little one, then?” Goliah asked at last in his most +dulcet tone. + +“Yes,” was Silvine’s curt, stern answer. + +Silence again settled down upon the room. He had known there was a +child, although he had gone away before the birth of his offspring, but +this was the first time he had laid eyes on it. He therefore wished to +explain matters, like a young man of sense who is confident he can give +good reasons for his conduct. + +“Come, Silvine, I know you cherish bitter feelings against me—and yet +there is no reason why you should. If I went away, if I have been cause +to you of so much suffering, you might have told yourself that perhaps +it was because I was not my own master. When a man has masters over him +he must obey them, mustn’t he? If they had sent me off on foot to make +a journey of a hundred leagues I should have been obliged to go. And, +of course, I couldn’t say a word to you about it; you have no idea how +bad it made me feel to go away as I did without bidding you good-by. I +won’t say to you now that I felt certain I should return to you some +day; still, I always fully expected that I should, and, as you see, +here I am again—” + +She had turned away her head and was looking through the window at the +snow that carpeted the courtyard, as if resolved to hear no word he +said. Her persistent silence troubled him; he interrupted his +explanations to say: + +“Do you know you are prettier than ever!” + +True enough, she was very beautiful in her pallor, with her magnificent +great eyes that illuminated all her face. The heavy coils of raven hair +that crowned her head seemed the outward symbol of the inward sorrow +that was gnawing at her heart. + +“Come, don’t be angry! you know that I mean you no harm. If I did not +love you still I should not have come back, that’s very certain. Now +that I am here and everything is all right once more we shall see each +other now and then, shan’t we?” + +She suddenly stepped a pace backward, and looking him squarely in the +face: + +“Never!” + +“Never!—and why? Are you not my wife, is not that child ours?” + +She never once took her eyes from off his face, speaking with +impressive slowness: + +“Listen to me; it will be better to end that matter once for all. You +knew Honoré; I loved him, he was the only man who ever had my love. And +now he is dead; you robbed me of him, you murdered him over there on +the battlefield, and never again will I be yours. Never!” + +She raised her hand aloft as if invoking heaven to record her vow, +while in her voice was such depth of hatred that for a moment he stood +as if cowed, then murmured: + +“Yes, I heard that Honoré was dead; he was a very nice young fellow. +But what could you expect? Many another has died as well; it is the +fortune of war. And then it seemed to me that once he was dead there +would no longer be a barrier between us, and let me remind you, +Silvine, that after all I was never brutal toward you—” + +But he stopped short at sight of her agitation; she seemed as if about +to tear her own flesh in her horror and distress. + +“Oh! that is just it; yes, it is that which seems as if it would drive +me wild. Why, oh! why did I yield when I never loved you? Honoré’s +departure left me so broken down, I was so sick in mind and body that +never have I been able to recall any portion of the circumstances; +perhaps it was because you talked to me of him and appeared to love +him. My God! the long nights I have spent thinking of that time and +weeping until the fountain of my tears was dry! It is dreadful to have +done a thing that one had no wish to do and afterward be unable to +explain the reason of it. And he had forgiven me, he had told me that +he would marry me in spite of all when his time was out, if those +hateful Prussians only let him live. And you think I will return to +you. No, never, never! not if I were to die for it!” + +Goliah’s face grew dark. She had always been so submissive, and now he +saw she was not to be shaken in her fixed resolve. Notwithstanding his +easy-going nature he was determined he would have her, even if he +should be compelled to use force, now that he was in a position to +enforce his authority, and it was only his inherent prudence, the +instinct that counseled him to patience and diplomacy, that kept him +from resorting to violent measures now. The hard-fisted colossus was +averse to bringing his physical powers into play; he therefore had +recourse to another method for making her listen to reason. + +“Very well; since you will have nothing more to do with me I will take +away the child.” + +“What do you mean?” + +Charlot, whose presence had thus far been forgotten by them both, had +remained hanging to his mother’s skirts, struggling bravely to keep +down his rising sobs as the altercation waxed more warm. Goliah, +leaving his chair, approached the group. + +“You’re my boy, aren’t you? You’re a good little Prussian. Come along +with me.” + +But before he could lay hands on the child Silvine, all a-quiver with +excitement, had thrown her arms about it and clasped it to her bosom. + +“He, a Prussian, never! He’s French, was born in France!” + +“You say he’s French! Look at him, and look at me; he’s my very image. +Can you say he resembles you in any one of his features?” + +She turned her eyes on the big, strapping lothario, with his curling +hair and beard and his broad, pink face, in which the great blue eyes +gleamed like globes of polished porcelain; and it was only too true, +the little one had the same yellow thatch, the same rounded cheeks, the +same light eyes; every feature of the hated race was reproduced +faithfully in him. A tress of her jet black hair that had escaped from +its confinement and wandered down upon her shoulder in the agitation of +the moment showed her how little there was in common between the child +and her. + +“I bore him; he is mine!” she screamed in fury. “He’s French, and will +grow up to be a Frenchman, knowing no word of your dirty German +language; and some day he shall go and help to kill the whole pack of +you, to avenge those whom you have murdered!” + +Charlot, tightening his clasp about her neck, began to cry, shrieking: + +“Mammy, mammy, I’m ’fraid! take me away!” + +Then Goliah, doubtless because he did not wish to create a scandal, +stepped back, and in a harsh, stern voice, unlike anything she had ever +heard from his lips before, made this declaration: + +“Bear in mind what I am about to tell you, Silvine. I know all that +happens at this farm. You harbor the francs-tireurs from the wood of +Dieulet, among them that Sambuc who is brother to your hired man; you +supply the bandits with provisions. And I know that that hired man, +Prosper, is a chasseur d’Afrique and a deserter, and belongs to us by +rights. Further, I know that you are concealing on your premises a +wounded man, another soldier, whom a word from me would suffice to +consign to a German fortress. What do you think: am I not well +informed?” + +She was listening to him now, tongue-tied and terror-stricken, while +little Charlot kept piping in her ear with lisping voice: + +“Oh! mammy, mammy, take me away, I’m ’fraid!” + +“Come,” resumed Goliah, “I’m not a bad fellow, and I don’t like +quarrels and bickering, as you are well aware, but I swear by all +that’s holy I will have them all arrested, Father Fouchard and the +rest, unless you consent to admit me to your chamber on Monday next. I +will take the child, too, and send him away to Germany to my mother, +who will be very glad to have him; for you have no further right to +him, you know, if you are going to leave me. You understand me, don’t +you? The folks will all be gone, and all I shall have to do will be to +come and carry him away. I am the master; I can do what pleases +me—come, what have you to say?” + +But she made no answer, straining the little one more closely to her +breast as if fearing he might be torn from her then and there, and in +her great eyes was a look of mingled terror and execration. + +“It is well; I give you three days to think the matter over. See to it +that your bedroom window that opens on the orchard is left open. If I +do not find the window open next Monday evening at seven o’clock I will +come with a detail the following day and arrest the inmates of the +house and then will return and bear away the little one. Think of it +well; _au revoir_, Silvine.” + +He sauntered quietly away, and she remained standing, rooted to her +place, her head filled with such a swarming, buzzing crowd of terrible +thoughts that it seemed to her she must go mad. And during the whole of +that long day the tempest raged in her. At first the thought occurred +to her instinctively to take her child in her arms and fly with him, +wherever chance might direct, no matter where; but what would become of +them when night should fall and envelop them in darkness? how earn a +livelihood for him and for herself? Then she determined she would speak +to Jean, would notify Prosper, and Father Fouchard himself, and again +she hesitated and changed her mind: was she sufficiently certain of the +friendship of those people that she could be sure they would not +sacrifice her to the general safety, she who was cause that they were +menaced all with such misfortune? No, she would say nothing to anyone; +she would rely on her own efforts to extricate herself from the peril +she had incurred by braving that bad man. But what scheme could she +devise; _mon Dieu!_ how could she avert the threatened evil, for her +upright nature revolted; she could never have forgiven herself had she +been the instrument of bringing disaster to so many people, to Jean in +particular, who had always been so good to Charlot. + +The hours passed, one by one; the next day’s sun went down, and still +she had decided upon nothing. She went about her household duties as +usual, sweeping the kitchen, attending to the cows, making the soup. No +word fell from her lips, and rising ever amid the ominous silence she +preserved, her hatred of Goliah grew with every hour and impregnated +her nature with its poison. He had been her curse; had it not been for +him she would have waited for Honoré, and Honoré would be living now, +and she would be happy. Think of his tone and manner when he made her +understand he was the master! He had told her the truth, moreover; +there were no longer gendarmes or judges to whom she could apply for +protection; might made right. Oh, to be the stronger! to seize and +overpower him when he came, he who talked of seizing others! All she +considered was the child, flesh of her flesh; the chance-met father was +naught, never had been aught, to her. She had no particle of wifely +feeling toward him, only a sentiment of concentrated rage, the +deep-seated hatred of the vanquished for the victor, when she thought +of him. Rather than surrender the child to him she would have killed +it, and killed herself afterward. And as she had told him, the child he +had left her as a gift of hate she would have wished were already grown +and capable of defending her; she looked into the future and beheld him +with a musket, slaughtering hecatombs of Prussians. Ah, yes! one +Frenchman more to assist in wreaking vengeance on the hereditary foe! + +There was but one day remaining, however; she could not afford to waste +more time in arriving at a decision. At the very outset, indeed, a +hideous project had presented itself among the whirling thoughts that +filled her poor, disordered mind: to notify the francs-tireurs, to give +Sambuc the information he desired so eagerly; but the idea had not then +assumed definite form and shape, and she had put it from her as too +atrocious, not suffering herself even to consider it: was not that man +the father of her child? she could not be accessory to his murder. Then +the thought returned, and kept returning at more frequently recurring +intervals, little by little forcing itself upon her and enfolding her +in its unholy influence; and now it had entire possession of her, +holding her captive by the strength of its simple and unanswerable +logic. The peril and calamity that overhung them all would vanish with +that man; he in his grave, Jean, Prosper, Father Fouchard would have +nothing more to fear, while she herself would retain possession of +Charlot and there would be never a one in all the world to challenge +her right to him. All that day she turned and re-turned the project in +her mind, devoid of further strength to bid it down, considering +despite herself the murder in its different aspects, planning and +arranging its most minute details. And now it was become the one fixed, +dominant idea, making a portion of her being, that she no longer +stopped to reason on, and when finally she came to act, in obedience to +that dictate of the inevitable, she went forward as in a dream, subject +to the volition of another, a someone within her whose presence she had +never known till then. + +Father Fouchard had taken alarm, and on Sunday he dispatched a +messenger to the francs-tireurs to inform them that their supply of +bread would be forwarded to the quarries of Boisville, a lonely spot a +mile and a quarter from the house, and as Prosper had other work to do +the old man sent Silvine with the wheelbarrow. It was manifest to the +young woman that Destiny had taken the matter in its hands; she spoke, +she made an appointment with Sambuc for the following evening, and +there was no tremor in her voice, as if she were pursuing a course +marked out for her from which she could not depart. The next day there +were still other signs which proved that not only sentient beings, but +inanimate objects as well, favored the crime. In the first place Father +Fouchard was called suddenly away to Raucourt, and knowing he could not +get back until after eight o’clock, instructed them not to wait dinner +for him. Then Henriette, whose night off it was, received word from the +hospital late in the afternoon that the nurse whose turn it was to +watch was ill and she would have to take her place; and as Jean never +left his chamber under any circumstances, the only remaining person +from whom interference was to be feared was Prosper. It revolted the +chasseur d’Afrique, the idea of killing a man that way, three against +one, but when his brother arrived, accompanied by his faithful +myrmidons, the disgust he felt for the villainous crew was lost in his +detestation of the Prussians; sure he wasn’t going to put himself out +to save one of the dirty hounds, even if they did do him up in a way +that was not according to rule; and he settled matters with his +conscience by going to bed and burying his head under the blankets, +that he might hear nothing that would tempt him to act in accordance +with his soldierly instincts. + +It lacked a quarter of seven, and Charlot seemed determined not to go +to sleep. As a general thing his head declined upon the table the +moment he had swallowed his last mouthful of soup. + +“Come, my darling, go to sleep,” said Silvine, who had taken him to +Henriette’s room; “mamma has put you in the nice lady’s big bed.” + +But the child was excited by the novelty of the situation; he kicked +and sprawled upon the bed, bubbling with laughter and animal spirits. + +“No, no—stay, little mother—play, little mother.” + +She was very gentle and patient, caressing him tenderly and repeating: + +“Go to sleep, my darling; shut your eyes and go to sleep, to please +mamma.” + +And finally slumber overtook him, with a happy laugh upon his lips. She +had not taken the trouble to undress him; she covered him warmly and +left the room, and so soundly was he in the habit of sleeping that she +did not even think it necessary to turn the key in the door. + +Silvine had never known herself to be so calm, so clear and alert of +mind. Her decision was prompt, her movements were light, as if she had +parted company with her material frame and were acting under the +domination of that other self, that inner being which she had never +known till then. She had already let in Sambuc, with Cabasse and Ducat, +enjoining upon them the exercise of the strictest caution, and now she +conducted them to her bedroom and posted them on either side the +window, which she threw open wide, notwithstanding the intense cold. +The darkness was profound; barely a faint glimmer of light penetrated +the room, reflected from the bosom of the snow without. A deathlike +stillness lay on the deserted fields, the minutes lagged interminably. +Then, when at last the deadened sound was heard of footsteps drawing +near, Silvine withdrew and returned to the kitchen, where she seated +herself and waited, motionless as a corpse, her great eyes fixed on the +flickering flame of the solitary candle. + +And the suspense was long protracted, Goliah prowling warily about the +house before he would risk entering. He thought he could depend on the +young woman, and had therefore come unarmed save for a single revolver +in his belt, but he was haunted by a dim presentiment of evil; he +pushed open the window to its entire extent and thrust his head into +the apartment, calling below his breath: + +“Silvine! Silvine!” + +Since he found the window open to him it must be that she had thought +better of the matter and changed her mind. It gave him great pleasure +to have it so, although he would rather she had been there to welcome +him and reassure his fears. Doubtless Father Fouchard had summoned her +away; some odds and ends of work to finish up. He raised his voice a +little: + +“Silvine! Silvine!” + +No answer, not a sound. And he threw his leg over the window-sill and +entered the room, intending to get into bed and snuggle away among the +blankets while waiting, it was so bitter cold. + +All at once there was a furious rush, with the noise of trampling, +shuffling feet, and smothered oaths and the sound of labored breathing. +Sambuc and his two companions had thrown themselves on Goliah, and +notwithstanding their superiority in numbers they found it no easy task +to overpower the giant, to whom his peril lent tenfold strength. The +panting of the combatants, the straining of sinews and cracking of +joints, resounded for a moment in the obscurity. The revolver, +fortunately, had fallen to the floor in the struggle. Cabasse’s +choking, inarticulate voice was heard exclaiming: “The cords, the +cords!” and Ducat handed to Sambuc the coil of thin rope with which +they had had the foresight to provide themselves. Scant ceremony was +displayed in binding their hapless victim; the operation was conducted +to the accompaniment of kicks and cuffs. The legs were secured first, +then the arms were firmly pinioned to the sides, and finally they wound +the cord at random many times around the Prussian’s body, wherever his +contortions would allow them to place it, with such an affluence of +loops and knots that he had the appearance of being enmeshed in a +gigantic net. To his unintermitting outcries Ducat’s voice responded: +“Shut your jaw!” and Cabasse silenced him more effectually by gagging +him with an old blue handkerchief. Then, first waiting a moment to get +their breath, they carried him, an inert mass, to the kitchen and +deposited him upon the big table, beside the candle. + +“Ah, the Prussian scum!” exclaimed Sambuc, wiping the sweat from his +forehead, “he gave us trouble enough! Say, Silvine, light another +candle, will you, so we can get a good view of the d——d pig and see +what he looks like.” + +Silvine arose, her wide-dilated eyes shining bright from out her +colorless face. She spoke no word, but lit another candle and came and +placed it by Goliah’s head on the side opposite the other; he produced +the effect, thus brilliantly illuminated, of a corpse between two +mortuary tapers. And in that brief moment their glances met; his was +the wild, agonized look of the supplicant whom his fears have +overmastered, but she affected not to understand, and withdrew to the +sideboard, where she remained standing with her icy, unyielding air. + +“The beast has nearly chewed my finger off,” growled Cabasse, from +whose hand blood was trickling. “I’m going to spoil his ugly mug for +him.” + +He had taken the revolver from the floor and was holding it poised by +the barrel in readiness to strike, when Sambuc disarmed him. + +“No, no! none of that. We are not murderers, we francs-tireurs; we are +judges. Do you hear, you dirty Prussian? we’re going to try you; and +you need have no fear, your rights shall be respected. We can’t let you +speak in your own defense, for if we should unmuzzle you you would +split our ears with your bellowing, but I’ll see that you have a lawyer +presently, and a famous good one, too!” + +He went and got three chairs and placed them in a row, forming what it +pleased him to call the court, he sitting in the middle with one of his +followers on either hand. When all three were seated he arose and +commenced to speak, at first ironically aping the gravity of the +magistrate, but soon launching into a tirade of blood-thirsty +invective. + +“I have the honor to be at the same time President of the Court and +Public Prosecutor. That, I am aware, is not strictly in order, but +there are not enough of us to fill all the roles. I accuse you, +therefore, of entering France to play the spy on us, recompensing us +for our hospitality with the most abominable treason. It is to you to +whom we are principally indebted for our recent disasters, for after +the battle of Nouart you guided the Bavarians across the wood of +Dieulet by night to Beaumont. No one but a man who had lived a long +time in the country and was acquainted with every path and cross-road +could have done it, and on this point the conviction of the court is +unalterable; you were seen conducting the enemy’s artillery over roads +that had become lakes of liquid mud, where eight horses had to be +hitched to a single gun to drag it out of the slough. A person looking +at those roads would hesitate to believe that an army corps could ever +have passed over them. Had it not been for you and your criminal action +in settling among us and betraying us the surprise of Beaumont would +have never been, we should not have been compelled to retreat on Sedan, +and perhaps in the end we might have come off victorious. I will say +nothing of the disgusting career you have been pursuing since then, +coming here in disguise, terrorizing and denouncing the poor country +people, so that they tremble at the mention of your name. You have +descended to a depth of depravity beyond which it is impossible to go, +and I demand from the court sentence of death.” + +Silence prevailed in the room. He had resumed his seat, and finally, +rising again, said: + +“I assign Ducat to you as counsel for the defense. He has been +sheriff’s officer, and might have made his mark had it not been for his +little weakness. You see that I deny you nothing; we are disposed to +treat you well.” + +Goliah, who could not stir a finger, bent his eyes on his improvised +defender. It was in his eyes alone that evidence of life remained, eyes +that burned intensely with ardent supplication under the ashy brow, +where the sweat of anguish stood in big drops, notwithstanding the +cold. + +Ducat arose and commenced his plea. “Gentlemen, my client, to tell the +truth, is the most noisome blackguard that I ever came across in my +life, and I should not have been willing to appear in his defense had I +not a mitigating circumstance to plead, to wit: they are all that way +in the country he came from. Look at him closely; you will read his +astonishment in his eyes; he does not understand the gravity of his +offense. Here in France we may employ spies, but no one would touch one +of them unless with a pair of pincers, while in that country espionage +is considered a highly honorable career and an extremely meritorious +manner of serving the state. I will even go so far as to say, +gentlemen, that possibly they are not wrong; our noble sentiments do us +honor, but they have also the disadvantage of bringing us defeat. If I +may venture to speak in the language of Cicero and Virgil, _quos vult +perdere Jupiter dementat_. You will understand the allusion, +gentlemen.” + +And he took his seat again, while Sambuc resumed: + +“And you, Cabasse, have you nothing to say either for or against the +defendant?” + +“All I have to say,” shouted the Provençal, “is that we are wasting a +deal of breath in settling that scoundrel’s hash. I’ve had my little +troubles in my lifetime, and plenty of ’em, but I don’t like to see +people trifle with the affairs of the law; it’s unlucky. Let him die, I +say!” + +Sambuc rose to his feet with an air of profound gravity. + +“This you both declare to be your verdict, then—death?” + +“Yes, yes! death!” + +The chairs were pushed back, he advanced to the table where Goliah lay, +saying: + +“You have been tried and sentenced; you are to die.” + +The flame of the two candles rose about their unsnuffed wicks and +flickered in the draught, casting a fitful, ghastly light on Goliah’s +distorted features. The fierce efforts he made to scream for mercy, to +vociferate the words that were strangling him, were such that the +handkerchief knotted across his mouth was drenched with spume, and it +was a sight most horrible to see, that strong man reduced to silence, +voiceless already as a corpse, about to die with that torrent of excuse +and entreaty pent in his bosom. + +Cabasse cocked the revolver. “Shall I let him have it?” he asked. + +“No, no!” Sambuc shouted in reply; “he would be only too glad.” And +turning to Goliah: “You are not a soldier; you are not worthy of the +honor of quitting the world with a bullet in your head. No, you shall +die the death of a spy and the dirty pig that you are.” + +He looked over his shoulder and politely said: + +“Silvine, if it’s not troubling you too much, I would like to have a +tub.” + +During the whole of the trial scene Silvine had not moved a muscle. She +had stood in an attitude of waiting, with drawn, rigid features, as if +mind and body had parted company, conscious of nothing but the one +fixed idea that had possessed her for the last two days. And when she +was asked for a tub she received the request as a matter of course and +proceeded at once to comply with it, disappearing into the adjoining +shed, whence she returned with the big tub in which she washed +Charlot’s linen. + +“Hold on a minute! place it under the table, close to the edge.” + +She placed the vessel as directed, and as she rose to her feet her eyes +again encountered Goliah’s. In the look of the poor wretch was a +supreme prayer for mercy, the revolt of the man who cannot bear the +thought of being stricken down in the pride of his strength. But in +that moment there was nothing of the woman left in her; nothing but the +fierce desire for that death for which she had been waiting as a +deliverance. She retreated again to the buffet, where she remained +standing in silent expectation. + +Sambuc opened the drawer of the table and took from it a large kitchen +knife, the one that the household employed to slice their bacon. + +“So, then, as you are a pig, I am going to stick you like a pig.” + +He proceeded in a very leisurely manner, discussing with Cabasse, and +Ducat the proper method of conducting the operation. They even came +near quarreling, because Cabasse alleged that in Provence, the country +he came from, they hung pigs up by the heels to stick them, at which +Ducat expressed great indignation, declaring that the method was a +barbarous and inconvenient one. + +“Bring him well forward to the edge of the table, his head over the +tub, so as to avoid soiling the floor.” + +They drew him forward, and Sambuc went about his task in a tranquil, +decent manner. With a single stroke of the keen knife he slit the +throat crosswise from ear to ear, and immediately the blood from the +severed carotid artery commenced to drip, drip into the tub with the +gentle plashing of a fountain. He had taken care not to make the +incision too deep; only a few drops spurted from the wound, impelled by +the action of the heart. Death was the slower in coming for that, but +no convulsion was to be seen, for the cords were strong and the body +was utterly incapable of motion. There was no death-rattle, not a +quiver of the frame. On the face alone was evidence of the supreme +agony, on that terror-distorted mask whence the blood retreated drop by +drop, leaving the skin colorless, with a whiteness like that of linen. +The expression faded from the eyes; they became dim, the light died +from out them. + +“Say, Silvine, we shall want a sponge, too.” + +She made no reply, standing riveted to the floor in an attitude of +unconsciousness, her arms folded tightly across her bosom, her throat +constricted as by the clutch of a mailed hand, gazing on the horrible +spectacle. Then all at once she perceived that Charlot was there, +grasping her skirts with his little hands; he must have awaked and +managed to open the intervening doors, and no one had seen him come +stealing in, childlike, curious to know what was going on. How long had +he been there, half-concealed behind his mother? From beneath his shock +of yellow hair his big blue eyes were fixed on the trickling blood, the +thin red stream that little by little was filling the tub. Perhaps he +had not understood at first and had found something diverting in the +sight, but suddenly he seemed to become instinctively aware of all the +abomination of the thing; he gave utterance to a sharp, startled cry: + +“Oh, mammy! oh, mammy! I’m ’fraid, take me away!” + +It gave Silvine a shock, so violent that it convulsed her in every +fiber of her being. It was the last straw; something seemed to give way +in her, the excitement that had sustained her for the last two days +while under the domination of her one fixed idea gave way to horror. It +was the resurrection of the dormant woman in her; she burst into tears, +and with a frenzied movement caught Charlot up and pressed him wildly +to her heart. And she fled with him, running with distracted terror, +unable to see or hear more, conscious of but one overmastering need, to +find some secret spot, it mattered not where, in