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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/31288-8.txt b/31288-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..78a54da --- /dev/null +++ b/31288-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7370 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Conscript, by Émile Erckmann and Alexandre Chatrian + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Conscript + A Story of the French war of 1813 + +Author: Émile Erckmann + Alexandre Chatrian + +Release Date: February 15, 2010 [EBook #31288] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CONSCRIPT *** + + + + +Produced by Al Haines + + + + + + + + + +[Frontispiece: War and Glory] + + + + +HISTORICAL ROMANCES OF FRANCE + + + +THE CONSCRIPT + +A STORY OF THE FRENCH WAR OF 1813 + + + +TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH OF + +ERCKMANN-CHATRIAN + + + +ILLUSTRATED + + + +CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS + +NEW YORK :::::::::::::::::::::: 1911 + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + +_War and glory_ . . . . . . . . . . _Frontispiece_ + +_The dragoon fell heavily_ + +"_Close up the ranks!_" + +_Everything gave way before him_ + +_In the river the dead were floating by in files_ + +"_Halt! Stop!_" + + + + +INTRODUCTORY NOTE + +Instead of following "Madame Thérèse" with stories celebrating the +victories of Napoleon and thus appealing to their compatriots' love of +glory and military illusions, MM. Erckmann-Chatrian take up next the +tragic and far more significant story of 1812-13. With "The Conscript" +begins their long, sustained, and eloquent sermon against war and +war-wagers--the exordium, so to say, of their arraignment of Napoleon +for wanton and insatiate love of conquest. "The Conscript" is +certainly one of the most impressive statements of the darker side of +the national pursuit of military glory that have ever been made. The +first part of the book is taken up with a vivid and pathetic account of +the passage of the _grande armée_ through Alsace on its way to Moscow +and the Beresina, of the anxious waiting for news of the battles that +succeeded, of the first suspicions of disaster and their overwhelming +confirmation, of the final rout and awful straggling retreat and return +of the great expedition, and its demoralized and harassed entry within +the national frontiers once more. The second and major portion +narrates the rude surprise of the continuation of warfare and the still +more fatal campaign which opened so dubiously with Lutzen and Bautzen, +and culminated so disastrously in Leipsic and the capitulation of +Paris. Poor Joseph Bertha, who tells the affecting and exciting story, +is snatched away from his betrothed and his peaceful trade by the +conscription, and his individual experiences in the campaign are as +interesting, from the point of view of romance, as their representative +nature and his shrewd and simple reflections upon them are historically +and philanthropically suggestive. Certainly, war, in the minutiae of +its reality, has never been more graphically painted than in "The +Conscript of 1813." + + + + +THE STORY OF A CONSCRIPT + + +I + +Those who have not seen the glory of the Emperor Napoleon, during the +years 1810, 1811, and 1812, can never conceive what a pitch of power +one man may reach. + +When he passed through Champagne, or Lorraine, or Alsace, people +gathering the harvest or the vintage would leave everything to run and +see him; women, children, and old men would come a distance of eight or +ten leagues to line his route, and cheer and cry, "_Vive l'Empereur! +Vive l'Empereur!_" One would think that he was a god, that mankind +owed its life to him, and that, if he died, the world would crumble and +be no more. A few old Republicans would shake their heads and mutter +over their wine that the Emperor might yet fall, but they passed for +fools. Such an event appeared contrary to nature, and no one even gave +it a thought. + +I was in my apprenticeship since 1804, with an old watchmaker, Melchior +Goulden, at Phalsbourg. As I seemed weak and was a little lame, my +mother wished me to learn an easier trade than those of our village, +for at Dagsberg there were only wood-cutters and charcoal-burners. +Monsieur Goulden liked me very much. We lived on the first story of a +large house opposite the "Red Ox" inn, and near the French gate. + +That was the place to see princes, ambassadors, and generals come and +go, some on horseback and some in carriages drawn by two or four +horses; there they passed in embroidered uniforms, with waving plumes +and decorations from every country under the sun. And in the highway +what couriers, what baggage-wagons, what powder-trains, cannon, +caissons, cavalry, and infantry did we see! Those were stirring times! + +In five or six years the innkeeper, George, had made a fortune. He had +fields, orchards, houses, and money in abundance; for all these people, +coming from Germany, Switzerland, Russia, Poland, or elsewhere, cared +little for a few handfuls of gold scattered upon their road; they were +all nobles, who took a pride in showing their prodigality. + +From morning until night, and even during the night, the "Red Ox" kept +its tables in readiness. Through the long windows on the first story +nothing was to be seen but great white table-cloths, glittering with +silver and covered with game, fish, and other rare viands, around which +the travellers sat side by side. In the yard behind, horses neighed, +postilions shouted, maid-servants laughed, coaches rattled. Ah! the +hotel of the "Red Ox" will never see such prosperous times again. + +Sometimes, too, people of the city stopped there, who in other times +were known to gather sticks in the forest or to work on the highway. +But now they were commandants, colonels, generals, and had won their +grades by fighting in every land on earth. Old Melchior, with his +black silk cap pulled over his ears, his weak eyelids, his nose pinched +between great horn spectacles, and his lips tightly pressed together, +could not sometimes avoid putting aside his magnifying-glass and punch +upon the workbench, and throwing a glance toward the inn, especially +when the cracking of the whips of the postilions, with their heavy +boots, little jackets, and perukes of twisted hemp, awoke the echoes of +the ramparts and announced a new arrival. Then he became all +attention, and from time to time would exclaim: + +"Hold! It is the son of Jacob, the slater," or of "the old scold, Mary +Ann," or of "the cooper, Frantz Sepel! He has made his way in the +world; there he is, colonel and baron of the empire into the bargain. +Why don't he stop at the house of his father, who lives yonder in the +_Rue des Capucins_?" + +But when he saw them shaking hands right and left in the street with +those who recognized them, his tone changed; he wiped his eyes with his +great spotted handkerchief, and murmured: + +"How pleased poor old Annette will be! Good! good! _He_ is not proud; +he is a man. God preserve him from cannon-balls!" + +Others passed as if ashamed to recognize their birth-place; others went +gayly to see their sisters or cousins, and everybody spoke of them. +One would imagine that all Phalsbourg wore their crosses and their +epaulettes; while the arrogant were despised even more than when they +swept the roads. + +Nearly every month _Te Deums_ were chanted, and the cannon at the +arsenal fired their salutes of twenty-one rounds for some new victory, +making one's heart flutter. During the week following every family was +uneasy; poor mothers especially waited for letters, and the first that +came all the city knew of; "such an one had received a letter from +Jacques or Claude," and all ran to see if it spoke of their Joseph or +their Jean-Baptiste. I do not speak of promotions or the official +reports of deaths; as for the first, every one knew that the killed +must be replaced; and as for the reports of deaths, parents awaited +them weeping, for they did not come immediately; sometimes indeed they +never came, and the poor father and mother hoped on, saying, "Perhaps +our boy is a prisoner. When they make peace he will return. How many +have returned whom we thought dead!" + +But they never made peace. When one war was finished, another was +begun. We always needed something, either from Russia or from Spain, +or some other country. The Emperor was never satisfied. + +Often when regiments passed through the city, with their great coats +pulled back, their knapsacks on their backs, their great gaiters +reaching to the knee, and muskets carried at will; often when they +passed covered with mud or white with dust, would Father Melchior, +after gazing upon them, ask me dreamily: + +"How many, Joseph, think you we have seen pass since 1804?" + +"I cannot say, Monsieur Goulden," I would reply, "at least four or five +hundred thousand." + +"Yes, at least!" he said, "and how many have returned?" + +Then I understood his meaning, and answered: + +"Perhaps they returned by Mayence or some other route. It cannot be +possible otherwise!" + +But he only shook his head, and said: + +"Those whom you have not seen return are dead, as hundreds and hundreds +of thousands more will die, if the good God does not take pity upon us, +for the Emperor loves only war. He has already spilt more blood to +give his brothers crowns than our great Revolution cost to win the +rights of man." + +Then we set about our work again; but the reflections of Monsieur +Goulden gave me some terrible subjects for thought. + +It was true that I was a little lame in the left leg; but how many +others with defects of body had received their orders to march +notwithstanding! + +These ideas kept running through my head, and when I thought long over +them, I grew very melancholy. They seemed terrible to me, not only +because I had no love for war, but because I was going to marry +Catharine of Quatre-Vents. We had been in some sort reared together. +Nowhere could be found a girl so fresh and laughing. She was +fair-haired, with beautiful blue eyes, rosy cheeks, and teeth as white +as milk. She was approaching eighteen; I was nineteen, and Aunt +Margrédel seemed pleased to see me coming early every Sunday morning to +breakfast and dine with them. + +Catharine and I often went into the orchard behind the house; there we +bit the same apples and the same pears; we were the happiest creatures +in the world. It was I who took her to high mass and vespers; and on +holidays she never left my side, and refused to dance with the other +youths of the village. Everybody knew that we would some day be +married; but, if I should be so unfortunate as to be drawn in the +conscription, there was an end of matters. I wished that I was a +thousand times more lame; for at the time of which I speak they had +first taken the unmarried men, then the married men who had no +children, then those with one child; and I constantly asked myself, +"Are lame fellows of more consequence than fathers of families? Could +they not put me in the cavalry?" The idea made me so unhappy that I +already thought of fleeing. + +But in 1812, at the beginning of the Russian war, my fear increased. +From February until the end of May, every day we saw pass regiments +after regiments--dragoons, cuirassiers, carbineers, hussars, lancers of +all colors, artillery, caissons, ambulances, wagons, provisions, +rolling on forever, like a river which runs on and on, and of which one +can never see the end. + +I still remember that this began with soldiers driving large wagons +drawn by oxen. These oxen were in the place of horses, and were to be +used for food later on, when they should have used up their provisions. +Everybody said, "What a fine idea! When the soldiers can no longer +feed the oxen, the oxen will feed the soldiers." Unhappily those who +said this did not know that the oxen could only make seven or eight +leagues a day, and that for every eight days of marching, they must +have at least one day's rest; so that indeed, the poor animals' hoofs +were already dry and worn out, their lips drooping, their eyes standing +out of their heads, and little but skin and bone left of them. For +three weeks they kept passing in this way, all torn with thrusts of the +bayonet. Meat became cheap, for they killed many of the oxen; but few +wanted their flesh, the diseased meat being unhealthy. They never went +more than twenty leagues beyond the Rhine. + +After that, we saw more lancers, sabres, and helmets file past. All +flowed through the French gate, crossed the Place d'Armes, and streamed +out at the German gate. + +At last, on the 10th of May, in the year 1812, in the early morning, +the guns of the arsenal announced the coming of the master of all. I +was yet sleeping when the first shot shook the little panes of my +window till they rattled like a drum, and Monsieur Goulden, with a +lighted candle, opened my door, saying, "Get up, he is here!" + +We opened the window. Through the night I saw a hundred dragoons, of +whom many bore torches, enter at a gallop under the French gate; they +shook the earth as they passed; their lights glanced along the +house-fronts like dancing flames, and from every window we heard +ceaseless shouts of "_Vive l'Empereur!_" + +I was gazing at the carriage, when a horse crashed against the post to +which the butcher Klein was accustomed to fasten his cattle. The +dragoon fell heavily, his helmet rolled in the gutter, and immediately +a head leaned out of the carriage to see what had happened--a large +head, pale and fat, with a tuft of hair on the forehead: it was +Napoleon; he held his hand up as if about taking a pinch of snuff, and +said a few words roughly. The officer galloping by the side of the +coach bent down to reply; and his master took his snuff and turned the +corner, while the shouts redoubled and the cannons roared louder than +ever. + +[Illustration: The dragoon fell heavily.] + +This was all that I saw. + +The Emperor did not stop at Phalsbourg, and, when he was on the road to +Saverne, the guns fired their last shot, and silence reigned once more. +The guards at the French gate raised the drawbridge, and the old +watchmaker said: + +"You have seen him?" + +"I have, Monsieur Goulden." + +"Well," he continued, "that man holds all our lives in his hand; he +need but breathe upon us and we are gone. Let us bless Heaven that he +is not evil-minded; for if he were, the world would see again the +horrors of the days of the barbarian kings and the Turks." + +He seemed lost in thought, but in a moment he added: + +"You can go to bed again. The clock is striking three." + +He returned to his room, and I to my bed. The deep silence without +seemed strange after such a tumult, and until daybreak I never ceased +dreaming of the Emperor. I dreamed, too, of the dragoon, and wanted to +know if he were killed. The next day we learned that he was carried to +the hospital and would recover. + +From that day until the month of September they often sang the _Te +Deum_, and fired twenty-one guns for new victories. It was nearly +always in the morning, and Monsieur Goulden cried: + +"Eh, Joseph! Another battle won! Fifty thousand men lost! +Twenty-five standards, a hundred guns won. All goes well, all goes +well. It only remains now to order a new levy to replace the dead!" + +He pushed open my door, and I saw him, bald, in his shirt-sleeves, with +his neck bare, washing his face in the wash-bowl. + +"Do you think, Monsieur Goulden," I asked, in great trouble, "that they +will also take the lame?" + +"No, no," he said kindly; "fear nothing, my child, you could not serve. +We will fix that. Only work well, and never mind the rest." + +He saw my anxiety, and it pained him. I never met a better man. Then +he dressed himself to go to wind up the city clocks--those of Monsieur +the Commandant of the place, of Monsieur the Mayor, and other notable +personages. I remained at home. Monsieur Goulden did not return until +after the _Te Deum_. He took off his great brown coat, put his peruke +back in its box, and again pulling his silk cap over his ears, said: + +"The army is at Wilna or at Smolensk, as I learn from Monsieur the +Commandant. God grant that we may succeed this time and make peace, +and the sooner the better, for war is a terrible thing." + +I thought, too, that, if we had peace, so many men would not be needed, +and that I could marry Catharine. Any one can imagine the wishes I +formed for the Emperor's glory. + + + + +II + +It was on the 15th of September, 1812, that the news came of the great +victory of the Moskowa. Every one was full of joy, and all cried, "Now +we will have peace! now the war is ended!" + +Some discontented folks might say that China yet remained to be +conquered; such mar-joys are always to be found. + +A week after, we learned that our forces were in Moscow, the largest +and richest city in Russia, and then everybody figured to himself the +booty we would capture, and the reduction it would make in the taxes. +But soon came the rumor that the Russians had set fire to their +capital, and that it was necessary to retreat on Poland or to die of +hunger. Nothing else was spoken of in the inns, the breweries, or the +market; no one could meet his neighbor without saying, "Well, well, +things go badly; the retreat has commenced." + +People grew pale, and hundreds of peasants waited morning and night at +the post-office, but no letters came now. I passed and repassed +through the crowd without paying much attention to it, for I had seen +so much of the same thing. And besides, I had a thought in my mind +which gladdened my heart, and made everything seem rosy to me. + +You must know that for six months past I had wished to make Catharine a +magnificent present for her birthday, which fell on the 18th of +December. Among the watches which hung in Monsieur Goulden's window +was one little one, of the prettiest kind, with a silver case full of +little circles, which made it shine like a star. Around the face, +under the glass, was a thread of copper, and on the face were painted +two lovers, the youth evidently declaring his love, and giving to his +sweetheart a large bouquet of roses, while she modestly lowered her +eyes and held out her hand. + +The first time I saw the watch, I said to myself: "You will not let +that escape; that watch is for Catharine, and, although you must work +every day till midnight for it, she must have it." Monsieur Goulden, +after seven in the evening, allowed me work on my own account. He had +old watches to clean and regulate; and as this work was often very +troublesome, old Father Melchior paid me reasonably for it. But the +little watch was thirty-five francs, and one can imagine how many hours +at night I would have to work for it. I am sure that if Monsieur +Goulden knew that I wanted it he would have given it me for a present, +but I would not have let him take a farthing less for it; I would have +regarded doing so something shameful. I kept saying: "You must earn +it; no one else must have any claim upon it." Only for fear somebody +else might take a fancy to buy it, I put it aside in a box, telling +Father Melchior that I knew a purchaser. + +Under these circumstances, every one can readily understand how it was +that all these stories of war went in at one ear and out at the other +with me. While I worked I imagined Catharine's joy, and for five +months that was all I had before my eyes. I thought how pleased she +would look, and asked myself, "What will she say?" Sometimes I +imagined she would cry out, "Oh, Joseph! what are you thinking of? It +is much too beautiful for me. No, no; I cannot take so fine a watch +from you!" Then I thought I would force it upon her; I would slip it +into her apron-pocket, saying, "Come, come, Catharine! Do you wish to +give me pain?" I could see how she wanted it, and that she spoke so +only to seem to refuse it. Then I imagined her blushing, with her +hands raised, saying, "Joseph, now I know indeed that you love me!" +And she would embrace me with tears in her eyes. I felt very happy. +Aunt Grédel approved of all. In a word, a thousand such scenes passed +through my mind, and when I retired at night I thought: "There is no +one as happy as you, Joseph. See what a present you can make Catharine +by your toil; and she surely is preparing something for your birthday, +for she thinks only of you; you are both very happy, and, when you are +married, all will go well." + +While I was thus working on, thinking only of happiness, the winter +began, earlier than usual, toward the commencement of November. It did +not begin with snow, but with dry, cold weather and heavy frosts. In a +few days all the leaves had fallen and the earth was hard as ice and +all covered with hoar-frost; tiles, pavement, and window-panes +glittered with it. Fires had to be made that winter to keep the cold +from coming in at the windows, and, when the doors were opened for a +moment, the heat seemed to disappear at once. The wood crackled in the +stoves and burnt away like straw in the fierce draught of the chimneys. + +Every morning I hastened to wash the panes of the shop-window with warm +water, and I scarcely closed it when a frosty sheen covered it. +Without, people ran puffing with their coat-collars over their ears and +their hands in their pockets. No one stood still, and when doors +opened, they soon closed. + +I don't know what became of the sparrows, whether they were dead or +living, but not one twittered in the chimneys, and save the reveille +and retreat sounded in the barracks, no noise broke the silence. + +Often when the fire crackled merrily, did Monsieur Goulden stop his +work, and, gazing on the frost-covered panes, exclaim: + +"Our poor soldiers! our poor soldiers!" + +He said this so mournfully that I felt a choking in my throat as I +replied: + +"But, Monsieur Goulden, they ought now to be in Poland in good +barracks; for to suppose that human beings could endure a cold like +this--it is impossible." + +"Such a cold as this," he said; "yes, here it is cold, very cold from +the winds from the mountains; but what is this frost to that of the +north, of Russia and of Poland? God grant that they started early +enough. My God! my God! the leaders of men have a heavy weight to +bear." + +Then he would be silent, and for hours I would think of what he had +said to me; I pictured to myself our soldiers on the march, running to +keep themselves warm. But the thought of Catharine always came back to +me, and I have often thought since that when one is happy, the misery +of others affects him but little, especially in youth, when the +passions are strongest, and when we have had little knowledge of great +griefs. + +After the frosts so much snow fell that the couriers were stopped on +the road toward Quatre-Vents. I feared that I could not go to see +Catharine on her fête-day; but two companies of infantry set out with +pick-axes, and dug through the frozen snow a way for carriages, and +that road remained open until the beginning of April, 1813. + +Nevertheless, Catharine's birthday approached day by day, and my +happiness increased in proportion. I had already the thirty-five +francs, but I did not know how to tell Monsieur Goulden that I wished +to buy the watch; I wanted to keep the whole matter secret; and I did +not at all like to talk about it. + +At length, on the eve of the eventful day, between six and seven in the +evening, while we were working in silence, the lamp between us, +suddenly I took my resolution, and said: + +"You know, Monsieur Goulden, that I spoke to you of a purchaser for the +little silver watch." + +"Yes, Joseph," said he, without raising his head, "but he has not come +yet." + +"It is I who am the purchaser, Monsieur Goulden." + +Then he looked up in astonishment. I took out the thirty-five francs +and laid them on the work-bench. He stared at me. + +"But," he said, "it is not such a watch as that you want, Joseph; you +want one that will fill your pocket and mark the seconds. Those little +watches are only for women." + +I knew not what to say. + +Monsieur Goulden, after meditating a few moments, began to smile. + +"Ah!" he exclaimed; "good! good! I understand now; to-morrow is +Catharine's birthday. Now I know why you worked day and night. Hold! +take back this money; I do not want it." + +I was all confusion. + +"Monsieur Goulden, I thank you," I replied; "but this watch is for +Catharine, and I wish to have earned it. You will pain me if you +refuse the money; I would as lief not take the watch." + +He said nothing more, but took the thirty-five francs; then he opened +his drawer, and chose a pretty steel chain, with two little keys of +silver-gilt, which he fastened to the watch. Then he put all together +in a box with a rose-colored favor. He did all this slowly, as if +affected; then he gave me the box. + +"It is a pretty present, Joseph," said he. "Catharine ought to think +herself happy in having such a lover as you. She is a good girl. Now +we can take our supper. Set the table." + +The table was arranged, and then Monsieur Goulden took from a closet a +bottle of his Metz wine, which he kept for great occasions, and we +supped like old friends, rather than as master and apprentice; all the +evening he never stopped speaking of the merry days of his youth; +telling me how he once had a sweetheart, but that, in 1792, he left +home in the _levée en masse_ at the time of the Prussian invasion, and +that on his return to Fénétrange, he found her married--a very natural +thing, since he had never mustered courage enough to declare his love. +However, this did not prevent his remaining faithful to the tender +remembrance, and when he spoke of it he seemed sad indeed. I recounted +all this in imagination to Catharine, and it was not until the stroke +of ten, at the passage of the rounds, which relieved