which she might cast +herself upon the ground and seek oblivion. + +It was at this crisis that Jean rose from his bed and, softly opening +his door, looked out into the passage. Although he generally gave but +small attention to the various noises that reached him from the +farmhouse, the unusual activity that prevailed this evening, the +trampling of feet, the shouts and cries, in the end excited his +curiosity. And it was to the retirement of his sequestered chamber that +Silvine, sobbing and disheveled, came for shelter, her form convulsed +by such a storm of anguish that at first he could not grasp the meaning +of the rambling, inarticulate words that fell from her blanched lips. +She kept constantly repeating the same terrified gesture, as if to +thrust from before her eyes some hideous, haunting vision. At last he +understood, the entire abominable scene was pictured clearly to his +mind: the traitorous ambush, the slaughter, the mother, her little one +clinging to her skirts, watching unmoved the murdered father, whose +life-blood was slowly ebbing; and it froze his marrow—the peasant and +the soldier was sick at heart with anguished horror. Ah, hateful, cruel +war! that changed all those poor folks to ravening wolves, bespattering +the child with the father’s blood! An accursed sowing, to end in a +harvest of blood and tears! + +Resting on the chair where she had fallen, covering with frantic kisses +little Charlot, who clung, sobbing, to her bosom, Silvine repeated +again and again the one unvarying phrase, the cry of her bleeding +heart. + +“Ah, my poor child, they will no more say you are a Prussian! Ah, my +poor child, they will no more say you are a Prussian!” + +Meantime Father Fouchard had returned and was in the kitchen. He had +come hammering at the door with the authority of the master, and there +was nothing left to do but open to him. The surprise he experienced was +not exactly an agreeable one on beholding the dead man outstretched on +his table and the blood-filled tub beneath. It followed naturally, his +disposition not being of the mildest, that he was very angry. + +“You pack of rascally slovens! say, couldn’t you have gone outdoors to +do your dirty work? Do you take my place for a shambles, eh? coming +here and ruining the furniture with such goings-on?” Then, as Sambuc +endeavored to mollify him and explain matters, the old fellow went on +with a violence that was enhanced by his fears: “And what do you +suppose I am to do with the carcass, pray? Do you consider it a +gentlemanly thing to do, to come to a man’s house like this and foist a +stiff off on him without so much as saying by your leave? Suppose a +patrol should come along, what a nice fix I should be in! but precious +little you fellows care whether I get my neck stretched or not. Now +listen: do you take that body at once and carry it away from here; if +you don’t, by G-d, you and I will have a settlement! You hear me; take +it by the head, take it by the heels, take it any way you please, but +get it out of here and don’t let there be a hair of it remaining in +this room at the end of three minutes from now!” + +In the end Sambuc prevailed on Father Fouchard to let him have a sack, +although it wrung the old miser’s heartstrings to part with it. He +selected one that was full of holes, remarking that anything was good +enough for a Prussian. Cabasse and Ducat had all the trouble in the +world to get Goliah into it; it was too short and too narrow for the +long, broad body, and the feet protruded at its mouth. Then they +carried their burden outside and placed it on the wheelbarrow that had +served to convey to them their bread. + +“You’ll not be troubled with him any more, I give you my word of +honor!” declared Sambuc. “We’ll go and toss him into the Meuse.” + +“Be sure and fasten a couple of big stones to his feet,” recommended +Fouchard, “so the lubber shan’t come up again.” + +And the little procession, dimly outlined against the white waste of +snow, started and soon was buried in the blackness of the night, giving +no sound save the faint, plaintive creaking of the barrow. + +In after days Sambuc swore by all that was good and holy he had obeyed +the old man’s directions, but none the less the corpse came to the +surface and was discovered two days afterward by the Prussians among +the weeds at Pont-Maugis, and when they saw the manner of their +countryman’s murder, his throat slit like a pig, their wrath and fury +knew no bounds. Their threats were terrible, and were accompanied by +domiciliary visits and annoyances of every kind. Some of the villagers +must have blabbed, for there came a party one night and arrested Father +Fouchard and the Mayor of Remilly on the charge of giving aid and +comfort to the francs-tireurs, who were manifestly the perpetrators of +the crime. And Father Fouchard really came out very strong under those +untoward circumstances, exhibiting all the impassability of a shrewd +old peasant, who knew the value of silence and a tranquil demeanor. He +went with his captors without the least sign of perturbation, without +even asking them for an explanation. The truth would come out. In the +country roundabout it was whispered that he had already made an +enormous fortune from the Prussians, sacks and sacks of gold pieces, +that he buried away somewhere, one by one, as he received them. + +All these stories were a terrible source of alarm to Henriette when she +came to hear of them. Jean, fearing he might endanger the safety of his +hosts, was again eager to get away, although the doctor declared he was +still too weak, and she, saddened by the prospect of their approaching +separation, insisted on his delaying his departure for two weeks. At +the time of Father Fouchard’s arrest Jean had escaped a like fate by +hiding in the barn, but he was liable to be taken and led away captive +at any moment should there be further searches made. She was also +anxious as to her uncle’s fate, and so she resolved one morning to go +to Sedan and see the Delaherches, who had, it was said, a Prussian +officer of great influence quartered in their house. + +“Silvine,” she said, as she was about to start, “take good care of our +patient; see he has his bouillon at noon and his medicine at four +o’clock.” + +The maid of all work, ever busy with her daily recurring tasks, was +again the submissive and courageous woman she had been of old; she had +the care of the farm now, moreover, in the absence of the master, while +little Charlot was constantly at her heels, frisking and gamboling +around her. + +“Have no fear, madame, he shall want for nothing. I am here and will +look out for him.” + + + + +VI. + + +Life had fallen back into something like its accustomed routine with +the Delaherches at their house in the Rue Maqua after the terrible +shock of the capitulation, and for nearly four months the long days had +been slowly slipping by under the depressing influence of the Prussian +occupation. + +There was one corner, however, of the immense structure that was always +closed, as if it had no occupant: it was the chamber that Colonel de +Vineuil still continued to inhabit, at the extreme end of the suite +where the master and his family spent their daily life. While the other +windows were thrown open, affording evidence by sight and sound of the +activity that prevailed within, those of that room were dark and +lifeless, their blinds invariably drawn. The colonel had complained +that the daylight hurt his eyes; no one knew whether or not this was +strictly true, but a lamp was kept burning at his bedside day and night +to humor him in his fancy. For two long months he had kept his bed, +although Major Bouroche asserted there was nothing more serious than a +contusion of the ankle and a fragment of bone chipped away; the wound +refused to heal and complications of various kinds had ensued. He was +able to get up now, but was in such a state of utter mental +prostration, his mysterious ailment had taken such firm hold upon his +system, that he was content to spend his days in idleness, stretched on +a lounge before a great wood fire. He had wasted away until he was +little more than a shadow, and still the physician who was attending +him could find no lesion to account for that lingering death. He was +slowly fading away, like the flame of a lamp in which the supply of oil +is giving out. + +Mme. Delaherche, the mother, had immured herself there with him on the +day succeeding the occupation. No doubt they understood each other, and +had expressed in two words, once for all, their common purpose to +seclude themselves in that apartment so long as there should be +Prussians quartered in the house. They had afforded compulsory +hospitality to many of the enemy for various lengths of time; one, a +Captain, M. Gartlauben, was there still, had taken up his abode with +them permanently. But never since that first day had mention of those +things passed the colonel’s and the old lady’s lips. Notwithstanding +her seventy-eight years she was up every morning soon as it was day and +came and took her position in the fauteuil that was awaiting her in the +chimney nook opposite her old friend. There, by the steady, tranquil +lamplight, she applied herself industriously to knitting socks for the +children of the poor, while he, his eyes fixed on the crumbling brands, +with no occupation for body or mind, was as one already dead, in a +state of constantly increasing stupor. They certainly did not exchange +twenty words in the course of a day; whenever she, who still continued +to go about the house at intervals, involuntarily allowed some bit of +news from the outer world to escape her lips, he silenced her with a +gesture, so that no tidings of the siege of Paris, the disasters on the +Loire and all the daily renewed horrors of the invasion had gained +admission there. But the colonel might stop his ears and shut out the +light of day as he would in his self-appointed tomb; the air he +breathed must have brought him through key-hole and crevices +intelligence of the calamity that was everywhere throughout the land, +for every new day beheld him sinking, slowly dying, despite his +determination not to know the evil news. + +While matters were in this condition at one end of the house +Delaherche, who was never contented unless occupied, was bustling about +and making attempts to start up his business once more, but what with +the disordered condition of the labor market and the pecuniary +embarrassment of many among his customers, he had so far only put a few +looms in motion. Then it occurred to him, as a means of killing the +time that hung heavy on his hands, to make a complete inventory of his +business and perfect certain changes and improvements that he had long +had in mind. To assist him in his labors he had just then at his +disposal a young man, the son of an old business acquaintance, who had +drifted in on him after the battle. Edmond Lagarde, who, although he +was twenty-three years old, would not have been taken for more than +eighteen, had grown to man’s estate in his father’s little dry-goods +shop at Passy; he was a sergeant in the 5th line regiment and had +fought with great bravery throughout the campaign, so much so that he +had been knocked over near the Minil gate about five o’clock, when the +battle was virtually ended, his left arm shattered by one of the last +shots fired that day, and Delaherche, when the other wounded were +removed from the improvised ambulance in the drying room, had +good-naturedly received him as an inmate of his house. It was under +these circumstances that Edmond was now one of the family, having an +apartment in the house and taking his meals at the common table, and, +now that his wound was healed, acting as a sort of secretary to the +manufacturer while waiting for a chance to get back to Paris. He had +signed a parole binding himself not to attempt to leave the city, and +owing to this and to his protector’s influence the Prussian authorities +did not interfere with him. He was fair, with blue eyes, and pretty as +a woman; so timid withal that his face assumed a beautiful hue of rosy +red whenever anyone spoke to him. He had been his mother’s darling; she +had impoverished herself, expending all the profits of their little +business to send him to college. And he adored Paris and bewailed his +compulsory absence from it when talking to Gilberte, did this wounded +cherub, whom the young woman had displayed great good-fellowship in +nursing. + +Finally, their household had received another addition in the person of +M. de Gartlauben, a captain in the German landwehr, whose regiment had +been sent to Sedan to supply the place of troops dispatched to service +in the field. He was a personage of importance, notwithstanding his +comparatively modest rank, for he was nephew to the governor-general, +who, from his headquarters at Rheims, exercised unlimited power over +all the district. He, too, prided himself on having lived at Paris, and +seized every occasion ostentatiously to show he was not ignorant of its +pleasures and refinements; concealing beneath this film of varnish his +inborn rusticity, he assumed as well as he was able the polish of one +accustomed to good society. His tall, portly form was always tightly +buttoned in a close-fitting uniform, and he lied outrageously about his +age, never being able to bring himself to own up to his forty-five +years. Had he had more intelligence he might have made himself an +object of greater dread, but as it was his over-weening vanity, kept +him in a continual state of satisfaction with himself, for never could +such a thing have entered his mind as that anyone could dare to +ridicule him. + +At a subsequent period he rendered Delaherche services that were of +inestimable value. But what days of terror and distress were those that +followed upon the heels of the capitulation! the city, overrun with +German soldiery, trembled in momentary dread of pillage and +conflagration. Then the armies of the victors streamed away toward the +valley of the Seine, leaving behind them only sufficient men to form a +garrison, and the quiet that settled upon the place was that of a +necropolis: the houses all closed, the shops shut, the streets deserted +as soon as night closed in, the silence unbroken save for the hoarse +cries and heavy tramp of the patrols. No letters or newspapers reached +them from the outside world; Sedan was become a dungeon, where the +immured citizens waited in agonized suspense for the tidings of +disaster with which the air was instinct. To render their misery +complete they were threatened with famine; the city awoke one morning +from its slumbers to find itself destitute of bread and meat and the +country roundabout stripped naked, as if a devouring swarm of locusts +had passed that way, by the hundreds of thousands of men who for a week +past had been pouring along its roads and across its fields in a +devastating torrent. There were provisions only for two days, and the +authorities were compelled to apply to Belgium for relief; all supplies +now came from their neighbors across the frontier, whence the customs +guards had disappeared, swept away like all else in the general +cataclysm. Finally there were never-ending vexations and annoyances, a +conflict that commenced to rage afresh each morning between the +Prussian governor and his underlings, quartered at the Sous-Prefecture, +and the Municipal Council, which was in permanent session at the Hôtel +de Ville. It was all in vain that the city fathers fought like heroes, +discussing, objecting, protesting, contesting the ground inch by inch; +the inhabitants had to succumb to the exactions that constantly became +more burdensome, to the whims and unreasonableness of the stronger. + +In the beginning Delaherche suffered great tribulation from the +officers and soldiers who were billeted on him. It seemed as if +representatives from every nationality on the face of the globe +presented themselves at his door, pipe in mouth. Not a day passed but +there came tumbling in upon the city two or three thousand men, horse, +foot and dragoons, and although they were by rights entitled to nothing +more than shelter and firing, it was often found expedient to send out +in haste and get them provisions. The rooms they occupied were left in +a shockingly filthy condition. It was not an infrequent occurrence that +the officers came in drunk and made themselves even more obnoxious than +their men. Such strict discipline was maintained, however, that +instances of violence and marauding were rare; in all Sedan there were +but two cases reported of outrages committed on women. It was not until +a later period, when Paris displayed such stubbornness in her +resistance, that, exasperated by the length to which the struggle was +protracted, alarmed by the attitude of the provinces and fearing a +general rising of the populace, the savage war which the francs-tireurs +had inaugurated, they laid the full weight of their heavy hand upon the +suffering people. + +Delaherche had just had an experience with a lodger who had been +quartered on him, a captain of cuirassiers, who made a practice of +going to bed with his boots on and when he went away left his apartment +in an unmentionably filthy condition, when in the last half of +September Captain de Gartlauben came to his door one evening when it +was raining in torrents. The first hour he was there did not promise +well for the pleasantness of their future relations; he carried matters +with a high hand, insisting that he should be given the best bedroom, +trailing the scabbard of his sword noisily up the marble staircase; but +encountering Gilberte in the corridor he drew in his horns, bowed +politely, and passed stiffly on. He was courted with great +obsequiousness, for everyone was well aware that a word from him to the +colonel commanding the post of Sedan would suffice to mitigate a +requisition or secure the release of a friend or relative. It was not +very long since his uncle, the governor-general at Rheims, had +promulgated a particularly detestable and cold-blooded order, +proclaiming martial law and decreeing the penalty of death to +whomsoever should give aid and comfort to the enemy, whether by acting +for them as a spy, by leading astray German troops that had been +entrusted to their guidance, by destroying bridges and artillery, or by +damaging the railroads and telegraph lines. The enemy meant the French, +of course, and the citizens scowled and involuntarily doubled their +fists as they read the great white placard nailed against the door of +post headquarters which attributed to them as a crime their best and +most sacred aspirations. It was so hard, too, to have to receive their +intelligence of German victories through the cheering of the garrison! +Hardly a day passed over their heads that they were spared this bitter +humiliation; the soldiers would light great fires and sit around them, +feasting and drinking all night long, while the townspeople, who were +not allowed to be in the streets after nine o’clock, listened to the +tumult from the depths of their darkened houses, crazed with suspense, +wondering what new catastrophe had befallen. It was on one of these +occasions, somewhere about the middle of October, that M. de Gartlauben +for the first time proved himself to be possessed of some delicacy of +feeling. Sedan had been jubilant all that day with renewed hopes, for +there was a rumor that the army of the Loire, then marching to the +relief of Paris, had gained a great victory; but how many times before +had the best of news been converted into tidings of disaster! and sure +enough, early in the evening it became known for certain that the +Bavarians had taken Orleans. Some soldiers had collected in a house +across the way from the factory in the Rue Maqua, and were so +boisterous in their rejoicings that the Captain, noticing Gilberte’s +annoyance, went and silenced them, remarking that he himself thought +their uproar ill-timed. + +Toward the close of the month M. de Gartlauben was in position to +render some further trifling services. The Prussian authorities, in the +course of sundry administrative reforms inaugurated by them, had +appointed a German Sous-Prefect, and although this step did not put an +end to the exactions to which the city was subjected, the new official +showed himself to be comparatively reasonable. One of the most frequent +among the causes of difference that were constantly springing up +between the officers of the post and the municipal council was that +which arose from the custom of requisitioning carriages for the use of +the staff, and there was a great hullaballoo raised one morning that +Delaherche failed to send his caleche and pair to the Sous-Prefecture: +the mayor was arrested and the manufacturer would have gone to keep him +company up in the citadel had it not been for M. de Gartlauben, who +promptly quelled the rising storm. Another day he secured a stay of +proceedings for the city, which had been mulcted in the sum of thirty +thousand francs to punish it for its alleged dilatoriness in rebuilding +the bridge of Villette, a bridge that the Prussians themselves had +destroyed: a disastrous piece of business that was near being the ruin +of Sedan. It was after the surrender at Metz, however, that Delaherche +contracted his main debt of gratitude to his guest. The terrible news +burst on the citizens like a thunderclap, dashing to the ground all +their remaining hopes, and early in the ensuing week the streets again +began to be encumbered with the countless hosts of the German forces, +streaming down from the conquered fortress: the army of Prince +Frederick Charles moving on the Loire, that of General Manteuffel, +whose destination was Amiens and Rouen, and other corps on the march to +reinforce the besiegers before Paris. For several days the houses were +full to overflowing with soldiers, the butchers’ and bakers’ shops were +swept clean, to the last bone, to the last crumb; the streets were +pervaded by a greasy, tallowy odor, as after the passage of the great +migratory bands of olden times. The buildings in the Rue Maqua, +protected by a friendly influence, escaped the devastating irruption, +and were only called on to give shelter to a few of the leaders, men of +education and refinement. + +Owing to these circumstances, Delaherche at last began to lay aside his +frostiness of manner. As a general thing the bourgeois families shut +themselves in their apartments and avoided all communication with the +officers who were billeted on them; but to him, who was of a sociable +nature and liked to extract from life what enjoyment it had to offer, +this enforced sulkiness in the end became unbearable. His great, silent +house, where the inmates lived apart from one another in a chill +atmosphere of distrust and mutual dislike, damped his spirits terribly. +He began by stopping M. de Gartlauben on the stairs one day to thank +him for his favors, and thus by degrees it became a regular habit with +the two men to exchange a few words when they met. The result was that +one evening the Prussian captain found himself seated in his host’s +study before the fireplace where some great oak logs were blazing, +smoking a cigar and amicably discussing the news of the day. For the +first two weeks of their new intimacy Gilberte did not make her +appearance in the room; he affected to ignore her existence, although, +at every faintest sound, his glance would be directed expectantly upon +the door of the connecting apartment. It seemed to be his object to +keep his position as an enemy as much as possible in the background, +trying to show he was not narrow-minded or a bigoted patriot, laughing +and joking pleasantly over certain rather ridiculous requisitions. For +example, a demand was made one day for a coffin and a shroud; that +shroud and coffin afforded him no end of amusement. As regarded other +things, such as coal, oil, milk, sugar, butter, bread, meat, to say +nothing of clothing, stoves and lamps—all the necessaries of daily +life, in a word—he shrugged his shoulders: _mon Dieu!_ what would you +have? No doubt it was vexatious; he was even willing to admit that +their demands were excessive, but that was how it was in war times; +they had to keep themselves alive in the enemy’s country. Delaherche, +who was very sore over these incessant requisitions, expressed his +opinion of them with frankness, pulling them to pieces mercilessly at +their nightly confabs, in much the same way as he might have criticised +the cook’s kitchen accounts. On only one occasion did their discussion +become at all acrimonious, and that was in relation to the impost of a +million francs that the Prussian préfet at Rethel had levied on the +department of the Ardennes, the alleged pretense of which was to +indemnify Germany for damages caused by French ships of war and by the +expulsion of Germans domiciled in French territory. Sedan’s +proportionate share of the assessment was forty-two thousand francs. +And he labored strenuously with his visitor to convince him of the +iniquity of the imposition; the city was differently circumstanced from +the other towns, it had had more than its share of affliction, and +should not be burdened with that new exaction. The pair always came out +of their discussions better friends than when they went in; one +delighted to have had an opportunity of hearing himself talk, the other +pleased with himself for having displayed a truly Parisian urbanity. + +One evening Gilberte came into the room, with her air of thoughtless +gayety. She paused at the threshold, affecting embarrassment. M. de +Gartlauben rose, and with much tact presently withdrew, but on +repeating his visit the following evening and finding Gilberte there +again, he settled himself in his usual seat in the chimney-corner. It +was the commencement of a succession of delightful evenings that they +passed together in the study of the master of the house, not in the +drawing-room—wherein lay a nice distinction. And at a later period +when, yielding to their guest’s entreaties, the young woman consented +to play for him, she did not invite him to the salon, but entered the +room alone, leaving the communicating door open. In those bitter winter +evenings the old oaks of the Ardennes gave out a grateful warmth from +the depths of the great cavernous fireplace; there was a cup of +fragrant tea for them about ten o’clock; they laughed and chatted in +the comfortable, bright room. And it did not require extra powers of +vision to see that M. de Gartlauben was rapidly falling head over ears +in love with that sprightly young woman, who flirted with him as +audaciously as she had flirted in former days at Charleville with +Captain Beaudoin’s friends. He began to pay increased attention to his +person, displayed a gallantry that verged on the fantastic, was raised +to the pinnacle of bliss by the most trifling favor, tormented by the +one ever-present anxiety not to appear a barbarian in her eyes, a rude +soldier who did not know the ways of women. + +And thus it was that in the big, gloomy house in the Rue Maqua a +twofold life went on. While at meal-times Edmond, the wounded cherub +with the pretty face, lent a listening ear to Delaherche’s unceasing +chatter, blushing if ever Gilberte asked him to pass her the salt, +while at evening M. de Gartlauben, seated in the study, with eyes +upturned in silent ecstasy, listened to a sonata by Mozart performed +for his benefit by the young woman in the adjoining drawing-room, a +stillness as of death continued to pervade the apartment where Colonel +de Vineuil and Madame Delaherche spent their days, the blinds tight +drawn, the lamp continually burning, like a votive candle illuminating +a tomb. December had come and wrapped the city in a winding-sheet of +snow; the cruel news seemed all the bitterer for the piercing cold. +After General Ducrot’s repulse at Champigny, after the loss of Orleans, +there was left but one dark, sullen hope: that the soil of France might +avenge their defeat, exterminate and swallow up the victors. Let the +snow fall thicker and thicker still, let the earth’s crust crack and +open under the biting frost, that in it the entire German nation might +find a grave! And there came another sorrow to wring poor Madame +Delaherche’s heart. One night when her son was from home, having been +suddenly called away to Belgium on business, chancing to pass +Gilberte’s door she heard within a low murmur of voices and smothered +laughter. Disgusted and sick at heart she returned to her own room, +where her horror of the abominable thing she suspected the existence of +would not let her sleep: it could have been none other but the Prussian +whose voice she heard; she had thought she had noticed glances of +intelligence passing; she was prostrated by this supreme disgrace. Ah, +that woman, that abandoned woman, whom her son had insisted on bringing +to the house despite her commands and prayers, whom she had forgiven, +by her silence, after Captain Beaudoin’s death! And now the thing was +repeated, and this time the infamy was even worse. What was she to do? +Such an enormity must not go unpunished beneath her roof. Her mind was +torn by the conflict that raged there, in her uncertainty as to the +course she should pursue. The colonel, desiring to know nothing of what +occurred outside his room, always checked her with a gesture when he +thought she was about to give him any piece of news, and she had said +nothing to him of the matter that had caused her such suffering; but on +those days when she came to him with tears standing in her eyes and sat +for hours in mournful silence, he would look at her and say to himself +that France had sustained yet another defeat. + +This was the condition of affairs in the house in the Rue Maqua when +Henriette dropped in there one morning to endeavor to secure +Delaherche’s influence in favor of Father Fouchard. She had heard +people speak, smiling significantly as they did so, of the servitude to +which Gilberte had reduced Captain de Gartlauben; she was, therefore, +somewhat embarrassed when she encountered old Madame Delaherche, to +whom she thought it her duty to explain the object of her visit, +ascending the great staircase on her way to the colonel’s apartment. + +“Dear madame, it would be so kind of you to assist us! My uncle is in +great danger; they talk of sending him away to Germany.” + +The old lady, although she had a sincere affection for Henriette, could +scarce conceal her anger as she replied: + +“I am powerless to help you, my child; you should not apply to me.” And +she continued, notwithstanding the agitation on the other’s face: “You +have selected an unfortunate moment for your visit; my son has to go to +Belgium to-night. Besides, he could not have helped you; he has no more +influence than I have. Go to my daughter-in-law; she is all powerful.” + +And she passed on toward the colonel’s room, leaving Henriette +distressed to have unwittingly involved herself in a family drama. +Within the last twenty-four hours Madame Delaherche had made up her +mind to lay the whole matter before her son before his departure for +Belgium, whither he was going to negotiate a large purchase of coal to +enable him to put some of his idle looms in motion. She could not +endure the thought that the abominable thing should be repeated beneath +her eyes while he was absent, and was only waiting to make sure he +would not defer his departure until some other day, as he had been +doing all the past week. It was a terrible thing to contemplate: the +wreck of her son’s happiness, the Prussian disgraced and driven from +their doors, the wife, too, thrust forth upon the street and her name +ignominiously placarded on the walls, as had been threatened would be +done with any woman who should dishonor herself with a German. + +Gilberte gave a little scream of delight on beholding Henriette. + +“Ah, how glad I am to see you! It seems an age since we met, and one +grows old so fast in the midst of all these horrors!” Thus running on +she dragged her friend to her bedroom, where she seated her on the +lounge and snuggled down close beside her. “Come, take off your things; +you must stay and breakfast with us. But first we’ll talk a bit; you +must have such lots and lots of things to tell me! I know that you are +without news of your brother. Ah, that poor Maurice, how I pity him, +shut up in Paris, with no gas, no wood, no bread, perhaps! And that +young man whom you have been nursing, that friend of your brother’s—oh! +a little bird has told me all about it—isn’t it for his sake you are +here to-day?” + +Henriette’s conscience smote her, and she did not answer. Was it not +really for Jean’s sake that she had come, in order that, the old uncle +being released, the invalid, who had grown so dear to her, might have +no further cause for alarm? It distressed her to hear his name +mentioned by Gilberte; she could not endure the thought of enlisting in +his favor an influence that was of so ambiguous a character. Her inbred +scruples of a pure, honest woman made themselves felt, now it seemed to +her that the rumors of a liaison with the Prussian captain had some +foundation. + +“Then I’m to understand that it’s in behalf of this young man that you +come to us for assistance?” Gilberte insistently went on, as if +enjoying her friend’s discomfiture. And as the latter, cornered and +unable to maintain silence longer, finally spoke of Father Fouchard’s +arrest: “Why, to be sure! What a silly thing I am—and I was talking of +it only this morning! You did well in coming to us, my dear; we must go +about your uncle’s affair at once and see what we can do for him, for +the last news I had was not reassuring. They are on the lookout for +someone of whom to make an example.” + +“Yes, I have had you in mind all along,” Henriette hesitatingly +replied. “I thought you might be willing to assist me with your advice, +perhaps with something more substantial—” + +The young woman laughed merrily. “You little goose, I’ll have your +uncle released inside three days. Don’t you know that I have a Prussian +captain here in the house who stands ready to obey my every order? +Understand, he can refuse me nothing!” And she laughed more heartily +than ever, in the giddy, thoughtless triumph of her coquettish nature, +holding in her own and patting the hands of her friend, who was so +uncomfortable that she could not find words in which to express her +thanks, horrified by the avowal that was implied in what she had just +heard. But how to account for such serenity, such childlike gayety? +“Leave it to me; I’ll send you home to-night with a mind at rest.” + +When they passed into the dining room Henriette was struck by Edmond’s +delicate beauty, never having seen him before. She eyed him with the +pleasure she would have felt in looking at a pretty toy. Could it be +possible that that boy had served in the army? and how could they have +been so cruel as to break his arm? The story of his gallantry in the +field made him even more interesting still, and Delaherche, who had +received Henriette with the cordiality of a man to whom the sight of a +new face is a godsend, while the servants were handing round the +cutlets and the potatoes cooked in their jackets, never seemed to tire +of eulogizing his secretary, who was as industrious and well behaved as +he was handsome. They made a very pleasant and homelike picture, the +four, thus seated around the bright table in the snug, warm dining +room. + +“So you want us to interest ourselves in Father Fouchard’s case, and +it’s to that we owe the pleasure of your visit, eh?” said the +manufacturer. “I’m extremely sorry that I have to go away to-night, but +my wife will set things straight for you in a jiffy; there’s no +resisting her, she has only to ask for a thing to get it.” He laughed +as he concluded his speech, which was uttered in perfect simplicity of +soul, evidently pleased and flattered that his wife possessed such +influence, in which he shone with a kind of reflected glory. Then +turning suddenly to her: “By the way, my dear, has Edmond told you of +his great discovery?” + +“No; what discovery?” asked Gilberte, turning her pretty caressing eyes +full on the young sergeant. + +The cherub blushed whenever a woman looked at him in that way, as if +the exquisiteness of his sensations was too much for him. “It’s +nothing, madame; only a bit of old lace; I heard you saying the other +day you wanted some to put on your mauve peignoir. I happened yesterday +to come across five yards of old Bruges point, something really +handsome and very cheap. The woman will be here presently to show it to +you.” + +She could have kissed him, so delighted was she. “Oh, how nice of you! +You shall have your reward.” + +Then, while a terrine of foie-gras, purchased in Belgium, was being +served, the conversation took another turn; dwelling for an instant on +the quantities of fish that were dying of poison in the Meuse, and +finally coming around to the subject of the pestilence that menaced +Sedan when there should be a thaw. Even as early as November, there had +been several cases of disease of an epidemic character. Six thousand +francs had been expended after the battle in cleansing the city and +collecting and burning clothing, knapsacks, haversacks, all the debris +that was capable of harboring infection; but, for all that, the +surrounding fields continued to exhale sickening odors whenever there +came a day or two of warmer weather, so replete were they with +half-buried corpses, covered only with a few inches of loose earth. In +every direction the ground was dotted with graves; the soil cracked and +split in obedience to the forces acting beneath its surface, and from +the fissures thus formed the gases of putrefaction issued to poison the +living. In those more recent days, moreover, another center of +contamination had been discovered, the Meuse, although there had +already been removed from it the bodies of more than twelve hundred +dead horses. It was generally believed that there were no more human +remains left in the stream, until, one day, a _garde champetre_, +looking attentively down into the water where it was some six feet +deep, discovered some objects glimmering at the bottom, that at first +he took for stones; but they proved to be corpses of men, that had been +mutilated in such a manner as to prevent the gas from accumulating in +the cavities of the body and hence had been kept from rising to the +surface. For near four months they had been lying there in the water +among the eel-grass. When grappled for the irons brought them up in +fragments, a head, an arm, or a leg at a time; at times the force of +the current would suffice to detach a hand or foot and send it rolling +down the stream. Great bubbles of gas rose to the surface and burst, +still further empoisoning the air. + +“We shall get along well enough as long as the cold weather lasts,” +remarked Delaherche, “but as soon as the snow is off the ground we +shall have to go to work in earnest to abate the nuisance; if we don’t +we shall be wanting graves for ourselves.” And when his wife laughingly +asked him if he could not find some more agreeable subject to talk +about at the table, he concluded by saying: “Well, it will be a long +time before any of us will care to eat any fish out of the Meuse.” + +They had finished their repast, and the coffee was being poured, when +the maid came to the door and announced that M. de Gartlauben presented +his compliments and wanted to know if he might be allowed to see them +for a moment. There was a slight flutter of excitement, for it was the +first time he had ever presented himself at that hour of the day. +Delaherche, seeing in the circumstance a favorable opportunity for +presenting Henriette to him, gave orders that he should be introduced +at once. The doughty captain, when he beheld another young woman in the +room, surpassed himself in politeness, even accepting a cup of coffee, +which he took without sugar, as he had seen many people do at Paris. He +had only asked to be received at that unusual hour, he said, that he +might tell Madame he had succeeded in obtaining the pardon of one of +her proteges, a poor operative in the factory who had been arrested on +account of a squabble with a Prussian. And Gilberte thereon seized the +opportunity to mention Father Fouchard’s case. + +“Captain, I wish to make you acquainted with one of my dearest friends, +who desires to place herself under your protection. She is the niece of +the farmer who was arrested lately at Remilly, as you are aware, for +being mixed up with that business of the francs-tireurs.” + +“Yes, yes, I know; the affair of the spy, the poor fellow who was found +in a sack with his throat cut. It’s a bad business, a very bad +business. I am afraid I shall not be able to do anything.” + +“Oh, Captain, don’t say that! I should consider it such a favor!” + +There was a caress in the look she cast on him, while he beamed with +satisfaction, bowing his head in gallant obedience. Her wish was his +law! + +“You would have all my gratitude, sir,” faintly murmured Henriette, to +whose memory suddenly rose the image of her husband, her dear Weiss, +slaughtered down yonder at Bazeilles, filling her with invincible +repugnance. + +Edmond, who had discreetly taken himself off on the arrival of the +captain, now reappeared and whispered something in Gilberte’s ear. She +rose quickly from the table, and, announcing to the company that she +was going to inspect her lace, excused herself and followed the young +man from the room. Henriette, thus left alone with the two men, went +and took a seat by herself in the embrasure of a window, while they +remained seated at the table and went on talking in a loud tone. + +“Captain, you’ll have a _petit verre_ with me. You see I don’t stand on +ceremony with you; I say whatever comes into my head, because I know +you to be a fair-minded man. Now I tell you your préfet is all wrong in +trying to extort those forty-two thousand francs from the city. Just +think once of all our losses since the beginning of the war. In the +first place, before the battle, we had the entire French army on our +hands, a set of ragged, hungry, exhausted men; and then along came your +rascals, and their appetites were not so very poor, either. The passage +of those troops through the place, what with requisitions, repairing +damages and expenses of all sorts, stood us in a million and a half. +Add as much more for the destruction caused by your artillery and by +conflagration during the battle; there you have three millions. +Finally, I am well within bounds in estimating the loss sustained by +our trade and manufactures at two millions. What do you say to that, +eh? A grand total of five million francs for a city of thirteen +thousand inhabitants! And now you come and ask us for forty-two +thousand more as a contribution to the expense of carrying on the war +against us! Is it fair, is it reasonable? I leave it to your own sense +of justice.” + +M. de Gartlauben nodded his head with an air of profundity, and made +answer: + +“What can you expect? It is the fortune of war, the fortune of war.” + +To Henriette, seated in her window seat, her ears ringing, and vague, +sad images of every sort fleeting through her brain, the time seemed to +pass with mortal slowness, while Delaherche asserted on his word of +honor that Sedan could never have weathered the crisis produced by the +exportation of all their specie had it not been for the wisdom of the +local magnates in emitting an issue of paper money, a step that had +saved the city from financial ruin. + +“Captain, will you have just a drop of cognac more?” and he skipped to +another topic. “It was not France that started the war; it was the +Emperor. Ah, I was greatly deceived in the Emperor. He need never +expect to sit on the throne again; we would see the country dismembered +first. Look here! there was just one man in this country last July who +saw things as they were, and that was M. Thiers; and his action at the +present time in visiting the different capitals of Europe is most wise +and patriotic. He has the best wishes of every good citizen; may he be +successful!” + +He expressed the conclusion of his idea by a gesture, for he would have +considered it improper to speak of his desire for peace before a +Prussian, no matter how friendly he might be, although the desire +burned fiercely in his bosom, as it did in that of every member of the +old conservative bourgeoisie who had favored the plebiscite. Their men +and money were exhausted, it was time for them to throw up the sponge; +and a deep-seated feeling of hatred toward Paris, for the obstinacy +with which it held out, prevailed in all the provinces that were in +possession of the enemy. He concluded in a lower tone, his allusion +being to Gambetta’s inflammatory proclamations: + +“No, no, we cannot give our suffrages to fools and madmen. The course +they advocate would end in general massacre. I, for my part, am for M. +Thiers, who would submit the questions at issue to the popular vote, +and as for their Republic, great heavens! let them have it if they want +it, while waiting for something better; it don’t trouble me in the +slightest.” + +Captain de Gartlauben continued to nod his head very politely with an +approving air, murmuring: + +“To be sure, to be sure—” + +Henriette, whose feeling of distress had been increasing, could stand +their talk no longer. She could assign no definite reason for the +sensation of inquietude that possessed her; it was only a longing to +get away, and she rose and left the room quietly in quest of Gilberte, +whose absence had been so long protracted. On entering the bedroom, +however, she was greatly surprised to find her friend stretched on the +lounge, weeping bitterly and manifestly suffering from some extremely +painful emotion. + +“Why, what is the matter? What has happened you?” + +The young woman’s tears flowed faster still and she would not speak, +manifesting a confusion that sent every drop of blood coursing from her +heart up to her face. At last, throwing herself into the arms that were +opened to receive her and concealing her face in the other’s bosom, she +stammered: + +“Oh, darling if you but knew. I shall never dare to tell you—and yet I +have no one but you, you alone perhaps can tell me what is best to do.” +A shiver passed through her frame, her voice was scarcely audible. “I +was with Edmond—and then—and then Madame Delaherche came into the room +and caught me—” + +“Caught you! What do you mean?” + +“Yes, we were here in the room; he was holding me in his arms and +kissing me—” And clasping Henriette convulsively in her trembling arms +she told her all. “Oh, my darling, don’t judge me severely; I could not +bear it! I know I promised you it should never happen again, but you +have seen Edmond, you know how brave he is, how handsome! And think +once of the poor young man, wounded, ill, with no one to give him a +mother’s care! And then he has never had the enjoyments that wealth +affords; his family have pinched themselves to give him an education. I +could not be harsh with him.” + +Henriette listened, the picture of surprise; she could not recover from +her amazement. “What! you don’t mean to say it was the little sergeant! +Why, my dear, everyone believes the Prussian to be your lover!” + +Gilberte straightened herself up with an indignant air, and dried her +eyes. “The Prussian my lover? No, thank you! He’s detestable; I can’t +endure him. I wonder what they take me for? What have I ever done that +they should suppose I could be guilty of such baseness? No, never! I +would rather die than do such a thing!” In the earnestness of her +protestations her beauty had assumed an angry and more lofty cast that +made her look other than she was. And all at once, sudden as a flash, +her coquettish gayety, her thoughtless levity, came back to her face, +accompanied by a peal of silvery laughter. “I won’t deny that I amuse +myself at his expense. He adores me, and I have only to give him a look +to make him obey. You have no idea what fun it is to bamboozle that +great big man, who seems to think he will have his reward some day.” + +“But that is a very dangerous game you’re playing,” Henriette gravely +said. + +“Oh, do you think so? What risk do I incur? When he comes to see he has +nothing to expect he can’t do more than be angry with me and go away. +But he will never see it! You don’t know the man; I read him like a +book from the very start: he is one of those men with whom a woman can +do what she pleases and incur no danger. I have an instinct that guides +me in these matters and which has never deceived me. He is too consumed +by vanity; no human consideration will ever drive it into his head that +by any possibility a woman could get the better of him. And all he will +get from me will be permission to carry away my remembrance, with the +consoling thought that he has done the proper thing and behaved himself +like a gallant man who has long been an inhabitant of Paris.” And with +her air of triumphant gayety she added: “But before he leaves he shall +cause Uncle Fouchard to be set at liberty, and all his recompense for +his trouble shall be a cup of tea sweetened by these fingers.” + +But suddenly her fears returned to her: she remembered what must be the +terrible consequences of her indiscretion, and her eyes were again +bedewed with tears. + +“_Mon Dieu!_ and Madame Delaherche—how will it all end? She bears me no +love; she is capable of telling the whole story to my husband.” + +Henriette had recovered her composure. She dried her friend’s eyes, and +made her rise from the lounge and arrange her disordered clothing. + +“Listen, my dear; I cannot bring myself to scold you, and yet you know +what my sentiments must be. But I was so alarmed by the stories I heard +about the Prussian, the business wore such an extremely ugly aspect, +that this affair really comes to me as a sort of relief by comparison. +Cease weeping; things may come out all right.” + +Her action was taken none too soon, for almost immediately Delaherche +and his mother entered the room. He said that he had made up his mind +to take the train for Brussels that afternoon and had been giving +orders to have a carriage ready to carry him across the frontier into +Belgium; so he had come to say good-by to his wife. Then turning and +addressing Henriette: + +“You need have no further fears. M. de Gartlauben, just is he was going +away, promised me he would attend to your uncle’s case, and although I +shall not be here, my wife will keep an eye to it.” + +Since Madame Delaherche had made her appearance in the apartment +Gilberte had not once taken her anxious eyes from off her face. Would +she speak, would she tell what she had seen, and keep her son from +starting on his projected journey? The elder lady, also, soon as she +crossed the threshold, had bent her fixed gaze in silence on her +daughter-in-law. Doubtless her stern patriotism induced her to view the +matter in somewhat the same light that Henriette had viewed it. _Mon +Dieu!_ since it was that young man, that Frenchman who had fought so +bravely, was it not her duty to forgive, even as she had forgiven once +before, in Captain Beaudoin’s case? A look of greater softness rose to +her eyes; she averted her head. Her son might go; Edmond would be there +to protect Gilberte against the Prussian. She even smiled faintly, she +whose grim face had never once relaxed since the news of the victory at +Coulmiers. + +“_Au revoir_,” she said, folding her son in her arms. “Finish up your +business quickly as you can and come back to us.” + +And she took herself slowly away, returning to the prison-like chamber +across the corridor, where the colonel, with his dull gaze, was peering +into the shadows that lay outside the disk of bright light which fell +from the lamp. + +Henriette returned to Remilly that same evening, and one morning, three +days afterward, had the pleasure to see Father Fouchard come walking +into the house, as calmly as if he had merely stepped out to transact +some business in the neighborhood. He took a seat by the table and +refreshed himself with some bread and cheese, and to all the questions +that were put to him replied with cool deliberation, like a man who had +never seen anything to alarm him in his situation. What reason had he +to be afraid? He had done nothing wrong; it was not he who had killed +the Prussian, was it? So he had just said to the authorities: +“Investigate the matter; I know nothing about it.” And they could do +nothing but release him, and the mayor as well, seeing they had no +proofs against them. But the eyes of the crafty, sly old peasant +gleamed with delight at the thought of how nicely he had pulled the +wool over the eyes of those dirty blackguards, who were beginning to +higgle with him over the quality of the meat he furnished to them. + +December was drawing near its end, and Jean insisted on going away. His +leg was quite strong again, and the doctor announced that he was fit to +go and join the army. This was to Henriette a subject of profoundest +sorrow, which she kept locked in her bosom as well as she was able. No +tidings from Paris had reached them since the disastrous battle of +Champigny; all they knew was that Maurice’s regiment had been exposed +to a murderous fire and had suffered severely. Ever that deep, unbroken +silence; no letter, never the briefest line for them, when they knew +that families in Raucourt and Sedan were receiving intelligence of +their loved ones by circuitous ways. Perhaps the pigeon that was +bringing them the so eagerly wished-for news had fallen a victim to +some hungry bird of prey, perhaps the bullet of a Prussian had brought +it to the ground at the margin of a wood. But the fear that haunted +them most of all was that Maurice was dead; the silence of the great +city off yonder in the distance, uttering no cry in the mortal hug of +the investment, was become to them in their agonized suspense the +silence of death. They had abandoned all hope of tidings, and when Jean +declared his settled purpose to be gone, Henriette only gave utterance +to this stifled cry of despair: + +“My God! then all is ended, and I am to be left alone!” + +It was Jean’s desire to go and serve with the Army of the North, which +had recently been re-formed under General Faidherbe. Now that General +Manteuffel’s corps had moved forward to Dieppe there were three +departments, cut off from the rest of France, that this army had to +defend, le Nord, le Pas-de-Calais, and la Somme, and Jean’s plan, not a +difficult one to carry into execution, was simply to make for Bouillon +and thence complete his journey across Belgian territory. He knew that +the 23d corps was being recruited, mainly from such old soldiers of +Sedan and Metz as could be gathered to the standards. He had heard it +reported that General Faidherbe was about to take the field, and had +definitely appointed the next ensuing Sunday as the day of his +departure, when news reached him of the battle of Pont-Noyelle, that +drawn battle which came so near being a victory for the French. + +It was Dr. Dalichamp again in this instance who offered the services of +his gig and himself as driver to Bouillon. The good man’s courage and +kindness were boundless. At Raucourt, where typhus was raging, +communicated by the Bavarians, there was not a house where he had not +one or more patients, and this labor was additional to his regular +attendance at the two hospitals at Raucourt and Remilly. His ardent +patriotism, the impulse that prompted him to protest against +unnecessary barbarity, had twice led to his being arrested by the +Prussians, only to be released on each occasion. He gave a little laugh +of satisfaction, therefore, the morning he came with his vehicle to +take up Jean, pleased to be the instrument of assisting the escape of +another of the victims of Sedan, those poor, brave fellows, as he +called them, to whom he gave his professional services and whom he +aided with his purse. Jean, who knew of Henriette’s straitened +circumstances and had been suffering from lack of funds since his +relapse, accepted gratefully the fifty francs that the doctor offered +him for traveling expenses. + +Father Fouchard did things handsomely at the leave-taking, sending +Silvine to the cellar for two bottles of wine and insisting that +everyone should drink a glass to the extermination of the Germans. He +was a man of importance in the country nowadays and had his “plum” +hidden away somewhere or other; he could sleep in peace now that the +francs-tireurs had disappeared, driven like wild beasts from their +lair, and his sole wish was for a speedy conclusion of the war. He had +even gone so far in one of his generous fits as to pay Prosper his +wages in order to retain his services on the farm, which the young man +had no thought of leaving. He touched glasses with Prosper, and also +with Silvine, whom he at times was half inclined to marry, knowing what +a treasure he had in his faithful, hard-working little servant; but +what was the use? he knew she would never leave him, that she would +still be there when Charlot should be grown and go in turn to serve his +country as a soldier. And touching his glass to Henriette’s, Jean’s, +and the doctor’s, he exclaimed: + +“Here’s to the health of you all! May you all prosper and be no worse +off than I am!” + +Henriette would not let Jean go away without accompanying him as far as +Sedan. He was in citizen’s dress, wearing a frock coat and derby hat +that the doctor had loaned him. The day was piercingly cold; the sun’s +rays were reflected from a crust of glittering snow. Their intention +had been to pass through the city without stopping, but when Jean +learned that his old colonel was still at the Delaherches’ he felt an +irresistible desire to go and pay his respects to him, and at the same +time thank the manufacturer for his many kindnesses. His visit was +destined to bring him an additional, a final sorrow, in that city of +mournful memories. On reaching the structure in the Rue Maqua they +found the household in a condition of the greatest distress and +disorder, Gilberte wringing her hands, Madame Delaherche weeping great +silent tears, while her son, who had come in from the factory, where +work was gradually being resumed, uttered exclamations of surprise. The +colonel had just been discovered, stone dead, lying exactly as he had +fallen, in a heap on the floor of his chamber. The physician, who was +summoned with all haste, could assign no cause for the sudden death; +there was no indication of paralysis or heart trouble. The colonel had +been stricken down, and no one could tell from what quarter the blow +came; but the following morning, when the room was thrown open, a piece +of an old newspaper was found, lying on the carpet, that had been +wrapped around a book and contained the account of the surrender of +Metz. + +“My, dear,” said Gilberte to Henriette, “as Captain de Gartlauben was +coming downstairs just now he removed his hat as he passed the door of +the room where my uncle’s body is lying. Edmond saw it; he’s an +extremely well-bred man, don’t you think so?” + +In all their intimacy Jean had never yet kissed Henriette. Before +resuming his seat in the gig with the doctor he endeavored to thank her +for all her devoted kindness, for having nursed and loved him as a +brother, but somehow the words would not come at his command; he opened +his arms and, with a great sob, clasped her in a long embrace, and she, +beside herself with the grief of parting, returned his kiss. Then the +horse started, he turned about in his seat, there was a waving of +hands, while again and again two sorrowful voices repeated in choking +accents: + +“Farewell! Farewell!” + +On her return to Remilly that evening Henriette reported for duty at +the hospital. During the silent watches of the night she was visited by +another convulsive attack of sobbing, and wept, wept as if her tears +would never cease to flow, clasping her hands before her as if between +them to strangle her bitter sorrow. + + + + +VII. + + +On the day succeeding the battle of Sedan the mighty hosts of the two +German armies, without the delay of a moment, commenced their march on +Paris, the army of the Meuse coming in by the north through the valley +of the Marne, while the third army, passing the Seine at +Villeneuve-Saint-Georges, turned the city to the south and moved on +Versailles; and when, on that bright, warm September morning, General +Ducrot, to whom had been assigned the command of the as yet incomplete +14th corps, determined to attack the latter force while it was marching +by the flank, Maurice’s new regiment, the 115th, encamped in the woods +to the left of Meudon, did not receive its orders to advance until the +day was lost. A few shells from the enemy sufficed to do the work; the +panic started with a regiment of zouaves made up of raw recruits, and +quickly spreading to the other troops, all were swept away in a +headlong rout that never ceased until they were safe behind the walls +of Paris, where the utmost consternation prevailed. Every position in +advance of the southern line of fortifications was lost, and that +evening the wires of the Western Railway telegraph, the city’s sole +remaining means of communicating with the rest of France, were cut. +Paris was cut off from the world. + +The condition of their affairs caused Maurice a terrible dejection. Had +the Germans been more enterprising they might have pitched their tents +that night in the Place du Carrousel, but with the prudence of their +race they had determined that the siege should be conducted according +to rule and precept, and had already fixed upon the exact lines of +investment, the position of the army of the Meuse being at the north, +stretching from Croissy to the Marne, through Epinay, the cordon of the +third army at the south, from Chennevieres to Chatillon and Bougival, +while general headquarters, with King William, Bismarck, and General +von Moltke, were established at Versailles. The gigantic blockade, that +no one believed could be successfully completed, was an accomplished +fact; the city, with its girdle of fortifications eight leagues and a +half in length, embracing fifteen forts and six detached redoubts, was +henceforth to be transformed into a huge prison-pen. And the army of +the defenders comprised only the 13th corps, commanded by General +Vinoy, and the 14th, then in process of reconstruction under General +Ducrot, the two aggregating an effective strength of eighty thousand +men; to which were to be added fourteen thousand sailors, fifteen +thousand of the francs corps, and a hundred and fifteen thousand +mobiles, not to mention the three hundred thousand National Guards +distributed among the sectional divisions of the ramparts. If this +seems like a large force it must be remembered that there were few +seasoned and trained soldiers among its numbers. Men were constantly +being drilled and equipped; Paris was a great intrenched camp. The +preparations for the defense went on from hour to hour with feverish +haste; roads were built, houses demolished within the military zone; +the two hundred siege guns and the twenty-five hundred pieces of lesser +caliber were mounted in position, other guns were cast; an arsenal, +complete in every detail, seemed to spring from the earth under the +tireless efforts of Dorian, the patriotic war minister. When, after the +rupture of the negotiations at Ferrieres, Jules Favre acquainted the +country with M. von Bismarck’s demands—the cession of Alsace, the +garrison of Strasbourg to be surrendered, three milliards of +indemnity—a cry of rage went up and the continuation of the war was +demanded by acclaim as a condition indispensable to the country’s +existence. Even with no hope of victory Paris must defend herself in +order that France might live. + +On a Sunday toward the end of September Maurice was detailed to carry a +message to the further end of the city, and what he witnessed along the +streets he passed through filled him with new hope. Ever since the +defeat of Chatillon it had seemed to him that the courage of the people +was rising to a level with the great task that lay before them. Ah! +that Paris that he had known so thoughtless, so wayward, so keen in the +pursuit of pleasure; he found it now quite changed, simple, earnest, +cheerfully brave, ready for every sacrifice. Everyone was in uniform; +there was scarce a head that was not decorated with the _kepi_ of the +National Guard. Business of every sort had come to a sudden standstill, +as the hands of a watch cease to move when the mainspring snaps, and at +the public meetings, among the soldiers in the guard-room, or where the +crowds collected in the streets, there was but one subject of +conversation, inflaming the hearts and minds of all—the determination +to conquer. The contagious influence of illusion, scattered broadcast, +unbalanced weaker minds; the people were tempted to acts of generous +folly by the tension to which they were subjected. Already there was a +taint of morbid, nervous excitability in the air, a feverish condition +in which men’s hopes and fears alike became distorted and exaggerated, +arousing the worst passions of humanity at the slightest breath of +suspicion. And Maurice was witness to a scene in the Rue des Martyrs +that produced a profound impression on him, the assault made by a band +of infuriated men on a house from which, at one of the upper windows, a +bright light had been displayed all through the night, a signal, +evidently, intended to reach the Prussians at Bellevue over the roofs +of Paris. There were jealous citizens who spent all their nights on +their house-tops, watching what was going on around them. The day +before a poor wretch had had a narrow escape from drowning at the hands +of the mob, merely because he had opened a map of the city on a bench +in the Tuileries gardens and consulted it. + +And that epidemic of suspicion Maurice, who had always hitherto been so +liberal and fair-minded, now began to feel the influence of in the +altered views he was commencing to entertain concerning men and things. +He had ceased to give way to despair, as he had done after the rout at +Chatillon, when he doubted whether the French army would ever muster up +sufficient manhood to fight again: the sortie of the 30th of September +on l’Hay and Chevilly, that of the 13th of October, in which the +mobiles gained possession of Bagneux, and finally that of October 21, +when his regiment captured and held for some time the park of la +Malmaison, had restored to him all his confidence, that flame of hope +that a spark sufficed to light and was extinguished as quickly. It was +true the Prussians had repulsed them in every direction, but for all +that the troops had fought bravely; they might yet be victorious in the +end. It was Paris now that was responsible for the young man’s gloomy +forebodings, that great fickle city that at one moment was cheered by +bright illusions and the next was sunk in deepest despair, ever haunted +by the fear of treason in its thirst for victory. Did it not seem as if +Trochu and Ducrot were treading in the footsteps of the Emperor and +Marshal MacMahon and about to prove themselves incompetent leaders, the +unconscious instruments of their country’s ruin? The same movement that +had swept away the Empire was now threatening the Government of +National Defense, a fierce longing of the extremists to place +themselves in control in order that they might save France by the +methods of ’92; even now Jules Favre and his co-members were more +unpopular than the old ministers of Napoleon III. had ever been. Since +they would not fight the Prussians, they would do well to make way for +others, for those revolutionists who saw an assurance of victory in +decreeing the _levée en masse_, in lending an ear to those visionaries +who proposed to mine the earth beneath the Prussians’ feet, or +annihilate them all by means of a new fashioned Greek fire. + +Just previous to the 31st of October Maurice was more than usually a +victim to this malady of distrust and barren speculation. He listened +now approvingly to crude fancies that would formerly have brought a +smile of contempt to his lips. Why should he not? Were not imbecility +and crime abroad in the land? Was it unreasonable to look for the +miraculous when his world was falling in ruins about him? Ever since +the time he first heard the tidings of Froeschwiller, down there in +front of Mülhausen, he had harbored a deep-seated feeling of rancor in +his breast; he suffered from Sedan as from a raw sore, that bled afresh +with every new reverse; the memory of their defeats, with all the +anguish they entailed, was ever present to his mind; body and mind +enfeebled by long marches, sleepless nights, and lack of food, inducing +a mental torpor that left them doubtful even if they were alive; and +the thought that so much suffering was to end in another and an +irremediable disaster maddened him, made of that cultured man an +unreflecting being, scarce higher in the scale than a very little +child, swayed by each passing impulse of the moment. Anything, +everything, destruction, extermination, rather than pay a penny of +French money or yield an inch of French soil! The revolution that since +the first reverse had been at work within him, sweeping away the legend +of Napoleonic glory, the sentimental Bonapartism that he owed to the +epic narratives of his grandfather, was now complete. He had ceased to +be a believer in Republicanism, pure and simple, considering the remedy +not drastic enough; he had begun to dabble in the theories of the +extremists, he was a believer in the necessity of the Terror as the +only means of ridding them of the traitors and imbeciles who were about +to slay the country. And so it was that he was heart and soul with the +insurgents when, on the 31st of October, tidings of disaster came +pouring in on them in quick succession: the loss of Bourget, that had +been captured from the enemy only a few days before by a dashing +surprise; M. Thiers’ return to Versailles from his visit to the +European capitals, prepared to treat for peace, so it was said, in the +name of Napoleon III.; and finally the capitulation of Metz, rumors of +which had previously been current and which was now confirmed, the last +blow of the bludgeon, another Sedan, only attended by circumstances of +blacker infamy. And when he learned next day the occurrences at the +Hôtel de Ville—how the insurgents had been for a brief time successful, +how the members of the Government of National Defense had been made +prisoners and held until four o’clock in the morning, how finally the +fickle populace, swayed at one moment by detestation for the ministers +and at the next terrified by the prospect of a successful revolution, +had released them—he was filled with regret at the miscarriage of the +attempt, at the non-success of the Commune, which might have been their +salvation, calling the people to arms, warning them of the country’s +danger, arousing the cherished memories of a nation that wills it will +not perish. Thiers did not dare even to set his foot in Paris, where +there was some attempt at illumination to celebrate the failure of the +negotiations. + +The month of November was to Maurice a period of feverish expectancy. +There were some conflicts of no great importance, in which he had no +share. His regiment was in cantonments at the time in the vicinity of +Saint-Ouen, whence he made his escape as often as he could to satisfy +his craving for news. Paris, like him, was awaiting the issue of events +in eager suspense. The election of municipal officers seemed to have +appeased political passion for the time being, but a circumstance that +boded no good for the future was that those elected were rabid +adherents of one or another party. And what Paris was watching and +praying for in that interval of repose was the grand sortie that was to +bring them victory and deliverance. As it had always been, so it was +now; confidence reigned everywhere: they would drive the Prussians from +their position, would pulverize them, annihilate them. Great +preparations were being made in the peninsula of Gennevilliers, the +point where there was most likelihood of the operation being attended +with success. Then one morning came the joyful tidings of the victory +at Coulmiers; Orleans was recaptured, the army of the Loire was +marching to the relief of Paris, was even then, so it was reported, in +camp at Étampes. The aspect of affairs was entirely changed: all they +had to do now was to go and effect a junction with it beyond the Marne. +There had been a general reorganization of the forces; three armies had +been created, one composed of the battalions of National Guards and +commanded by General Clement Thomas, another, comprising the 13th and +14th corps, to which were added a few reliable regiments, selected +indiscriminately wherever they could be found, was to form the main +column of attack under the lead of General Ducrot, while the third, +intended to act as a reserve, was made up entirely of mobiles and +turned over to General Vinoy. And when Maurice laid him down to sleep +in the wood of Vincennes on the night of the 28th of November, with his +comrades of the 115th, he was without a doubt of their success. The +three corps of the second army were all there, and it was common talk +that their junction with the army of the Loire had been fixed for the +following day at Fontainebleau. Then ensued a series of mischances, the +usual blunders arising from want of foresight; a sudden rising of the +river, which prevented the engineers from laying the pontoon bridge; +conflicting orders, which delayed the movement of the troops. The 115th +was among the first regiments to pass the river on the following night, +and in the neighborhood of ten o’clock, with Maurice in its ranks, it +entered Champigny under a destructive fire. The young man was wild with +excitement; he fired so rapidly that his chassepot burned his fingers, +notwithstanding the intense cold. His sole thought was to push onward, +ever onward, surmounting every obstacle until they should join their +brothers from the provinces over there across the river. But in front +of Champigny and Bry the army fell up against the park walls of +Coeuilly and Villiers, that the Prussians had converted into +impregnable fortresses, more than a quarter of a mile in length. The +men’s courage faltered, and after that the action went on in a +half-hearted way; the 3d corps was slow in getting up, the 1st and 2d, +unable to advance, continued for two days longer to hold Champigny, +which they finally abandoned on the night of December 2, after their +barren victory. The whole army retired to the wood of Vincennes, where +the men’s only shelter was the snow-laden branches of the trees, and +Maurice, whose feet were frost-bitten, laid his head upon the cold +ground and cried. + +The gloom and dejection that reigned in the city, after the failure of +that supreme effort, beggars the powers of description. The great +sortie that had been so long in preparation, the irresistible eruption +that was to be the deliverance of Paris, had ended in disappointment, +and three days later came a communication from General von Moltke under +a flag of truce, announcing that the army of the Loire had been +defeated and that the German flag again waved over Orleans. The girdle +was being drawn tighter and tighter about the doomed city all whose +struggles were henceforth powerless to burst its iron fetters. But +Paris seemed to accumulate fresh powers of resistance in the delirium +of its despair. It was certain that ere long they would have to count +famine among the number of their foes. As early as October the people +had been restricted in their consumption of butcher’s meat, and in +December, of all the immense herds of beeves and flocks of sheep that +had been turned loose in the Bois de Boulogne, there was not a single +creature left alive, and horses were being slaughtered for food. The +stock of flour and wheat, with what was subsequently taken for the +public use by forced sale, it was estimated would keep the city +supplied with bread for four months. When the flour was all consumed +mills were erected in the railway stations to grind the grain. The +supply of coal, too, was giving out; it was reserved to bake the bread +and for use in the mills and arms factories. And Paris, her streets +without gas and lighted by petroleum lamps at infrequent intervals; +Paris, shivering under her icy mantle; Paris, to whom the authorities +doled out her scanty daily ration of black bread and horse flesh, +continued to hope—in spite of all, talking of Faidherbe in the north, +of Chanzy on the Loire, of Bourbaki in the east, as if their victorious +armies were already beneath the walls. The men and women who stood +waiting, their feet in snow and slush, in interminable lines before the +bakers’ and butchers’ shops, brightened up a bit at times at the news +of some imaginary success of the army. After the discouragement of each +defeat the unquenchable flame of their illusion would burst out and +blaze more brightly than ever among those wretched people, whom +starvation and every kind of suffering had rendered almost delirious. A +soldier on the Place du Château d’Eau having spoken of surrender, the +by-standers mobbed and were near killing him. While the army, its +endurance exhausted, feeling the end was near, called for peace, the +populace clamored still for the sortie _en masse_, the torrential +sortie, in which the entire population of the capital, men, women, and +children, even, should take part, rushing upon the Prussians like water +from a broken dyke and overwhelming them by sheer force of numbers. + +And Maurice kept himself apart from his comrades, with an +ever-increasing disgust for the life and duties of a soldier, that +condemned him to inactivity and uselessness behind the ramparts of +Mont-Valerien. He grasped every occasion to get away and hasten to +Paris, where his heart was. It was in the midst of the great city’s +thronging masses alone that he found rest and peace of mind; he tried +to force himself to hope as they hoped. He often went to witness the +departure of the balloons, which were sent up every other day from the +station of the Northern Railway with a freight of despatches and +carrier pigeons. They rose when the ropes were cast loose and soon were +lost to sight in the cheerless wintry sky, and all hearts were filled +with anguish when the wind wafted them in the direction of the German +frontier. Many of them were never heard of more. He had himself twice +written to his sister Henriette, without ever learning if she had +received his letters. The memory of his sister and of Jean, living as +they did in that outer, shadowy world from which no tidings ever +reached him now, was become so blurred and faint that he thought of +them but seldom, as of affections that he had left behind him in some +previous existence. The incessant conflict of despair and hope in which +he lived occupied all the faculties of his being too fully to leave +room for mere human feelings. Then, too, in the early days of January +he was goaded to the verge of frenzy by the action of the enemy in +shelling the district on the left bank of the river. He had come to +credit the Prussians with reasons of humanity for their abstention, +which was in fact due simply to the difficulties they experienced in +bringing up their guns and getting them in position. Now that a shell +had killed two little girls at the Val-de-Grâce, his scorn and hatred +knew no bounds for those barbarous ruffians who murdered little +children and threatened to burn the libraries and museums. After the +first days of terror, however, Paris had resumed its life of dogged, +unfaltering heroism. + +Since the reverse of Champigny there had been but one other attempt, +ending in disaster like the rest, in the direction of Bourget; and the +evening when the plateau of Avron was evacuated, under the fire of the +heavy siege artillery battering away at the forts, Maurice was a sharer +in the rage and exasperation that possessed the entire city. The +growing unpopularity that threatened to hurl from power General Trochu +and the Government of National Defense was so augmented by this +additional repulse that they were compelled to attempt a supreme and +hopeless effort. What, did they refuse the services of the three +hundred thousand National Guards, who from the beginning had been +demanding their share in the peril and in the victory! This time it was +to be the torrential sortie that had all along been the object of the +popular clamor; Paris was to throw open its dikes and drown the +Prussians beneath the on-pouring waves of its children. Notwithstanding +the certainty of a fresh defeat, there was no way of avoiding a demand +that had its origin in such patriotic motives; but in order to limit +the slaughter as far as possible, the chiefs determined to employ, in +connection with the regular army, only the fifty-nine mobilized +battalions of the National Guard. The day preceding the 19th of January +resembled some great public holiday; an immense crowd gathered on the +boulevards and in the Champs-Élysées to witness the departing +regiments, which marched proudly by, preceded by their bands, the men +thundering out patriotic airs. Women and children followed them along +the sidewalk, men climbed on the benches to wish them Godspeed. The +next morning the entire population of the city hurried out to the Arc +de Triomphe, and it was almost frantic with delight when at an early +hour news came of the capture of Montretout; the tales that were told +of the gallant behavior of the National Guard sounded like epics; the +Prussians had been beaten all along the line, the French would occupy +Versailles before night. As a natural result the consternation was +proportionately great when, at nightfall, the inevitable defeat became +known. While the left wing was seizing Montretout the center, which had +succeeded in carrying the outer wall of Buzanval Park, had encountered +a second inner wall, before which it broke. A thaw had set in, the +roads were heavy from the effects of a fine, drizzling rain, and the +guns, those guns that had been cast by popular subscription and were to +the Parisians as the apple of their eye, could not get up. On the right +General Ducrot’s column was tardy in getting into action and saw +nothing of the fight. Further effort was useless, and General Trochu +was compelled to order a retreat. Montretout was abandoned, and +Saint-Cloud as well, which the Prussians burned, and when it became +fully dark the horizon of Paris was illuminated by the conflagration. + +Maurice himself this time felt that the end was come. For four hours he +had remained in the park of Buzanval with the National Guards under the +galling fire from the Prussian intrenchments, and later, when he got +back to the city, he spoke of their courage in the highest terms. It +was undisputed that the Guards fought bravely on that occasion; after +that was it not self-evident that all the disasters of the army were to +be attributed solely to the imbecility and treason of its leaders? In +the Rue de Rivoli he encountered bands of men shouting: “Hurrah for the +Commune! down with Trochu!” It was the leaven of revolution beginning +to work again in the popular mind, a fresh outbreak of public opinion, +and so formidable this time that the Government of National Defense, in +order to preserve its own existence, thought it necessary to compel +General Trochu’s resignation and put General Vinoy in his place. On +that same day Maurice, chancing to enter a hall in Belleville where a +public meeting was going on, again heard the _levée en masse_ demanded +with clamorous shouts. He knew the thing to be chimerical, and yet it +set his heart a-beating more rapidly to see such a determined will to +conquer. When all is ended, is it not left us to attempt the +impossible? All that night he dreamed of miracles. + +Then a long week went by, during which Paris lay agonizing without a +murmur. The shops had ceased to open their doors; in the lonely streets +the infrequent wayfarer never met a carriage. Forty thousand horses had +been eaten; dogs, cats and rats were now luxuries, commanding a high +price. Ever since the supply of wheat had given out the bread was made +from rice and oats, and was black, damp, and slimy, and hard to digest; +to obtain the ten ounces that constituted a day’s ration involved a +wait, often of many hours, in line before the bake-house. Ah, the +sorrowful spectacle it was, to see those poor women shivering in the +pouring rain, their feet in the ice-cold mud and water! the misery and +heroism of the great city that would not surrender! The death rate had +increased threefold; the theaters were converted into hospitals. As +soon as it became dark the quarters where luxury and vice had formerly +held carnival were shrouded in funereal blackness, like the faubourgs +of some accursed city, smitten by pestilence. And in that silence, in +that obscurity, naught was to be heard save the unceasing roar of the +cannonade and the crash of bursting shells, naught to be seen save the +red flash of the guns illuminating the wintry sky. + +On the 28th of January the news burst on Paris like a thunderclap that +for the past two days negotiations had been going on, between Jules +Favre and M. von Bismarck, looking to an armistice, and at the same +time it learned that there was bread for only ten days longer, a space +of time that would hardly suffice to revictual the city. Capitulation +was become a matter of material necessity. Paris, stupefied by the hard +truths that were imparted to it at that late day, remained sullenly +silent and made no sign. Midnight of that day heard the last shot from +the German guns, and on the 29th, when the Prussians had taken +possession of the forts, Maurice went with his regiment into the camp +that was assigned them over by Montrouge, within the fortifications. +The life that he led there was an aimless one, made up of idleness and +feverish unrest. Discipline was relaxed; the soldiers did pretty much +as they pleased, waiting in inactivity to be dismissed to their homes. +He, however, continued to hang around the camp in a semi-dazed +condition, moody, nervous, irritable, prompt to take offense on the +most trivial provocation. He read with avidity all the revolutionary +newspapers he could lay hands on; that three weeks’ armistice, +concluded solely for the purpose of allowing France to elect an +assembly that should ratify the conditions of peace, appeared to him a +delusion and a snare, another and a final instance of treason. Even if +Paris were forced to capitulate, he was with Gambetta for the +prosecution of the war in the north and on the line of the Loire. He +overflowed with indignation at the disaster of Bourbaki’s army in the +east, which had been compelled to throw itself into Switzerland, and +the result of the elections made him furious: it would be just as he +had always predicted; the base, cowardly provinces, irritated by Paris’ +protracted resistance, would insist on peace at any price and restore +the monarchy while the Prussian guns were still directed on the city. +After the first sessions, at Bordeaux, Thiers, elected in twenty-six +departments and constituted by unanimous acclaim the chief executive, +appeared to his eyes a monster of iniquity, the father of lies, a man +capable of every crime. The terms of the peace concluded by that +assemblage of monarchists seemed to him to put the finishing touch to +their infamy, his blood boiled merely at the thought of those hard +conditions: an indemnity of five milliards, Metz to be given up, Alsace +to be ceded, France’s blood and treasure pouring from the gaping wound, +thenceforth incurable, that was thus opened in her flank. + +Late in February Maurice, unable to endure his situation longer, made +up his mind he would desert. A stipulation of the treaty provided that +the troops encamped about Paris should be disarmed and returned to +their abodes, but he did not wait to see it enforced; it seemed to him +that it would break his heart to leave brave, glorious Paris, which +only famine had been able to subdue, and so he bade farewell to army +life and hired for himself a small furnished room next the roof of a +tall apartment house in the Rue des Orties, at the top of the butte des +Moulins, whence he had an outlook over the immense sea of roofs from +the Tuileries to the Bastille. An old friend, whom he had known while +pursuing his law studies, had loaned him a hundred francs. In addition +to that he had caused his name to be inscribed on the roster of a +battalion of National Guards as soon as he was settled in his new +quarters, and his pay, thirty sous a day, would be enough to keep him +alive. The idea of going to the country and there leading a tranquil +life, unmindful of what was happening to the country, filled him with +horror; the letters even that he received from his sister Henriette, to +whom he had written immediately after the armistice, annoyed him by +their tone of entreaty, their ardent solicitations that he would come +home to Remilly and rest. He refused point-blank; he would go later on +when the Prussians should be no longer there. + +And so Maurice went on leading an idle, vagabondish sort of life, in a +state of constant feverish agitation. He had ceased to be tormented by +hunger; he devoured the first white bread he got with infinite gusto; +but the city was a prison still: German guards were posted at the +gates, and no one was allowed to pass them until he had been made to +give an account of himself. There had been no resumption of social life +as yet; industry and trade were at a standstill; the people lived from +day to day, watching to see what would happen next, doing nothing, +simply vegetating in the bright sunshine of the spring that was now +coming on apace. During the siege there had been the military service +to occupy men’s minds and tire their limbs, while now the entire +population, isolated from all the world, had suddenly been reduced to a +state of utter stagnation, mental as well