the sentries on +post every twenty minutes on account of the great cold, that we put two +good logs on the fire, and at length went to bed. + + + + +III + +The next day, the 18th of December, I arose about six in the morning. +It was terribly cold; my little window was covered with a sheet of +frost. + +I had taken care the night before to lay out on the back of a chair my +sky-blue coat, my trousers, my goat-skin vest, and my fine black silk +cravat. Everything was ready; my well-polished shoes lay at the foot +of the bed; I had only to dress myself; but the cold I felt upon my +face, the sight of those window-panes, and the deep silence without, +made me shiver in anticipation. If it had not been Catharine's +birthday, I would have remained in bed until midday; but suddenly that +recollection made me jump out of bed, and rush to the great delf stove, +where some embers of the preceding night almost always remained among +the cinders. I found two or three, and hastened to collect and put +them under some split wood and two large logs, after which I ran back +to my bed. + +Monsieur Goulden, under the huge curtains, with the coverings pulled up +to his nose and his cotton night-cap over his eyes, woke up, and cried +out: + +"Joseph, we have not had such cold for forty years. I never felt it +so. What a winter we shall have!" + +I did not answer, but looked out to see if the fire was lighting; the +embers burnt well; I heard the chimney draw, and at once all blazed up. +The sound of the flames was merry enough, but it required a good +half-hour to feel the air any warmer. + +At last I arose and dressed myself. Monsieur Goulden kept on chatting, +but I thought only of Catharine, and when at length, toward eight +o'clock, I started out, he exclaimed: + +"Joseph, what are you thinking of? Are you going to Quatre-Vents in +that little coat? You would be dead before you had got half way. Go +into my closet, and take my great cloak, and the mittens, and the +double-soled shoes lined with flannel." + +I was so smart in my fine clothes that I reflected whether it would be +better to follow his advice, and he, seeing my hesitation, said: + +"Listen! a man was found frozen yesterday on the way to Wecham. Doctor +Steinbrenner said that he sounded like a piece of dry wood when they +tapped upon him. He was a soldier, and had left the village between +six and seven o'clock, and at eight they found him; so that the frost +did not take long to do its work. If you want your nose and ears +frozen, you have only to go out as you are." + +I knew then, that he was right; so I put on the thick shoes, and passed +the cord of the mittens over my shoulders, and put the cloak over all. +Thus accoutred, I sallied forth, after thanking Monsieur Goulden, who +warned me not to stay too late, for the cold increased toward night, +and great numbers of wolves were crossing the Rhine on the ice. + +I had not gone as far as the church when I turned up the fox-skin +collar of the cloak to shield my ears. The cold was so keen that it +seemed as though the air were filled with needles, and one's body +shrank involuntarily from head to foot. + +Under the German gate, I saw the soldier on guard, in his great gray +mantle, standing back in his box like a saint in his niche; he had his +sleeve wrapped about his musket where he held it, to keep his fingers +from the iron, and two long icicles hung from his mustaches. No one +was on the bridge, not even the toll-gatherer, but a little farther on, +I saw three carts in the middle of the road with their canvas-tops all +covered and glistening with frost; they were unharnessed and abandoned. +Everything in the distance seemed dead; all living things had hidden +themselves from the cold; and I could hear nothing but the snow +crunching under my feet. Running along the cemetery, where the crosses +and gravestones glistened in the snow, I said to myself: "Those who +sleep there are no longer cold!" I drew my cloak over my breast, and +hid my nose in the fur collar, thanking Monsieur Goulden for his lucky +thought. I also thrust my hands into the muffler to the elbows, and +ran along in the deep trench, extending farther than the eye could +reach, that the soldiers had made from the town as far as Quatre-Vents. +On each side were walls of ice. In some places swept by the wind, I +could see the oak forest and the bluish mountain, both seeming much +nearer than they were, on account of the clearness of the air. Not a +dog barked in a farm-yard; it was too cold even for that. + +But in spite of all this the thought of Catharine warmed my heart, and +soon I descried the first houses of Quatre-Vents. The chimneys and the +thatched roofs, to the right and left of the road, were scarcely higher +than the mountains of snow, and the villagers had dug trenches along +the walls, so that they could pass to each other's houses. But that +day every family kept around its hearth, and the little round +window-panes seemed painted red, from the great fires burning within. +Before each door was a truss of straw to keep the cold from entering +beneath it. + +At the fifth door to the right I stopped to take off my mittens; then I +opened and closed it very quickly. I was at the house of Grédel Bauer, +the widow of Matthias Bauer, and Catharine's mother. + +As I entered, and while Aunt Grédel, seated by the hearth, astonished +at my fox-skin collar, was yet turning her gray head, Catharine, in her +Sunday dress--a pretty striped petticoat, a kerchief with long fringe +folded across her bosom, a red apron fastened around her slender waist, +a pretty cap of blue silk with black velvet bands setting off her rosy +and white face, soft eyes, and rather short nose--Catharine, I say, +exclaimed: + +"It is Joseph!" + +And without waiting to look twice, she ran to greet me, saying: + +"I knew the cold would not keep you from coming." + +I was so happy that I could not speak. I took off my cloak, which I +hung upon a nail on the wall, with my mittens; I took off Monsieur +Goulden's great shoes, and turned pale with joy. + +I would have said something agreeable, but could not; suddenly I +exclaimed: + +"See here, Catharine; here is something for your birthday, but you must +give me a kiss before opening the box." + +She put up her pretty red cheek to me, and then ran to the table. Aunt +Grédel also came to see the present. Catharine untied the cord and +opened the box. I was behind them; my heart jumped, jumped,--I feared +that the watch was not pretty enough. But in an instant, Catharine, +clasping her hands, said in a low voice: + +"How beautiful! It is a watch!" + +"Yes," said Aunt Grédel; "it is beautiful! I never saw so fine a one. +One would think it was silver." + +"But it _is_ silver," returned Catharine, turning toward me inquiringly. + +Then I said: + +"Do you think, Aunt Grédel, that I would be capable of giving a gilt +watch to one whom I love better than my own life? If I could do such a +thing, I would despise myself more than the dirt of my shoes." + +Catharine, hearing this, threw her arms around my neck; and as we stood +thus, I thought: "this is the happiest day of my life." I could not +let her go. + +Aunt Grédel asked: + +"But what is this painted upon the face?" + +I could not speak to answer her; and only at last, when we were seated +beside each other, I took the watch and said: + +"That painting, Aunt Grédel, represents two lovers who love each other +more than they can tell: Joseph Bertha and Catharine Bauer; Joseph is +offering a bouquet of roses to his sweetheart, who is stretching out +her hand to take them." + +When Aunt Grédel had sufficiently admired the watch, she said: + +"Come until I kiss you, Joseph. I see very well that you must have +economized closely, and worked hard for this watch, and I think it is +very pretty, and that you are a good workman, and will do us no +discredit." + +I kissed Aunt Grédel's cheek, and from then until midday, I did not let +go Catharine's hand. We were as happy as could be looking at each +other. Aunt Grédel bustled about to prepare a large pancake with dried +prunes, and wine, and cinnamon, and other good things in it; but we +paid no attention to her, and it was only when she put on her red +jacket and black sabots, and called, "Come, my children; to table!" +that we saw the fine tablecloth, the great porringer, the pitcher of +wine, and the large round, golden pancake on a plate in the middle. +The sight rejoiced us not a little, and Catharine said: + +"Sit there, Joseph, opposite the window, that I may look at you. But +you must fix my watch, for I do not know where to put it." + +I passed the chain around her neck, and then, seating ourselves, we ate +gayly. Without, not a sound was heard; within, the fire crackled +merrily upon the hearth. It was very pleasant in the large kitchen, +and the gray cat, a little wild, gazed at us through the balusters of +the stairs without daring to come down. + +Catharine, after dinner, sang _Der liebe Gott_. She had a sweet, clear +voice, and it seemed to float to heaven. I sang low, merely to sustain +her. Aunt Grédel, who could never rest doing nothing, began spinning; +the hum of her wheel filled up the silences, and we all felt happy. +When one song was ended, we began another. At three o'clock, Aunt +Grédel served up the pancake, and as we ate it, laughing, like the +happiest of beings, she would exclaim: + +"Come, come; now, you are children in reality." + +She pretended to be angry, but we could see in her eyes that she was +happy from the bottom of her heart. This lasted until four o'clock, +when night began to come on apace; the darkness seemed to enter by the +little windows, and, knowing that we must soon part, we sat sadly +around the hearth on which the red flames were dancing. Catharine +pressed my hand. I would almost have given my life to remain longer. +Another half-hour passed, when Aunt Grédel cried: + +"Listen, Joseph! It is time for you to go; the moon does not rise till +after midnight, and it will soon be dark as a kiln outside, and an +accident happens so easily in these great frosts." + +These words seemed to fall like a bolt of ice, and I felt Catharine's +clasp tighten on my hand. But Aunt Grédel was right. + +"Come," said she, rising and taking down the cloak from the wall; "you +will come again Sunday." + +I had to put on the heavy shoes, the mittens, and the cloak of Monsieur +Goulden, and would have wished that I were a hundred years doing so, +but, unfortunately, Aunt Grédel assisted me. When I had the great +collar drawn up to my ears, she said: + +"Now, kiss us good-by, Joseph." + +I kissed her first, then Catharine, who did not say a word. After that +I opened the door and the terrible cold, entering, admonished me not to +wait. + +"Hasten, Joseph," said my aunt. + +"Good-night, Joseph, good-night!" cried Catharine, "and do not forget +to come Sunday." + +I turned round to wave my hand; and then I ran on without raising my +head, for the cold was so intense that it brought tears to my eyes even +behind the great collar. + +I ran on thus some twenty minutes, scarcely daring to breathe, when a +drunken voice called out: + +"Who goes there?" + +I looked through the dim night, and saw, fifty paces before me, +Pinacle, the pedler, with his huge basket, his otter-skin cap, woollen +gloves, and iron-pointed staff. The lantern hanging from the strap of +his basket lit up his debauched face, his chin bristling with yellow +beard, and his great nose shaped like an extinguisher. He glared with +his little eyes like a wolf, and repeated, "Who goes there?" + +This Pinacle was the greatest rogue in the country. He had the year +before a difficulty with Monsieur Goulden, who demanded of him the +price of a watch which he undertook to deliver to Monsieur Anstett, the +curate of Homert, and the money for which he put into his pocket, +saying he paid it to me. But although the villain made oath before the +justice of the peace, Monsieur Goulden knew the contrary, for on the +day in question neither he nor I had left the house. Besides, Pinacle +wanted to dance with Catharine at a festival at Quatre-Vents, and she +refused because she knew the story of the watch, and was, besides, +unwilling to leave me. + +The sight, then, of this rogue with his iron-shod stick in the middle +of the road did not tend to rejoice my heart. Happily a little path +which wound around the cemetery was at my left, and, without replying, +I dashed through it although the snow reached my waist. + +Then he, guessing who I was, cried furiously: + +"Aha! it is the little lame fellow! Halt! halt! I want to bid you +good-evening. You came from Catharine's, you watch-stealer." + +But I sprang like a hare through the heaps of snow; he at first tried +to follow me, but his pack hindered him, and, when I gained the ground +again, he put his hands around his mouth, and shrieked: + +"Never mind, cripple, never mind! Your reckoning is coming all the +same; the conscription is coming--the grand conscription of the +one-eyed, the lame, and the hunch-backed. You will have to go, and you +will find a place under ground like the others." + +He continued his way, laughing like the sot he was, and I, scarcely +able to breathe, kept on, thanking Heaven that the little alley was so +near; for Pinacle, who was known always to draw his knife in a fight, +might have done me an ill turn. + +In spite of my exertion, my feet, even in the thick shoes, were +intensely cold, and I again began running. + +That night the water froze in the cisterns of Phalsbourg and the wines +in the cellars--things that had not happened before for sixty years. + +On the bridge and under the German gate the silence seemed yet deeper +than in the morning, and the night made it seem terrible. A few stars +shone between the masses of white cloud that hung over the city. All +along the street I met not a soul, and when I reached home, after +shutting the door of our lower passage, it seemed warm to me, although +the little stream that ran from the yard along the wall was frozen. I +stopped a moment to take breath; then I ascended in the dark, my hand +on the baluster. + +When I opened the door of my room, the cheerful warmth of the stove was +grateful indeed. Monsieur Goulden was seated in his arm-chair before +the fire, his cap of black silk pulled over his ears, and his hands +resting upon his knees. + +"Is that you, Joseph?" he asked without turning round. + +"It is," I answered. "How pleasant it is here, and how cold out of +doors! We never had such a winter." + +"No," he said gravely. "It is a winter that will long be remembered." + +I went into the closet and hung the cloak and mittens in their places, +and was about relating my adventure with Pinacle, when he resumed: + +"You had a pleasant day of it, Joseph." + +"I have had, indeed. Aunt Grédel and Catharine wished me to make you +their compliments." + +"Very good, very good," said he; "the young are right to amuse +themselves, for when they grow old, and suffer, and see so much of +injustice, selfishness, and misfortune, everything is spoiled in +advance." + +He spoke as if talking to himself, gazing at the fire. I had never +seen him so sad, and I asked: + +"Are you not well, Monsieur Goulden?" + +But he, without replying, murmured: + +"Yes, yes; this is to be a great military nation; this is glory!" + +He shook his head and bent over gloomily, his heavy gray brows +contracted in a frown. + +I knew not what to think of all this, when raising his head again, he +said: + +"At this moment, Joseph, there are four hundred thousand families +weeping in France; the grand army has perished in the snows of Russia; +all those stout young men whom for two months we saw passing our gates +are buried beneath them. The news came this afternoon. Oh! it is +horrible! horrible!" + +I was silent. Now I saw clearly that we must have another +conscription, as after all campaigns, and this time the lame would most +probably be called. I grew pale, and Pinacle's prophecy made my hair +stand on end. + +"Go to bed, Joseph; rest easy," said Monsieur Goulden. "I am not +sleepy; I will stay here; all this upsets me. Did you remark anything +in the city?" + +"No, Monsieur Goulden." + +I went to my room and to bed. For a long time I could not close my +eyes, thinking of the conscription, of Catharine, and of so many +thousands of men buried in the snow, and then I plotted flight to +Switzerland. + +About three o'clock Monsieur Goulden retired, and a few minutes after, +through God's grace, I fell asleep. + + + + +IV + +When I arose in the morning, about seven, I went to Monsieur Goulden's +room to begin work, but he was still in bed, looking weary and sick. + +"Joseph," said he, "I am not well. This horrible news has made me ill, +and I have not slept at all." + +"Shall I not make you some tea?" I asked. + +"No, my child, that is not worth while. I will get up by and by. But +this is the day to regulate the city clocks; I cannot go; for to see so +many good people--people I have known for thirty years--in misery, +would kill me. Listen, Joseph: take those keys hanging behind the door +and go. I will try to sleep a little. If I could sleep an hour or +two, it would do me good." + +"Very well, Monsieur Goulden," I replied; "I will go at once." + +After putting more wood in the stove, I took the cloak and mittens, +drew Monsieur Goulden's bed-curtains, and went out, the bunch of keys +in my pocket. The illness of Father Melchior grieved me very much for +a while, but a thought came to console me, and I said to myself: "You +can climb up the city clock-tower, and see the house of Catharine and +Aunt Grédel." Thinking thus, I arrived at the house of Brainstein, the +bell-ringer, who lived at the corner of the little place, in an old, +tumble-down barrack. His two sons were weavers, and in their old home +the noise of the loom and the whistle of the shuttle was heard from +morning till night. The grandmother, old and blind, slept in an +armchair, on the back of which perched a magpie. Father Brainstein, +when he did not have to ring the bells for a christening, a funeral, or +a marriage, kept reading his almanac behind the small round panes of +his window. + +Beside their hut was a little box under the roof of the old hall, where +the cobbler Koniam worked, and farther on were the butchers' and +fruiterers' shops. + +I came then to Brainstein's, and the old man, when he saw me, rose up, +saying: + +"It is you, Monsieur Joseph." + +"Yes, Father Brainstein; I came in place of Monsieur Goulden, who is +not well." + +"Very good; it is all the same." + +He took up his staff and put on his woollen cap, driving away the cat +that was sleeping upon it; then he took the great key of the steeple +from a drawer, and we went out together, I glad to find myself again in +the open air, despite the cold; for their miserable room was gray with +vapor, and as hard to breathe in as a kettle; I could never understand +how people could live in such a way. + +At last we gained the street, and Father Brainstein said: + +"You have heard of the great Russian disaster, Monsieur Joseph?" + +"Yes, Father Brainstein; it is fearful!" + +"Ah!" said he, "there will be many a Mass said in the churches; every +one will weep and pray for their children, the more that they are dead +in a heathen land." + +"Certainly, certainly," I replied. + +We crossed the court, and in front of the tower-hall, opposite the +guard-house, many peasants and city people were already standing, +reading a placard. We went up the steps and entered the church, where +more than twenty women, young and old, were kneeling on the pavement, +in spite of the terrible cold. + +"Is it not as I said?" said Brainstein. "They are coming already to +pray, and half of them have been here since five o'clock." + +He opened the little door of the steeple leading to the organ, and we +began climbing up in the dark. Once in the organ-loft, we turned to +the left of the bellows, and went up to the bells. + +I was glad to see the blue sky and breathe the free air again, for the +bad odor of the bats which inhabited the tower almost suffocated me. +But how terrible the cold was in that cage, open to every wind, and how +dazzlingly the snow shone over twenty leagues of country! All the +little city of Phalsbourg, with its six bastions, three _demilunes_, +two advanced works, its barracks, magazines, bridges, _glacis_, +ramparts; its great parade-ground, and little, well-aligned houses, +were beneath me, as if drawn on white paper. I was not yet accustomed +to the height, and I held fast on the middle of the platform for fear I +might jump off, for I had read of people having their heads turned by +great heights. I did not dare go to the clock, and, if Brainstein had +not set me the example, I would have remained there, pressed against +the beam from which the bells hung; but he said: + +"Come, Monsieur Joseph, and see if it is right." + +Then I took out Monsieur Goulden's large watch which marked seconds, +and I saw that the clock was considerably slow. Brainstein helped me +to wind it up, and we regulated it. + +"The clock is always slow in winter," said he, "because of the iron +working." + +After becoming somewhat accustomed to the elevation, I began to look +around. There were the Oakwood barracks, the upper barracks, +Bigelberg, and lastly, opposite me, Quatre-Vents, and the house of Aunt +Grédel, from the chimney of which a thread of blue smoke rose toward +the sky. And I saw the kitchen, and imagined Catharine, in sabots, and +woollen skirt, spinning at the corner of the hearth and thinking of me. +I no longer felt the cold; I could not take my eyes from their cottage. + +Father Brainstein, who did not know what I was looking at, said: + +"Yes, yes, Monsieur Joseph: now all the roads are covered with people +in spite of the snow. The news has already spread, and every one wants +to know the extent of his loss." + +He was right; every road and path was covered with people coming to the +city; and looking in the court, I saw the crowd increasing every moment +before the guard-house, the town-house, and the postoffice. A deep +murmur arose from the mass. + +At length, after a last, long look at Catharine's house, I had to +descend, and we went down the dark, winding stairs, as if descending +into a well. Once in the organ-loft, we saw that the crowd had greatly +increased in the church; all the mothers, the sisters, the old +grandmothers, the rich, and the poor, were kneeling on the benches in +the midst of the deepest silence; they prayed for the absent, offering +all only to see them once again. + +At first I did not realize all this; but suddenly the thought that, if +I had gone the year before, Catharine would be there, praying and +asking me of God, fell like a bolt on my heart, and I felt all my body +tremble. + +"Let us go! let us go!" I exclaimed, "this is terrible." + +"What is?" he asked. + +"War." + +We descended the stairs under the great gate, and I went across the +court to the house of Monsieur the Commandant Meunier, while Brainstein +took the way to his house. + +At the corner of the Hotel de Ville, I saw a sight which I shall +remember all my life. There, around a placard, were more than five +hundred people, men and women crowded against each other, all pale, and +with necks outstretched, gazing at it as at some horrible apparition. +They could not read it, and from time to time one would say in German +or French: + +"But they are not all dead! Some will return." + +Others cried out: + +"Let us see it! let us get near it." + +A poor old woman in the rear lifted up her hands, and cried: + +"Christopher! my poor Christopher!" + +Others, angry at her clamor, called out: + +"Keep that old woman quiet." + +Each one thought only of himself. + +Behind, the crowd continued to pour through the German gate. + +At length, Harmantier, the _sergent-de-ville_, came out of the +guard-house, and stood at the top of the steps, with another placard +like the first; a few soldiers followed him. Then a rush was made +toward him, but the soldiers kept off the crowd, and old Harmantier +began to read the placard, which he called the twenty-ninth bulletin, +and in which the Emperor informed them that during the retreat the +horses perished every night by thousands. He said nothing of the men! + +The _sergent-de-ville_ read slowly; not a breath was heard in the +crowd; even the old woman, who did not understand French, listened like +the others. The buzz of a fly could have been heard. But when he came +to this passage, "Our cavalry was dismounted to such an extent that we +were forced to bring together the officers who yet owned horses to form +four companies of one hundred and fifty men each. Generals rated as +captains, and colonels as under-officers"--when he read this passage, +which told more of the misery of the grand army than all the rest, +cries and groans arose on all sides; two or three women fell and were +carried away. + +It is true that the bulletin added, "The health of his majesty was +never better," and that was a great consolation. Unfortunately it +could not restore life to three hundred thousand men buried in the +snow; and so the people went away very sad. Others came by dozens who +had not heard the news read, and from time to time Harmantier came out +to read the bulletin. + +This lasted until night; still the same scene over and over again. + +I ran from the place; I wanted to know nothing about it. + +I went to Monsieur the Commandant's. Entering a parlor, I saw him at +breakfast. He was an old man, but hale, with a red face and good +appetite. + +"Ah! it is you!" said he, "Monsieur Goulden is not coming, then?" + +"No, Monsieur the Commandant, the bad news has made him ill." + +"Ah! I understand," he said, emptying his glass; "yes, it is +unfortunate." + +And while I was regulating the clock, he added: + +"Well! tell Monsieur Goulden that