as physical. He did as others +did, loitering his time away from morning till night, living in an +atmosphere that for months had been vitiated by the germs arising from +the half-crazed mob. He read the newspapers and was an assiduous +frequenter of public meetings, where he would often smile and shrug his +shoulders at the rant and fustian of the speakers, but nevertheless +would go away with the most ultra notions teeming in his brain, ready +to engage in any desperate undertaking in the defense of what he +considered truth and justice. And sitting by the window in his little +bedroom, and looking out over the city, he would still beguile himself +with dreams of victory; would tell himself that France and the Republic +might yet be saved, so long as the treaty of peace remained unsigned. + +The 1st of March was the day fixed for the entrance of the Prussians +into Paris, and a long-drawn howl of wrath and execration went up from +every heart. Maurice never attended a meeting now that he did not hear +Thiers, the Assembly, even the men of September 4th themselves, cursed +and reviled because they had not spared the great heroic city that +crowning degradation. He was himself one night aroused to such a pitch +of frenzy that he took the floor and shouted that it was the duty of +all Paris to go and die on the ramparts rather than suffer the entrance +of a single Prussian. It was quite natural that the spirit of +insurrection should show itself thus, should bud and blossom in the +full light of day, among that populace that had first been maddened by +months of distress and famine and then had found itself reduced to a +condition of idleness that afforded it abundant leisure to brood on the +suspicions and fancied wrongs that were largely the product of its own +disordered imagination. It was one of those moral crises that have been +noticed as occurring after every great siege, in which excessive +patriotism, thwarted in its aims and aspirations, after having fired +men’s minds, degenerates into a blind rage for vengeance and +destruction. The Central Committee, elected by delegates from the +National Guard battalions, had protested against any attempt to disarm +their constituents. Then came an immense popular demonstration on the +Place de la Bastille, where there were red flags, incendiary speeches +and a crowd that overflowed the square, the affair ending with the +murder of a poor inoffensive agent of police, who was bound to a plank, +thrown into the canal, and then stoned to death. And forty-eight hours +later, during the night of the 26th of February, Maurice, awakened by +the beating of the long roll and the sound of the tocsin, beheld bands +of men and women streaming along the Boulevard des Batignolles and +dragging cannon after them. He descended to the street, and laying hold +of the rope of a gun along with some twenty others, was told how the +people had gone to the Place Wagram and taken the pieces in order that +the Assembly might not deliver them to the Prussians. There were +seventy of them; teams were wanting, but the strong arms of the mob, +tugging at the ropes and pushing at the limbers and axles, finally +brought them to the summit of Montmartre with the mad impetuosity of a +barbarian horde assuring the safety of its idols. When on March 1 the +Prussians took possession of the quarter of the Champs Élysées, which +they were to occupy only for one day, keeping themselves strictly +within the limits of the barriers, Paris looked on in sullen silence, +its streets deserted, its houses closed, the entire city lifeless and +shrouded in its dense veil of mourning. + +Two weeks more went by, during which Maurice could hardly have told how +he spent his time while awaiting the approach of the momentous events +of which he had a distinct presentiment. Peace was concluded definitely +at last, the Assembly was to commence its regular sessions at +Versailles on the 20th of the month; and yet for him nothing was +concluded: he felt that they were ere long to witness the beginning of +a dreadful drama of atonement. On the 18th of March, as he was about to +leave his room, he received a letter from Henriette urging him to come +and join her at Remilly, coupled with a playful threat that she would +come and carry him off with her if he delayed too long to afford her +that great pleasure. Then she went on to speak of Jean, concerning +whose affairs she was extremely anxious; she told how, after leaving +her late in December to join the Army of the North, he had been seized +with a low fever that had kept him long a prisoner in a Belgian +hospital, and only the preceding week he had written her that he was +about to start for Paris, notwithstanding his enfeebled condition, +where he was determined to seek active service once again. Henriette +closed her letter by begging her brother to give her a faithful account +of how matters were with Jean as soon as he should have seen him. +Maurice laid the open letter before him on the table and sank into a +confused revery. Henriette, Jean; his sister whom he loved so fondly, +his brother in suffering and privation; how absent from his daily +thoughts had those dear ones been since the tempest had been raging in +his bosom! He aroused himself, however, and as his sister advised him +that she had been unable to give Jean the number of the house in the +Rue des Orties, promised himself to go that very day to the office +where the regimental records were kept and hunt up his friend. But he +had barely got beyond his door and was crossing the Rue Saint-Honoré +when he encountered two fellow-soldiers of his battalion, who gave him +an account of what had happened that morning and during the night +before at Montmartre, and the three men started off on a run toward the +scene of the disturbance. + +Ah, that day of the 18th of March, the elation and enthusiasm that it +aroused in Maurice! In after days he could never remember clearly what +he said and did. First he beheld himself dimly, as through a veil of +mist, convulsed with rage at the recital of how the troops had +attempted, in the darkness and quiet that precedes the dawn, to disarm +Paris by seizing the guns on Montmartre heights. It was evident that +Thiers, who had arrived from Bordeaux, had been meditating the blow for +the last two days, in order that the Assembly at Versailles might +proceed without fear to proclaim the monarchy. Then the scene shifted, +and he was on the ground at Montmartre itself—about nine o’clock it +was—fired by the narrative of the people’s victory: how the soldiery +had come sneaking up in the darkness, how the delay in bringing up the +teams had given the National Guards an opportunity to fly to arms, the +troops, having no heart to fire on women and children, reversing their +muskets and fraternizing with the people. Then he had wandered +desultorily about the city, wherever chance directed his footsteps, and +by midday had satisfied himself that the Commune was master of Paris, +without even the necessity of striking a blow, for Thiers and the +ministers had decamped from their quarters in the Ministry of Foreign +Affairs, the entire government was flying in disorder to Versailles, +the thirty thousand troops had been hastily conducted from the city, +leaving more than five thousand deserters from their numbers along the +line of their retreat. And later, about half-past five in the +afternoon, he could recall being at a corner of the exterior boulevard +in the midst of a mob of howling lunatics, listening without the +slightest evidence of disapproval to the abominable story of the murder +of Generals Lecomte and Clement Thomas. Generals, they called +themselves; fine generals, they! The leaders they had had at Sedan rose +before his memory, voluptuaries and imbeciles; one more, one less, what +odds did it make! And the remainder of the day passed in the same state +of half-crazed excitement, which served to distort everything to his +vision; it was an insurrection that the very stones of the streets +seemed to have favored, spreading, swelling, finally becoming master of +all at a stroke in the unforeseen fatality of its triumph, and at ten +o’clock in the evening delivering the Hôtel de Ville over to the +members of the Central Committee, who were greatly surprised to find +themselves there. + +There was one memory, however, that remained very distinct to Maurice’s +mind: his unexpected meeting with Jean. It was three days now since the +latter had reached Paris, without a sou in his pocket, emaciated and +enfeebled by the illness that had consigned him to a hospital in +Brussels and kept him there two months, and having had the luck to fall +in with Captain Ravaud, who had commanded a company in the 106th, he +had enlisted at once in his former acquaintance’s new company in the +124th. His old rank as corporal had been restored to him, and that +evening he had just left the Prince Eugene barracks with his squad on +his way to the left bank, where the entire army was to concentrate, +when a mob collected about his men and stopped them as they were +passing along the boulevard Saint-Martin. The insurgents yelled and +shouted, and evidently were preparing to disarm his little band. With +perfect coolness he told them to let him alone, that he had no business +with them or their affairs; all he wanted was to obey his orders +without harming anybody. Then a cry of glad surprise was heard, and +Maurice, who had chanced to pass that way, threw himself on the other’s +neck and gave him a brotherly hug. + +“What, is it you! My sister wrote me about you. And just think, no +later than this very morning I was going to look you up at the war +office!” + +Jean’s eyes were dim with big tears of pleasure. + +“Ah, my dear lad how glad I am to see you once more! I have been +looking for you, too, but where could a fellow expect to find you in +this confounded great big place?” + +To the crowd, continuing their angry muttering, Maurice turned and +said: + +“Let me talk to them, citizens! They’re good fellows; I’ll answer for +them.” He took his friend’s hands in his, and lowering his voice: +“You’ll join us, won’t you?” + +Jean’s face was the picture of surprise. “How, join you? I don’t +understand.” Then for a moment he listened while Maurice railed against +the government, against the army, raking up old sores and recalling all +their sufferings, telling how at last they were going to be masters, +punish dolts and cowards and preserve the Republic. And as he struggled +to get the problems the other laid before him through his brain, the +tranquil face of the unlettered peasant was clouded with an increasing +sorrow. “Ah, no! ah, no! my boy. I can’t join you if it’s for that fine +work you want me. My captain told me to go with my men to Vaugirard, +and there I’m going. In spite of the devil and his angels I will go +there. That’s natural enough; you ought to know how it is yourself.” He +laughed with frank simplicity and added: + +“It’s you who’ll come along with us.” + +But Maurice released his hands with an angry gesture of dissent, and +thus they stood for some seconds, face to face, one under the influence +of that madness that was sweeping all Paris off its feet, the malady +that had been bequeathed to them by the crimes and follies of the late +reign, the other strong in his ignorance and practical common sense, +untainted as yet because he had grown up apart from the contaminating +principle, in the land where industry and thrift were honored. They +were brothers, however, none the less; the tie that united them was +strong, and it was a pang to them both when the crowd suddenly surged +forward and parted them. + +“_Au revoir_, Maurice!” + +“_Au revoir_, Jean!” + +It was a regiment, the 79th, debouching from a side street, that had +caused the movement among the crowd, forcing the rioters back to the +sidewalks by the weight of its compact column, closed in mass. There +was some hooting, but no one ventured to bar the way against the +soldier boys, who went by at double time, well under control of their +officers. An opportunity was afforded the little squad of the 124th to +make their escape, and they followed in the wake of the larger body. + +“_Au revoir_, Jean!” + +“_Au revoir_, Maurice!” + +They waved their hands once more in a parting salute, yielding to the +fatality that decreed their separation in that manner, but each none +the less securely seated in the other’s heart. + +The extraordinary occurrences of the next and the succeeding days +crowded on the heels of one another in such swift sequence that Maurice +had scarcely time to think. On the morning of the 19th Paris awoke +without a government, more surprised than frightened to learn that a +panic during the night had sent army, ministers, and all the public +service scurrying away to Versailles, and as the weather happened to be +fine on that magnificent March Sunday, Paris stepped unconcernedly down +into the streets to have a look at the barricades. A great white +poster, bearing the signature of the Central Committee and convoking +the people for the communal elections, attracted attention by the +moderation of its language, although much surprise was expressed at +seeing it signed by names so utterly unknown. There can be no doubt +that at this incipient stage of the Commune Paris, in the bitter memory +of what it had endured, in the suspicions by which it was haunted, and +in its unslaked thirst for further fighting, was against Versailles. It +was a condition of absolute anarchy, moreover, the conflict for the +moment being between the mayors and the Central Committee, the former +fruitlessly attempting to introduce measures of conciliation, while the +latter, uncertain as yet to what extent it could rely on the federated +National Guard, continued modestly to lay claim to no higher title than +that of defender of the municipal liberties. The shots fired against +the pacific demonstration in the Place Vendôme, the few corpses whose +blood reddened the pavements, first sent a thrill of terror circulating +through the city. And while these things were going on, while the +insurgents were taking definite possession of the ministries and all +the public buildings, the agitation, rage and alarm prevailing at +Versailles were extreme, the government there hastening to get together +sufficient troops to repel the attack which they felt sure they should +not have to wait for long. The steadiest and most reliable divisions of +the armies of the North and of the Loire were hurried forward. Ten days +sufficed to collect a force of nearly eighty thousand men, and the tide +of returning confidence set in so strongly that on the 2d of April two +divisions opened hostilities by taking from the federates Puteaux and +Courbevoie. + +It was not until the day following the events just mentioned that +Maurice, starting out with his battalion to effect the conquest of +Versailles, beheld, amid the throng of misty, feverish memories that +rose to his poor wearied brain, Jean’s melancholy face as he had seen +it last, and seemed to hear the tones of his last mournful _au revoir_. +The military operations of the Versaillese had filled the National +Guard with alarm and indignation; three columns, embracing a total +strength of fifty thousand men, had gone storming that morning through +Bougival and Meudon on their way to seize the monarchical Assembly and +Thiers, the murderer. It was the torrential sortie that had been +demanded with such insistence during the siege, and Maurice asked +himself where he should ever see Jean again unless among the dead lying +on the field of battle down yonder. But it was not long before he knew +the result; his battalion had barely reached the Plateau des Bergères, +on the road to Reuil, when the shells from Mont-Valerien came tumbling +among the ranks. Universal consternation reigned; some had supposed +that the fort was held by their comrades of the Guard, while others +averred that the commander had promised solemnly to withhold his fire. +A wild panic seized upon the men; the battalions broke and rushed back +to Paris fast as their legs would let them, while the head of the +column, diverted by a flanking movement of General Vinoy, was driven +back on Reuil and cut to pieces there. + +Then Maurice, who had escaped unharmed from the slaughter, his nerves +still quivering with the fury that had inspired him on the battlefield, +was filled with fresh detestation for that so-called government of law +and order which always allowed itself to be beaten by the Prussians, +and could only muster up a little courage when it came to oppressing +Paris. And the German armies were still there, from Saint-Denis to +Charenton, watching the shameful spectacle of internecine conflict! +Thus, in the fierce longing for vengeance and destruction that animated +him, he could not do otherwise than sanction the first measures of +communistic violence, the building of barricades in the streets and +public squares, the arrest of the archbishop, some priests, and former +officeholders, who were to be held as hostages. The atrocities that +distinguished either side in that horrible conflict were already +beginning to manifest themselves, Versailles shooting the prisoners it +made, Paris retaliating with a decree that for each one of its soldiers +murdered three hostages should forfeit their life. The horror of it, +that fratricidal conflict, that wretched nation completing the work of +destruction by devouring its own children! And the little reason that +remained to Maurice, in the ruin of all the things he had hitherto held +sacred, was quickly dissipated in the whirlwind of blind fury that +swept all before it. In his eyes the Commune was to be the avenger of +all the wrongs they had suffered, the liberator, coming with fire and +sword to purify and punish. He was not quite clear in mind about it +all, but remembered having read how great and flourishing the old free +cities had become, how wealthy provinces had federated and imposed +their law upon the world. If Paris should be victorious he beheld her, +crowned with an aureole of glory, building up a new France, where +liberty and justice should be the watchwords, organizing a new society, +having first swept away the rotten debris of the old. It was true that +when the result of the elections became known he was somewhat surprised +by the strange mixture of moderates, revolutionists, and socialists of +every sect and shade to whom the accomplishment of the great work was +intrusted; he was acquainted with several of the men and knew them to +be of extremely mediocre abilities. Would not the strongest among them +come in collision and neutralize one another amid the clashing ideas +which they represented? But on the day when the ceremony of the +inauguration of the Commune took place before the Hôtel de Ville, amid +the thunder of artillery and trophies and red banners floating in the +air, his boundless hopes again got the better of his fears and he +ceased to doubt. Among the lies of some and the unquestioning faith of +others, the illusion started into life again with renewed vigor, in the +acute crisis of the malady raised to paroxysmal pitch. + +During the entire month of April Maurice was on duty in the +neighborhood of Neuilly. The gentle warmth of the early spring had +brought out the blossoms on the lilacs, and the fighting was conducted +among the bright verdure of the gardens; the National Guards came into +the city at night with bouquets of flowers stuck in their muskets. The +troops collected at Versailles were now so numerous as to warrant their +formation in two armies, a first line under the orders of Marshal +MacMahon and a reserve commanded by General Vinoy. The Commune had +nearly a hundred thousand National Guards mobilized and as many more on +the rosters who could be called out at short notice, but fifty thousand +were as many as they ever brought into the field at one time. Day by +day the plan of attack adopted by the Versaillese became more manifest: +after occupying Neuilly they had taken possession of the Château of +Bécon and soon after of Asnières, but these movements were simply to +make the investment more complete, for their intention was to enter the +city by the Point-du-Jour soon as the converging fire from +Mont-Valerien and Fort d’Issy should enable them to carry the rampart +there. Mont-Valerien was theirs already, and they were straining every +nerve to capture Issy, utilizing the works abandoned by the Germans for +the purpose. Since the middle of April the fire of musketry and +artillery had been incessant; at Levallois and Neuilly the fighting +never ceased, the skirmishers blazing away uninterruptedly, by night as +well as by day. Heavy guns, mounted on armored cars, moved to and fro +on the Belt Railway, shelling Asnières over the roofs of Levallois. It +was at Vanves and Issy, however, that the cannonade was fiercest; it +shook the windows of Paris as the siege had done when it was at its +height. And when finally, on the 9th of May, Fort d’Issy was obliged to +succumb and fell into the hands of the Versailles army the defeat of +the Commune was assured, and in their frenzy of panic the leaders +resorted to most detestable measures. + +Maurice favored the creation of a Committee of Public Safety. The +warnings of history came to his mind; had not the hour struck for +adopting energetic methods if they wished to save the country? There +was but one of their barbarities that really pained him, and that was +the destruction of the Vendôme column; he reproached himself for the +feeling as being a childish weakness, but his grandfather’s voice still +sounded in his ears repeating the old familiar tales of Marengo, +Austerlitz, Jena, Eylau, Friedland, Wagram, the Moskowa—those epic +narratives that thrilled his pulses yet as often as he thought of them. +But that they should demolish the house of the murderer Thiers, that +they should retain the hostages as a guarantee and a menace, was not +that right and just when the Versaillese were unchaining their fury on +Paris, bombarding it, destroying its edifices, slaughtering women and +children with their shells? As he saw the end of his dream approaching +dark thoughts of ruin and destruction filled his mind. If their ideas +of justice and retribution were not to prevail, if they were to be +crushed out of them with their life-blood, then perish the world, swept +away in one of those cosmic upheavals that are the beginning of a new +life. Let Paris sink beneath the waves, let it go up in smoke and +flame, like a gigantic funeral pyre, sooner than let it be again +delivered over to its former state of vice and misery, to that old +vicious social system of abominable injustice. And he dreamed another +dark, terrible dream, the great city reduced to ashes, naught to be +seen on either side the Seine but piles of smoldering ruins, the +festering wound purified and healed with fire, a catastrophe without a +name, such as had never been before, whence should arise a new race. +Wild stories were everywhere circulated, which interested him +intensely, of the mines that were driven under all the quarters of the +city, the barrels of powder with which the catacombs were stuffed, the +monuments and public buildings ready to be blown into the air at a +moment’s notice; and all were connected by electric wires in such a way +that a single spark would suffice to set them off; there were great +stores of inflammable substances, too, especially petroleum, with which +the streets and avenues were to be converted into seething lakes of +flame. The Commune had sworn that should the Versaillese enter the city +not one of them would ever get beyond the barricades that closed the +ends of the streets; the pavements would yawn, the houses would sink in +ruins, Paris would go up in flames, and bury assailants and assailed +under its ashes. + +And if Maurice solaced himself with these crazy dreams, it was because +of his secret discontent with the Commune itself. He had lost all +confidence in its members, he felt it was inefficient, drawn this way +and that by so many conflicting elements, losing its head and becoming +purposeless and driveling as it saw the near approach of the peril with +which it was menaced. Of the social reforms it had pledged itself to it +had not been able to accomplish a single one, and it was now quite +certain that it would leave behind it no great work to perpetuate its +name. But what more than all beside was gnawing at its vitals was the +rivalries by which it was distracted, the corroding suspicion and +distrust in which each of its members lived. For some time past many of +them, the more moderate and the timid, had ceased to attend its +sessions. The others shaped their course day by day in accordance with +events, trembling at the idea of a possible dictatorship; they had +reached that point where the factions of revolutionary assemblages +exterminate one another by way of saving the country. Cluzeret had +become suspected, then Dombrowski, and Rossel was about to share their +fate. Delescluze, appointed Civil Delegate at War, could do nothing of +his own volition, notwithstanding his great authority. And thus the +grand social effort that they had had in view wasted itself in the +ever-widening isolation about those men, whose power had become a +nullity, whose actions were the result of their despair. + +In Paris there was an increasing feeling of terror. Paris, irritated at +first against Versailles, shivering at the recollection of what it had +suffered during the siege, was now breaking away from the Commune. The +compulsory enrollment, the decree incorporating every man under forty +in the National Guard, had angered the more sedate citizens and been +the means of bringing about a general exodus: men in disguise and +provided with forged papers of Alsatian citizenship made their escape +by way of Saint-Denis; others let themselves down into the moat in the +darkness of the night with ropes and ladders. The wealthy had long +since taken their departure. None of the factories and workshops had +opened their doors; trade and commerce there was none; there was no +employment for labor; the life of enforced idleness went on amid the +alarmed expectancy of the frightful denouement that everyone felt could +not be far away. And the people depended for their daily bread on the +pay of the National Guards, that dole of thirty sous that was paid from +the millions extorted from the Bank of France, the thirty sous for the +sake of which alone many men were wearing the uniform, which had been +one of the primary causes and the _raison d’être_ of the insurrection. +Whole districts were deserted, the shops closed, the house-fronts +lifeless. In the bright May sunshine that flooded the empty streets the +few pedestrians beheld nothing moving save the barbaric display of the +burial of some federates killed in action, the funeral train where no +priest walked, the hearse draped with red flags, followed by a crowd of +men and women bearing bouquets of immortelles. The churches were closed +and did duty each evening as political club-rooms. The revolutionary +journals alone were hawked about the streets; the others had been +suppressed. Great Paris was indeed an unhappy city in those days, what +with its republican sympathies that made it detest the monarchical +Assembly at Versailles and its ever-increasing terror of the Commune, +from which it prayed most fervently to be delivered among all the +grisly stories that were current, the daily arrests of citizens as +hostages, the casks of gunpowder that filled the sewers, where men +patrolled by day and night awaiting the signal to apply the torch. + +Maurice, who had never been a drinking man, allowed himself to be +seduced by the too prevalent habit of over-indulgence. It had become a +thing of frequent occurrence with him now, when he was out on picket +duty or had to spend the night in barracks, to take a “pony” of brandy, +and if he took a second it was apt to go to his head in the +alcohol-laden atmosphere that he was forced to breathe. It had become +epidemic, that chronic drunkenness, among those men with whom bread was +scarce and who could have all the brandy they wanted by asking for it. +Toward evening on Sunday, the 21st of May, Maurice came home drunk, for +the first time in his life, to his room in the Rue des Orties, where he +was in the habit of sleeping occasionally. He had been at Neuilly again +that day, blazing away at the enemy and taking a nip now and then with +the comrades, to see if it would not relieve the terrible fatigue from +which he was suffering. Then, with a light head and heavy legs, he came +and threw himself on the bed in his little chamber; it must have been +through force of instinct, for he could never remember how he got +there. And it was not until the following morning, when the sun was +high in the heavens, that he awoke, aroused by the ringing of the alarm +bells, the blare of trumpets and beating of drums. During the night the +Versaillese, finding a gate undefended, had effected an unresisted +entrance at the Point-du-Jour. + +When he had thrown on his clothes and hastened down into the street, +his musket slung across his shoulder by the strap, a band of frightened +soldiers whom he fell in with at the _mairie_ of the arrondissement +related to him the occurrences of the night, in the midst of a +confusion such that at first he had hard work to understand. Fort +d’Issy and the great battery at Montretout, seconded by Mont Valerien, +for the last ten days had been battering the rampart at the +Point-du-Jour, as a consequence of which the Saint-Cloud gate was no +longer tenable and an assault had been ordered for the following +morning, the 22d; but someone who chanced to pass that way at about +five o’clock perceived that the gate was unprotected and immediately +notified the guards in the trenches, who were not more than fifty yards +away. Two companies of the 37th regiment of regulars were the first to +enter the city, and were quickly followed by the entire 4th corps under +General Douay. All night long the troops were pouring in in an +uninterrupted stream. At seven o’clock Verge’s division marched down to +the bridge at Grenelle, crossed, and pushed on to the Trocadero. At +nine General Clinchamp was master of Passy and la Muette. At three +o’clock in the morning the 1st corps had pitched its tents in the Bois +de Boulogne, while at about the same hour Bruat’s division was passing +the Seine to seize the Sèvres gate and facilitate the movement of the +2d Corps, General de Cissey’s, which occupied the district of Grenelle +an hour later. The Versailles army, therefore, on the morning of the +22d, was master of the Trocadero and the Château of la Muette on the +right bank, and of Grenelle on the left; and great was the rage and +consternation that prevailed among the Communists, who were already +accusing one another of treason, frantic at the thought of their +inevitable defeat. + +When Maurice at last understood the condition of affairs his first +thought was that the end had come, that all left him was to go forth +and meet his death. But the tocsin was pealing, drums were beating, +women and children, even, were working on the barricades, the streets +were alive with the stir and bustle of the battalions hurrying to +assume the positions assigned them in the coming conflict. By midday it +was seen that the Versaillese were remaining quiet in their new +positions, and then fresh courage returned to the hearts of the +soldiers of the Commune, who were resolved to conquer or die. The +enemy’s army, which they had feared to see in possession of the +Tuileries by that time, profiting by the stern lessons of experience +and imitating the prudent tactics of the Prussians, conducted its +operations with the utmost caution. The Committee of Public Safety and +Delescluze, Delegate at War, directed the defense from their quarters +in the Hôtel de Ville. It was reported that a last proposal for a +peaceable arrangement had been rejected by them with disdain. That +served to inspire the men with still more courage, the triumph of Paris +was assured, the resistance would be as unyielding as the attack was +vindictive, in the implacable hate, swollen by lies and cruelties, that +inflamed the heart of either army. And that day was spent by Maurice in +the quarters of the Champ de Mars and the Invalides, firing and falling +back slowly from street to street. He had not been able to find his +battalion; he fought in the ranks with comrades who were strangers to +him, accompanying them in their march to the left bank without taking +heed whither they were going. About four o’clock they had a furious +conflict behind a barricade that had been thrown across the Rue de +l’Université, where it comes out on the Esplanade, and it was not until +twilight that they abandoned it on learning that Bruat’s division, +stealing up along the _quai_, had seized the Corps Législatif. They had +a narrow escape from capture, and it was with great difficulty that +they managed to reach the Rue de Lille after a long circuit through the +Rue Saint-Dominique and the Rue Bellechasse. At the close of that day +the army of Versailles occupied a line which, beginning at the Vanves +gate, led past the Corps Législatif, the Palace of the Élysée, St. +Augustine’s Church, the Lazare station, and ended at the Asnières gate. + +The next day, Tuesday, the 23d, was warm and bright, and a terrible day +it was for Maurice. The few hundred federates with whom he was, and in +whose ranks were men of many different battalions, were charged with +the defense of the entire quartier, from the _quai_ to the Rue +Saint-Dominique. Most of them had bivouacked in the gardens of the +great mansions that line the Rue de Lille; he had had an unbroken +night’s rest on a grass-plot at one side of the Palace of the Legion of +Honor. It was his belief that soon as it was light enough the troops +would move out from their shelter behind the Corps Législatif and force +them back upon the strong barricades in the Rue du Bac, but hour after +hour passed and there was no sign of an attack. There was only some +desultory firing at long range between parties posted at either end of +the streets. The Versaillese, who were not desirous of attempting a +direct attack on the front of the formidable fortress into which the +insurgents had converted the terrace of the Tuileries, developed their +plan of action with great circumspection; two strong columns were sent +out to right and left that, skirting the ramparts, should first seize +Montmartre and the Observatory and then, wheeling inward, swoop down on +the central quarters, surrounding them and capturing all they +contained, as a shoal of fish is captured in the meshes of a gigantic +net. About two o’clock Maurice heard that the tricolor was floating +over Montmartre: the great battery of the Moulin de la Galette had +succumbed to the combined attack of three army corps, which hurled +their battalions simultaneously on the northern and western faces of +the butte through the Rues Lepic, des Saules and du Mont-Cenis; then +the waves of the victorious troops had poured back on Paris, carrying +the Place Saint-Georges, Notre-Dame de Lorette, the _mairie_ in the Rue +Drouot and the new Opera House, while on the left bank the turning +movement, starting from the cemetery of Mont-Parnasse, had reached the +Place d’Enfer and the Horse Market. These tidings of the rapid progress +of the hostile army were received by the communards with mingled +feelings of rage and terror amounting almost to stupefaction. What, +Montmartre carried in two hours; Montmartre, the glorious, the +impregnable citadel of the insurrection! Maurice saw that the ranks +were thinning about him; trembling soldiers, fearing the fate that was +in store for them should they be caught, were slinking furtively away +to look for a place where they might wash the powder grime from hands +and face and exchange their uniform for a blouse. There was a rumor +that the enemy were making ready to attack the Croix-Rouge and take +their position in flank. By this time the barricades in the Rues +Martignac and Bellechasse had been carried, the red-legs were beginning +to make their appearance at the end of the Rue de Lille, and soon all +that remained was a little band of fanatics and men with the courage of +their opinions, Maurice and some fifty more, who were resolved to sell +their lives dearly, killing as many as they could of those Versaillese, +who treated the federates like thieves and murderers, dragging away the +prisoners they made and shooting them in the rear of the line of +battle. Their bitter animosity had broadened and deepened since the +days before; it was war to the knife between those rebels dying for an +idea and that army, inflamed with reactionary passions and irritated +that it was kept so long in the field. + +About five o’clock, as Maurice and his companions were finally falling +back to seek the shelter of the barricades in the Rue du Bac, +descending the Rue de Lille and pausing at every moment to fire another +shot, he suddenly beheld volumes of dense black smoke pouring from an +open window in the Palace of the Legion of Honor. It was the first fire +kindled in Paris, and in the furious insanity that possessed him it +gave him a fierce delight. The hour had struck; let the whole city go +up in flame, let its people be cleansed by the fiery purification! But +a sight that he saw presently filled him with surprise: a band of five +or six men came hurrying out of the building, headed by a tall varlet +in whom he recognized Chouteau, his former comrade in the squad of the +106th. He had seen him once before, after the 18th of March, wearing a +gold-laced _kepi_; he seemed by his bedizened uniform to have risen in +rank, was probably on the staff of some one of the many generals who +were never seen where there was fighting going on. He remembered the +account somebody had given him of that fellow Chouteau, of his +quartering himself in the Palace of the Legion of Honor and living +there, guzzling and swilling, in company with a mistress, wallowing +with his boots on in the great luxurious beds, smashing the plate-glass +mirrors with shots from his revolver, merely for the amusement there +was in it. It was even asserted that the woman left the building every +morning in one of the state carriages, under pretense of going to the +Halles for her day’s marketing, carrying off with her great bundles of +linen, clocks, and even articles of furniture, the fruit of their +thieveries. And Maurice, as he watched him running away with his men, +carrying a bucket of petroleum on his arm, experienced a sickening +sensation of doubt and felt his faith beginning to waver. How could the +terrible work they were engaged in be good, when men like that were the +workmen? + +Hours passed, and still he fought on, but with a bitter feeling of +distress, with no other wish than that he might die. If he had erred, +let him at least atone for his error with his blood! The barricade +across the Rue de Lille, near its intersection with the Rue du Bac, was +a formidable one, composed of bags and casks filled with earth and +faced by a deep ditch. He and a scant dozen of other federates were its +only defenders, resting in a semi-recumbent position on the ground, +infallibly causing every soldier who exposed himself to bite the dust. +He lay there, without even changing his position, until nightfall, +using up his cartridges in silence, in the dogged sullenness of his +despair. The dense clouds of smoke from the Palace of the Legion of +Honor were billowing upward in denser masses, the flames +undistinguishable as yet in the dying daylight, and he watched the +fantastic, changing forms they took as the wind whirled them downward +to the street. Another fire had broken out in an hotel not far away. +And all at once a comrade came running up to tell him that the enemy, +not daring to advance along the street, were making a way for +themselves through the houses and gardens, breaking down the walls with +picks. The end was close at hand; they might come out in the rear of +the barricade at any moment. A shot having been fired from an upper +window of a house on the corner, he saw Chouteau and his gang, with +their petroleum and their lighted torch, rush with frantic speed to the +buildings on either side and climb the stairs, and half an hour later, +in the increasing darkness, the entire square was in flames, while he, +still prone on the ground behind his shelter, availed himself of the +vivid light to pick off any venturesome soldier who stepped from his +protecting doorway into the narrow street. + +How long did Maurice keep on firing? He could not tell; he had lost all +consciousness of time and place. It might be nine o’clock, or ten, +perhaps. He continued to load and fire; his condition of hopelessness +and gloom was pitiable; death seemed to him long in coming. The +detestable work he was engaged in gave him now a sensation of nausea, +as the fumes of the wine he has drunk rise and nauseate the drunkard. +An intense heat began to beat on him from the houses that were burning +on every side—an air that scorched and asphyxiated. The carrefour, with +the barricades that closed it in, was become an intrenched camp, +guarded by the roaring flames that rose on every side and sent down +showers of sparks. Those were the orders, were they not? to fire the +adjacent houses before they abandoned the barricades, arrest the +progress of the troops by an impassable sea of flame, burn Paris in the +face of the enemy advancing to take possession of it. And presently he +became aware that the houses in the Rue du Bac were not the only ones +that were devoted to destruction; looking behind him he beheld the +whole sky suffused with a bright, ruddy glow; he heard an ominous roar +in the distance, as if all Paris were bursting into conflagration. +Chouteau was no longer to be seen; he had long since fled to save his +skin from the bullets. His comrades, too, even those most zealous in +the cause, had one by one stolen away, affrighted at the approaching +prospect of being outflanked. At last he was left alone, stretched at +length between two sand bags, his every faculty bent on defending the +front of the barricade, when the soldiers, who had made their way +through the gardens in the middle of the block, emerged from a house in +the Rue du Bac and pounced on him from the rear. + +For two whole days, in the fevered excitement of the supreme conflict, +Maurice had not once thought of Jean, nor had Jean, since he entered +Paris with his regiment, which had been assigned to Bruat’s division, +for a single moment remembered Maurice. The day before his duties had +kept him in the neighborhood of the Champ de Mars and the Esplanade of +the Invalides, and on this day he had remained in the Place du +Palais-Bourbon until nearly noon, when the troops were sent forward to +clean out the barricades of the quartier, as far as the Rue des +Saints-Pères. A feeling of deep exasperation against the rioters had +gradually taken possession of him, usually so calm and self-contained, +as it had of all his comrades, whose ardent wish it was to be allowed +to go home and rest after so many months of fatigue. But of all the +atrocities of the Commune that stirred his placid nature and made him +forgetful even of his tenderest affections, there were none that +angered him as did those conflagrations. What, burn houses, set fire to +palaces, and simply because they had lost the battle! Only robbers and +murderers were capable of such work as that. And he who but the day +before had sorrowed over the summary executions of the insurgents was +now like a madman, ready to rend and tear, yelling, shouting, his eyes +starting from their sockets. + +Jean burst like a hurricane into the Rue du Bac with the few men of his +squad. At first he could distinguish no one; he thought the barricade +had been abandoned. Then, looking more closely, he perceived a +communard extended on the ground between two sand bags; he stirred, he +brought his piece to the shoulder, was about to discharge it down the +Rue du Bac. And impelled by blind fate, Jean rushed upon the man and +thrust his bayonet through him, nailing him to the barricade. + +Maurice had not had time to turn. He gave a cry and raised his head. +The blinding light of the burning buildings fell full on their faces. + +“O Jean, dear old boy, is it you?” + +To die, that was what he wished, what he had been longing for. But to +die by his brother’s hand, ah! the cup was too bitter; the thought of +death no longer smiled on him. + +“Is it you, Jean, old friend?” + +Jean, sobered by the terrible shock, looked at him with wild eyes. They +were alone; the other soldiers had gone in pursuit of the fugitives. +About them the conflagrations roared and crackled and blazed up higher +than before; great sheets of white flame poured from the windows, while +from within came the crash of falling ceilings. And Jean cast himself +on the ground at Maurice’s side, sobbing, feeling him, trying to raise +him to see if he might not yet be saved. + +“My boy, oh! my poor, poor boy!” + + + + +VIII. + + +When at about nine o’clock the train from Sedan, after innumerable +delays along the way, rolled into the Saint-Denis station, the sky to +the south was lit up by a fiery glow as if all Paris was burning. The +light had increased with the growing darkness, and now it filled the +horizon, climbing constantly higher up the heavens and tingeing with +blood-red hues some clouds, that lay off to the eastward in the gloom +which the contrast rendered more opaque than ever. + +The travelers alighted, Henriette among the first, alarmed by the glare +they had beheld from the windows of the cars as they rushed onward +across the darkling fields. The soldiers of a Prussian detachment, +moreover, that had been sent to occupy the station, went through the +train and compelled the passengers to leave it, while two of their +number, stationed on the platform, shouted in guttural French: + +“Paris is burning. All out here! this train goes no further. Paris is +burning, Paris is burning!” + +Henriette experienced a terrible shock. _Mon Dieu!_ was she too late, +then? Receiving no reply from Maurice to her two last letters, the +alarming news from Paris had filled her with such mortal terror that +she determined to leave Remilly and come and try to find her brother in +the great city. For months past her life at Uncle Fouchard’s had been a +melancholy one; the troops occupying the village and the surrounding +country had become harsher and more exacting as the resistance of Paris +was protracted, and now that peace was declared and the regiments were +stringing along the roads, one by one, on their way home to Germany, +the country and the cities through which they passed were taxed to +their utmost to feed the hungry soldiers. The morning when she arose at +daybreak to go and take the train at Sedan, looking out into the +courtyard of the farmhouse she had seen a body of cavalry who had slept +there all night, scattered promiscuously on the bare ground, wrapped in +their long cloaks. They were so numerous that the earth was hidden by +them. Then, at the shrill summons of a trumpet call, all had risen to +their feet, silent, draped in the folds of those long mantles, and in +such serried, close array that she involuntarily thought of the graves +of a battlefield opening and giving up their dead at the call of the +last trump. And here again at Saint-Denis she encountered the +Prussians, and it was from Prussian lips that came that cry which +caused her such distress: + +“All out here! this train goes no further. Paris is burning!” + +Henriette, her little satchel in her hand, rushed distractedly up to +the men in quest of information. There had been heavy fighting in Paris +for the last two days, they told her, the railway had been destroyed, +the Germans were watching the course of events. But she insisted on +pursuing her journey at every risk, and catching sight upon the +platform of the officer in command of the detachment detailed to guard +the station, she hurried up to him. + +“Sir, I am terribly distressed about my brother, and am trying to get +to him. I entreat you, furnish me with the means to reach Paris.” The +light from a gas jet fell full on the captain’s face she stopped in +surprise. “What, Otto, is it you! Oh, _mon Dieu_, be good to me, since +chance has once more brought us together!” + +It was Otto Gunther, the cousin, as stiff and ceremonious as ever, +tight-buttoned in his Guard’s uniform, the picture of a narrow-minded +martinet. At first he failed to recognize the little, thin, +insignificant-looking woman, with the handsome light hair and the pale, +gentle face; it was only by the brave, honest look that filled her eyes +that he finally remembered her. His only answer was a slight shrug of +the shoulders. + +“You know I have a brother in the army,” Henriette eagerly went on. “He +is in Paris; I fear he has allowed himself to become mixed up with this +horrible conflict. O Otto, I beseech you, assist me to continue my +journey.” + +At last he condescended to speak. “But I can do nothing to help you; +really I cannot. There have been no trains running since yesterday; I +believe the rails have been torn up over by the ramparts somewhere. And +I have neither a horse and carriage nor a man to guide you at my +disposal.” + +She looked him in the face with a low, stifled murmur of pain and +sorrow to behold him thus obdurate. “Oh, you will do nothing to aid me. +My God, to whom then can I turn!” + +It was an unlikely story for one of those Prussians to tell, whose +hosts were everywhere all-powerful, who had the city at their beck and +call, could have requisitioned a hundred carriages and brought a +thousand horses from their stables. And he denied her prayer with the +haughty air of a victor who has made it a law to himself not to +interfere with the concerns of the vanquished, lest thereby he might +defile himself and tarnish the luster of his new-won laurels. + +“At all events,” continued Henriette, “you know what is going on in the +city; you won’t refuse to tell me that much.” + +He gave a smile, so faint as scarce to be perceptible. “Paris is +burning. Look! come this way, you can see more clearly.” + +Leaving the station, he preceded her along the track for a hundred +steps or so until they came to an iron foot-bridge that spanned the +road. When they had climbed the narrow stairs and reached the floor of +the structure, resting their elbows on the railing, they beheld the +broad level plain outstretched before them, at the foot of the slope of +the embankment. + +“You see, Paris is burning.” + +It was in the neighborhood of ten o’clock. The fierce red glare that +lit the southern sky was ever mounting higher. The blood-red clouds had +disappeared from where they had floated in the east; the zenith was +like a great inverted bowl of inky blackness, across which ran the +reflections of the distant flames. The horizon was one unbroken line of +fire, but to the right they could distinguish spots where the +conflagration was raging with greater fury, sending up great spires and +pinnacles of flame, of the most vivid scarlet, to pierce the dense +opacity above, amid billowing clouds of smoke. It was like the burning +of some great forest, where the fire bridges intervening space, and +leaps from tree to tree; one would have said the very earth must be +calcined and reduced to ashes beneath the heat of Paris’ gigantic +funeral pyre. + +“Look,” said Otto, “that eminence that you see profiled in black +against the red background is Montmartre. There on the left, at +Belleville and la Villette, there has not been a house burned yet; it +must be they are selecting the districts of the wealthy for their work; +and it spreads, it spreads. Look! there is another conflagration +breaking out; watch the flames there to the right, how they seethe and +rise and fall; observe the shifting tints of the vapors that rise from +the blazing furnace. And others, and others still; the heavens are on +fire!” + +He did not raise his voice or manifest any sign of feeling, and it +froze Henriette’s blood that a human being could stand by and witness +such a spectacle unmoved. Ah, that those Prussians should be there to +see that sight! She saw an insult in his studied calmness, in the faint +smile that played upon his lips, as if he had long foreseen and been +watching for that unparalleled disaster. So, Paris was burning then at +last, Paris, upon whose monuments the German shells had scarce been +able to inflict more than a scratch! and he was there to see it burn, +and in the spectacle found compensation for all his grievances, the +inordinate length to which the siege had been protracted, the bitter, +freezing weather, the difficulties they had surmounted only to see them +present themselves anew under some other shape, the toil and trouble +they had had in mounting their heavy guns, while all the time Germany +from behind was reproaching them with their dilatoriness. Nothing in +all the glory of their victory, neither the ceded provinces nor the +indemnity of five milliards, appealed to him so strongly as did that +sight of Paris, in a fit of furious madness, immolating herself and +going up in smoke and flame on that beautiful spring night. + +“Ah, it was sure to come,” he added in a lower voice. “Fine work, my +masters!” + +It seemed to Henriette as if her heart would break in presence of that +dire catastrophe. Her personal grief was lost to sight for some +minutes, swallowed up in the great drama of a people’s atonement that +was being enacted before her eyes. The thought of the lives that would +be sacrificed to the devouring flames, the sight of the great capital +blazing on the horizon, emitting the infernal light of the cities that +were accursed and smitten for their iniquity, elicited from her an +involuntary cry of anguish. She clasped her hands, asking: + +“Oh, merciful Father, of what have we been guilty that we should be +punished thus?” + +Otto raised his arm in an oratorical attitude. He was on the point of +speaking, with the stern, cold-blooded vehemence of the military bigot +who has ever a quotation from Holy Writ at his tongue’s end, but +glancing at the young woman, the look he encountered from her candid, +gentle eyes checked him. Besides, his gesture had spoken for him; it +told his hatred for the nation, his conviction that he was in France to +mete out justice, delegated by the God of Armies, to chastise a +perverse and stiff-necked generation. Paris was burning off there on +the horizon in expiation of its centuries of dissolute life, of its +heaped-up measure of crime and lust. Once again the German race were to +be the saviors of the world, were to purge Europe of the remnant of +Latin corruption. He let his arm fall to his side and simply said: + +“It is the end of all. There is another quartier doomed, for see, a +fresh fire has broken out there to the right. In that direction, that +line of flame that creeps onward like a stream of lava—” + +Neither spoke for a long time; an awed silence rested on them. The +great waves of flame continued to ascend, sending up streamers and +ribbons of vivid light high into the heavens. Beneath the sea of fire +was every moment extending its boundaries, a tossing, stormy, burning +ocean, whence now arose dense clouds of smoke that collected over the +city in a huge pall of a somber coppery hue, which was wafted slowly +athwart the blackness of the night, streaking the vault of heaven with +its accursed rain of ashes and of soot. + +Henriette started as if awaking from an evil dream, and, the thought of +her brother flowing in again upon her mind, once more became a +supplicant. + +“Can you do nothing for me? won’t you assist me to get to Paris?” + +With his former air of unconcern Otto again raised his eyes to the +horizon, smiling vaguely. + +“What would be the use? since to-morrow morning the city will be a pile +of ruins!” + +And that was all; she left the bridge, without even bidding him +good-by, flying, she knew not whither, with her little satchel, while +he remained yet a long time at his post of observation, a motionless +figure, rigid and erect, lost in the darkness of the night, feasting +his eyes on the spectacle of that Babylon in flames. + +Almost the first person that Henriette encountered on emerging from the +station was a stout lady who was chaffering with a hackman over his +charge for driving her to the Rue Richelieu in Paris, and the young +woman pleaded so touchingly, with tears in her eyes, that finally the +lady consented to let her occupy a seat in the carriage. The driver, a +little swarthy man, whipped up his horse and did not open his lips once +during the ride, but the stout lady was extremely loquacious, telling +how she had left the city the day but one before after tightly locking +and bolting her shop, but had been so imprudent as to leave some +valuable papers behind, hidden in a hole in the wall; hence her mind +had been occupied by one engrossing thought for the two hours that the +city had been burning, how she might return and snatch her property +from the flames. The sleepy guards at the barrier allowed the carriage +to pass without much difficulty, the worthy lady allaying their +scruples with a fib, telling them she was bringing back her niece with +her to Paris to assist in nursing her husband, who had been wounded by +the Versaillese. It was not until they commenced to make their way +along the paved streets that they encountered serious obstacles; they +were obliged at every moment to turn out in order to avoid the +barricades that were erected across the roadway, and when at last they +reached the boulevard Poissonière the driver declared he would go no +further. The two women were therefore forced to continue their way on +foot, through the Rue du Sentier, the Rue des Jeûneurs, and all the +circumscribing region of the Bourse. As they approached the +fortifications the blazing sky had made their way as bright before them +as if it had been broad day; now they were surprised by the deserted +and tranquil condition of the streets, where the only sound that +disturbed the stillness was a dull, distant roar. In the vicinity of +the Bourse, however, they were alarmed by the sound of musketry; they +slipped along with great caution, hugging the walls. On reaching the +Rue Richelieu and finding her shop had not been disturbed, the stout +lady was so overjoyed that she insisted on seeing her traveling +companion safely housed; they struck through the Rue du Hazard, the Rue +Saint-Anne, and finally reached the Rue des Orties. Some federates, +whose battalion was still holding the Rue Saint-Anne, attempted to +prevent them from passing. It was four o’clock and already quite light +when Henriette, exhausted by the fatigue of her long day and the stress +of her emotions, reached the old house in the Rue des Orties and found +the door standing open. Climbing the dark, narrow staircase, she turned +to the left and discovered behind a door a ladder that led upward +toward the roof. + +Maurice, meantime, behind the barricade in the Rue du Bac, had +succeeded in raising himself to his knees, and Jean’s heart throbbed +with a wild, tumultuous hope, for he believed he had pinned his friend +to the earth. + +“Oh, my little one, are you alive still? is that great happiness in +store for me, brute that I am? Wait a moment, let me see.” + +He examined the wound with great tenderness by the light of the burning +buildings. The bayonet had gone through the right arm near the +shoulder, but a more serious part of the business was that it had +afterward entered the body between two of the ribs and probably touched +the lung. Still, the wounded man breathed without much apparent +difficulty, but the right arm hung useless at his side. + +“Poor old boy, don’t grieve! We shall have time to say good-by to each +other, and it is better thus, you see; I am glad to have done with it +all. You have done enough for me to make up for this, for I should have +died long ago in some ditch, even as I am dying now, had it not been +for you.” + +But Jean, hearing him speak thus, again gave way to an outburst of +violent grief. + +“Hush, hush! Twice you saved me from the clutches of the Prussians. We +were quits; it was my turn to devote my life, and instead of that I +have slain you. Ah, _tonnerre de Dieu!