we will have our revenge. We cannot +always have the upper hand. For fifteen years we have kept the drums +beating over them, and it is only right to let them have this little +morsel of consolation. And then our honor is safe; we were not beaten +fighting; without the cold and the snow, those poor Cossacks would have +had a hard time of it. But patience; the skeletons of our regiments +will soon be filled, and then let them beware." + +I wound up the clock; he rose and came to look at it, for he was a +great amateur in clock-making. He pinched my ear in a merry mood; and +then, as I was going away, he cried as he buttoned up his overcoat, +which he had opened before beginning breakfast: + +"Tell Father Goulden to rest easy; the dance will begin again in the +spring; the Kalmucks will not always have winter fighting for them. +Tell him that." + +"Yes, Monsieur the Commandant," I answered, shutting the door. + +His burly figure and air of good humor comforted me a little; but in +all the other houses I went to, at the Horwiches, the Frantz-Tonis, the +Durlaches, everywhere I heard only lamentations. The women especially +were in misery; the men said nothing, but walked about with heads +hanging down, and without even looking to see what I was doing. + +Toward ten o'clock there only remained two persons for me to see: +Monsieur de la Vablerie-Chamberlan, one of the ancient nobility, who +lived at the end of the main street, with Madame Chamberlan-d'Ecof and +Mademoiselle Jeanne, their daughter. They were _émigrés_, and had +returned about three or four years before. They saw no one in the +city, and only three or four old priests in the environs. Monsieur de +la Vablerie-Chamberlan loved only the chase. He had six dogs at the +end of the yard, and a two-horse carriage; Father Robert, of the Rue +des Capucins, served them as coachman, groom, footman, and huntsman. +Monsieur de la Vablerie-Chamberlan always wore a hunting vest, a +leathern cap, and boots and spurs. All the town called him the hunter, +but they said nothing of Madame nor of Mademoiselle de Chamberlan. + +I was very sad when I pushed open the heavy door, which closed with a +pulley whose creaking echoed through the vestibule. What was then my +surprise to hear, in the midst of general mourning, the tones of a song +and harpsichord! Monsieur de la Vablerie was singing, and Mademoiselle +Jeanne accompanying him. I knew not, in those days, that the +misfortune of one was often the joy of others, and I said to myself +with my hand on the latch: "They have not heard the news from Russia." + +But while I stood thus, the door of the kitchen opened, and +Mademoiselle Louise, their servant, putting out her head, asked: + +"Who is there?" + +"It is I, Mademoiselle Louise." + +"Ah! it is you, Monsieur Joseph. Come this way." + +They had their clock in a large parlor which they rarely entered; the +high windows, with blinds, remained closed; but there was light enough +for what I had to do. I passed then through the kitchen and regulated +the antique clock, which was a magnificent piece of work of white +marble. Mademoiselle Louise looked on. + +"You have company, Mademoiselle Louise?" said I. + +"No, but monsieur ordered me to let no one in." + +"You are very cheerful here." + +"Ah! yes," she said; "and it is for the first time in years; I don't +know what is the matter." + +My work done, I left the house, meditating on these occurrences, which +seemed to me strange. The idea never entered my mind that they were +rejoicing at our defeat. + +Then I turned the corner of the street to go to Father Féral's, who was +called the "Standard-bearer," because, at the age of forty-five, he, a +blacksmith, and for many years the father of a family, had carried the +colors of the volunteers of Phalsbourg in '92, and only returned after +the Zurich campaign. He had his three sons in the army of Russia, +Jean, Louis, and George Féral. George was commandant of dragoons; the +two others, officers of infantry. + +I imagined the grief of Father Féral while I was going, but it was +nothing to what I saw when I entered his room. The poor old man, blind +and bald, was sitting in an arm-chair behind the stove, his head bowed +upon his breast, and his sightless eyes open, and staring as if he saw +his three sons stretched at his feet. He did not speak, but great +drops of sweat rolled down his forehead on his long, thin cheeks, while +his face was pale as that of a corpse. Four or five of his old +comrades of the times of the Republic--Father Desmarets, Father Nivoi, +old Paradis, and tall old Froissard--had come to console him. They sat +around him in silence, smoking their pipes, and looking as if they +themselves needed comfort. + +From time to time one or the other would say: "Come, come, Féral! are +we no longer veterans of the army of the Sambre-and-Meuse?" + +Or, + +"Courage, Standard-bearer: courage! Did we not carry the battery at +Fleurus?" + +Or some other similar remark. + +But he did not reply; every minute he sighed, his aged, hollow cheeks +swelled; then he leaned over, and the old friends made signs to each +other, shaking their heads, as if to say: + +"This looks bad." + +I hastened to regulate the clock and depart, for to see the poor old +man in such a plight made my heart bleed. + +When I arrived at home, I found Monsieur Goulden at his work-bench. + +"You are returned, Joseph," said he. "Well?" + +"Well, Monsieur Goulden, you had reason to stay away; it is terrible." + +And I told him all in detail. + +"Yes; I knew it all," said he, sadly, "but our misfortunes are only +beginning; these Prussians and Austrians and Russians and +Spaniards--all the nations we have been beating since eighteen hundred +and four, are now taking advantage of our ill luck to fall upon us. We +gave them kings and queens they did not know from Adam nor Eve, and +whom they did not want, it seems, and now they are going to bring back +the old ones with all their trains of nobles, and after pouring out our +blood for the Emperor's brothers, we are about losing all we gained by +the Revolution. Instead of being first among the first we will be last +among the last. While you were away I was thinking of all this; it is +unavoidable--We relied upon soldiers alone, and now that we have no +more, we are nothing." + +He arose. I set the table, and, whilst we were dining in silence, the +bells of the steeples began to ring. + +"Some one is dead in the city," said Monsieur Goulden. + +"Indeed? I did not hear of it." + +Ten minutes after, the Rabbi Rose came in to have a glass put in his +watch. + +"Who is dead?" asked Monsieur Goulden. + +"Poor old Standard-bearer." + +"What! Father Féral?" + +"Yes, near an hour ago. Father Desmarets and several others tried to +comfort him; at last he asked them to read to him the last letter of +his son George, the commandant of dragoons, in which he says that next +spring he hoped to embrace his father with a colonel's epaulettes. As +the old man heard this, he tried to rise, but fell back with his head +upon his knees. That letter had broken his heart." + +Monsieur Goulden made no remark on the news. + +"Here is your watch, Monsieur Rose," said he, handing it back to the +rabbi; "it is twelve sous." + +Monsieur Rose departed, and we finished our dinner in silence. + + + + +V + +A few days after, the gazette announced that the Emperor was in Paris, +and that the King of Rome and the Empress Marie-Louise were about to be +crowned. Monsieur the Mayor, his coadjutor and the municipal +councillors now spoke only of the rights of the throne, and Professor +Burguet, the elder, wrote a speech on the subject which Baron +Parmentier read. But all this produced but little effect on the +people, because every one was afraid of being carried off by the +conscription, and knew that many more soldiers were needed; all were in +trouble, and I grew thinner day by day. In vain would Monsieur Goulden +say: "Fear nothing, Joseph; you cannot march. Consider, my child, that +any one as lame as you would give out at the end of the first mile." + +But all this did not lessen my uneasiness. + +Monsieur Goulden, often, too, when we were alone at work, would say to +me: + +"If those who are now masters, and who tell us that God placed them +here on earth to make us happy, would foresee at the beginning of a +campaign the poor old men, the hapless mothers, whose very hearts they +have torn away to satisfy their pride--if they could see the tears and +hear the groans of these poor people when they are coldly told 'Your +son is dead; you will see him no more; he perished, crushed by horses' +hoofs, or torn to pieces by a cannon-ball, or died mayhap afar off in a +hospital, after having his arm or leg cut off,--burning with fever, +without one kind word to console him, but calling for his parents as +when he was an infant,'--if, I say, these haughty ones of earth could +thus see the tears of those mothers, I do not believe that one among +them would be barbarous enough to continue the war. But they think +nothing of this; they think other folks do not love their children as +they love theirs; they think people are no more than beasts. They are +wrong; all their great genius, their lofty notions of glory, are as +nothing, for there is only one thing for which a people should fly to +arms--men, women, children--old and young. It is when their liberty is +assailed as ours was in '92--then all should die or conquer together; +he who remains behind is a coward, who would have others fight for +him;--the victory then is not for a few, but for all;--then sons and +fathers are defending their families; if they are killed, it is a +misfortune, to be sure, but they die for their rights. Such a man, +Joseph, is the only just one, the one of which no one can complain; all +others are shameful, and the glory they bring is not glory fit for a +man, but only for a wild beast." + +On the eighth of January, a huge placard was posted on the town-hall, +stating that the Emperor would levy, after a _senatus-consultus_, as +they said in those days, in the first place, one hundred and fifty +thousand conscripts of 1813; then one hundred _cohortes_ of the first +call of 1812 who thought they had already escaped; then one hundred +thousand conscripts of from 1809 to 1812, and so on to the end; so that +every loop-hole was closed, and we would have a larger army than before +the Russian expedition. + +When Father Fouze, the glazier, came to us with this news, one morning, +I almost fell, through faintness, for I thought: + +"Now they will take all, even fathers of families. I am lost!" + +Monsieur Goulden poured some water on my neck; my arms hung useless by +my side; I was pale as a corpse. + +But I was not the only one upon whom the placard had such an effect: +that year many young men refused to go; some broke their teeth off, so +as not to be able to tear the cartridge; others blew off their thumbs +with pistols, so as not to be able to hold a musket; others, again, +fled to the woods; they proclaimed them "refractories," but they had +not _gendarmes_ enough to capture them. + +The mothers of families took courage to revolt after a manner, and to +encourage their sons not to obey the _gendarmes_. They aided them in +every way; they cried out against the Emperor, and the clergy of all +denominations sustained them in so doing. The cup was at last full! + +The very day of the proclamation I went to Quatre-Vents; but it was not +now in the joy of my heart; it was as the most miserable of unhappy +wretches, about to be bereft of love and life. I could scarcely walk, +and when I reached there I did not know how to announce the evil +tidings; but I saw at a glance that they knew all, for Catharine was +weeping bitterly, and Aunt Grédel was pale with indignation. + +We embraced in silence, and the first words Aunt Grédel said to me, as +in her anger she pushed her gray hair behind her ears, were: + +"You shall not go! What have we to do with wars? The priest himself +told us it was at last too much, and that we ought to have peace! You +shall not go! Do not cry, Catharine; I say he shall not go!" + +She was fairly green with anger, and rattled her kettles noisily +together, saying: + +"This carnage has lasted long enough. Our two poor cousins, Kasper and +Yokel, are already going to lose their lives in Spain for this Emperor, +and now he comes to ask us for the younger ones. He is not satisfied +to have slain three hundred thousand in Russia. Instead of thinking of +peace, like a man of sense, he thinks only of massacring the few who +remain. We will see! We will see!" + +"In the name of Heaven! Aunt Grédel, be quiet; speak lower," said I, +looking at the window. "If they hear you, we are lost." + +"I speak for them to hear me," she replied. "Your Napoleon does not +frighten me. He commenced by closing our mouths, so that he might do +as he pleased; but the end approaches. Four young women are losing +their husbands in our village alone, and ten poor young men are forced +to abandon everything, despite father, mother, religion, justice, God! +Is not this horrible?" + +I tried to answer, but she kept on: + +"Hold, Joseph," said she; "be silent; your Emperor has no heart--he +will end miserably yet. God showed his finger this winter; He saw that +we feared a man more than we feared Him; that mothers--like those whose +babes Herod slew--dared no longer cling to their own flesh when that +man demanded them for massacre; and so the cold came and our army +perished; and now those who are leaving us are the same as already +dead. God is weary of all this! You shall not go!" cried she +obstinately; "I shall not let you go; you shall fly to the woods with +Jean Kraft, Louis Bême, and all our bravest fellows; you shall go to +the mountains--to Switzerland, and Catharine and I will go with you and +remain until this destruction of men is ended." + +Then Aunt Grédel became silent. Instead of giving us an ordinary +dinner, she gave us a better one than on Catharine's birthday, and +said, with the air of one who has taken a resolution: + +"Eat, my children, and fear not; there will soon be a change!" + +I returned about four in the evening to Phalsbourg, somewhat calmer +than when I set out. But as I went up the Rue de la Munitionnaire, I +heard at the corner of the college the drum of the _sergent-de-ville_, +Harmantier, and I saw a throng gathered around him. I ran to hear what +was going on, and I arrived just as he began reading a proclamation. + +Harmantier read that, by the _senatus-consultus_ of the 3d, the drawing +for the conscription would take place on the 15th. + +It was already the 8th, and only seven days remained. This upset me +completely. + +The crowd dispersed in the deepest silence. I went home sad enough, +and said to Monsieur Goulden: + +"The drawing takes place next Thursday." + +"Ah!" he exclaimed, "they are losing no time, things are pressing." + +It is easy to imagine my grief that day and the days following. I +could scarcely stand; I constantly saw myself on the point of leaving +home. I saw myself flying to the woods, the _gendarmes_ at my heels, +crying, "Halt! halt!" Then I thought of the misery of Catharine, of +Aunt Grédel, of Monsieur Goulden. Then I imagined myself marching in +the ranks with a number of other wretches, to whom they were crying +out, "Forward! charge bayonets!" while whole files were being swept +away. I heard bullets whistle and shells shriek; in a word, I was in a +pitiable state. + +"Be calm, Joseph," said Monsieur Goulden; "do not torment yourself +thus. I think that of all who may be drawn there are probably not ten +who can give as good reasons as you for staying at home. The surgeon +must be blind to receive you. Besides, I will see Monsieur the +Commandant. Calm yourself." + +But these kind words could not reassure me. + +Thus I passed an entire week almost in a trance, and when the day of +the drawing arrived, Thursday morning, I was so pale, so sick-looking +that the parents of conscripts envied, so to speak, my appearance for +their sons. "That fellow," they said, "has a chance; he would drop the +first mile. Some people are born under a lucky star!" + + + + +VI + +The town-house of Phalsbourg, that Thursday morning, January 15, 1813, +during the drawing of the conscription, was a sight to be seen. To-day +it is bad enough to be drawn, to be forced to leave parents, friends, +home, one's cattle and one's fields, to go and learn--God knows +where--"_One! two!_ one! two! halt! eyes left! eyes right! front! +carry arms!" etc., etc. Yes, this is all bad enough, but there is a +chance of returning. One can say, with something like confidence: "In +seven years I shall see my old nest again, and my parents, and perhaps +my sweetheart. I shall have seen the world, and will perhaps have some +title to be appointed forester or gendarme." This is a comfort for +reasonable people. But _then_, if you had the ill-luck to lose in the +lottery, there was an end of you; often not one in a hundred returned. +The idea that you were only going for a time never entered your head. + +The enrolled of Harberg, of Garbourg, and of Quatre-Vents were to draw +first; then those of the city, and lastly those of Wechem and +Mittelbronn. + +I was up early in the morning, and with my elbows on the work-bench I +watched the people pass by; young men in blouses, poor old men in +cotton caps and short vests; old women in jackets and woollen skirts, +bent almost double, with a staff or umbrella under their arms. They +arrived by families. Monsieur the Sub-Prefect of Sarrebourg, with his +silver collar, and his secretary, had stopped the day before at the +"Red Ox," and they were also looking out of the window. Toward eight +o'clock, Monsieur Goulden began work, after breakfasting. I ate +nothing, but stared and stared until Monsieur the Mayor Parmentier and +his co-adjutor, came for Monsieur the Sub-Prefect. + +The drawing began at nine, and soon we heard the clarionet of +Pfifer-Karl and the violin of big Andrès resounding through the +streets. They were playing the "March of the Swedes," an air to which +thousands of poor wretches had left old Alsace for ever. The +conscripts danced, linked arms, shouted until their voices seemed to +pierce the clouds, stamped on the ground, waved their hats, trying to +seem joyful while death was at their hearts. Well, it was the fashion; +and big Andrès, withered, stiff, and yellow as boxwood, and his short +chubby comrade, with cheeks extended to their utmost tension, seemed +like people who would lead you to the church-yard all the while +chatting indifferently. + +That music, those cries, sent a shudder through my heart. + +I had just put on my swallow-tailed coat and my beaver hat, to go out, +when Aunt Grédel and Catharine entered, saying: + +"Good-morning, Monsieur Goulden. We have come for the conscription." + +Then I saw how Catharine had been crying. Her eyes were red, and she +threw her arms around my neck, while her mother turned to me. + +Monsieur Goulden said: + +"It will soon be the turn of the young men of the town." + +"Yes, Monsieur Goulden," answered Catharine in a choking voice; "they +have finished Harberg." + +"Then it is time for you to go, Joseph," said he; "but do not grieve; +do not be frightened. These drawings, you know, are only a matter of +form. For a long while past none can escape; for if they escape one +drawing, they are caught a year or two after. All the numbers are bad. +When the council of exemption meets, we will see what is best to be +done. To-day it is merely a sort of satisfaction they give the people +to draw in the lottery; but every one loses." + +"No matter," said Aunt Grédel; "Joseph will win." + +"Yes, yes," replied Monsieur Goulden, smiling, "he cannot fail." + +Then I sallied forth with Catharine and Aunt Grédel, and we went to the +town square, where the crowd was. In all the shops, dozens of +conscripts, purchasing ribbons, thronged around the counters, weeping +and singing as if possessed. Others in the inns embraced, sobbing; but +still they sang. Two or three musicians of the neighborhood--the Gipsy +Walteufel, Rosselkasten, and George Adam--had arrived, and their pieces +thundered in terrible and heart-rending strains. + +Catharine squeezed my arm. Aunt Grédel followed. + +Opposite the guard-house I saw the pedler Pinacle afar off, his pack +opened on a little table, and beside it a long pole decked with ribbons +which he was selling to the conscripts. + +I hastened to pass by him, when he cried: + +"Ha! Cripple! Halt! Come here; I have a ribbon for you; you must +have a magnificent one--one to draw a prize by." + +He waved a long black ribbon above his head, and I grew pale despite +myself. But as we ascended the steps of the town-house, a conscript +was just descending; it was Klipfel, the smith of the French gate; he +had drawn number eight, and shouted: + +"The black for me, Pinacle! Bring it here, whatever may happen." + +His face was gloomy, but he laughed. His little brother Jean was +crying behind him, and said: + +"No, no, Jacob! not the black!" + +But Pinacle fastened the ribbon to the smith's hat, while the latter +said: + +"That is what we want now. We are all dead, and should wear our own +mourning." + +And he cried savagely: + +"_Vive l'Empereur!_" + +I was better satisfied to see the black ribbon on his hat than on mine, +and I slipped quickly through the crowd to avoid Pinacle. + +We had great difficulty in getting into the townhouse and in climbing +the old oak stairs, where people were going up and down in swarms. In +the great hall above, the gendarme Kelz walked about maintaining order +as well as he could, and in the council-chamber at the side, where +there was a painting of Justice with her eyes blindfolded, we heard +them calling off the numbers. From time to time a conscript came out +with flushed face, fastening his number to his cap and passing with +bowed head through the crowd, like a furious bull who cannot see +clearly and who would seem to wish to break his horns against the +walls. Others, on the contrary, passed as pale as death. The windows +of the town-house were open, and without we heard six or seven pieces +playing together. It was horrible. + +I pressed Catharine's hand, and we passed slowly through the crowd to +the hall where Monsieur the Sub-Prefect, the Mayors, and the +Secretaries were seated on their tribune, calling the numbers aloud, as +if pronouncing sentence of death in a court of justice, for all these +numbers were really sentences of death. + +We waited a long while. + +It seemed as if there was no longer a drop of blood in my veins, when +at last my name was called. + +I stepped up, seeing and hearing nothing; I put my hand in the box and +drew a number. + +Monsieur the Sub-Prefect cried out: + +"Number seventeen." + +Then I left without speaking, Catharine and her mother behind me. We +went out into the square, and, the air reviving me, I remembered that I +had drawn number seventeen. + +Aunt Grédel seemed confounded. + +"And I put something into your pocket, too," said she; "but that rascal +of a Pinacle gave you ill-luck." + +At the same time she drew from my coat-pocket the end of a cord. Great +drops of sweat rolled down my forehead; Catharine was white as marble, +and so we went back to Monsieur Goulden's. + +"What number did you draw, Joseph?" he asked, as soon as he saw us. + +"Seventeen," replied Aunt Grédel, sitting down with her hands upon her +knees. + +Monsieur Goulden seemed troubled for a moment, but he said instantly: + +"One is as good as another. All will go; the skeletons must be filled. +But it don't matter for Joseph. I will go and see Monsieur the Mayor +and Monsieur the Commandant. It will be telling no lie to say that +Joseph is lame; all the town knows that; but among so many they may +overlook him. That is why I go, so rest easy; do not be anxious." + +These words of good Monsieur Goulden reassured Aunt Grédel and +Catharine, who returned to Quatre-Vents full of hope; but they did not +affect me, for from that moment I had not a moment of rest day or night. + +The Emperor had a good custom: he did not allow the conscripts to +languish at home. Soon as the drawing was complete, the council of +revision met, and a few days after came the orders of march. He did +not do like those tooth-pullers who first show you their pincers and +hooks and gaze for an hour into your mouth, so that you feel half dead +before they make up their minds to begin work: he proceeded without +loss of time. + +A week after the drawing, the council of revision sat at the town-hall, +with all the mayors and a few notables of the country to give advice in +case of need. + +The day before Monsieur Goulden had put on his brown great-coat and his +best wig to go to wind up Monsieur the Mayor's clock and that of the +Commandant. He returned laughing and said: + +"All goes well, Joseph. Monsieur the Mayor and Monsieur the Commandant +know that you are lame; that is easy enough to be seen. They replied +at once, Eh, Monsieur Goulden, the young man is lame; why speak of him? +Do not be uneasy; we do not want the infirm; we want soldiers." + +These words poured balm on my wounds, and that night I slept like one +of the blessed. But the next day fear again assailed me; I remembered +suddenly how many men full of defects had gone all the same, and how +many others invented defects to deceive the council; for instance, +swallowing injurious substances to make them pale; tying up their legs +to give themselves swollen veins; or playing deaf, blind, or foolish. +Thinking over all these things, I trembled at not being lame enough, +and determined that I would appear sufficiently forlorn. I had heard +that vinegar would make one sick, and without telling Monsieur Goulden, +in my fear I swallowed all the vinegar in his bottle. Then I dressed +myself, thinking that I looked like a dead man, for