_ I must have been drunk not to +recognize you; yes, drunk as a hog from glutting myself with blood.” + +Tears streamed from his eyes at the recollection of their last parting, +down there, at Remilly, when they embraced, asking themselves if they +should ever meet again, and how, under what circumstances of sorrow or +of gladness. It was nothing, then, that they had passed toilsome days +and sleepless nights together, with death staring them in the face? It +was to bring them to this abominable thing, to this senseless, +atrocious fratricide, that their hearts had been fused in the crucible +of those weeks of suffering endured in common? No, no, it could not be; +he turned in horror from the thought. + +“Let’s see what I can do, little one; I must save you.” + +The first thing to be done was to remove him to a place of safety, for +the troops dispatched the wounded Communists wherever they found them. +They were alone, fortunately; there was not a minute to lose. He first +ripped the sleeve from wrist to shoulder with his knife, then took off +the uniform coat. Some blood flowed; he made haste to bandage the arm +securely with strips that he tore from the lining of the garment for +the purpose. After that he staunched as well as he could the wound in +the side and fastened the injured arm over it, He luckily had a bit of +cord in his pocket, which he knotted tightly around the primitive +dressing, thus assuring the immobility of the injured parts and +preventing hemorrhage. + +“Can you walk?” + +“Yes, I think so.” + +But he did not dare to take him through the streets thus, in his shirt +sleeves. Remembering to have seen a dead soldier lying in an adjacent +street, he hurried off and presently came back with a capote and a +_kepi_. He threw the greatcoat over his friend’s shoulders and assisted +him to slip his uninjured arm into the left sleeve. Then, when he had +put the _kepi_ on his head: + +“There, now you are one of us—where are we to go?” + +That was the question. His reviving hope and courage were suddenly +damped by a horrible uncertainty. Where were they to look for a shelter +that gave promise of security? the troops were searching the houses, +were shooting every Communist they took with arms in his hands. And in +addition to that, neither of them knew a soul in that portion of the +city to whom they might apply for succor and refuge; not a place where +they might hide their heads. + +“The best thing to do would be to go home where I live,” said Maurice. +“The house is out of the way; no one will ever think of visiting it. +But it is in the Rue des Orties, on the other side of the river.” + +Jean gave vent to a muttered oath in his irresolution and despair. + +“_Nom de Dieu!_ What are we to do?” + +It was useless to think of attempting to pass the Pont Royal, which +could not have been more brilliantly illuminated if the noonday sun had +been shining on it. At every moment shots were heard coming from either +bank of the river. Besides that, the blazing Tuileries lay directly in +their path, and the Louvre, guarded and barricaded, would be an +insurmountable obstacle. + +“That ends it, then; there’s no way open,” said Jean, who had spent six +months in Paris on his return from the Italian campaign. + +An idea suddenly flashed across his brain. There had formerly been a +place a little below the Pont Royal where small boats were kept for +hire; if the boats were there still they would make the venture. The +route was a long and dangerous one, but they had no choice, and, +further, they must act with decision. + +“See here, little one, we’re going to clear out from here; the locality +isn’t healthy. I’ll manufacture an excuse for my lieutenant; I’ll tell +him the communards took me prisoner and I got away.” + +Taking his unhurt arm he sustained him for the short distance they had +to traverse along the Rue du Bac, where the tall houses on either hand +were now ablaze from cellar to garret, like huge torches. The burning +cinders fell on them in showers, the heat was so intense that the hair +on their head and face was singed, and when they came out on the _quai_ +they stood for a moment dazed and blinded by the terrific light of the +conflagrations, rearing their tall crests heavenward, on either side +the Seine. + +“One wouldn’t need a candle to go to bed by here,” grumbled Jean, with +whose plans the illumination promised to interfere. And it was only +when he had helped Maurice down the steps to the left and a little way +down stream from the bridge that he felt somewhat easy in mind. There +was a clump of tall trees standing on the bank of the stream, whose +shadow gave them a measure of security. For near a quarter of an hour +the dark forms moving to and fro on the opposite _quai_ kept them in a +fever of apprehension. There was firing, a scream was heard, succeeded +by a loud splash, and the bosom of the river was disturbed. The bridge +was evidently guarded. + +“Suppose we pass the night in that shed?” suggested Maurice, pointing +to the wooden structure that served the boatman as an office. + +“Yes, and get pinched to-morrow morning!” + +Jean was still harboring his idea. He had found quite a flotilla of +small boats there, but they were all securely fastened with chains; how +was he to get one loose and secure a pair of oars? At last he +discovered two oars that had been thrown aside as useless; he succeeded +in forcing a padlock, and when he had stowed Maurice away in the bow, +shoved off and allowed the boat to drift with the current, cautiously +hugging the shore and keeping in the shadow of the bathing-houses. +Neither of them spoke a word, horror-stricken as they were by the +baleful spectacle that presented itself to their vision. As they +floated down the stream and their horizon widened the enormity of the +terrible sight increased, and when they reached the bridge of Solferino +a single glance sufficed to embrace both the blazing _quais_. + +On their left the palace of the Tuileries was burning. It was not yet +dark when the Communists had fired the two extremities of the +structure, the Pavilion de Flore and the Pavilion de Marsan, and with +rapid strides the flames had gained the Pavilion de l’Horloge in the +central portion, beneath which, in the Salle des Marechaux, a mine had +been prepared by stacking up casks of powder. At that moment the +intervening buildings were belching from their shattered windows dense +volumes of reddish smoke, streaked with long ribbons of blue flame. The +roofs, yawning as does the earth in regions where volcanic agencies +prevail, were seamed with great cracks through which the raging sea of +fire beneath was visible. But the grandest, saddest spectacle of all +was that afforded by the Pavilion de Flore, to which the torch had been +earliest applied and which was ablaze from its foundation to its lofty +summit, burning with a deep, fierce roar that could be heard far away. +The petroleum with which the floors and hangings had been soaked gave +the flames an intensity such that the ironwork of the balconies was +seen to twist and writhe in the convolutions of a serpent, and the tall +monumental chimneys, with their elaborate carvings, glowed with the +fervor of live coals. + +Then, still on their left, were, first, the Chancellerie of the Legion +of Honor, which was fired at five o’clock in the afternoon and had been +burning nearly seven hours, and next, the Palace of the Council of +State, a huge rectangular structure of stone, which was spouting +torrents of fire from every orifice in each of its two colonnaded +stories. The four structures surrounding the great central court had +all caught at the same moment, and the petroleum, which here also had +been distributed by the barrelful, had poured down the four grand +staircases at the four corners of the building in rivers of hellfire. +On the facade that faced the river the black line of the mansard was +profiled distinctly against the ruddy sky, amid the red tongues that +rose to lick its base, while colonnades, entablatures, friezes, +carvings, all stood out with startling vividness in the blinding, +shimmering glow. So great was the energy of the fire, so terrible its +propulsive force, that the colossal structure was in some sort raised +bodily from the earth, trembling and rumbling on its foundations, +preserving intact only its four massive walls, in the fierce eruption +that hurled its heavy zinc roof high in air. Then, close at one side +were the d’Orsay barracks, which burned with a flame that seemed to +pierce the heavens, so purely white and so unwavering that it was like +a tower of light. And finally, back from the river, were still other +fires, the seven houses in the Rue du Bac, the twenty-two houses in the +Rue de Lille, helping to tinge the sky a deeper crimson, profiling +their flames on other flames, in a blood-red ocean that seemed to have +no end. + +Jean murmured in awed tone: + +“Did ever mortal man look on the like of this! the very river is on +fire.” + +Their boat seemed to be sailing on the bosom of an incandescent stream. +As the dancing lights of the mighty conflagrations were caught by the +ripples of the current the Seine seemed to be pouring down torrents of +living coals; flashes of intensest crimson played fitfully across its +surface, the blazing brands fell in showers into the water and were +extinguished with a hiss. And ever they floated downward with the tide +on the bosom of that blood-red stream, between the blazing palaces on +either hand, like wayfarers in some accursed city, doomed to +destruction and burning on the banks of a river of molten lava. + +“Ah!” exclaimed Maurice, with a fresh access of madness at the sight of +the havoc he had longed for, “let it burn, let it all go up in smoke!” + +But Jean silenced him with a terrified gesture, as if he feared such +blasphemy might bring them evil. Where could a young man whom he loved +so fondly, so delicately nurtured, so well informed, have picked up +such ideas? And he applied himself more vigorously to the oars, for +they had now passed the bridge of Solferino and were come out into a +wide open space of water. The light was so intense that the river was +illuminated as by the noonday sun when it stands vertically above men’s +heads and casts no shadow. The most minute objects, such as the eddies +in the stream, the stones piled on the banks, the small trees along the +_quais_, stood out before their vision with wonderful distinctness. The +bridges, too, were particularly noticeable in their dazzling whiteness, +and so clearly defined that they could have counted every stone; they +had the appearance of narrow gangways thrown across the fiery stream to +connect one conflagration with the other. Amid the roar of the flames +and the general clamor a loud crash occasionally announced the fall of +some stately edifice. Dense clouds of soot hung in the air and settled +everywhere, the wind brought odors of pestilence on its wings. And +another horror was that Paris, those more distant quarters of the city +that lay back from the banks of the Seine, had ceased to exist for +them. To right and left of the conflagration that raged with such +fierce resplendency was an unfathomable gulf of blackness; all that +presented itself to their strained gaze was a vast waste of shadow, an +empty void, as if the devouring element had reached the utmost limits +of the city and all Paris were swallowed up in everlasting night. And +the heavens, too, were dead and lifeless; the flames rose so high that +they extinguished the stars. + +Maurice, who was becoming delirious, laughed wildly. + +“High carnival at the Consoil d’Etat and at the Tuileries to-night! +They have illuminated the facades, women are dancing beneath the +sparkling chandeliers. Ah, dance, dance and be merry, in your smoking +petticoats, with your chignons ablaze—” + +And he drew a picture of the feasts of Sodom and Gomorrah, the music, +the lights, the flowers, the unmentionable orgies of lust and +drunkenness, until the candles on the walls blushed at the +shamelessness of the display and fired the palaces that sheltered such +depravity. Suddenly there was a terrific explosion. The fire, +approaching from either extremity of the Tuileries, had reached the +Salle des Marechaux, the casks of powder caught, the Pavilion de +l’Horloge was blown into the air with the violence of a powder mill. A +column of flame mounted high in the heavens, and spreading, expanded in +a great fiery plume on the inky blackness of the sky, the crowning +display of the horrid _fete_. + +“Bravo!” exclaimed Maurice, as at the end of the play, when the lights +are extinguished and darkness settles on the stage. + +Again Jean, in stammering, disconnected sentences, besought him to be +quiet. No, no, it was not right to wish evils to anyone! And if they +invoked destruction, would not they themselves perish in the general +ruin? His sole desire was to find a landing place so that he might no +longer have that horrid spectacle before his eyes. He considered it +best not to attempt to land at the Pont de la Concorde, but, rounding +the elbow of the Seine, pulled on until they reached the Quai de la +Conférence, and even at that critical moment, instead of shoving the +skiff out into the stream to take its chances, he wasted some precious +moments in securing it, in his instinctive respect for the property of +others. While doing this he had seated Maurice comfortably on the bank; +his plan was to reach the Rue des Orties through the Place de la +Concorde and the Rue Saint-Honoré. Before proceeding further he climbed +alone to the top of the steps that ascended from the _quai_ to explore +the ground, and on witnessing the obstacles they would have to surmount +his courage was almost daunted. There lay the impregnable fortress of +the Commune, the terrace of the Tuileries bristling with cannon, the +Rues Royale, Florentin, and Rivoli obstructed by lofty and massive +barricades; and this state of affairs explained the tactics of the army +of Versailles, whose line that night described an immense arc, the +center and apex resting on the Place de la Concorde, one of the two +extremities being at the freight depot of the Northern Railway on the +right bank, the other on the left bank, at one of the bastions of the +ramparts, near the gate of Arcueil. But as the night advanced the +Communards had evacuated the Tuileries and the barricades and the +regular troops had taken possession of the quartier in the midst of +further conflagrations; twelve houses at the junction of the Rue +Saint-Honoré and the Rue Royale had been burning since nine o’clock in +the evening. + +When Jean descended the steps and reached the river-bank again he found +Maurice in a semi-comatose condition, the effects of the reaction after +his hysterical outbreak. + +“It will be no easy job. I hope you are going to be able to walk, +youngster?” + +“Yes, yes; don’t be alarmed. I’ll get there somehow, alive or dead.” + +It was not without great difficulty that he climbed the stone steps, +and when he reached the level ground of the _quai_ at the summit he +walked very slowly, supported by his companion’s arm, with the +shuffling gait of a somnambulist. The day had not dawned yet, but the +reflected light from the burning buildings cast a lurid illumination on +the wide Place. They made their way in silence across its deep +solitude, sick at heart to behold the mournful scene of devastation it +presented. At either extremity, beyond the bridge and at the further +end of the Rue Royale, they could faintly discern the shadowy outlines +of the Palais Bourbon and the Church of the Madeleine, torn by shot and +shell. The terrace of the Tuileries had been breached by the fire of +the siege guns and was partially in ruins. On the Place itself the +bronze railings and ornaments of the fountains had been chipped and +defaced by the balls; the colossal statue of Lille lay on the ground +shattered by a projectile, while near at hand the statue of Strasbourg, +shrouded in heavy veils of crape, seemed to be mourning the ruin that +surrounded it on every side. And near the Obelisk, which had escaped +unscathed, a gas-pipe in its trench had been broken by the pick of a +careless workman, and the escaping gas, fired by some accident, was +flaring up in a great undulating jet, with a roaring, hissing sound. + +Jean gave a wide berth to the barricade erected across the Rue Royale +between the Ministry of Marine and the Garde-Meuble, both of which the +fire had spared; he could hear the voices of the soldiers behind the +sand bags and casks of earth with which it was constructed. Its front +was protected by a ditch, filled with stagnant, greenish water, in +which was floating the dead body of a federate, and through one of its +embrasures they caught a glimpse of the houses in the carrefour +Saint-Honoré, which were burning still in spite of the engines that had +come in from the suburbs, of which they heard the roar and clatter. To +right and left the trees and the kiosks of the newspaper venders were +riddled by the storm of bullets to which they had been subjected. Loud +cries of horror arose; the firemen, in exploring the cellar of one of +the burning houses, had come across the charred bodies of seven of its +inmates. + +Although the barricade that closed the entrance to the Rue +Saint-Florentin and the Rue de Rivoli by its skilled construction and +great height appeared even more formidable than the other, Jean’s +instinct told him they would have less difficulty in getting by it. It +was completely evacuated, indeed, and the Versailles troops had not yet +entered it. The abandoned guns were resting in the embrasures in +peaceful slumber, the only living thing behind that invincible rampart +was a stray dog, that scuttled away in haste. But as Jean was making +what speed he could along the Rue Saint-Florentin, sustaining Maurice, +whose strength was giving out, that which he had been in fear of came +to pass; they fell directly into the arms of an entire company of the +88th of the line, which had turned the barricade. + +“Captain,” he explained, “this is a comrade of mine, who has just been +wounded by those bandits. I am taking him to the hospital.” + +It was then that the capote which he had thrown over Maurice’s +shoulders stood them in good stead, and Jean’s heart was beating like a +trip-hammer as at last they turned into the Rue Saint-Honoré. Day was +just breaking, and the sound of shots reached their ears from the +cross-streets, for fighting was going on still throughout the quartier. +It was little short of a miracle that they finally reached the Rue des +Frondeurs without sustaining any more disagreeable adventure. Their +progress was extremely slow; the last four or five hundred yards +appeared interminable. In the Rue des Frondeurs they struck up against +a communist picket, but the federates, thinking a whole regiment was at +hand, took to their heels. And now they had but a short bit of the Rue +d’Argenteuil to traverse and they would be safe in the Rue des Orties. + +For four long hours that seemed like an eternity Jean’s longing desire +had been bent on that Rue des Orties with feverish impatience, and now +they were there it appeared like a haven of safety. It was dark, +silent, and deserted, as if there were no battle raging within a +hundred leagues of it. The house, an old, narrow house without a +concierge, was still as the grave. + +“I have the keys in my pocket,” murmured Maurice. “The big one opens +the street door, the little one is the key of my room, way at the top +of the house.” + +He succumbed and fainted dead away in Jean’s arms, whose alarm and +distress were extreme. They made him forget to close the outer door, +and he had to grope his way up that strange, dark staircase, bearing +his lifeless burden and observing the greatest caution not to stumble +or make any noise that might arouse the sleeping inmates of the rooms. +When he had gained the top he had to deposit the wounded man on the +floor while he searched for the chamber door by striking matches, of +which he fortunately had a supply in his pocket, and only when he had +found and opened it did he return and raise him in his arms again. +Entering, he laid him on the little iron bed that faced the window, +which he threw open to its full extent in his great need of air and +light. It was broad day; he dropped on his knees beside the bed, +sobbing as if his heart would break, suddenly abandoned by all his +strength as the fearful thought again smote him that he had slain his +friend. + +Minutes passed; he was hardly surprised when, raising his eyes, he saw +Henriette standing by the bed. It was perfectly natural: her brother +was dying, she had come. He had not even seen her enter the room; for +all he knew she might have been standing there for hours. He sank into +a chair and watched her with stupid eyes as she hovered about the bed, +her heart wrung with mortal anguish at sight of her brother lying there +senseless, in his blood-stained garments. Then his memory began to act +again; he asked: + +“Tell me, did you close the street door?” + +She answered with an affirmative motion of the head, and as she came +toward him, extending her two hands in her great need of sympathy and +support, he added: + +“You know it was I who killed him.” + +She did not understand; she did not believe him. He felt no flutter in +the two little hands that rested confidingly in his own. + +“It was I who killed him—yes, ’twas over yonder, behind a barricade, I +did it. He was fighting on one side, I on the other—” + +There began to be a fluttering of the little hands. + +“We were like drunken men, none of us knew what he as about—it was I +who killed him.” + +Then Henriette, shivering, pale as death, withdrew her hands, fixing on +him a gaze that was full of horror. Father of Mercy, was the end of all +things come! was her crushed and bleeding heart to know no peace for +ever more! Ah, that Jean, of whom she had been thinking that very day, +happy in the unshaped hope that perhaps she might see him once again! +And it was he who had done that abominable thing; and yet he had saved +Maurice, for was it not he who had brought him home through so many +perils? She could not yield her hands to him now without a revolt of +all her being, but she uttered a cry into which she threw the last hope +of her tortured and distracted heart. + +“Oh! I will save him; I _must_ save him, now!” + +She had acquired considerable experience in surgery during the long +time she had been in attendance on the hospital at Remilly, and now she +proceeded without delay to examine her brother’s hurt, who remained +unconscious while she was undressing him. But when she undid the rude +bandage of Jean’s invention, he stirred feebly and uttered a faint cry +of pain, opening wide his eyes that were bright with fever. He +recognized her at once and smiled. + +“You here! Ah, how glad I am to see you once more before I die!” + +She silenced him, speaking in a tone of cheerful confidence. + +“Hush, don’t talk of dying; I won’t allow it! I mean that you shall +live! There, be quiet, and let me see what is to be done.” + +However, when Henriette had examined the injured arm and the wound in +the side, her face became clouded and a troubled look rose to her eyes. +She installed herself as mistress in the room, searching until she +found a little oil, tearing up old shirts for bandages, while Jean +descended to the lower regions for a pitcher of water. He did not open +his mouth, but looked on in silence as she washed and deftly dressed +the wounds, incapable of aiding her, seemingly deprived of all power of +action by her presence there. When she had concluded her task, however, +noticing her alarmed expression, he proposed to her that he should go +and secure a doctor, but she was in possession of all her clear +intelligence. No, no; she would not have a chance-met doctor, of whom +they knew nothing, who, perhaps, would betray her brother to the +authorities. They must have a man they could depend on; they could +afford to wait a few hours. Finally, when Jean said he must go and +report for duty with his company, it was agreed that he should return +as soon as he could get away, and try to bring a surgeon with him. + +He delayed his departure, seemingly unable to make up his mind to leave +that room, whose atmosphere was pervaded by the evil he had +unintentionally done. The window, which had been closed for a moment, +had been opened again, and from it the wounded man, lying on his bed, +his head propped up by pillows, was looking out over the city, while +the others, also, in the oppressive silence that had settled on the +chamber, were gazing out into vacancy. + +From that elevated point of the Butte des Moulins a good half of Paris +lay stretched beneath their eyes in a vast panorama: first the central +districts, from the Faubourg Saint-Honoré to the Bastille, then the +Seine in its entire course through the city, with the thickly-built, +densely-populated regions of the left bank, an ocean of roofs, +treetops, steeples, domes, and towers. The light was growing stronger, +the abominable night, than which there have been few more terrible in +history, was ended; but beneath the rosy sky, in the pure, clear light +of the rising sun, the fires were blazing still. Before them lay the +burning Tuileries, the d’Orsay barracks, the Palaces of the Council of +State and the Legion of Honor, the flames from which were paled by the +superior refulgence of the day-star. Even beyond the houses in the Rue +de Lille and the Rue du Bac there must have been other structures +burning, for clouds of smoke were visible rising from the carrefour of +la Croix-Rouge, and, more distant still, from the Rue Vavin and the Rue +Notre-Dame-des-Champs. Nearer at hand and to their right the fires in +the Rue Saint-Honoré were dying out, while to the left, at the +Palais-Royal and the new Louvre, to which the torch had not been +applied until near morning, the work of the incendiaries was apparently +a failure. But what they were unable to account for at first was the +dense volume of black smoke which, impelled by the west wind, came +driving past their window. Fire had been set to the Ministry of Finance +at three o’clock in the morning and ever since that time it had been +smoldering, emitting no blaze, among the stacks and piles of documents +that were contained in the low-ceiled, fire-proof vaults and chambers. +And if the terrific impressions of the night were not there to preside +at the awakening of the great city—the fear of total destruction, the +Seine pouring its fiery waves past their doors, Paris kindling into +flame from end to end—a feeling of gloom and despair, hung heavy over +the quartiers that had been spared, with that dense, on-pouring smoke, +whose dusky cloud was ever spreading. Presently the sun, which had +risen bright and clear, was hid by it, and the golden sky was filled +with the great funeral pall. + +Maurice, who appeared to be delirious again, made a slow, sweeping +gesture that embraced the entire horizon, murmuring: + +“Is it all burning? Ah, how long it takes!” + +Tears rose to Henriette’s eyes, as if her burden of misery was made +heavier for her by the share her brother had had in those deeds of +horror. And Jean, who dared neither take her hand nor embrace his +friend, left the room with the air of one crazed by grief. + +“I will return soon. _Au revoir_!” + +It was dark, however, nearly eight o’clock, before he was able to +redeem his promise. Notwithstanding his great distress he was happy; +his regiment had been transferred from the first to the second line and +assigned the task of protecting the quartier, so that, bivouacking with +his company in the Place du Carrousel, he hoped to get a chance to run +in each evening to see how the wounded man was getting on. And he did +not return alone; as luck would have it he had fallen in with the +former surgeon of the 106th and had brought him along with him, having +been unable to find another doctor, consoling himself with the +reflection that the terrible, big man with the lion’s mane was not such +a bad sort of fellow after all. + +When Bouroche, who knew nothing of the patient he was summoned with +such insistence to attend and grumbled at having to climb so many +stairs, learned that it was a Communist he had on his hands he +commenced to storm. + +“God’s thunder, what do you take me for? Do you suppose I’m going to +waste my time on those thieving, murdering, house-burning scoundrels? +As for this particular bandit, his case is clear, and I’ll take it upon +me to see he is cured; yes, with a bullet in his head!” + +But his anger subsided suddenly at sight of Henriette’s pale face and +her golden hair streaming in disorder over her black dress. + +“He is my brother, doctor, and he was with you at Sedan.” + +He made no reply, but uncovered the injuries and examined them in +silence; then, taking some phials from his pocket, he made a fresh +dressing, explaining to the young woman how it was done. When he had +finished he turned suddenly to the patient and asked in his loud, rough +voice: + +“Why did you take sides with those ruffians? What could cause you to be +guilty of such an abomination?” + +Maurice, with a feverish luster in his eyes, had been watching him +since he entered the room, but no word had escaped his lips. He +answered in a voice that was almost fierce, so eager was it: + +“Because there is too much suffering in the world, too much wickedness, +too much infamy!” + +Bouroche’s shrug of the shoulders seemed to indicate that he thought a +young man was likely to make his mark who carried such ideas about in +his head. He appeared to be about to say something further, but changed +his mind and bowed himself out, simply adding: + +“I will come in again.” + +To Henriette, on the landing, he said he would not venture to make any +promises. The injury to the lung was serious; hemorrhage might set in +and carry off the