the vinegar was +very strong; but when I entered Monsieur Goulden's room, he cried out: + +"Joseph, what is the matter with you? You are as red as a cock's comb." + +And, looking at myself in the mirror, I saw that my face was red to my +ears, and to the tip of my nose. I was frightened, but instead of +growing pale I became redder yet, and I cried out in my distress: + +"'Now I am lost indeed! I will seem like a man without a single +defect, and full of health. The vinegar is rushing to my head." + +"What vinegar?" asked Monsieur Goulden. + +"That in your bottle. I drank it to make myself pale, as they say +Mademoiselle Sclapp, the organist does. O heavens! what a fool I was." + +"That does not prevent your being lame," said Monsieur Goulden; "but +you tried to deceive the council, which was dishonest. But it is +half-past nine, and Werner is come to tell me you must be there at ten +o'clock. So, hurry." + +I had to go in that state; the heat of the vinegar seemed bursting from +my cheeks, and when I met Catharine and her mother, who were waiting +for me at the town-house, they scarcely knew me. + +"How happy and satisfied you look!" said Aunt Grédel. + +I would have fainted on hearing this if the vinegar had not sustained +me in spite of myself. I went upstairs in terrible agony, without +being able to move my tongue to reply, so great was the horror I felt +at my folly. + +Upstairs, more than twenty-five conscripts who pretended to be infirm, +had been examined and received, while twenty-five others, on a bench +along the wall, sat with drooping heads awaiting their turn. + +The old gendarme, Kelz, with his huge cocked hat, was walking about, +and as soon as he saw me, exclaimed: + +"At last! At last! Here is one, at all events, who will not be sorry +to go; the love of glory is shining in his eyes. Very good, Joseph; I +predict that at the end of the campaign you will be corporal." + +"But I am lame," I cried, angrily. + +"Lame!" repeated Kelz, winking and smiling, "lame! No matter. With +such health as yours you can always hold your own." + +He had scarcely ceased speaking when the door of the hall of the +Council of Revision opened, and the other gendarme, Werner, putting out +his head, called me by name, "Joseph Bertha." + +I entered, limping as much as I could, and Werner shut the door. The +mayors of the canton were seated in a semicircle, Monsieur the +Sub-Prefect and the Mayor of Phalsbourg in the middle, in arm-chairs, +and the Secretary Freylig at his table. A Harberg conscript was +dressing himself, the gendarme Descarmes helping him put on his +suspenders. This conscript, with a mass of brown hair falling over his +eyes, his neck bare, and his mouth open as he caught his breath, seemed +like a man going to be hanged. Two surgeons--the Surgeon-in-Chief of +the Hospital, with another in uniform--were conversing in the middle of +the hall. They turned to me saying, "Undress yourself." + +I did so, even to my shirt. The others looked on. + +Monsieur the Sub-Prefect observed: + +"There is a young man full of health." + +These words angered me, but I nevertheless replied respectfully: + +"I am lame, Monsieur the Sub-Prefect." + +The surgeon examined me, and the one from the hospital, to whom +Monsieur the Commandant had doubtless spoken of me, said: + +"The left leg is a little short." + +"Bah!" said the other; "it is sound." + +Then placing his hand upon my chest he said, "The conformation is good. +Cough." + +I coughed as feebly as I could; but he found me all right, and said +again: + +"Look at his color. How good his blood must be!" + +Then I, seeing that they would pass me if I remained silent, replied: + +"I have been drinking vinegar." + +"Ah!" said he; "that proves you have a good stomach; you like vinegar." + +"But I am lame!" I cried in my distress. + +"Bah! don't grieve at that," he answered; "your leg is sound. I'll +answer for it." + +"But that," said Monsieur the Mayor, "does not prevent his being lame +from birth; all Phalsbourg knows that." + +"The leg is too short," said the surgeon from the hospital; "it is +doubtless a case for exemption." + +"Yes," said the Mayor; "I am sure that this young man could not endure +a long march; he would drop on the road the second mile." + +The first surgeon said nothing more. + +I thought myself saved, when Monsieur the Sub-Prefect asked: + +"You are really Joseph Bertha?" + +"Yes, Monsieur the Sub-Prefect," I answered. + +"Well, gentlemen," said he, taking a letter out of his portfolio, +"listen." + +He began to read the letter, which stated that, six months before, I +had bet that I could go to Laverne and back quicker than Pinacle; that +we had run the race, and I had won. + +It was unhappily too true. The villain Pinacle had always taunted me +with being a cripple, and in my anger I laid the wager. Every one knew +of it. I could not deny it. + +While I stood utterly confounded, the first surgeon said: + +"That settles the question. Dress yourself." And turning to the +secretary, he cried, "Good for service." + +I took up my coat in despair. + +Werner called another. I no longer saw anything. Some one helped me +to get my arms in my coat-sleeves. Then I found myself upon the +stairs, and while Catharine asked me what had poised, I sobbed aloud +and would have fallen from top to bottom if Aunt Grédel had not +supported me. + +We went out by the rear-way and crossed the little court. I wept like +a child, and Catharine did too. Out in the hall, in the shadow, we +stopped to embrace each other. + +Aunt Grédel cried out: + +"Oh the robbers! They are taking the lame and the sick. It is all the +same to them; next they will take us." + +A crowd began collecting, and Sepel the butcher, who was cutting meat +in the stall, said: + +"Mother Grédel, in the name of Heaven keep quiet. They will put you in +prison." + +"Well, let them put me there!" she cried, "let them murder me. I say +that men are fools to allow such outrages!" + +But the _sergent-de-ville_ was coming up, and we went on together +weeping. We turned the corner of Café Hemmerle, and went into our own +house. People looked at us from the windows and said, "There is +another one who is going." + +Monsieur Goulden knowing that Aunt Grédel and Catharine would come to +dine with us the day of the revision, had had a stuffed goose and two +bottles of good Alsace wine sent from the "Golden Sheep." He was sure +that I would be exempted at once. What was his surprise, then, to see +us enter together in such distress. + +"What is the matter?" said he, raising his silk cap over his bald +forehead, and staring at us with eyes wide open. + +I had not strength enough to answer. I threw myself into the arm-chair +and burst into tears. Catharine sat down beside me, and our sobs +redoubled. + +Aunt Grédel said: + +"The robbers have taken him." + +"It is not possible!" exclaimed Monsieur Goulden, letting fall his arms +by his side. + +"It shows their villainy," replied my aunt, and growing more and more +excited, she cried, "Will a revolution never come again? Shall those +wretches always be our masters?" + +"Calm yourself, Mother Grédel," said Monsieur Goulden. "In the name of +Heaven don't cry so loud. Joseph, tell me how it happened. They are +surely mistaken; it cannot be otherwise. Did Monsieur the Mayor and +the hospital surgeon say nothing?" + +I told the history of the letter between my sobs, and Aunt Grédel, who +until then knew nothing of it, again shrieked with her hands clinched. + +"O the scoundrel! God grant that he may cross my threshold again. I +will cleave his head with my hatchet." + +Monsieur Goulden was astounded. + +"And you did not say that it was false. Then the story was true?"' + +And as I bowed my head without replying he clasped his hands, saying: + +"O youth! youth! it thinks of nothing. What folly! what folly!" + +He walked around the room; then sat down to wipe his spectacles, and +Aunt Grédel exclaimed: + +"Yes, but they shall not have him yet! Their wickedness shall yet go +for nothing. This very evening Joseph shall be in the mountains on the +way to Switzerland." + +Monsieur Goulden hearing this, looked grave; he bent his brows, and +replied in a few moments: "It is a misfortune, a great misfortune, for +Joseph is really lame. They will yet find it out, for he cannot march +two days without falling behind and becoming sick. But you are wrong, +Mother Grédel, to speak as you do and give him bad advice." + +"Bad advice!" she cried. "Then you are for having people massacred +too!" + +"No," he answered; "I do not love wars, especially where a hundred +thousand men lose their lives for the glory of one. But wars of that +kind are ended. It is not now for glory and to win new kingdoms that +soldiers are levied, but to defend our country, which had been put in +danger by tyranny and ambition. We would gladly have peace now. +Unhappily, the Russians are advancing; the Prussians are joining them: +and our friends, the Austrians, only await a good opportunity to fall +upon our rear. If we do not go to meet them, they will come to our +homes; for we are about to have Europe on our hands as we had in '93. +It is now a different matter from our wars in Spain, in Russia, and in +Germany; and I, old as I am, Mother Grédel, if the danger continues to +increase and the veterans of the republic are needed, I would be +ashamed to go and make clocks in Switzerland while others were pouring +out their blood to defend my country. Besides, remember this well, +that deserters are despised everywhere; after having committed such an +act, they have no kindred or home anywhere. They have neither father, +mother, church nor country. They are incapable of fulfilling the first +duty of man--to love and sustain their country, even though she be in +the wrong." + +He said no more at the moment, but sat gravely down. + +"Let us eat," he exclaimed, after some minutes of silence. "It is +striking twelve o'clock. Mother Grédel and Catharine, seat yourselves +there." + +They sat down, and we began dinner. I thought of the words of Monsieur +Goulden, which seemed right to me. Aunt Grédel compressed her lips, +and from time to time gazed at me as if to read my thoughts. At length +she said: + +"I despise a country where they take fathers of families after carrying +off the sons. If I were in Joseph's place, I would fly at once." + +"Listen, Aunt Grédel," I replied; "you know that I love nothing so much +as peace and quiet, but I would not, nevertheless, run away like a +coward to another country. But, notwithstanding, I will do as +Catharine says; if she wishes me to go to Switzerland, I will go." + +Then Catharine, lowering her head to hide her tears, said in a low +voice: + +"I would not have them call you a deserter." + +"Well, then, I will do like the others," I cried; "and as those of +Phalsbourg and Dagsberg are going to the wars, I will go." + +Monsieur Goulden made no remark. + +"Every one is free to do as he pleases," said he, after a while; "but I +am glad that Joseph thinks as I do." + +Then there was silence, and toward two o'clock Aunt Grédel arose and +took her basket. She seemed utterly cast down, and said: + +"Joseph, you will not listen to me, but no matter. With God's grace, +all will yet be well. You will return if He wills it, and Catharine +will wait for you." + +Catharine wept again, and I more than she; so that Monsieur Goulden +himself could not help shedding tears. + +At length Catharine and her mother descended the stairs, and Aunt +Grédel called out from the bottom: + +"Try to come and see us once or twice again, Joseph." + +"Yes, yes," I answered, shutting the door. + +I could no longer stand. Never had I been so miserable, and even now, +when I think of it, my heart chills. + + + + +VII + +From that day I could think of nothing but my misfortune. I tried to +work, but my thoughts were far away, and Monsieur Goulden said: + +"Joseph, stop working. Make the most of the little time you can remain +among us; go to see Catharine and Mother Grédel. I still think they +will exempt you, but who can tell? They need men so much that it may +be a long time coming." + +I went every morning then to Quatre-Vents, and passed my days with +Catharine. We were very sorrowful, but very glad to see each other. +We loved one another even more than before, if that were possible. +Catharine sometimes tried to sing as in the good old times; but +suddenly she would burst into tears. Then we wept together, and Aunt +Grédel would rail at the wars which brought misery to every one. She +said that the Council of Revision deserved to be hung; that they were +all robbers, banded together to poison our lives. It solaced us a +little to hear her talk thus, and we thought she was right. + +I returned to the city about eight or nine o'clock in the evening, when +they closed the gates, and as I passed, I saw the small inns full of +conscripts and old returned soldiers drinking together. The conscripts +always paid; the others, with dirty police caps cocked over their ears, +red noses, and horse-hair stocks in place of shirt-collars, twisted +their mustaches and related with majestic air their battles, their +marches, and their duels. One can imagine nothing viler than those +holes, full of smoke, cob-webs hanging on the black beams, those old +sworders and young men drinking, shouting, and beating the tables like +crazy people; and behind, in the shadow, old Annette Schnaps or Marie +Héring--her old wig stuck back on her head, her comb with only three +teeth remaining, crosswise, in it--gazing on the scene, or emptying a +mug to the health of the braves. + +It was sad to see the sons of peasants, honest and laborious fellows, +leading such an existence; but no one thought of working, and any one +of them would have given his life for two farthings. Worn out with +shouting, drinking, and internal grief, they ended by falling asleep +over the table, while the old fellows emptied their cups, singing: + + "'Tis glory calls us on!" + + +I saw these things, and I blessed heaven for having given me, in my +wretchedness, kind hearts to keep up my courage, and prevent my falling +into such hands. + +This state of affairs lasted until the twenty-fifth of January. For +some days a great number of Italian conscripts--Piedmontese and +Genoese--had been arriving in the city; some stout and fat as Savoyards +fed upon chestnuts--their cocked hats on their curly heads; their +linsey-woolsey pantaloons dyed a dark green, and their short vests also +of wool, but brick-red, fastened around their waists by a leather belt. +They wore enormous shoes, and ate their cheese seated along the old +market-place. Others were dried up, lean, brown, shivering in their +long cassocks, seeing nothing but snow upon the roofs and gazing with +their large, black, mournful eyes upon the women who passed. They were +exercised every day in marching, and were going to fill up the skeleton +of the Sixth regiment of the line at Mayence, and were then resting for +a while in the infantry barracks. + +The captain of the recruits, who was named Vidal, lodged over our room. +He was a square-built, solid, very strong-looking man, and was, too, +very kind and civil. He came to us to have his watch repaired, and +when he learned that I was a conscript and was afraid I should never +return, he encouraged me, saying that it was all habit; that at the end +of five or six months one fights and marches as he eats his dinner; and +that many so accustom themselves to shooting at people that they +consider themselves unhappy when they are deprived of that amusement. + +But his mode of reasoning was not to my taste; the more so as I saw +five or six large grains of powder on one of his cheeks, which had +entered deeply, and as he explained to me that they came from a shot +which a Russian fired almost under his nose, such a life disgusted me +more and more, and as several days had already passed without news, I +began to think they had forgotten me, as they did Jacob, of Chèvre Hof, +of whose extraordinary luck every one yet talks. Aunt Grédel herself +said to me every time I went there, "Well, well! they will let us alone +after all!" When, on the morning of the twenty-fifth of January, as I +was about starting for Quatre-Vents, Monsieur Goulden, who was working +at his bench with a thoughtful air, turned to me with tears in his eyes +and said: + +"Listen, Joseph! I wanted to let you have one night more of quiet +sleep; but you must know now, my child, that yesterday evening the +brigadier of the _gendarmes_ brought me your marching orders. You go +with the Piedmontese and Genoese and five or six young men of the +city--young Klipfel, young Loerig, Jean Léger, and Gaspard Zébédé. You +go to Mayence." + +I felt my knees give way as he spoke, and I sat down unable to speak. +Monsieur Goulden took my marching orders, beautifully written, out of a +drawer, and began to read them slowly. All that I remember is that +Joseph Bertha, native of Dabo, Canton of Phalsbourg, Arrondissement of +Sarrebourg, was incorporated in the Sixth regiment of the line, and +that he was to join his corps the twenty-ninth of January at Mayence. + +This letter produced as bad an effect on me as if I had known nothing +of it before. It seemed something new, and I grew angry. + +Monsieur Goulden, after a moment's silence, added: + +"The Italians start to-day at eleven." + +Then, as if awakening from a horrible dream, I cried: + +"But shall I not see Catharine again?" + +"Yes, Joseph, yes," said he, in a trembling voice. "I notified Mother +Grédel and Catharine, and thus, my boy, they will come, and you can +embrace them before leaving." + +I saw his grief, and it made me sadder yet, so that I had a hard +struggle to keep myself from bursting into tears. + +He continued after a pause: + +"You need not be anxious about anything, Joseph. I have prepared all +beforehand; and when you return, if it please God to keep me so long in +this world, you will find me always the same. I am beginning to grow +old, and my greatest happiness would be to keep you for a son, for I +found you good-hearted and honest. I would have given you what I +possess, and we would have been happy together. Catharine and you +would have been my children. But since it is otherwise, let us be +resigned. It is only for a little while. You will be sent back, I am +sure. They will soon see that you cannot make long marches." + +While he spoke, I sat silently sobbing, my face buried in my hands. + +At last he arose and took from a closet a soldier's knapsack of +cowskin, which he placed upon the table. I looked at him, thinking of +nothing but the pain of parting. + +"Here is your knapsack," he added; "and I have put in it all that you +require; two linen shirts, two flannel waistcoats, and all the rest. +You will receive at Mayence two soldier's shirts,--all that you will +need; but I have made for you some shoes, for nothing is worse than +those given the soldiers, which are almost always of horse-hide and +chafe the feet fearfully. You are none too strong in your leg, my poor +boy. Well, well, that is all." + +He placed the knapsack upon the table and sat down. + +Without, we heard the Italians making ready to depart. Above us +Captain Vidal was giving his orders. He had his horse at the barracks +of the gendarmerie, and was telling his orderly to see that he was well +rubbed and had received his hay. + +All this bustle and movement produced a strange effect upon me, and I +could not yet realize that I must quit the city. As I was thus in the +greatest distress, the door opened and Catharine entered weeping, while +Mother Grédel cried out: + +"I told you you should have fled to Switzerland; that these rogues +would finish by carrying you off. I told you so, and you would not +believe me." + +"Mother Grédel," replied Monsieur Goulden, "to go to do his duty is not +so great an evil as to be despised by honest people. Instead of all +these cries and reproaches, which serve no good purpose, you would do +better to comfort and encourage Joseph." + +"Ah!" said she; "I do not reproach him, although this is terrible." + +Catharine did not leave me; she sat by me and we embraced each other, +and she said, pressing my arm: + +"You will return?" + +"Yes, yes," said I, in a low voice. "And you--you will always think of +me; you will not love another?" + +She answered, sobbing: + +"No, no! I will never love any but you." + +This lasted a quarter of an hour, when the door opened and Captain +Vidal entered, his cloak rolled like a hunting-horn over his shoulder. + +"Well," said he, "well; how goes our young man?" + +"Here he is," answered Monsieur Goulden. + +"Ah!" remarked the captain; "you are making yourself miserable. It is +natural. I remember when I departed for the army. We have all a home." + +Then, raising his voice, he said: + +"Come, come, young man, courage! We are no longer children." + +He looked at Catharine. + +"I see all," said he to Monsieur Goulden. "I can understand why he +does not want to go." + +The drums beat in the street and he added: + +"We have yet twenty minutes before starting," and, throwing a glance at +me, "Do not fail to be at the first call, young man," said he, pressing +Monsieur Goulden's hand. + +He went out, and we heard his horse pawing at the door. + +The morning was overcast, and grief overwhelmed me. I could not leave +Catharine. + +Suddenly the roll beat. The drums were all collected in the square. +Monsieur Goulden, taking the knapsack by its straps, said in a grave +voice: + +"Joseph, now the last embrace: it is time to go." + +I stood up, pale as ashes. He fastened the knapsack to my shoulders. +Catharine sat sobbing, her face covered with her apron. Aunt Grédel +looked on with lips compressed. + +The roll continued for a time, then suddenly ceased. + +"The call is about commencing," said Monsieur Goulden, embracing me. +Then the fountains of his heart burst forth; tears sprang to his eyes; +and calling me his child, his son, he whispered, "Courage!" + +Aunt Grédel seated herself again, and as I bent toward her, taking my +head between her hands, she sobbed: + +"I always loved you, Joseph; ever since you were a baby. You never +gave me cause of grief--and now you must go. O God! O God!" + +I wept no longer. + +When Aunt Grédel released me, I looked a moment at Catharine, who stood +motionless. I rushed to her and threw myself on her neck. She still +kept her seat. Then I turned quickly to go, when she cried, in +heart-breaking tones: + +"O Joseph! Joseph!" + +I looked back. We threw ourselves into each other's arms, and for some +minutes remained so, sobbing. Her strength seemed to leave her, and I +placed her in the arm-chair, and rushed out of the house. + +I was already on the square, in the midst of the Italians and of a +crowd of people crying for their sons or brothers. I saw nothing; I +heard nothing. + +When the roll of the drums began again, I looked around, and saw that I +was between Klipfel and Furst, all three with our knapsacks on our +backs. Their parents stood before us, weeping as if at their funeral. +To the right, near the town-hall, Captain Vidal, on his little gray +horse, was conversing with two infantry officers. The sergeants called +the roll, and we answered. They called Zébédé, Furst, Klipfel, Bertha; +we answered like the others. Then the captain gave the word, "March!" +and we went, two abreast, toward the French gate. + +At the corner of Spitz's bakery, an old woman cried, in a choking +voice, from a window: + +"Kasper! Kasper!" + +It was Zébédé's grandmother. His lips trembled. He waved his hand +without replying, and passed on with downcast face. + +I shuddered at the thought of passing my home. As we neared it, my +knees trembled, and I heard some one call at the window; but I turned +my head toward the "Red Ox," and the rattle of the drums drowned the +voices. + +The children ran after us, shouting: + +"There goes Joseph! there goes Klipfel!" + +Under the French gate, the men on guard, drawn up in line on each side, +gazed on us as we passed at shoulder arms. We passed the outposts, and +the drum ceased playing as we turned to the right. Nothing was heard +but the plash of footsteps in the mud, for the snow was melting. + +We had passed the farm-house of Gerberhoff, and were going to the great +bridge, when I heard some one call me. It was the captain, who cried +from his horse: + +"Very well done, young man; I am satisfied with you." + +Hearing this, I could not help again bursting into tears, and the big +Furst, too, wept, as we marched along; the others, pale as marble, said +nothing. At the bridge, Zébédé took out his pipe to smoke. In front +of us, the Italians talked and laughed among themselves; their three +weeks of service had accustomed them to this life. + +Once on the way to Metting, more than a league from the city, as we +began to descend, Klipfel touched me on the shoulder, and whispered: + +"Look yonder." + +I looked, and saw Phalsbourg far beneath us; the barracks, the +magazines, the steeple whence I had seen Catharine's home six weeks +before, with old Brainstein--all were in the gray distance, with the +woods all around. I would have stopped a few moments, but the squad +marched on, and I had to keep pace with them. We entered Metting. + + + + +VIII + +That same day we went as far as Bitche; the next, to Hornbach; then to +Kaiserslautern. It began to snow again. + +How often during that long march did I sigh for the thick cloak of +Monsieur Goulden, and his double-soled shoes. + +We passed through innumerable villages, sometimes on the mountains, +sometimes in the plains. As we entered each little town, the drums +began to beat, and we marched with heads erect, marking the step, +trying to assume the mien of old soldiers. The people looked out of +their little windows, or came to the doors, saying, "There go the +conscripts!" + +At night we halted, glad to rest our weary feet--I, especially. I +cannot say that my leg hurt me, but my feet! I had never undergone +such fatigue. With our billet for lodging we had the right to a corner +of the fire, but our hosts also gave us a place at the table. We had +nearly always buttermilk and potatoes, and often fresh cheese or a dish +of sauerkraut. The children came to look at us, and the old women +asked us from what place we came, and what our business was before we +left home. The young girls looked sorrowfully at us, thinking of their +sweethearts, who had gone five, six, or seven months before. Then they +would take us to their son's bed. With what pleasure I stretched out +my tired limbs! How I wished to sleep all our twelve hours' halt! But +early in the morning, at daybreak, the rattling of the drums awoke me. +I gazed at the brown rafters of the ceiling, the window-panes covered +with frost, and asked myself where I was. Then my heart would grow +cold, as I thought that I was at Bitche--at Kaiserslautern--that I was +a conscript; and I had to dress fast as I could, catch up my knapsack, +and answer the roll-call. + +"A good journey to you!" said the hostess, awakened so early in the +morning. + +"Thank you," replied the conscript. + +And we marched on. + +Yes! a good journey to you! They will not see you again, poor wretch! +How many others have followed the same road! + +I will never forget how at Kaiserslautern, the second day of our march, +having unstrapped my knapsack to take out a white shirt, I discovered, +beneath, a little pocket, and opening it I found fifty-four francs in +six-livre pieces. On the paper wrapped around them were these words, +written by Monsieur Goulden: + +"While you are at the wars, be always good and honest. Think of your +friends and of those for whom you would be willing to sacrifice your +life, and treat the enemy with humanity that they may so treat our +soldiers. May Heaven guide you, and protect you in your dangers! You +will find some money enclosed; for it is a good thing, when far from +home and all who love you, to have a little of it. Write to us as +often as you can. I embrace you, my child, and press you to my heart." + +As I read this, the tears forced themselves to my eyes, and I thought, +"Thou are not wholly abandoned, Joseph: fond hearts are yearning toward +you. Never forget their kind counsels." + +At last, on the fifth day, about ten o'clock in the evening, we entered +Mayence. As long as I live I will remember it. It was terribly cold. +We had begun our march at early dawn, and long before reaching the +city, had passed through villages filled with soldiers--cavalry, +infantry, dragoons in their short jackets--some digging holes in the +ice to get water for their horses, others dragging bundles of forage to +the doors of the stables; powder-wagons, carts full of cannon-balls, +all white with frost, stood on every side; couriers, detachments of +artillery, pontoon-trains, were coming and going over the white ground; +and no more attention was paid to us than if we were not in existence. + +Captain Vidal, to warm himself, had dismounted and marched with us on +foot. The officers and sergeants hastened us on. Five or six Italians +had fallen behind and remained in the villages, no longer able to +advance. My feet wore sore and burning, and at the last halt I could +scarcely rise to resume the march. The others from Phalsbourg, +however, kept bravely on. + +Night had fallen; the sky sparkled with stars. Every one gazed +forward, and said to his comrade, "We are nearing it! we are nearing +it!" for along the horizon a dark line of seeming cloud, glittering +here and there with flashing points, told that a great city lay before +us. + +At last we entered the advanced works, and passed through the zigzag +earthen bastions. Then we dressed our ranks and marked the step, as we +usually did when approaching a town. At the corner of a sort of +demilune we saw the frozen fosse of the city, and the brick ramparts +towering above, and opposite us an old, dark gate, with the drawbridge +raised. Above stood a sentinel, who, with his musket raised, cried out: + +"Who goes there?" + +The captain, going forward alone, replied: + +"France!" + +"What regiment?" + +"Recruits for the Sixth of the Line." + +A silence ensued. Then the drawbridge was lowered, and the guard +turned out and examined us, one of them carrying a great torch. +Captain Vidal, a few paces in advance of us, spoke to the commandant of +the post, who called out at length: + +"Pass when you please." + +Our drums began to beat, but the captain ordered them to cease, and we +crossed a long bridge and passed through a second gate like the first. +Then we were in the streets of the city, which were paved with smooth +round stones. Every one tried his best to march steadily; for, +although it was night, all the inns and shops along the way were opened +and their large windows were shining, and hundreds of people were +passing to and fro as if it were broad day. + +We turned five or six corners and soon arrived in a little open place +before a high barrack, where we were ordered to halt. + +There was a shed at the corner of the barrack, and in it a _cantinière_ +seated behind a small table, under a great tri-colored umbrella from +which hung two lanterns. + +Several officers came up as soon as we halted: they were the Commandant +Gémeau and some others whom I have since known. They pressed our +captain's hand laughing, then looked at us and ordered the roll to be +called. After that, we each received a ration of bread and a billet +for lodging. We were told that roll-call would take place the next +morning at eight o'clock for the distribution of arms, and then, we +were ordered to break ranks, while the officers turned up a street to +the left and went into a great coffee-house, the entrance of which was +approached by a flight of fifteen steps. + +But we, with our billets for lodging--what were we to do with them in +the middle of such a city, and, above all, the Italians, who did not +know a word either of German or French? + +My first idea was to see the _cantinière_ under her umbrella. She was +an old Alsatian, round and chubby, and, when I asked for the +_Capougner-Strasse_, she replied: + +"What will you pay for?" + +I was obliged to take a glass of brandy with her; then she said: + +"Look just opposite there; if you turn the first corner to the right, +you will find the _Capougner-Strasse_. Good-evening, conscript." + +She laughed. + +Big Furst and Zébédé were also billeted in the _Capougner-Strasse_, and +we set out, glad enough to be able to limp together through the strange +city. + +Furst found his house first, but it was shut; and while he was knocking +at the door, I found mine, which had a light in two windows. I pushed +at the door, it opened, and I entered a dark alley, whence came a smell +of fresh bread, which was very welcome. Zébédé had to go farther on. + +I called out in the alley: + +"Is any one here?" + +Just then an old woman appeared with a candle at the top of a wooden +staircase. + +"What do you want?" she asked. + +I told her that I was billeted at her house. She came downstairs, and, +looking at my billet, told me in German to follow her. + +I ascended the stairs. Passing an open door, I saw two men naked to +the waist at work before an oven. I was, then, at a baker's, and her +having so much work accounted for the old woman being up so late. She +wore a cap with black ribbons, a large blue apron, and her arms were +bare to the elbows; she, too, had been working, and seemed very +sorrowful. She led me into a good-sized room with a porcelain stove +and a bed at the farther end. + +"You come late," she said. + +"We were marching all day," I replied, "and I am fainting with hunger +and weariness." + +She looked at me and I heard her say: + +"Poor child! poor child! Well, take off your shoes and put on these +sabots." + +Then she made me sit before the stove, and asked: + +"Are your feet sore?" + +"Yes, they have been so for three days." + +She put the candle upon the table and went out. I took off my coat and +shoes. My feet were blistered and bleeding, and pained me horribly, +and I felt for the moment as if it would almost be better to die at +once than continue in such suffering. + +This thought had more than once arisen to my mind in the march, but +now, before that good fire, I felt so worn, so miserable, that I would +gladly have lain myself down to sleep forever, notwithstanding +Catharine, Aunt Grédel, and all who loved me. Truly, I needed God's +assistance. + +While these thoughts were running through my head, the door opened, and +a tall, stout man, gray-haired, but yet strong and healthy, entered. +He was one of those I had seen at work below, and held in his hands a +bottle of wine and two glasses. + +"Good-evening!" said he, gravely and kindly. + +I looked up. The old woman was behind him. She was carrying a little +wooden tub, which she placed on the floor near my chair. + +"Take a foot-bath," said she; "it will do you good." + +This kindness on the part of a stranger affected me more than I cared +to show, and I thought: "There are kind people in the world." I took +off my stockings; my feet were bleeding, and the good old dame +repeated, as she gazed at them: + +"Poor child! poor child!" + +The man asked me whence I came. I told him from Phalsbourg in +Lorraine. Then he told his wife to bring some bread, adding that, +after we had taken a glass of wine together, he would leave me to the +repose I needed so much. + +He pushed the table before me, as I sat with my feet in the bath, and +we each drained a glass of good white wine. The old woman returned +with some hot bread, over which she had spread fresh, half-melted +butter. Then I knew how hungry I was. I was almost ill. The good +people saw my eagerness for food; for the woman said: + +"Before eating, my child, you must take your feet out of the bath." + +She knelt down and dried my feet with her apron before I knew what she +was about to do. I cried: + +"Good Heavens! madame; you treat me as if I were your son." + +She replied, after a moment's mournful silence: + +"We have a son in the army." + +Her voice trembled as she spoke, and my heart bled within me. I +thought of Catharine and Aunt Grédel, and could not speak again. I ate +and drank with a pleasure I never before felt in doing so. The two old +people sat gazing kindly on me, and, when I had finished, the man said: + +"Yes, we have a son in the army; he went to Russia last year, and we +have not since heard from him. These wars are terrible!" + +He spoke dreamily, as if to himself, all the while walking up and down +the room, his hands crossed behind his back. My eyes began to close +when he said suddenly: + +"Come, wife. Good-night, conscript." + +They went out together, she carrying the tub. + +"God reward you," I cried, "and bring your son safe home!" + +In a minute I was undressed, and, sinking on the bed, I was almost +immediately buried in a deep sleep. + + + + +IX + +The next morning I awoke at about seven o'clock. A trumpet was +sounding the recall at the corner of the street; horses, wagons, and +men and women on foot were hurrying past the house. My feet were yet +somewhat sore, but nothing to what they had been; and when I had +dressed, I felt like a new man, and thought to myself: + +"Joseph, if this continues, you will soon be a soldier. It is only the +first step that costs." + +I dressed in this cheerful mood. The baker's wife had put my shoes to +dry before the fire, after filling them with hot ashes to keep them +from growing hard. They were well greased and shining. + +Then I buckled on my knapsack, and hurried out, without having time to +thank those good people--a duty I intended to fulfil after roll-call. +At the end of the street--on the square--many of our Italians were +already waiting, shivering around the fountain. Furst, Klipfel, and +Zébédé arrived a moment after. + +Cannon and their caissons covered one entire side of the square. +Horses were being brought to water, led by hussars and dragoons. +Opposite us were cavalry barracks, high as the church at Phalsbourg, +while around the other three sides rose old houses with sculptured +gables, like those at Saverne, but much larger. I had never seen +anything like all this, and while I stood gazing around, the drums +began to beat, and each man took his place in the ranks, and we were +informed, first in Italian and then in French, that we were about to +receive our arms, and each one was ordered to stand forth as his name +was called. + +The wagons containing the arms now came up, and the call began. Each +received a cartouche-box, a sabre, a bayonet, and a musket. We put +them on as well as we could, over our blouses, coats or great-coats, +and we looked, with our hats, our caps, and our arms, like a veritable +band of banditti. My musket was so long and heavy that I could +scarcely carry it; and the Sergeant Pinto showed me how to buckle on +the cartouche-box. He was a fine fellow, Pinto. + +So many belts crossing my chest made me feel as if I could scarcely +breathe, and I saw at once that my miseries had not yet ended. + +After the arms, an ammunition-wagon advanced, and they distributed +fifty rounds of cartridges to each man. This was no pleasant augury. +Then, instead of ordering us to break ranks and return to our lodgings, +Captain Vidal drew his sabre and shouted: + +"By file right--march!" + +The drums began to beat. I was grieved at not being able to thank my +hosts for their kindness, and thought that they would consider me +ungrateful. But that did not prevent my following the line of march. + +We passed through a long winding street, and soon found ourselves +without the glacis, and near the frozen Rhine. Across the river high +hills appeared, and on the hills, old, gray, ruined castles, like those +of Haut-Bas and Géroldseck in the Vosges. + +The battalion descended to the river-bank, and crossed upon the ice. +The scene was magnificent--dazzling. We were not alone on the ice; +five or six hundred paces before us there was a train of powder wagons +guarded by artillerymen on the way to Frankfort. Crossing the river we +continued our march for five hours through the mountains. Sometimes we +discovered villages in the defiles; and Zébédé, who was next to me, +said: + +"As we had to leave home, I would rather go as a soldier than +otherwise. At least we shall see something new every day, and, if we +are lucky enough ever to return, how much we will have to talk of!" + +"Yes," said I; "but I would like better to have less to talk about, and +to live quietly, toiling on my own account and not on account of +others, who remain safe at home while we climb about here on the ice." + +"You do not care for glory," said he; "and yet glory is something." + +And I answered him: + +"Glory is not for such as we, Zébédé; it is for others who live well, +eat well, and sleep well. They have dancings and rejoicings, as we see +by the gazettes, and glory too in the bargain, when we have won it by +dint of sweat, fasting and broken bones. But poor wretches like us, +forced away from home, when at last they return, after losing their +habits of labor and industry, and, mayhap a limb, get but little of +your glory. Many a one, among their old friends--no better men than +they--who were not, perhaps so good workmen, have made money during the +conscript's seven years of war, have opened a shop, married their +sweethearts, had pretty children, are men of position--city +councillors--notables. And when the others, who have returned from +seeking glory by killing their fellow-men, pass by with their chevrons +on their arms, those old friends turn a cold shoulder upon them, and if +the soldier has a red nose through drinking brandy which was necessary +to keep his blood warm in the rain, the snow, the forced march, while +they were drinking good wine, they say--'There goes a drunkard!' and +the poor conscript, who only asked to be let stay at home and work, +becomes a sort of beggar. This is what I think about the matter, +Zébédé; I cannot see the justice of all this, and I would rather have +these friends of glory go fight themselves, and leave us to remain in +peace at home." + +"Well," he replied, "I think much as you do, but, as we are forced to +fight, it is as well to say that we are fighting for glory. If we go +about looking miserable, people will laugh at us." + +Conversing thus, we reached a large river, which, the sergeant told us, +was the Main, and near it, upon our road, was a little village. We did +not know the name of the village, but there we halted. + +We entered the houses, and those who could bought some brandy, wine, +and bread. Those who had no money crunched their ration of biscuits, +and gazed wistfully at their more fortunate comrades. + +About five in the evening we arrived at Frankfort, which is a city yet +older than Mayence, and full of Jews. They took us to a place called +Saxenhausen, where the Tenth Hussars and the Baden Chasseurs were in +barracks,--old buildings which were formerly a hospital, as I was told +and believe, for within there was a large yard, with arches under the +walls; beneath these arches the horses were stabled, and in the rooms +above, the men. + +We arrived at this place after passing through innumerable little +streets, so narrow that we could scarcely see the stars between the +chimneys. Captain Florentin, and the two lieutenants, Clavel and +Bretonville, were awaiting us. After roll-call our sergeants led us by +detachments to the rooms above the Chasseurs. They were great halls +with little windows, and between the windows were the beds. + +Sergeant Pinto hung his lantern to the pillar in the middle; each man +placed his piece in the rack, and then took off his knapsack, his +blouse and his shoes, without speaking. Zébédé was my bed-fellow. God +knows we were sleepy enough. Twenty minutes after, we were buried in +slumber. + + + + +X + +At Frankfort I learned to understand military life. Up to that time I +had been but a simple conscript, then I became a soldier. I do not +speak merely of drill,--the way of turning the head right or left, +measuring the steps, lifting the hand to the height of the first or +second band to load, aiming, recovering arms at the word of +command--that is only an affair of a month or two, if a man really +desires to learn; but I speak of discipline--of remembering that the +corporal is always in the right when he speaks to a private soldier, +the sergeant when he speaks to the corporal, the sergeant-major when +speaking to the sergeant, the second lieutenant when he orders the +sergeant-major, and so on to the Marshal of France--even if the +superior asserts that two and two make five, or that the moon shines at +midday. + +This is very difficult to learn; but there is one thing that assists +you immensely, and that is a sort of placard hung up in every room in +the barracks, and which is from time to time read to you. This placard +presupposes everything that a soldier might wish to do, as, for +instance, to return home, to refuse to serve, to resist his officer, +and always ends by speaking of death, or at least five years with a +ball and chain. + +The day after our arrival at Frankfort I wrote to Monsieur Goulden, to +Catharine, and to Aunt Grédel. You may imagine how sadly. It seemed +to me, in addressing them, that I was yet at home. I told them of the +hardships I had undergone, of the good luck that had happened to me at +Mayence, and the courage it required not to drop behind in the march. +I told them that I was in good health, for which I thanked God, and +that I was even stronger than before I left home, and sent them a +thousand remembrances. Our Phalsbourg conscripts, who saw me writing, +made me add a few words for each of their families. I wrote also to +Mayence, to the good couple of the _Capougner-Strasse_, who had been so +kind to me, telling them how I was forced to march without being able +to thank them, and asking their forgiveness for so doing. + +That day, in the afternoon, we received our uniforms. Dozens of Jews +made their appearance and bought our old clothes. I kept only my shoes +and stockings. The Italians had great difficulty in making these +respectable merchants comprehend their wishes, but the Genoese were as +cunning as the Jews, and their bargainings lasted until night. Our +corporals received more than one glass of wine; it was policy to make +friends of them, for morning and evening they taught us the drill in +the snow-covered yard. The _cantinière_ Christine was always at her +post with a warming-pan under her feet. She took young men of good +family into special favor, and the young men of good family were all +those who spent their money freely. Poor fools! How many of them +parted with their last _sou_ in return for her miserable flattery! +When that was gone they were mere beggars; but vanity rules all, from +the conscripts to the generals. + +All this time recruits were constantly arriving from France, and +ambulances full of wounded from Poland. What a sight was that before +the hospital Saint Esprit on the other side of the river! It was a +procession without an end. All these poor wretches were frost-bitten; +some had their noses, some their ears frozen, others an arm, others a +leg! They were laid in the snow to prevent them from dropping to +pieces. Others got out of the carts clinging and holding on, and +looked at you like wild beasts, their eyes sunk in their heads, their +hair bristling up: the gypsies who sleep in nooks in the woods would +have had pity on them; and yet these were the best off, because they +escaped from the carnage, while thousands of their comrades had +perished in the snow, or on the battle-field. Klipfel, Zébédé, Furst, +and I often went to see these poor wretches, and never did we see men +so miserably clad. Some wore jackets which once belonged to Cossacks, +crushed shakos, women's dresses, and many had only handkerchiefs wound +round their feet in lieu of shoes and stockings. They gave us a +history of the retreat from Moscow, and then we knew that the +twenty-ninth bulletin told only truth. + +These stories enraged our men against the Russians. Many said, "If the +war would only begin again, they would have a hard job of it then: it +is not over! it is not over!" I was at times almost overcome with +wrath after hearing some tale of horror; and sometimes I thought to +myself, "Joseph, are you not losing your wits? These Russians are +defending their families, their homes, all that man holds most dear. +We hate them for defending themselves; we would have despised them had +they not done so." + +But about this time an extraordinary event occurred. + +You must know that my comrade, Zébédé, was the son of the gravedigger +of Phalsbourg, and sometimes between ourselves we called him +"Gravedigger." This he took in good part from us; but one evening +after drill, as he was crossing the yard, a hussar cried out: + +"Halloo, Gravedigger! help me to drag in these bundles of straw." + +Zébédé, turning about, replied: + +"My name is not Gravedigger, and you can drag in your own straw. Do +you take me for a fool?" + +Then the other cried in a still louder tone: + +"Conscript, you had better come, or beware!" + +Zébédé, with his great hooked nose, his gray eyes and thin lips, never +bore too good a character for mildness. He went up to the hussar and +asked: + +"What is that you say?" + +"I tell you to take up those bundles of straw, and quickly, too. Do +you hear, conscript?" + +He was quite an old man, with mustaches and red, bushy whiskers. +Zébédé seized one of the latter, but received two blows in the face. +Nevertheless, a fist-full of the whisker remained in his grasp, and, as +the dispute had attracted a crowd to the spot, the hussar shook his +finger, saying: + +"You will hear from me to-morrow, conscript." + +"Very good," returned Zébédé; "we shall see. You will probably hear +from me too, veteran." + +He came immediately after to tell me all this, and I, knowing that he +had never handled a weapon more warlike than a pickaxe, could not help +trembling for him. + +"Listen, Zébédé," I said; "all that there now remains for you to do, +since you do not want to desert, is to ask pardon of this old fellow; +for those veterans all know some fearful tricks of fence which they +have brought from Egypt or Spain, or somewhere else. If you wish, I +will lend you a crown to pay for a bottle of wine to make up the +quarrel." + +But he, knitting his brows, would hear none of this. + +"Rather than beg his pardon," said he, "I would go and hang myself. I +laugh him and his comrades to scorn. If he has tricks of fence, I have +a long arm, that will drive my sabre through his bones as easily as his +will penetrate my flesh." + +The thought of the blows made him insensible to reason; and soon Chazy, +the _maître d'armes_, Corporal Fleury, Furst, and Léger came in. They +all said that Zébédé was in the right, and the _maître d'armes_ added +that blood alone could wash out the stain of a blow; that the honor of +the recruits required Zébédé to fight. + +Zébédé answered proudly that the men of Phalsbourg had never feared the +sight of a little blood, and that he was ready. Then the _maître +d'armes_ went to see our Captain, Florentin, who was one of the most +magnificent men imaginable--tall, well-formed, broad-shouldered, with +regular features, and the Cross, which the Emperor had himself given +him at Eylau. The captain even went further than the _maître d'armes_; +he thought it would set the conscripts a good example, and that if +Zébédé refused to fight he would be unworthy to remain in the Third +Battalion of the Sixth of the Line. + +All that night I could not close my eyes. I heard the deep breathing +of my poor comrade as he slept, and I thought: "Poor Zébédé! another +day, and you will