patient without a moment’s warning. And when she +re-entered the room she forced a smile to her lips, notwithstanding the +sharp stab with which the doctor’s words had pierced her heart, for had +she not promised herself to save him? and could she permit him to be +snatched from them now that they three were again united, with a +prospect of a lifetime of affection and happiness before them? She had +not left the room since morning, an old woman who lived on the landing +having kindly offered to act as her messenger for the purchase of such +things as she required. And she returned and resumed her place upon a +chair at her brother’s bedside. + +But Maurice, in his febrile excitation, questioned Jean, insisting on +knowing what had happened since the morning. The latter did not tell +him everything, maintaining a discreet silence upon the furious rage +which Paris, now it was delivered from its tyrants, was manifesting +toward the dying Commune. It was now Wednesday. For two interminable +days succeeding the Sunday evening when the conflict first broke out +the citizens had lived in their cellars, quaking with fear, and when +they ventured out at last on Wednesday morning, the spectacle of +bloodshed and devastation that met their eyes on every side, and more +particularly the frightful ruin entailed by the conflagrations, aroused +in their breasts feelings the bitterest and most vindictive. It was +felt in every quarter that the punishment must be worthy of the crime. +The houses in the suspected quarters were subjected to a rigorous +search and men and women who were at all tainted with suspicion were +led away in droves and shot without formality. At six o’clock of the +evening of that day the army of the Versaillese was master of the half +of Paris, following the line of the principal avenues from the park of +Montsouris to the station of the Northern Railway, and the remainder of +the braver members of the Commune, a mere handful, some twenty or so, +had taken refuge in the _mairie_ of the eleventh arrondissement, in the +Boulevard Voltaire. + +They were silent when he concluded his narration, and Maurice, his +glance vaguely wandering over the city through the open window that let +in the soft, warm air of evening, murmured: + +“Well, the work goes on; Paris continues to burn!” + +It was true: the flames were becoming visible again in the increasing +darkness and the heavens were reddened once more with the ill-omened +light. That afternoon the powder magazine at the Luxembourg had +exploded with a frightful detonation, which gave rise to a report that +the Pantheon had collapsed and sunk into the catacombs. All that day, +moreover, the conflagrations of the night pursued their course +unchecked; the Palace of the Council of State and the Tuileries were +burning still, the Ministry of Finance continued to belch forth its +billowing clouds of smoke. A dozen times Henriette was obliged to close +the window against the shower of blackened, burning paper that the hot +breath of the fire whirled upward into the sky, whence it descended to +earth again in a fine rain of fragments; the streets of Paris were +covered with them, and some were found in the fields of Normandy, +thirty leagues away. And now it was not the western and southern +districts alone which seemed devoted to destruction, the houses in the +Rue Royale and those of the Croix-Rouge and the Rue +Notre-Dame-des-Champs: the entire eastern portion of the city appeared +to be in flames, the Hôtel de Ville glowed on the horizon like a mighty +furnace. And in that direction also, blazing like gigantic beacon-fires +upon the mountain tops, were the Théâtre-Lyrique, the _mairie_ of the +fourth arrondissement, and more than thirty houses in the adjacent +streets, to say nothing of the theater of the Porte-Saint-Martin, +further to the north, which illuminated the darkness of its locality as +a stack of grain lights up the deserted, dusky fields at night. There +is no doubt that in many cases the incendiaries were actuated by +motives of personal revenge; perhaps, too, there were criminal records +which the parties implicated had an object in destroying. It was no +longer a question of self-defense with the Commune, of checking the +advance of the victorious troops by fire; a delirium of destruction +raged among its adherents: the Palace of Justice, the Hôtel-Dieu and +the cathedral of Notre-Dame escaped by the merest chance. They would +destroy solely for the sake of destroying, would bury the effete, +rotten humanity beneath the ruins of a world, in the hope that from the +ashes might spring a new and innocent race that should realize the +primitive legends of an earthly paradise. And all that night again did +the sea of flame roll its waves over Paris. + +“Ah; war, war, what a hateful thing it is!” said Henriette to herself, +looking out on the sore-smitten city. + +Was it not indeed the last act, the inevitable conclusion of the +tragedy, the blood-madness for which the lost fields of Sedan and Metz +were responsible, the epidemic of destruction born from the siege of +Paris, the supreme struggle of a nation in peril of dissolution, in the +midst of slaughter and universal ruin? + +But Maurice, without taking his eyes from the fires that were raging in +the distance, feebly, and with an effort, murmured: + +“No, no; do not be unjust toward war. It is good; it has its appointed +work to do—” + +There were mingled hatred and remorse in the cry with which Jean +interrupted him. + +“Good God! When I see you lying there, and know it is through my +fault—Do not say a word in defense of it; it is an accursed thing, is +war!” + +The wounded man smiled faintly. + +“Oh, as for me, what matters it? There is many another in my condition. +It may be that this blood-letting was necessary for us. War is life, +which cannot exist without its sister, death.” + +And Maurice closed his eyes, exhausted by the effort it had cost him to +utter those few words. Henriette signaled Jean not to continue the +discussion. It angered her; all her being rose in protest against such +suffering and waste of human life, notwithstanding the calm bravery of +her frail woman’s nature, with her clear, limpid eyes, in which lived +again all the heroic spirit of the grandfather, the veteran of the +Napoleonic wars. + +Two days more, Thursday and Friday, passed, like their predecessors, +amid scenes of slaughter and conflagration. The thunder of the +artillery was incessant; the batteries of the army of Versailles on the +heights of Montmartre roared against those that the federates had +established at Belleville and Père-Lachaise without a moment’s respite, +while the latter maintained a desultory fire on Paris. Shells had +fallen in the Rue Richelieu and the Place Vendôme. At evening on the +25th the entire left bank was in possession of the regular troops, but +on the right bank the barricades in the Place Château d’Eau and the +Place de la Bastille continued to hold out; they were veritable +fortresses, from which proceeded an uninterrupted and most destructive +fire. At twilight, while the last remaining members of the Commune were +stealing off to make provision for their safety, Delescluze took his +cane and walked leisurely away to the barricade that was thrown across +the Boulevard Voltaire, where he died a hero’s death. At daybreak on +the following morning, the 26th, the Château d’Eau and Bastille +positions were carried, and the Communists, now reduced to a handful of +brave men who were resolved to sell their lives dearly, had only la +Villette, Belleville, and Charonne left to them, And for two more days +they remained and fought there with the fury of despair. + +On Friday evening, as Jean was on his way from the Place du Carrousel +to the Rue des Orties, he witnessed a summary execution in the Rue +Richelieu that filled him with horror. For the last forty-eight hours +two courts-martial had been sitting, one at the Luxembourg, the other +at the Théâtre du Chatelet; the prisoners convicted by the former were +taken into the garden and shot, while those found guilty by the latter +were dragged away to the Lobau barracks, where a platoon of soldiers +that was kept there in constant attendance for the purpose mowed them +down, almost at point-blank range. The scenes of slaughter there were +most horrible: there were men and women who had been condemned to death +on the flimsiest evidence: because they had a stain of powder on their +hands, because their feet were shod with army shoes; there were +innocent persons, the victims of private malice, who had been +wrongfully denounced, shrieking forth their entreaties and explanations +and finding no one to lend an ear to them; and all were driven +pell-mell against a wall, facing the muzzles of the muskets, often so +many poor wretches in the band at once that the bullets did not suffice +for all and it became necessary to finish the wounded with the bayonet. +From morning until night the place was streaming with blood; the +tumbrils were kept busy bearing away the bodies of the dead. And +throughout the length and breadth of the city, keeping pace with the +revengeful clamors of the people, other executions were continually +taking place, in front of barricades, against the walls in the deserted +streets, on the steps of the public buildings. It was under such +circumstances that Jean saw a woman and two men dragged by the +residents of the quartier before the officer commanding the detachment +that was guarding the Théâtre Français. The citizens showed themselves +more bloodthirsty than the soldiery, and those among the newspapers +that had resumed publication were howling for measures of +extermination. A threatening crowd surrounded the prisoners and was +particularly violent against the woman, in whom the excited bourgeois +beheld one of those _petroleuses_ who were the constant bugbear of +terror-haunted imaginations, whom they accused of prowling by night, +slinking along the darkened streets past the dwellings of the wealthy, +to throw cans of lighted petroleum into unprotected cellars. This +woman, was the cry, had been found bending over a coal-hole in the Rue +Sainte-Anne. And notwithstanding her denials, accompanied by tears and +supplications, she was hurled, together with the two men, to the bottom +of the ditch in front of an abandoned barricade, and there, lying in +the mud and slime, they were shot with as little pity as wolves caught +in a trap. Some by-passers stopped and looked indifferently on the +scene, among them a lady hanging on her husband’s arm, while a baker’s +boy, who was carrying home a tart to someone in the neighborhood, +whistled the refrain of a popular air. + +As Jean, sick at heart, was hurrying along the street toward the house +in the Rue des Orties, a sudden recollection flashed across his mind. +Was not that Chouteau, the former member of his squad, whom he had +seen, in the blouse of a respectable workman, watching the execution +and testifying his approval of it in a loud-mouthed way? He was a +proficient in his role of bandit, traitor, robber, and assassin! For a +moment the corporal thought he would retrace his steps, denounce him, +and send him to keep company with the other three. Ah, the sadness of +the thought; the guilty ever escaping punishment, parading their +unwhipped infamy in the bright light of day, while the innocent molder +in the earth! + +Henriette had come out upon the landing at the sound of footsteps +coming up the stairs, where she welcomed Jean with a manner that +indicated great alarm. + +“’Sh! he has been extremely violent all day long. The major was here, I +am in despair—” + +Bouroche, in fact, had shaken his head ominously, saying he could +promise nothing as yet. Nevertheless the patient might pull through, in +spite of all the evil consequences he feared; he had youth on his side. + +“Ah, here you are at last,” Maurice said impatiently to Jean, as soon +as he set eyes on him. “I have been waiting for you. What is going +on—how do matters stand?” And supported by the pillows at his back, his +face to the window which he had forced his sister to open for him, he +pointed with his finger to the city, where, on the gathering darkness, +the lambent flames were beginning to rise anew. “You see, it is +breaking out again; Paris is burning. All Paris will burn this time!” + +As soon as daylight began to fade, the distant quarters beyond the +Seine had been lighted up by the burning of the Grenier d’Abondance. +From time to time there was an outburst of flame, accompanied by a +shower of sparks, from the smoking ruins of the Tuileries, as some wall +or ceiling fell and set the smoldering timbers blazing afresh. Many +houses, where the fire was supposed to be extinguished, flamed up anew; +for the last three days, as soon as darkness descended on the city it +seemed as if it were the signal for the conflagrations to break out +again; as if the shades of night had breathed upon the still glowing +embers, reanimating them, and scattering them to the four corners of +the horizon. Ah, that city of the damned, that had harbored for a week +within its bosom the demon of destruction, incarnadining the sky each +evening as soon as twilight fell, illuminating with its infernal +torches the nights of that week of slaughter! And when, that night, the +docks at la Villette burned, the light they shed upon the huge city was +so intense that it seemed to be on fire in every part at once, +overwhelmed and drowned beneath the sea of flame. + +“Ah, it is the end!” Maurice repeated. “Paris is doomed!” + +He reiterated the words again and again with apparent relish, actuated +by a feverish desire to hear the sound of his voice once more, after +the dull lethargy that had kept him tongue-tied for three days. But the +sound of stifled sobs causes him to turn his head. + +“What, sister, you, brave little woman that you are! You weep because I +am about to die—” + +She interrupted him, protesting: + +“But you are not going to die!” + +“Yes, yes; it is better it should be so; it must be so. Ah, I shall be +no great loss to anyone. Up to the time the war broke out I was a +source of anxiety to you, I cost you dearly in heart and purse. All the +folly and the madness I was guilty of, and which would have landed me, +who knows where? in prison, in the gutter—” + +Again she took the words from his mouth, exclaiming hotly: + +“Hush! be silent!—you have atoned for all.” + +He reflected a moment. “Yes, perhaps I shall have atoned, when I am +dead. Ah, Jean, old fellow, you didn’t know what a service you were +rendering us all when you gave me that bayonet thrust.” + +But the other protested, his eyes swimming with tears: + +“Don’t, I entreat you, say such things! do you wish to make me go and +dash out my brains against a wall?” + +Maurice pursued his train of thought, speaking in hurried, eager tones. + +“Remember what you said to me the day after Sedan, that it was not such +a bad thing, now and then, to receive a good drubbing. And you added +that if a man had gangrene in his system, if he saw one of his limbs +wasting from mortification, it would be better to take an ax and chop +off that limb than to die from the contamination of the poison. I have +many a time thought of those words since I have been here, without a +friend, immured in this city of distress and madness. And I am the +diseased limb, and it is you who have lopped it off—” He went on with +increasing vehemence, regardless of the supplications of his terrified +auditors, in a fervid tirade that abounded with symbols and striking +images. It was the untainted, the reasoning, the substantial portion of +France, the peasantry, the tillers of the soil, those who had always +kept close contact with their mother Earth, that was suppressing the +outbreak of the crazed, exasperated part, the part that had been +vitiated by the Empire and led astray by vain illusions and empty +dreams; and in the performance of its duty it had had to cut deep into +the living flesh, without being fully aware of what it was doing. But +the baptism of blood, French blood, was necessary; the abominable +holocaust, the living sacrifice, in the midst of the purifying flames. +Now they had mounted the steps of the Calvary and known their bitterest +agony; the crucified nation had expiated its faults and would be born +again. “Jean, old friend, you and those like you are strong in your +simplicity and honesty. Go, take up the spade and the trowel, turn the +sod in the abandoned field, rebuild the house! As for me, you did well +to lop me off, since I was the ulcer that was eating away your +strength!” + +After that his language became more and more incoherent; he insisted on +rising and going to sit by the window. “Paris burns, Paris burns; not a +stone of it will be left standing. Ah! the fire that I invoked, it +destroys, but it heals; yes, the work it does is good. Let me go down +there; let me help to finish the work of humanity and liberty—” + +Jean had the utmost difficulty in getting him back to bed, while +Henriette tearfully recalled memories of their childhood, and entreated +him, for the sake of the love they bore each other, to be calm. Over +the immensity of Paris the fiery glow deepened and widened; the sea of +flame seemed to be invading the remotest quarters of the horizon; the +heavens were like the vaults of a colossal oven, heated to red heat. +And athwart the red light of the conflagrations the dense black +smoke-clouds from the Ministry of Finance, which had been burning three +days and given forth no blaze, continued to pour in unbroken, slow +procession. + +The following, Saturday, morning brought with it a decided improvement +in Maurice’s condition: he was much calmer, the fever had subsided, and +it afforded Jean inexpressible delight to behold a smile on Henriette’s +face once more, as the young woman fondly reverted to her cherished +dream, a pact of reciprocal affection between the three of them, that +should unite them in a future that might yet be one of happiness, under +conditions that she did not care to formulate even to herself. Would +destiny be merciful? Would it save them all from an eternal farewell by +saving her brother? Her nights were spent in watching him; she never +stirred outside that chamber, where her noiseless activity and gentle +ministrations were like a never-ceasing caress. And Jean, that evening, +while sitting with his friends, forgot his great sorrow in a delight +that astonished him and made him tremble. The troops had carried +Belleville and the Buttes-Chaumont that day; the only remaining point +where there was any resistance now was the cemetery of Père-Lachaise, +which had been converted into a fortified camp. It seemed to him that +the insurrection was ended; he even declared that the troops had ceased +to shoot their prisoners, who were being collected in droves and sent +on to Versailles. He told of one of those bands that he had seen that +morning on the _quai_, made up of men of every class, from the most +respectable to the lowest, and of women of all ages and conditions, +wrinkled old bags and young girls, mere children, not yet out of their +teens; pitiful aggregation of misery and revolt, driven like cattle by +the soldiers along the street in the bright sunshine, and that the +people of Versailles, so it was said, received with revilings and +blows. + +But Sunday was to Jean a day of terror. It rounded out and fitly ended +that accursed week. With the triumphant rising of the sun on that +bright, warm Sabbath morning he shudderingly heard the news that was +the culmination of all preceding horrors. It was only at that late day +that the public was informed of the murder of the hostages; the +archbishop, the curé of the Madeleine and others, shot at la Roquette +on Wednesday, the Dominicans of Arcueil coursed like hares on Thursday, +more priests and gendarmes, to the number of forty-seven in all, +massacred in cold blood in the Rue Haxo on Friday; and a furious cry +went up for vengeance, the soldiers bunched the last prisoners they +made and shot them in mass. All day long on that magnificent Sunday the +volleys of musketry rang out in the courtyard of the Lobau barracks, +that were filled with blood and smoke and the groans of the dying. At +la Roquette two hundred and twenty-seven miserable wretches, gathered +in here and there by the drag-net of the police, were collected in a +huddle, and the soldiers fired volley after volley into the mass of +human beings until there was no further sign of life. At Père-Lachaise, +which had been shelled continuously for four days and was finally +carried by a hand-to-hand conflict among the graves, a hundred and +forty-eight of the insurgents were drawn up in line before a wall, and +when the firing ceased the stones were weeping great tears of blood; +and three of them, despite their wounds, having succeeded in making +their escape, they were retaken and despatched. Among the twelve +thousand victims of the Commune, who shall say how many innocent people +suffered for every malefactor who met his deserts! An order to stop the +executions had been issued from Versailles, so it was said, but none +the less the slaughter still went on; Thiers, while hailed as the +savior of his country, was to bear the stigma of having been the Jack +Ketch of Paris, and Marshal MacMahon, the vanquished of Froeschwiller, +whose proclamation announcing the triumph of law and order was to be +seen on every wall, was to receive the credit of the victory of +Père-Lachaise. And in the pleasant sunshine Paris, attired in holiday +garb, appeared to be _en fête_; the reconquered streets were filled +with an enormous crowd; men and women, glad to breathe the air of +heaven once more, strolled leisurely from spot to spot to view the +smoking ruins; mothers, holding their little children by the hand, +stopped for a moment and listened with an air of interest to the +deadened crash of musketry from the Lobau barracks. + +When Jean ascended the dark staircase of the house in the Rue des +Orties, in the gathering obscurity of that Sunday evening, his heart +was oppressed by a chill sense of impending evil. He entered the room, +and saw at once that the inevitable end was come; Maurice lay dead on +the little bed; the hemorrhage predicted by Bouroche had done its work. +The red light of the setting sun streamed through the open window and +rested on the wall as if in a last farewell; two tapers were burning on +a table beside the bed. And Henriette, alone with her dead, in her +widow’s weeds that she had not laid aside, was weeping silently. + +At the noise of footsteps she raised her head, and shuddered on +beholding Jean. He, in his wild despair, was about to hurry toward her +and seize her hands, mingle his grief with hers in a sympathetic clasp, +but he saw the little hands were trembling, he felt as by instinct the +repulsion that pervaded all her being and was to part them for +evermore. Was not all ended between them now? Maurice’s grave would be +there, a yawning chasm, to part them as long as they should live. And +he could only fall to his knees by the bedside of his dead friend, +sobbing softly. After the silence had lasted some moments, however, +Henriette spoke: + +“I had turned my back and was preparing a cup of bouillon, when he gave +a cry. I hastened to his side, but had barely time to reach the bed +before he expired, with my name upon his lips, and yours as well, amid +an outgush of blood—” + +Her Maurice, her twin brother, whom she might almost be said to have +loved in the prenatal state, her other self, whom she had watched over +and saved! sole object of her affection since at Bazeilles she had seen +her poor Weiss set against a wall and shot to death! And now cruel war +had done its worst by her, had crushed her bleeding heart; henceforth +her way through life was to be a solitary one, widowed and forsaken as +she was, with no one upon whom to bestow her love. + +“Ah, _bon sang_!” cried Jean, amid his sobs, “behold my work! My poor +little one, for whom I would have laid down my life, and whom I +murdered, brute that I am! What is to become of us? Can you ever +forgive me?” + +At that moment their glances met, and they were stricken with +consternation at what they read in each other’s eyes. The past rose +before them, the secluded chamber at Remilly, where they had spent so +many melancholy yet happy days. His dream returned to him, that dream +of which at first he had been barely conscious and which even at a +later period could not be said to have assumed definite shape: life +down there in the pleasant country by the Meuse, marriage, a little +house, a little field to till whose produce should suffice for the +needs of two people whose ideas were not extravagant. Now the dream was +become an eager longing, a penetrating conviction that, with a wife as +loving and industrious as she, existence would be a veritable earthly +paradise. And she, the tranquillity of whose mind had never in those +days been ruffled by thoughts of that nature, in the chaste and +unconscious bestowal of her heart, now saw clearly and understood the +true condition of her feelings. That marriage, of which she had not +admitted to herself the possibility, had been, unknown to her, the +object of her desire. The seed that had germinated had pushed its way +in silence and in darkness; it was love, not sisterly affection, that +she bore toward that young man whose company had at first been to her +nothing more than a source of comfort and consolation. And that was +what their eyes told each other, and the love thus openly expressed +could have no other fruition than an eternal farewell. It needed but +that frightful sacrifice, the rending of their heart-strings by that +supreme parting, the prospect of their life’s happiness wrecked amid +all the other ruins, swept away by the crimson tide that ended their +brother’s life. + +With a slow and painful effort Jean rose from his knees. + +“Farewell!” + +Henriette stood motionless in her place. + +“Farewell!” + +But Jean could not tear himself away thus. Advancing to the bedside he +sorrowfully scanned the dead man’s face, with its lofty forehead that +seemed loftier still in death, its wasted features, its dull eyes, +whence the wild look that had occasionally been seen there in life had +vanished. He longed to give a parting kiss to his little one, as he had +called him so many times, but dared not. It seemed to him that his +hands were stained with his friend’s blood; he shrank from the horror +of the ordeal. Ah, what a death to die, amid the crashing ruins of a +sinking world! On the last day, among the shattered fragments of the +dying Commune, might not this last victim have been spared? He had gone +from life, hungering for justice, possessed by the dream that haunted +him, the sublime and unattainable conception of the destruction of the +old society, of Paris chastened by fire, of the field dug up anew, that +from the soil thus renewed and purified might spring the idyl of +another golden age. + +His heart overflowing with bitter anguish, Jean turned and looked out +on Paris. The setting sun lay on the edge of the horizon, and its level +rays bathed the city in a flood of vividly red light. The windows in +thousands of houses flamed as if lighted by fierce fires within; the +roofs glowed like beds of live coals; bits of gray wall and tall, +sober-hued monuments flashed in the evening air with the sparkle of a +brisk fire of brushwood. It was like the show-piece that is reserved +for the conclusion of a _fete_, the huge bouquet of gold and crimson, +as if Paris were burning like a forest of old oaks and soaring +heavenward in a rutilant cloud of sparks and flame. The fires were +burning still; volumes of reddish smoke continued to rise into the air; +a confused murmur in the distance sounded on the ear, perhaps the last +groans of the dying Communists at the Lobau barracks, or it may have +been the happy laughter of women and children, ending their pleasant +afternoon by dining in the open air at the doors of the wine-shops. And +in the midst of all the splendor of that royal sunset, while a large +part of Paris was crumbling away in ashes, from plundered houses and +gutted palaces, from the torn-up streets, from the depths of all that +ruin and suffering, came sounds of life. + +Then Jean had a strange experience. It seemed to him that in the slowly +fading daylight, above the roofs of that flaming city, he beheld the +dawning of another day. And yet the situation might well be considered +irretrievable. Destiny appeared to have pursued them with her utmost +fury; the successive disasters they had sustained were such as no +nation in history had ever known before; defeat treading on the heels +of defeat, their provinces torn from them, an indemnity of milliards to +be raised, a most horrible civil war that had been quenched in blood, +their streets cumbered with ruins and unburied corpses, without money, +their honor gone, and order to be re-established out of chaos! His +share of the universal ruin was a heart lacerated by the loss of +Maurice and Henriette, the prospect of a happy future swept away in the +furious storm! And still, beyond the flames of that furnace whose fiery +glow had not subsided yet, Hope, the eternal, sat enthroned in the +limpid serenity of the tranquil heavens. It was the certain assurance +of the resurrection of perennial nature, of imperishable humanity; the +harvest that is promised to him who sows and waits; the tree throwing +out a new and vigorous shoot to replace the rotten limb that has been +lopped away, which was blighting the young leaves with its vitiated +sap. + +“Farewell!” Jean repeated with a sob. + +“Farewell!” murmured Henriette, her bowed face hidden in her hands. + +The neglected field was overgrown with brambles, the roof-tree of the +ruined house lay on the ground; and Jean, bearing his heavy burden of +affliction with humble resignation, went his way, his face set +resolutely toward the future, toward the glorious and arduous task that +lay before him and his countrymen, to create a new France. + +THE END. + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13851 *** |