breathe no more." I shuddered to think how near I +was to a man so near death. At last, as day broke, I fell asleep, when +suddenly I felt a cold blast of wind strike me. I opened my eyes, and +there I saw the old hussar. He had lifted up the coverlet of our bed, +and said as I awoke: + +"Up, sluggard! I will show you what manner of man you struck." + +Zébédé rose tranquilly, saying: + +"I was asleep, veteran; I was asleep." + +The other, hearing himself thus mockingly called "veteran," would have +fallen upon my comrade in his bed; but two tall fellows who served him +as seconds held him back, and, besides, the Phalsbourg men were there. + +"Quick, quick! Hurry!" cried the old hussar. + +But Zébédé dressed himself calmly, without any haste. After a moment's +silence, he said: + +"Have we permission to go outside our quarters, old fellows?" + +"There is room enough for us in the yard," replied one of the hussars. + +Zébédé put on his great-coat, and, turning to me, said: + +"Joseph and you, Klipfel, I choose for my seconds." + +But I shook my head. + +"Well, then, Furst," said he. + +The whole party descended the stairs together. I thought Zébédé was +lost, and thought it hard, that not only must the Russians seek our +lives, but that we must seek each other's. + +All the men in the room crowded to the windows. I alone remained +behind upon my bed. At the end of five minutes the clash of sabres +made my heart almost cease to beat; the blood seemed no longer to flow +through my veins. + +But this did not last long; for suddenly Klipfel exclaimed, "Touched!" + +Then I made my way--I know not how--to a window, and, looking over the +heads of the others, saw the old hussar leaning against the wall, and +Zébédé rising, his sabre all dripping with blood. He had fallen upon +his knees during the fight, and, while the old man's sword pierced the +air just above his shoulder, he plunged his blade into the hussar's +breast. If he had not slipped, he himself would have been run through +and through. + +The hussar sank at the foot of the wall. His seconds lifted him in +their arms, while Zébédé pale as a corpse, gazed at his bloody sabre, +and Klipfel handed him his cloak. Almost immediately the reveille was +sounded, and we went off to morning call. + +These events happened on the eighteenth of February. The same day we +received orders to pack our knapsacks, and left Frankfort for +Seligenstadt, where we remained until the eighth of March, by which +time all the recruits were well instructed in the use of the musket and +the school of the platoon. From Seligenstadt we went to Schweinheim, +and on the twenty-fourth of March, 1813, joined the division at +Aschaffenbourg, where Marshal Ney passed us in review. + +The captain of the company was named Florentin; the lieutenant, +Bretonville; the commandant of the battalion, Gémeau; the captain, +Vidal; the colonel, Zapfel; the general of brigade, Ladoucette; and the +general of division, Souham. These are things that every soldier +should know. + + + + +XI + +The melting of the snows began about the middle of March. I remember +that during the great review of Aschaffenbourg, on a large open space +whence one saw the Main as far as eye could reach, the rain never +ceased to fall from ten o'clock in the morning till three o'clock in +the afternoon. We had on our left a castle, from the windows of which +people looked out quite at their ease, while the water ran into our +shoes. On the right the river rushed, foaming, seen dimly as if +through a mist. Every moment, to keep us brightened up, the order rang +out: + +"Carry arms! Shoulder arms!" + +The Marshal advanced slowly, surrounded by his staff. What consoled +Zébédé was, that we were about to see "the bravest of the brave." I +thought "If I could only get a place at the corner of a good fire, I +would gladly forego that pleasure." + +At last he arrived in front of us, and I can yet see him, his chapeau +dripping with rain, his blue coat covered with embroidery and +decorations, and his great boots. He was a handsome, florid man, with +a short nose and sparkling eyes. He did not seem at all haughty; for, +as he passed our company, who presented arms, he turned suddenly in his +saddle and said: + +"Hold! It is Florentin!" + +Then the captain stood erect, not knowing what to reply. It seemed +that the Marshal and he had been common soldiers together in the time +of the Republic. The captain at last answered: + +"Yes, Marshal; it is Sebastian Florentin." + +"Faith, Florentin," said the Marshal, stretching him arm toward Russia, +"I am glad to see you again. I thought we had left you there." + +All our company felt honored, and Zébédé said: "That is what I call a +man. I would spill my blood for him." + +I could not see why Zébédé should wish to spill his blood because the +Marshal had spoken a few words to an old comrade. + +That's all I remember of Aschaffenbourg. + +In the evening we went in again to eat our soup at Schweinheim, a place +rich in wines, hemp, and corn, where almost everybody looked at us with +unfriendly eyes. + +We lodged by threes or fours in the houses, like so many bailiff's men, +and had meat every day, either beef, mutton, or bacon. + +Our bread was very good, as was also our wine. But many of our men +pretended to find fault with everything, thinking thus to pass for +people of consequence. They were mistaken; for more than once I heard +the citizens say in German: + +"Those fellows, in their own country, were only beggars. If they +returned to France, they would find nothing but potatoes to live upon." + +And the citizens were quite right; and I always found that people so +difficult to please abroad were but poor wretches at home. For my +part, I was well content to meet such good fare. Two conscripts from +St.-Dié were with me at the village-postmaster's: his horses had almost +all been taken for our cavalry. This could not have put him into a +good humor; but he said nothing, and smoked his pipe behind the stove +from morning till night. His wife was a tall, strong woman, and his +two daughters were very pretty; they were afraid of us, and ran away +when we returned from drill, or from mounting guard at the end of the +village. + +On the evening of the fourth day, as we were finishing our supper, an +old man in a great-coat came in. His hair was white, and his mien and +appearance neat and respectable. He saluted us, and then said to the +master of the house, in German: + +"These are recruits?" + +"Yes, Monsieur Stenger," replied the other, "we will never be rid of +them. If I could poison them all, it would be a good deed." + +I turned quietly, and said: + +"I understand German: do not speak in such a manner." + +The postmaster's pipe fell from his hand. + +"You are very imprudent in your speech, Monsieur Kalkreuth," said the +old man; "if others beside this young man had understood you, you know +what would happen." + +"It is only my way of talking," replied the postmaster. "What can you +expect? When everything is taken from you--when you are robbed, year +after year--it is but natural that you should at last speak bitterly." + +The old man, who was none other than the pastor of Schweinheim, then +said to me: + +"Monsieur, your manner of acting is that of an honest man; believe me +that Monsieur Kalkreuth is incapable of such a deed--of doing evil even +to our enemies." + +"I do believe it, sir," I replied, "or I should not eat so heartily of +these sausages." + +The postmaster, hearing these words, began to laugh, and, in the excess +of his joy, cried: + +"I would never have thought that a Frenchman could have made me laugh." + +My two comrades were ordered for guard duty; they went, but I alone +remained. Then the postmaster went after a bottle of old wine, and +seated himself at the table to drink with me, which I gladly agreed to. +From that day until our departure, these people had every confidence in +me. Every evening we chatted at the corner of the fire; the pastor +came, and even the young girls would come downstairs to listen. They +were of fair and light complexion, with blue eyes; one was perhaps +eighteen, the other twenty; I thought I saw in them a resemblance to +Catharine, and this made my heart beat. + +They knew that I had a sweetheart at home, because I could not help +telling them so, and this made them pity me. + +The postmaster complained bitterly of the French, the pastor said they +were a vain, immoral nation, and that on that account all Germany would +soon rise against us; that they were weary of the evil doings of our +soldiers and the cupidity of our generals, and had formed the +_Tugend-Bund_[1] to oppose us. + + +[1] League of virtue. + + +"At first," said he, "you talked to us of liberty: we liked to hear +that, and our good wishes were rather for your armies than those of the +King of Prussia and Emperor of Austria; you made war upon our soldiers +and not upon us; you upheld ideas which every one thought great and +just, and so you did not quarrel with peoples but only with their +masters. To-day it is very different; all Germany is flying to arms; +all her youth are rising, and it is we who talk of Liberty, of Virtue +and of Justice to France. He who has them on his side is ever the +stronger, because he has against him only the evil-minded of all +nations, and has with him youth, courage, great ideas,--everything +which lifts the soul above thoughts of self, and which urges man to +sacrifice his life without regret. You have long had all this, but you +wanted it no longer. Long ago, I well remember, your generals fought +for Liberty, slept on straw, in barns, like simple soldiers; they were +men of might and terror; now they must have their sofas; they are more +noble than our nobles and richer than our bankers. So it comes to pass +that war, once so grand--once an art, a sacrifice--once devotion to +one's country--has become a trade, for sale at more than one market. +It is, to be sure, very noble yet, since epaulettes are yet worn, but +there is a difference between fighting for immortal ideas and fighting +merely to enrich one's self. + +"It is now our turn to talk of Liberty and Country; and this is the +reason why I think this war will be a sorrowful one for you. All +thinking men, from simple students to professors of theology, are +rising against you in arms. You have the greatest general of the world +at your head, but we have eternal justice. You believe you have the +Saxons, the Bavarians, the Badeners and the Hessians on your side; +undeceive yourselves; the children of old Germany well know that the +greatest crime, the greatest shame, is to fight against our brothers. +Let kings make alliances; the people are against you in spite of them; +they are defending their lives, their Fatherland--all that God makes us +love and that we cannot betray without crime. All are ready to assail +you; the Austrians would massacre you if they could, notwithstanding +the marriage of Marie Louise with your Emperor; men begin to see that +the interests of Kings are not the interests of all mankind, and that +the greatest genius cannot change the nature of things." + +Thus would the pastor discourse gravely; but I did not then fully +understand what he meant, and I thought, "Words are only words; and +bullets are bullets. If we only encounter students and professors of +theology, all will go well, and discipline will keep the Hessians and +Bavarians and Saxons from turning against us, as it forces us Frenchmen +to fight, little as we may like it. Does not the soldier obey the +corporal, the corporal the sergeant, and so on to the marshal, who does +what the King wishes? One can see very well that this pastor never +served in a regiment, for if he did he would know that ideas are +nothing and orders everything; but I do not care to contradict him, for +then the postmaster would bring me no more wine after supper. Let them +think as they please. All that I hope is that we shall have only +theologians to fight." + +While we used to chat thus, suddenly, on the morning of the +twenty-seventh of March, the order for our departure came. The +battalion rested that night at Lauterbach, the next at Neukirchen, and +we did nothing but march, march, march. Those who did not grow +accustomed to carrying the knapsack could not complain of want of +practice. How we travelled! I no longer sweated under my fifty +cartridges in my cartouche-box, my knapsack on my back and my musket on +my shoulder, and I do not know if I limped. + +We were not the only ones in motion; all were marching; everywhere we +met regiments on the road, detachments of cavalry, long lines of +cannon, ammunition trains--all advancing toward Erfurt, as after a +heavy rain thousands of streams, by thousands of channels, seek the +river. + +Our sergeants keep repeating, "We are nearing them! there will be hot +work soon;" and we thought, "So much the better!" that those beggarly +Prussians and Russians had drawn their fate upon themselves. If they +had remained quiet we would have been yet in France. + +These thoughts embittered us all toward the enemy, and as we met +everywhere people who seemed to rejoice alone in fighting, Klipfel and +Zébédé talked only of the pleasure it would give them to meet the +Prussians; and I, not to seem less courageous than they, adopted the +same strain. + +On the eighth of April, the battalion entered Erfurt, and I will never +forget how, when we broke ranks before the barracks, a package of +letters was handed to the sergeant of the company. Among the number +was one for me, and I recognized Catharine's writing at once. This +affected me so that it made my knees tremble. Zébédé took my musket, +telling me to read it, for he, too, was glad to hear from home. + +I put it in my pocket, and all our Phalsbourg men followed me to hear +it, but I only commenced when I was quietly seated on my bed in the +barracks, while they crowded around. Tears rolled down my cheeks as +she told me how she remembered and prayed for the far-off conscript. + +My comrades, as I read, exclaimed: + +"And we are sure that there are some at home to pray for us, too." + +One spoke of his mother, another of his sisters, and another of his +sweetheart. + +At the end of the letter, Monsieur Goulden added a few words, telling +me that all our friends were well, and that I should take courage, for +our troubles could not last forever. He charged me to be sure to tell +my comrades that their friends thought of them and complained of not +having received a word from them. + +This letter was a consolation to us all. We knew that before many days +passed we must be on the field of battle, and it seemed a last farewell +from home for at least half of us. Many were never to hear again from +their parents, friends, or those who loved them in this world. + + + + +XII + +But, as Sergeant Pinto said, all we had yet seen was but the prelude to +the ball; the dance was now about to commence. + +Meanwhile we did duty at the citadel with a battalion of the +Twenty-seventh, and from the top of the ramparts we saw all the +environs covered with troops, some bivouacking, others quartered in the +villages. + +The sergeant had formed a particular friendship for me, and on the +eighteenth, on relieving guard at Warthau gate, he said: + +"Fusilier Bertha, the Emperor has arrived." + +I had yet heard nothing of this, and replied, respectfully: + +"I have just had a little glass with the sapper Merlin, sergeant, who +was on duty last night at the general's quarters, and he said nothing +of it." + +Then he, closing his eye, said, with a peculiar expression: + +"Everything is moving; I feel his presence in the air. You do not yet +understand this, conscript, but he is here; everything says so. Before +he came, we were lame, crippled; only a wing of the army seemed able to +move at once. But now, look there, see those couriers galloping over +the road; all is life. The dance is beginning: the dance is beginning! +Kaiserliks and the Cossacks do not need spectacles to see that he is +with us; they will feel him presently." + +And the sergeant's laugh rang hoarsely from beneath his long mustaches. +I had a presentiment that great misfortunes might be coming upon me, +yet I was forced to put a good face upon it. But the sergeant was +right, for that very day, about three in the afternoon, all the troops +stationed around the city were in motion, and at five we were put under +arms. The Marshal Prince of Moskowa entered the town surrounded by the +officers and generals who composed his staff, and, almost immediately +after, the gray-haired Souham followed and passed us in review upon the +square. Then he spoke in a loud, clear voice so that every one could +hear: + +"Soldiers!" said he, "you will form part of the advance-guard of the +Third corps. Try to remember that you are Frenchmen. _Vive +l'Empereur!_" + +All shouted "_Vive l'Empereur!_" till the echoes rang again, while the +general departed with Colonel Zapfel. + +That night we were relieved by the Hessians, and left Erfurt with the +Tenth hussars and a regiment of chasseurs. At six or seven in the +morning we were before the city of Weimar, and saw the sun rising on +its gardens, its churches, and its houses, as well as on an old castle +to the right. Here we bivouacked, and the hussars went forward to +reconnoitre the town. About nine, while we were breakfasting, suddenly +we heard the rattle of musketry and carbines. Our hussars had +encountered the Prussian hussars in the streets, and they were firing +on each other. But it was so far off that we saw nothing of the combat. + +At the end of an hour the hussars returned, having lost two men. Thus +began the campaign. + +We remained five days in our camp, while the whole Third corps were +coming up. As we were the advance-guard, we started again by way of +Suiza and Warthau. Then we saw the enemy; Cossacks who kept ever +beyond the range of our guns, and the farther they retired the greater +grew our courage. + +But it annoyed me to hear Zébédé constantly exclaiming in a tone of +ill-humor: + +"Will they never stop; never make a stand!" + +I thought that if they kept retreating we could ask nothing better. We +would gain all we wanted without loss of life or suffering. + +But at last they halted on the farther side of the broad and deep +river, and I saw a great number posted near the bank to cut us to +pieces if we should cross unsupported. + +It was the twenty-ninth of April, and growing late. Never did I see a +more glorious sunset. On the opposite side of the river stretched a +wide plain as far as the eye could reach, and on this, sharply outlined +against the glowing sky, stood horsemen, with their shakos drooping +forward, their green jackets, little cartridge-boxes slung under the +arm, and their sky-blue trousers; behind them glittered thousands of +lances, and Sergeant Pinto recognized them as the Russian cavalry and +Cossacks. He knew the river, too, which, he said, was the Saale. + +We went as near as we could to the water to exchange shots with the +horsemen, but they retired and at last disappeared entirely under the +blood-red sky. We made our bivouac along the river, and posted our +sentries. On our left was a large village; a detachment was sent to it +to purchase meat; for since the arrival of the Emperor we had orders to +pay for everything. + +During the night other regiments of the division came up; they, too, +bivouacked along the bank, and their long lines of fires, reflected in +the ever-moving waters, glared grandly through the darkness. + +No one felt inclined to sleep. Zébédé, Klipfel, Furst, and I messed +together, and we chatted as we lay around our fire: + +"To-morrow we will have it hot enough, if we attempt to cross the +river! Our friends in Phalsbourg, over their warm suppers, scarcely +think of us lying here, with nothing but a piece of cow-beef to eat, a +river flowing beside us, the damp earth beneath, and only the sky for a +roof, without speaking of the sabre-cuts and bayonet-thrusts our +friends yonder have in store for us." + +"Bah!" said Klipfel; "this is life. I would not pass my days +otherwise. To enjoy life we must be well to-day, sick to-morrow; then +we appreciate the pleasure of the change from pain to ease. As for +shots and sabre-strokes, with God's aid, we will give as good as we +take!" + +"Yes," said Zébédé, lighting his pipe, "when I lose my place in the +ranks, it will not be for the want of striking hard at the Russians!" + +So we lay wakeful for two or three hours. Léger lay stretched out in +his great-coat, his feet to the fire, asleep, when the sentinel cried: + +"Who goes there?" + +"France!" + +"What regiment?" + +"Sixth of the Line." + +It was Marshal Ney and General Brenier, with engineer and artillery +officers, and guns. The Marshal replied "Sixth of the Line," because +he knew beforehand that we were there, and this little fact rejoiced us +and made us feel very proud. We saw him pass on horseback with General +Souham and five or six other officers of high grade, and although it +was night we could see them distinctly, for the sky was covered with +stars and the moon shone bright; it was almost as light as day. + +They stopped at a bend of the river and posted six guns, and +immediately after a pontoon train arrived with oak planks and all +things necessary for throwing two bridges across. Our hussars scoured +the banks collecting boats, and the artillerymen stood at their pieces +to sweep down any who might try to hinder the work. For a long while +we watched their labor, while again and again we heard the sentry's +"_Qui vive!_" It was the regiments of the Third corps arriving. + +At daybreak I fell asleep, and Klipfel had to shake me to arouse me. +On every side they were beating the reveille; the bridges were +finished, and we were going to cross the Saale. + +A heavy dew had fallen, and each man hastened to wipe his musket, to +roll up his great-coat and buckle it on his knapsack. One assisted the +other, and we were soon in the ranks. It might have been four o'clock +in the morning, and everything seemed gray in the mist that arose from +the river. Already two battalions were crossing on the bridges, the +officers and colors in the centre. Then the artillery and caissons +crossed. + +Captain Florentin had just ordered us to renew our primings, when +General Souham, General Chemineau, Colonel Zapfel, and our commandant +arrived. The battalion began its march. I looked forward expecting to +see the Russians coming on at a gallop, but nothing stirred. + +As each regiment reached the farther bank it formed a square with +ordered arms. At five o'clock the entire division had passed. The sun +dispersed the mist, and we saw, about three-fourths of a league to our +right, an old city with its pointed roofs, slated clock-tower, +surmounted by a cross, and, farther away, a castle; it was Weissenfels. + +Between us and the city was a deep valley. Marshal Ney, who had just +come up, wished to reconnoitre this before advancing into it. Two +companies of the Twenty-seventh were deployed as skirmishers and the +squares moved onward in common time, with the officers, sappers, and +drums in the centre, the cannon in the intervals and the caissons in +the rear. + +We all mistrusted this valley--the more so since we had seen, the +evening before, a mass of cavalry, which could not have retired beyond +the great plain that lay before us. Notwithstanding our distrust, it +made us feel very proud and brave to see ourselves drawn up in our long +ranks--our muskets loaded, the colors advanced, the generals in the +rear full of confidence--to see our masses thus moving onward without +hurry, but calmly marking the step; yes, it was enough to make our +hearts beat high with pride and hope! And I said to myself: "Perhaps +at sight of us the enemy will fly, which will be the best for them and +for us." + +I was in the second rank, behind Zébédé, and from time to time I +glanced at the other square, which was moving on the same line with us, +in the centre of which I saw the Marshal and his staff, all trying to +catch a glimpse of what was going on ahead. + +The skirmishers had by this time reached the ravine, which was bordered +with brambles and hedges. I had already seen a movement on its farther +side, like the motion of a cornfield in the wind, and the thought +struck me that the Russians, with their lances and sabres, were there, +although I could scarcely believe it. But when our skirmishers reached +the hedges, the fusillade began, and I saw clearly the glitter of their +lances. At the same instant a flash like lightning gleamed in front of +us, followed by a fierce report. The Russians had their cannon with +them; they had opened on us. I know not what noise made me turn my +head, and there I saw an empty space in the ranks to my left. + +At the same time Colonel Zapfel said quietly: + +"Close up the ranks!" + +And Captain Florentin repeated: + +"Close up the ranks!" + +[Illustration: "Close up the ranks!"] + +All this was done so quickly that I had no time for thought. But fifty +paces farther on another flash shone out; there was another murmur in +the ranks--as if a fierce wind was passing--and another vacant space, +this time to the right. + +And thus, after every shot from the Russians, the colonel said, "Close +up the ranks!" and I knew that each time he spoke there was a breach in +the living wall! It was no pleasant thing to think of, but still we +marched on toward the valley. At last I did not dare to think at all, +when General Chemineau, who had entered our square, cried in a terrible +voice: + +"Halt!" + +I looked forward, and saw a mass of Russians coming down upon us. + +"Front rank, kneel! Fix bayonets! Ready!" cried the general. + +As Zébédé knelt, I was now, so to speak, in the front rank. On came +the line of horses, each rider bending over his saddle-bow, with sabre +flashing in his hand. Then again the general's voice was heard behind +us, calm, tranquil, giving orders as coolly as on parade: + +"Attention for the command of fire! Aim! Fire!" + +The four squares fired together; it seemed as if the skies were falling +in the crash. When the smoke lifted, we saw the Russians broken and +flying; but our artillery opened, and the cannon-balls sped faster than +they. + +"Charge!" shouted the general. + +Never in my life did such a wild joy possess me. On every side the cry +of _Vive l'Empereur!_ shook the air, and in my excitement I shouted +like the others. But we could not pursue them far, and soon we were +again moving calmly on. We thought the fight was ended; but when +within two or three hundred paces of the ravine, we heard the rush of +horses, and again the general cried: + +"Halt! Kneel! Fix bayonets!" + +On came the Russians from the valley like a whirlwind; the earth shook +beneath their weight; we heard no more orders, but each man knew that +he must fire into the mass, and the file-firing began, rattling like +the drums in a grand review. Those who have not seen a battle can form +but little idea of the excitement, the confusion, and yet the order of +such a moment. A few of the Russians neared us; we saw their forms +appear a moment through the smoke, and then saw them no more. In a few +moments more the ringing voice of General Chemineau arose, sounding +above the crash and rattle: + +"Cease firing!" + +We scarcely dared obey. Each one hastened to deliver a final shot; +then the smoke slowly lifted, and we saw a mass of cavalry ascending +the farther side of the ravine. + +The squares deployed at once into columns; the drums beat the charge; +our artillery still continued its fire; we rushed on, shouting: + +"Forward! forward! _Vive l'Empereur!_" + +We descended the ravine, over heaps of horses and Russians; some dead, +some writhing upon the earth, and we ascended the slope toward +Weissenfels at a quick step. The Cossacks and chasseurs bent forward +in their saddles, their cartridge-boxes dangling behind them, galloping +before us in full flight. The battle was won. + +But as we reached the gardens of the city, they posted their cannon, +which they had brought off with them, behind a sort of orchard, and +reopened upon us, a ball carrying away both the axe and head of the +sapper, Merlin. The corporal of sappers, Thomé, had his arm fractured +by a piece of the axe, and they were compelled to amputate his arm at +Weissenfels. Then we started toward them on a run, for the sooner we +reached them the less time they would have for firing. + +We entered the city at three places, marching through hedges, gardens, +hop-fields, and climbing over walls. The marshals and generals +followed after. Our regiment entered by an avenue bordered with +poplars, which ran along the cemetery, and, as we debouched in the +public square another column came through the main street. + +There we halted, and the Marshal, without losing a moment, despatched +the Twenty-seventh to take a bridge and cut off the enemy's retreat. +During this time the rest of the division arrived, and was drawn up in +the square. The burgomaster and councillors of Weissenfels were +already on the steps of the town-hall to bid us welcome. + +When we were re-formed, the Marshal-Prince of Moskowa passed before the +front of our battalion and said joyfully: + +"Well done! I am satisfied with you! The Emperor will know of your +conduct!" + +He could not help laughing at the way we rushed on the guns. General +Souham cried: + +"Things go bravely on!" + +He replied: + +"Yes, yes; 'tis in the blood! 'tis in the blood." + +The battalion remained there until the next day. We were lodged with +the citizens, who were afraid of us and gave us all we asked. The +Twenty-seventh returned in the evening and was quartered in the old +chateau. We were very tired. After smoking two or three pipes +together, chatting about our glory, Zébédé, Klipfel and I went together +to the shop of a joiner and slept on a heap of shavings, and remained +there until midnight, when they beat the reveille. We rose; the joiner +gave us some brandy, and we went out. The rain was falling in +torrents. That night the battalion went to bivouac before the village +of Clépen, two hours' march from Weissenfels. + +Other detachments came and rejoined us. The Emperor had arrived at +Weissenfels, and all the Third corps were to follow us. We talked only +of this all the day; but the day after, at five in the morning, we set +off again in the advance. + +Before us rolled a river called the Rippach. Instead of turning aside +to take the bridge, we forded it where we were. The water reached our +waists; and I thought, as I pulled my shoes out of the mud, "If any one +had told me this in the days when I was afraid of catching a cold in +the head at M. Goulden's, and when I changed my stockings twice a week, +I should never have believed it. Well, strange things happen to one in +this life." + +As we passed down the other bank of the river in the rushes, we +discovered a band of Cossacks observing us from the heights to the +left. They followed slowly, without daring to attack us, and so we +kept on until it was broad day, when suddenly a terrific fusillade and +the thunder of heavy guns made us turn our heads toward Clépen. The +commandant, on horseback, looked over the tops of the reeds. + +The sounds of conflict lasted a considerable time, and Sergeant Pinto +said: + +"The division is advancing; it is attacked." + +The Cossacks gazed, too, toward the fight, and at the end of an hour +disappeared. Then we saw the division advancing in column in the plain +to the right, driving before them the masses of Russian cavalry. + +"Forward!" cried the commandant. + +We ran, without knowing why, along the river bank, until we reached an +old bridge where the Rippach and Gruna met. Here we were to intercept +the enemy: but the Cossacks had discovered our design, and their whole +army fell back behind the Gruna, which they forded, and, the division +rejoining us, we learned that Marshal Bessières had been killed by a +cannon-ball. + +We left the bridge to bivouac before the village of Gorschen. The +rumor that a great battle was approaching ran through the ranks, and +they said that all that had passed was only a trial to see how the +recruits would act under fire. One may imagine the reflections of a +thoughtful man under such circumstances, among such hare-brained +fellows as Furst, Zébédé, and Klipfel, who seemed to rejoice at the +prospect, as if it could bring them aught else than bullet-wounds or +sabre-cuts. All night long I thought of Catharine, and prayed God to +preserve my life and my hands, which are so needful for poor people to +gain their bread. + + + + +XIII + +We lighted our fires on the hill before Gross Gorschen and a detachment +descended to the village and brought back five or six old cows to make +soup of. But we were so worn out that many would rather sleep than +eat. Other regiments arrived with cannon and munitions. About eleven +o'clock there were from ten to twelve thousand men there and two +thousand and more in the village--all Souham's division. The general +and his ordnance officers were quartered in an old mill to the left, +near a stream called Floss-Graben. The line of sentries were stretched +along the base of the hill a musket-shot off. At length I fell asleep, +but I awoke every hour, and behind us, toward the road leading from the +old bridge of Poserna to Lutzen and Leipzig, I heard the rolling of +wagons, of artillery and caissons, rising and falling through the +silence. + +Sergeant Pinto did not sleep; he sat smoking his pipe and drying his +feet at the fire. Every time one of us moved, he would try to talk and +say: + +"Well, conscript?" + +But they pretended not to hear him, and turned over, gaping, to sleep +again. + +The clock of Gross-Gorschen was striking six when I awoke. I was sore +and weary yet. Nevertheless, I sat up and tried to warm myself, for I +was very cold. The fires were smoking, and almost extinguished. +Nothing of them remained but the ashes and a few embers. The sergeant, +erect, was gazing over the vast plain where the sun shot a few long +lines of gold, and, seeing me awake, put a coal in his pipe and said: + +"Well, fusilier Bertha, we are now in the rearguard." + +I did not know what he meant. + +"That astonishes you," he continued; "but we have not stirred, while +the army has made a half-wheel. Yesterday it was before us in the +Rippach; now it is behind us, near Lutzen; and, instead of being in the +front we are in rear; so that now," said he, closing an eye and drawing +two long puffs of his pipe, "we are the last, instead of the foremost." + +"And what do we gain by it?" I asked. + +"We gain the honor of first reaching Leipzig, and falling on the +Prussians," he replied. "You will understand this by and by, +conscript." + +I stood up, and looked around. I saw before us a wide, marshy plain, +traversed by the Gruna-Bach and the Floss-Graben. A few hills arose +along these streams, and beyond ran a large river, which the sergeant +told me was the Elster. The morning mist hung over all. + +Turning around, I saw behind us in the valley the point of the +clock-tower of Gross-Gorschen, and farther on, to the right and left, +five or six little villages built in the hollows between the hills, for +it is a country of hills, and the villages of Kaya, Eisdorf, +Starsiedel, Rahna, Klein-Gorschen and Gross-Gorschen, which I knew +before, are between them, on the borders of little lakes, where +poplars, willows and aspens grow. Gross-Gorschen, where we bivouacked, +was farthest advanced in the plain, toward the Elster; Kaya was +farthest off, and behind it passed the high-road from Lutzen to +Leipzig. We saw no fires on the hills save those of our division; but +the entire corps occupied the villages scattered in our rear, and +head-quarters were at Kaya. + +At seven o'clock the drums and the trumpets of the artillery sounded +the reveille. We went down to the village, some to look for wood, +others for straw or hay. Ammunition-wagons came up, and bread and +cartridges were distributed. There we were to remain, to let the army +march by upon Leipzig; this was why Sergeant Pinto said we would be in +the rear-guard. + +Two _cantinières_ arrived from the village; and, as I had yet a few +crowns remaining, I offered Klipfel and Zébédé a glass of brandy each, +to counteract the effects of the fogs of the night. I also presumed to +offer one to Sergeant Pinto, who accepted it, saying that bread and +brandy warmed the heart. + +We felt quite happy, and no one suspected the horrors the day was to +bring forth. We thought the Russians and the Prussians were seeking us +behind the Gruna-Bach; but they knew well where we were. And suddenly, +about ten o'clock, General Souham, mounted, arrived with his officers. +I was sentry near the stacks of arms, and I think I can now see him, as +he rode to the top of the hill, with his gray hair and white-bordered +hat; and as he took out his field-glass, and, after an earnest gaze, +returned quickly, and ordered the drums to beat the recall. The +sentries at once fell into the ranks, and Zébédé, who had the eyes of a +falcon, said: + +"I see yonder, near the Elster, masses of men forming and advancing in +good order, and others coming from the marshes by the three bridges. +We are lost if all those fall upon our rear!" + +"A battle is beginning," said Sergeant Pinto, shading his eyes with his +hands, "or I know nothing of war. Those beggarly Prussians and +Russians want to take us on the flank with their whole force, as we +defile on Leipzig, so as to cut us in two. It is well thought of on +their part. We are always teaching them the art of war." + +"But what will we do?" asked Klipfel. + +"Our part is simple," answered the sergeant. "We are here twelve to +fifteen thousand men, with old Souham, who never gave an enemy an inch. +We will stand here like a wall, one to six or seven, until the Emperor +is informed how matters stand, and sends us aid. There go the staff +officers now." + +It was true; five or six officers were galloping over the plain of +Lutzen toward Leipzig. They sped like the wind, and I prayed to God to +have them reach the Emperor in time to send the whole army to our +assistance; for there was something horrible in the certainty that we +were about to perish, and I would not wish my greatest enemy in such a +position as ours was then. + +Sergeant Pinto continued: + +"You will have a chance now, conscripts; and if any of you come out +alive, they will have something to boast of. Look at those blue lines +advancing, with their muskets on their shoulders, along Floss-Graben. +Each of those lines is a regiment. There are thirty of them. That +makes sixty thousand Prussians, without counting those lines of +horsemen, each of which is a squadron. Those advancing to their left, +near Rippach, glittering in the sun, are the dragoons and cuirassiers +of the Russian Imperial Guard. There are eighteen or twenty thousand +of them, and I first saw them at Austerlitz, where we fixed them +finely. Those masses of lances in the rear are Cossacks. We will have +a hundred thousand men on our hands in an hour. This is a fight to win +the cross in, and if one does not get it now he can never hope to do +so!" + +"Do you think so, sergeant?" said Zébédé, whose ideas were never very +clear, and who already imagined he held the cross in his fingers, while +his eyes glittered with excitement. + +"It will be hand to hand," replied the sergeant; "and suppose that in +the _mêlée_, you see a colonel or a flag near you, spring on him or it; +never mind sabres or bayonets; seize them, and then your name goes on +the list." + +As he spoke, I remembered that the Mayor of Phalsbourg had received the +cross for having gone to meet the Empress Marie Louise in carriages +garlanded with flowers, singing old songs, and I thought his method +much preferable to that of Sergeant Pinto. + +But I had not time to think more, for the drama beat on all sides, and +each one ran to where the arms of his company were stacked and seized +his musket. Our officers formed us, great guns came at a gallop from +the village, and were posted on the brow of the hill a little to the +rear, so that the slope served them as a species of redoubt. Farther +away, in the villages of Rahna, of Kaya, and of Klein-Gorschen, all was +motion, but we were the first the Prussians would fall upon. + +The enemy halted about twice a cannon-shot off, and the cavalry swarmed +by hundreds up the hill to reconnoitre us. I was in utter despair as I +gazed on their immense masses swarming on both sides of the river, the +advanced lines of which were already beginning to form in columns, and +I said to myself, "This time, Joseph, all is over, all is lost; there +is no help for it; all you can do is to revenge yourself, defend +yourself, to fight pitilessly, and die." + +While these thoughts were passing through my head, General Chemineau +galloped along our front, crying: + +"Form square." + +The officers on the right, on the left, in advance, in the rear, took +up the word and it passed from right to left; four squares of four +battalions each were formed. I found myself in the third, on one of +the interior sides, a circumstance which in some degree reassured me; +for I thought that the Prussians, who were advancing in three columns, +would first attack those directly opposite them. But scarcely had the +thought struck me when a hail of cannon-shot from the guns which the +Prussians had massed on a hill to the left, swept through us just as at +Weissenfels; and that was not all. They had thirty pieces of artillery +playing upon us. One can imagine from this what gaps they made. The +balls shrieked sometimes over our heads, sometimes through the ranks, +and then again struck the earth, which they scattered over us. + +Our heavy guns replied to their fire with a vigor which kept us from +hearing one half the hissing and roaring of theirs, but could not +silence it, and the horrible cry of "Close up the ranks! Close up the +ranks!" was ever sounding in our ears. + +We were enveloped in smoke without having fired a shot, and I said to +myself, "if we stay here another quarter of an hour we shall all be +massacred without having a chance to defend ourselves," which seemed to +me fearful, when the head of the Prussian columns appeared between the +hills, moving forward with a deep, hoarse murmur, like the noise of an +inundation. Then the three first sides of our square, the second and +the third obliquing to the right and left fired. God only knows how +many Prussians fell. But instead of stopping they rushed on, shouting +like wolves, "_Vaterland! Vaterland!_" and we fired again into their +very bosoms. + +Then began the work of death in earnest. Bayonet-thrust, sabre-stroke, +blows from the butt-end of our pieces, crashed on all sides. They +tried to crush us by mere weight of numbers, and came on like furious +bulls. A battalion rushed upon us, thrusting with their bayonets; we +returned their blows without leaving the ranks, and they were swept +away almost to a man by two cannon which were in position fifty paces +in our rear. + +They were the last who tried to break our squares. They turned and +fled down the hill-side, and we were loading our guns to kill every man +of them, when their pieces again opened fire, and we heard a great +noise on our right. It was their cavalry charging under cover of their +fire. I could not see the fight, for it was at the other end of the +division, but their heavy guns swept us off by dozens as we stood +inactive. General Chemineau had his thigh broken; we could not hold +out much longer when the order was given to retreat, which we did with +a pleasure easily understood! + +We retired to Gross-Gorschen, pursued by the Prussians, both sides +maintaining a constant fire. The two thousand men in the village +checked the enemy while we ascended the opposite slope to gain +Klein-Gorschen. But the Prussian cavalry came on once more to cut off +our retreat and keep us under the fire of their artillery. Then my +blood boiled with anger, and I heard Zébédé cry, "Let us fight our way +to the top rather than remain here!" + +To do this was fearfully dangerous, for their regiments of hussars and +chasseurs advanced in good order to charge. Still we kept retreating, +when a voice on the top of the ridge cried: "Halt!" and at the same +moment the hussars, who were already rushing down upon us, received a +terrific discharge of case and grape-shot, which swept them down by +hundreds. It was Girard's division, who had come to our assistance +from Ivlein-Gorschen and had placed sixteen pieces in position to open +upon them. The hussars fled faster than they came, and the six squares +of Girard's division united with ours at Klein-Gorschen, to check the +Prussian infantry, which still continued to advance, the three first +columns in front and three others, equally strong, supporting them. + +We had lost Gross-Gorschen, but now, between Ivlein-Gorschen and Rahna +the battle raged more fiercely than ever. + +I thought now of nothing but vengeance. I was wild with excitement and +wrath against those who sought to kill me. I felt a sort of hatred +against those Prussians whose shouts and insolent manner disgusted me. +I was, nevertheless, very glad to see Zébédé near me yet, and as we +stood awaiting new attacks, with our arms resting on the ground, I +pressed his hand. + +"We have escaped narrowly enough," said he. "God grant the Emperor may +soon arrive, and with cannon, for they are twenty times stronger than +we." + +He no longer spoke of winning the cross. + +I looked around to see if the sergeant was with us yet, and saw him +calmly wiping his bayonet; not a feature showed any trace of +excitement--that encouraged me. I would have wished to know if Klipfel +and Furst were unhurt, but the command, "Carry arms!" made me think of +myself. + +The three first columns of the enemy had halted on the hill of +Gross-Gorschen to await their supports. The village in the valley +between us was on fire, the flames bursting from the thatched roofs and +the smoke rising to the sky, and to the left across the ploughed field +we saw a long line of cannon coming down to open upon us. + +It might have been mid-day when the six columns began their march and +deployed masses of hussars and cavalry on both sides of Gross-Gorschen. +Our artillery, placed behind the squares on the top of the ridge, +opened a terrible fire on the Prussian gunners, who replied all along +their line. + +Our drums began to beat in the squares to give warning that the enemy +were approaching, but their rattle was like the buzz of a fly in the +storm, while in the valley the Prussians shouted all together, +"_Vaterland! Vaterland!_" + +Their fire by battalion, as they climbed the hill, enveloped us in +smoke--as the wind blew toward us--and hindered us from seeing them. +Nevertheless, we began our file-firing. We heard and saw nothing but +the noise and smoke of battle for the next quarter of an hour, when +suddenly the Prussian hussars were in our square. I know not how it +happened, but there they were on their little horses, sabring us +without mercy. We fought with our bayonets; we shouted; they slashed, +and fired their pistols. The carnage was horrible. Zébédé, Sergeant +Pinto, and some twenty of the company held together. I shall see all +my life long the pale-faced, long-mustached hussars, the straps of +their shakos tight under their jaws, whose horses reared and neighed as +they dashed over the heaps of dead and wounded. I remember the cries, +French and German in a horrid mixture, that arose; how they called us +"_Schweinpelz_" and how old Pinto never ceased to cry, "Strike bravely, +my boys; strike bravely!" + +I never knew how we escaped; we ran at random through the smoke, and +dashed through the midst of sabres and flying bullets. I only remember +that Zébédé every moment cried out to me, "Come on! come on!" and that +at last we found ourselves on a hill-side behind a square which yet +held firm, with Sergeant Pinto and seven or eight others of the company. + +We were covered with blood, and looked like butchers. + +"Load!" cried the sergeant. + +Then I saw blood and hair on my bayonet, and I knew that in my fury I +must have given some terrible blows. In a moment old Pinto said, "The +regiment is totally routed; the beggarly Prussians have sabred half of +it; we shall find the remainder by and by. Now," he cried, "we must +keep the enemy out of the village. By file, left! March!" + +We descended a little stairway which led to one of the gardens of +Klein-Gorschen, and entering a house, the sergeant barricaded the door +leading to the fields with a heavy kitchen table; then he showed us the +door opening on the street, telling us, "Here is our way of retreat." +This done, we went to the floor above, and found a pretty large room, +with two windows looking out upon the village, and two upon the hill, +which was still covered with smoke and resounding with the crash of +musketry and artillery. At one end in an alcove was a broken bedstead, +and near it a cradle. The people of the house had no doubt fled at the +beginning of the battle, but a dog, with ears erect and flashing eyes, +glared at us from beneath the curtains. All this comes back to me like +a dream. + +The sergeant opened the window and fired at two or three Prussian +hussars who were already advancing down the street. Zébédé and the +others standing behind him stood ready. I looked toward the hill to +see if the squares had yet remained unbroken, and I saw them retreating +in good order, firing as they went from all four sides on the masses of +cavalry which surrounded them completely. Through the smoke I could +perceive the colonel on horseback, sabre in hand, and by him the +colors, so torn by shot that they were mere rags hanging on the staff. + +Beyond, on the left, a column of the enemy were debouching from the +road and marching on Klein-Gorschen. This column evidently designed +cutting off our retreat on the village, but hundreds of disbanded +soldiers like us had arrived, and were pouring in from all sides, some +turning ever and anon to fire, others wounded, trying to crawl to some +place of shelter. They took possession of the houses, and, as the +column approached, musketry rattled upon them from all the windows. +This checked the enemy, and at the same moment the divisions of Brenier +and Marchand, which the Prince of Moskowa had despatched to our +assistance, began to deploy to the right. We heard afterward that +Marshal Ney had followed the Emperor in the direction of Leipzig and +came back on hearing the sound of cannon. + +The Prussians halted, and the firing ceased on both sides. Our squares +and columns began to climb the hills again, opposite Starsiedel, and +the defenders of the village rushed from the houses to join their +regiments. Ours had become mingled with two or three others; and, when +the reinforcing divisions halted before Kaya, we could scarcely find +our places. The roll was called, and of our company but forty-two men +remained; Furst and Léger were dead, but Zébédé, Klipfel, and I were +unhurt. + +But, unluckily, the battle was not yet over, for the Prussians, flushed +with victory, were already making their dispositions to attack us at +Kaya; reinforcements were hurrying to them, and it seemed that, for so +great a general, the Emperor had made a gross blunder in stretching his +lines to Leipzig, and leaving us to be overpowered by an army of over a +hundred thousand men. + +As we were re-forming behind Brenier's division, eighteen thousand +veterans of the Prussian guard charged up the hill, carrying the shakos +of our killed on their bayonets in token of victory. Once more the +fight began, the mass of Russian cavalry, which we had seen glittering +in the sun in the morning, came down on our flank,--on the left, +between Klein-Gorschen and Starsiedel,--but the Sixth corps had arrived +in time to cover it, and stood the shock like a castle wall. Once more +shouts, groans, the clashing of sabre against bayonet, the crash of +musketry and thunder of cannon shook the sky, while the plain was +hidden in a cloud of smoke, through which we could see the glitter of +helmets, cuirasses, and thousands of lances. + +We were retiring, when something passed along our front like a flash of +lightning. It was Marshal Ney surrounded by his staff. I never saw +such a countenance; his eyes sparkled and his lips trembled with rage. +In a second's time he had dashed along the lines, and drew up in front +of our columns. The retreat stopped at once; he called us on, and, as +if led by a kind of fascination, we dashed on to meet the Prussians, +cheering like madmen as we went. But the Prussian line stood firm; +they fought hard to keep the victory they had won, and besides were +constantly receiving reinforcements, while we were worn out with five +hours' fighting. + +Our battalion was now in the second line, and the enemy's shot passed +over our heads; but a horrible din made my flesh creep; it was the +rattling of the grape-shot among the bayonets. + +In the midst of shouts, orders, and the whistling of bullets, we again +began to fall back over heaps of dead; our first division re-entered +Klein-Gorschen, and once more the fight was hand to hand. In the main +street of the village nothing was seen or heard but shots and blows, +and generals, mounted, fought sword in hand like private soldiers. + +This lasted some minutes; we in the ranks, said, "all is well, all is +well, now we are advancing;" but again they were reinforced, and we +were obliged to continue our retreat, and unhappily in such haste that +many did not stop until they reached Kaya. This village was on the +ridge and the last before reaching Lutzen. It is a long, narrow lane +of houses, separated from each other by little gardens, stables and +bee-hives. If the enemy forced us to Kaya, our army was cut in two. I +recalled the words of M. Goulden--"If unluckily the allies get the best +of us, they will revenge themselves on us in our own country for all we +have been doing to them the last ten years." The battle seemed +irretrievably lost, for Marshal Ney himself, in the centre of a square, +was retreating; and many soldiers, to get away from the _mêlée_, were +carrying off wounded officers on their muskets. Everything looked +gloomy, indeed. + +I entered Kaya on the right of the village, leaping over hedges, and +creeping under the fences which separated the gardens, and was turning +the corner of a street, when I saw some fifty officers on the brow of a +hill before me, and behind them masses of artillery galloping at full +speed along the Leipzig road. Then I saw the Emperor himself, a little +in advance of the others; he was seated, as if in an arm-chair, on his +white horse, and I could see him well, beneath the clear sky, +motionless and looking at the battle through his field-glass. + +My heart beat gladly; I cried "_Vive l'Empereur!_" with all my +strength, and rushed along the main street of Kaya. I was one of the +first to enter, and I saw the inhabitants of the village, men, women, +and children, hastening to the cellars for protection. + +Many to whom I have related the foregoing have sneered at me for +running so fast; but I can only reply that when Michel Ney retreated, +it was high time for Joseph Bertha to do so too. + +Klipfel, Zébédé, Sergeant Pinto, and the others of the company had not +yet arrived when masses of black smoke arose above the roofs; shattered +tiles fell into the streets, and shot buried themselves an the walls, +or crashed through the beams with a horrible noise. + +At the same time, our soldiers rushed in through the lanes, over the +hedges and fences, turning from time to time to fire on the enemy. Men +of all arms were mingled, some without shakos or knapsacks, their +clothes torn and covered with blood; but they retreated furiously, and +were nearly all mere children, boys of fifteen or twenty; but courage +is inborn in the French people. + +The Prussians--led by old officers who shouted "_Forwärts! +Forwärts!_"--followed like packs of wolves, but we turned and opened +fire from the hedges, and fences, and houses. How many of them bit the +dust I know not, but others always supplied the places of those who +fell. Hundreds of balls whistled by our ears and flattened themselves +on the stone walls; the plaster was broken from the walls, and the +thatch hung from the rafters, and as I turned for the twentieth time to +fire, my musket dropped from my hand; I stooped to lift it, but I fell +too: I had received a shot in the left shoulder and the blood ran like +warm water down my breast. I tried to rise, but all that I could do +was to seat myself against the wall while the blood continued to run +down even to my thighs, and I shuddered at the thought that I was to +die there. + +Still the fight went on. + +Fearful that another bullet might reach me, I crawled to the corner of +a house, and fell into a little trench which brought water from the +street to the garden. My left arm was heavy as lead; my head swam; I +still heard the firing, but it seemed a dream, and I closed my eyes. + +When I again opened them, night was coming on, and the Prussians filled +the village. In the garden, before me, was an old general, with white +hair, on a tall brown horse. He shouted in a trumpet-like voice to +bring on the cannon, and officers hurried away with his orders. Near +him, standing on a little wall, two surgeons were bandaging his arm. +Behind, on the other side, was a little Russian officer, whose plume of +green feathers almost covered his hat. I saw all this at a glance--the +old man with his large nose and broad forehead, his quick glancing +eyes, and bold air; the others around him; the surgeon, a little bald +man with spectacles, and five or six hundred paces away, between two +houses, our soldiers re-forming. + +The firing had ceased, but between Klein-Gorschen and Kaya terrible +cries arose, and I could hear the heavy rumbling of artillery, neighing +of horses, cries and shouts of drivers, and cracking of whips. Without +knowing why, I dragged myself to the wall, and scarcely had I done so, +when two sixteen pounders, each drawn by six horses, turned the corner +of the street. The artillery-men beat the horses with all their +strength, and the wheels rolled over the heaps of dead and wounded as +if they were going over straw. Now I knew whence came the cries I had +heard, and my hair stood on end with horror. + +"Here!" cried the old man in German; "aim yonder, between those two +houses near the fountain." + +The two guns were turned at once; the old man, his left arm in a sling, +cantered up the street, and I heard him say, in short, quick tones, to +the young officer as he passed where I lay: + +"Tell the Emperor Alexander that I am at Kaya. The battle is won if I +am reinforced. Let them not discuss the matter, but send help at once. +Napoleon is coming, and in half an hour we will have him upon us with +his Guard. I will stand, let it cost what it may. But in God's name +do not lose a minute, and the victory is ours!" + +The young man set off at a gallop, and at the same moment a voice near +me whispered: + +"That old wretch is Blücher. Ah, scoundrel! if I only had my gun!" + +Turning my head, I saw an old sergeant, withered and thin, with long +wrinkles in his cheeks, sitting against the door of the house, +supporting himself with his hands on the ground, as with a pair of +crutches, for a ball had passed through him from side to side. His +yellow eyes followed the Prussian general; his hooked nose seemed to +droop like the beak of an eagle over his thick mustache, and his look +was fierce and proud. + +"If I had my musket," he repeated, "I would show you whether the battle +is won." + +We were the only two living beings among heaps of dead. + +I thought that perhaps I should be buried in the morning with the +others, in the garden opposite us, and that I would never again see +Catharine; the tears ran down my cheeks, and I could not help murmuring: + +"Now all is indeed ended!" + +The sergeant gazed at me and, seeing that I was yet so young, said +kindly: + +"What is the matter with you, conscript?" + +"A ball in the shoulder, _mon sergeant_." + +"In the shoulder! That is better than one through the body. You will +get over it." + +And after a moment's thought he continued: + +"Fear nothing. You will see home again!" + +I thought that he pitied my youth and wished to console me; but my +chest seemed crushed, and I could not hope. + +The sergeant said no more, only from time to time he raised his head to +see if our columns were coming. He swore between his teeth and ended +by falling at length upon the ground, saying: + +"My business is done! But the villain has paid for it!" + +He gazed at the hedge opposite, where a Prussian grenadier was +stretched, cold and stiff, the old sergeant's bayonet yet in his body. + +It might then have been six in the evening. The enemy filled all the +houses, gardens, orchards, the main streets and the alleys. I was cold +and had dropped my head forward upon my knees, when the roll of +artillery called me again to my senses. The two pieces in the garden +and many others posted behind them threw their broad flashes through +the darkness, while Russians and Prussians crowded through the street. +But all this was as nothing in comparison to the fire of the French, +from the hill opposite the village, while the constant glare showed the +Young Guard coming on at the double-quick, generals and colonels on +horseback in the midst of the bayonets, waving their swords and +cheering them on, while the twenty-four guns the Emperor had sent to +support the movement thundered behind. The old wall against which I +leaned shook to its foundations. In the street the balls mowed down +the enemy like grass before the scythe. It was their turn to close up +the ranks. + +I also heard the enemy's artillery replying behind us, and I thought, +"Heaven grant that the French win the day; then their suffering wounded +will be taken care of, instead of these Prussians and Cossacks first +looking after their own, and leaving us all to perish." + +I paid no further attention to the sergeant, I only looked at the +Prussian gunners loading their guns, aiming and firing them, cursing +them all the time from the bottom of my heart, but all the time +listening to the inspiring shouts of "_Vive l'Empereur!_" ringing out +in the momentary silence between the reports of the guns. + +In about twenty minutes the Russians and Prussians were forced to fall +back; going in crowds by the narrow passage where we were; the shouts +of "_Vive l'Empereur!_" grew nearer and nearer. The cannoneers at the +pieces before me loaded and fired at their utmost speed, when three or +four grape-shots fell among them and broke the wheel of one of their +guns, besides killing two and wounding another of their men. I felt a +hand seize my arm. It was the old sergeant. His eyes were glazing in +death, but he laughed scornfully and savagely. The roof of our shelter +fell in; the walls bent, but we cared not, we only saw the defeat of +the enemy and heard the shouts of our men nearer and nearer, when the +old sergeant gasped in my ear: + +"Here he is!" + +He rose to his knees, supporting himself with one hand, while with the +other he waved his hat in the air, and cried in a ringing voice: + +"_Vive l'Empereur!_" + +Then he fell on his face to the earth and moved no more. + +And I, raising myself too from the ground, saw Napoleon, riding calmly +through the hail of shot---his hat pulled down over his large head--his +gray great-coat open, a broad red ribbon crossing his white vest--there +he rode, calm and imperturbable, his face lit up with the reflection +from the bayonets. None stood their ground before _him_; the Prussian +artillerymen abandoned their pieces and sprang over the garden-hedge, +despite the cries of their officers who sought to keep them back. + +[Illustration: Everything gave way before him.] + +All this I saw--it seems graved with fire on my memory, but from that +moment I can remember no more of the battle, for in that certainty of +victory I lost consciousness and fell like a corpse in the midst of +corpses. + + + + +XIV + +When sense returned it was night and all was silent around. Clouds +were scudding across the sky, and the moon shone down upon the +abandoned village, the broken guns, and the pale upturned faces of the +dead, as calmly as for ages she had looked on the flowing water, the +waving grass, and the rustling leaves which fall in autumn. Men are +but insects in the midst of creation; lives but drops in the ocean of +eternity, and none so truly feel their insignificance as the dying. + +I could not move from where I lay in the intensest pain. My right arm +alone could I stir, and raising myself with difficulty upon my elbow, I +saw the dead heaped along the street, their white faces shining like +snow in the moonlight. The mouths and eyes of some were wide open, +others lay on their faces, their knapsacks and cartridge-boxes on their +backs and their hands grasping their muskets. The sight thrilled me +with horror, and my teeth chattered. + +I would have cried for help, but my voice was no louder than that of a +sobbing child. But my feeble cry awoke others, and groans and shrieks +arose on all sides. The wounded thought succor was coming, and all who +could cried piteously. These cries lasted some time; then all was +silent, and I only heard a horse neigh painfully on the other side of +the hedge. The poor animal tried to rise, and I saw its head and long +neck appear; then it fell again to the earth. + +The effort I made reopened my wound, and again I felt the blood running +down my arm. I closed my eyes to die, and the scenes of my early +childhood, of my native village, the face of my poor mother as she sang +me to sleep, my little room, with its alcove, our old dog Pommer with +whom I used to play and roll over and over on the ground; my father as +he came home gayly in the evening, his axe on his shoulder, and took me +up in his strong arms to embrace me--all rose dreamily before me. + +How little those parents thought that they were rearing their boy to +die miserably far from friends, and home, and succor! How great would +have been their desolation--what maledictions would they have poured on +those who reduced him to such a state! Ah! if they were but there!--if +I could have asked their forgiveness for all the pain I had given them! +As these thoughts rushed over me the tears rolled down my cheeks; my +heart heaved: I sobbed like a child. + +Then Catharine, Aunt Grédel, and Monsieur Goulden passed before me. I +saw their grief and fear when the news of the battle came. Aunt Grédel +running to the post-office every day to learn something of me, and +Catharine prayerfully awaiting her return, while Monsieur Goulden read +in the gazette how the Third corps suffered more heavily than the +others, as he paced the room with drooping head and at last sat +dreamily at his work-bench. My heart was with them; it followed Aunt +Grédel to the post-office, and returned with her all sadly to the +village, and there it saw Catharine in her despairing grief. + +Then the postman Roedig seemed to arrive at Quatre-Vents. He opened +his leathern sack, and handed a large paper to Aunt Grédel, while +Catharine stood pale as death beside her. It was the official notice +of my death: I heard Catharine's heart-rending cries as she fell +swooning to the ground, and Aunt Grédel's maledictions, as, with her +gray hair streaming about her head, she cried that justice was no +longer to be found--that it were better that we had never been born, +since even God seemed to have abandoned us. Good Father Goulden came +to console them, but could only sob too: all wept together in their +desolation, crying: + +"Joseph! Poor, poor Joseph!" + +My heart seemed bursting. + +The thought came that thirty or forty thousand families in France, in +Russia, in Germany, were soon to receive the same news--news yet more +terrible, for many of the wretches stretched on the battle-field had +father and mother, and this was horrible to think of--it seemed as if a +wail from all human kind were rising from earth to heaven. + +Then I remembered those poor women of Phalsbourg, praying in the church +when we heard of the retreat from Russia, and I understood how their +hearts were torn. I thought that Catharine would soon go there, and +year after year she would pray--thinking of me. Yes--for I knew we had +loved each other from childhood, and that she could never forget me, +and tear after tear coursed down my cheeks. This confidence soothed me +in my grief--the certainty that she would preserve her love for me +until age whitened her hair; that I should be ever before her eyes, and +that she would never marry another. + +Toward morning a shower began to fall, and the monotonous dropping on +the roofs alone broke the silence. I thought of the good God, whose +power and mercy are limitless, and I hoped that He would pardon my sins +in consideration of my sufferings. + +The rain filled the little trench in which I had been lying. From time +to time a wall fell in the village, and the cattle, scared away by the +battle, began to resume confidence and return. I heard a goat bleat in +a neighboring stable. A great shepherd's dog wandered fearfully among +the heaps of dead. The horse, seeing him, neighed in terror--he took +him for a wolf--and the dog fled. + +I remember all these details, for, when we are dying, we see +everything, we hear everything, for we know that we are seeing and +hearing our last. + +But how my whole frame thrilled with joy when, at the corner of the +street, I thought I heard the sound of voices! How eagerly I listened! +And I raised myself upon my elbow, and called for help. It was yet +night; but the first gray streak of day was becoming visible in the +east, and afar off, through the falling rain, I saw a light in the +fields, now coming onward, now stopping. I saw dark forms bending +around it. They were only confused shadows. But others besides me saw +the light; for on all sides arose groans and plaintive cries, from +voices so feeble that they seemed like those of children calling their +mothers. + +What is this life to which we attach so great a price? This miserable +existence, so full of pain and suffering? Why do we so cling to it, +and fear more to lose it than aught else in the world? What is it that +is to come hereafter that makes us shudder at the mere thought of +death? Who knows? For ages and ages all have thought and thought on +the great question, but none have yet solved it. I, in my eagerness to +live, gazed on that light as the drowning man looks to the shore. I +could not take my eyes from it, and my heart thrilled with hope. I +tried again to shout, but my voice died on my lips. The pattering of +the rain on the ruined dwellings, and on the trees, and on the ground, +drowned all other sounds, and, although I kept repeating, "They hear +us! They are coming!" and although the lantern seemed to grow larger +and larger, after wandering for some time over the field, it slowly +disappeared behind a little hill. + +I fell once more senseless to the ground. + + + + +XV + +When I returned to myself, I looked around. I was in a long hall, with +posts all around. Some one gave me wine and water to drink, and it was +most grateful. I was in a bed, and beside me was an old gray-mustached +soldier, who, when he saw my eyes open, lifted up my head and held a +cup to my lips. + +"Well," said he cheerfully, "well! we are better." + +I could not help smiling as I thought that I was yet among the living. +My chest and arm were stiff with bandages; I felt as if a hot iron were +burning me there; but no matter, I lived! + +I gazed at the heavy rafters crossing the space above me; at the tiles +of the roof, through which the daylight entered in more than one spot; +I turned and looked to the other side, and saw that I was in one of +those vast sheds used by the brewers of the country as a shelter for +their casks and wagons. All around, on mattresses and heaps of straw, +numbers of wounded lay ranged; and in the middle, on a large +kitchen-table, a surgeon-major and his two aids, their shirt-sleeves +rolled up, were amputating the leg of a soldier, who was shrieking in +agony. Behind them was a mass of legs and arms. I turned away sick +and trembling. + +Five or six soldiers were walking about, giving bread and drink to the +wounded. + +But the man who impressed himself most on my memory was a surgeon with +sleeves rolled up, who cut and cut without paying the slightest +attention to what was going on around; he was a man with a large nose +and wrinkled cheeks, and every moment flew into a passion at his +assistants, who could not give him his knives, pincers, lint, or linen +fast enough, or who were not quick enough sponging up the blood. + +Things went on quickly, however, for in less than a quarter of an hour +he had cut off two legs. + +Without, against the posts, was a large wagon full of straw. + +They had just laid out on the table a Russian carbineer, six feet in +height at least; a ball had pierced his neck near the ear, and while +the surgeon was asking for his little knives, a cavalry surgeon passed +before the shed. He was short, stout, and badly pitted with the +small-pox, and held a portfolio under his arm. + +"Ha! Forel!" cried he, cheerfully. + +"It is Duchêne," said our surgeon, turning around. "How many wounded?" + +"Seventeen to eighteen thousand." + +"Aha! Well, how goes it this morning?" + +"Passably--I am looking for a tavern." + +Our surgeon left the shed to chat with his comrade; they conversed +quietly, while the assistants sat down to drink a cup of wine, and the +Russian rolled his eyes despairingly. + +"See, Duchêne; you have only to go down the street, opposite that well, +do you see?" + +"Very well indeed." + +"Just opposite you will see the canteen." + +"Very good; thank you; I am off." + +He started, and our surgeon called after him: + +"A good appetite to you, Duchêne!" + +Then he returned to his Russian, whose neck he laid open. He worked +ill-humoredly, constantly scolding his aids. + +"Be quick!" he said, "be quick!" + +The Russian writhed and groaned, but he paid no attention to that, and +at last, throwing the bullet upon the ground, he bandaged up the wound, +and cried, "Carry him off!" + +They lifted the Russian from the table, and stretched him on a mattress +beside the others; then they laid his neighbor upon the table. + +I could not think that such horrors took place in the world; but I was +yet to see worse than this. + +At five or six beds from mine sat an old corporal with his leg bound +up. He closed one eye knowingly, and said to his neighbor, whose arm +had just been cut off: + +"Conscript, look at that heap! I will bet that you cannot recognize +your arm." + +The other, who had hitherto shown the greatest courage, looked, and +fell back senseless. + +Then the corporal began laughing, saying: + +"He has recognized it. It is the lower one, with the little blue +flower. It always produces that effect." + +He looked around self-approvingly, but no one laughed with him. + +Every moment the wounded called for water. + +"Drink! Drink!" + +When one began, all followed, and the old soldier had certainly +conceived a liking for me, for each time he passed, he presented the +cup. + +I did not remain in the shed more than an hour. A dozen ambulances +drew up before the door, and the peasants of the country round, in +their velvet jackets, and large black slouched hats, their whips on +their shoulders, held the horses by the reins. A picket of hussars +arrived soon after, and their officer dismounting, entered and said: + +"Excuse me, major, but here is an order to escort twelve wagons of +wounded as far as Lutzen. Is it here that we are to receive them?" + +"Yes, it is here," replied the surgeon. + +The peasants and the ambulance-drivers, after giving us a last draught +of wine, began carrying us to the wagons. As one was filled, it +departed, and another advanced. I was in the third, seated on the +straw, in the front row, beside a conscript of the Twenty-seventh, who +had lost his right hand; behind was another who had lost a leg; then +came one whose head was laid open, and another whose jaw was broken; so +was the wagon filled. + +They had given us our great-coats; but despite them and the sun, which +was shining brightly, we shivered with cold, and left only our noses +and forage-caps, or linen bandages on the splints visible. No one +spoke; each was too much occupied thinking of himself. + +At moments I was terribly cold; then flashes of heat would dart through +me, and flush me as in a fever; and indeed it was the beginning of the +fever. But as we left Kaya, I was yet well; I saw everything clearly, +and it was not until we neared Leipzig that I felt indeed sick. + +At last we were all placed in the wagons, and arranged according to our +condition--those able to sit up, in the first that set out, the others +stretched in the last, and we started. The hussars rode beside us, +smoking and chatting, paying no attention to us. + +In passing through Kaya, I saw all the horrors of war. The village was +but a mass of cinders; the roofs had fallen, and the walls alone +remained standing; the rafters were broken; we could see the remnants +of rooms, stairs, and doors heaped within. The poor villagers, women, +children, and old men, came and went with sorrowful faces. We could +see them going up and down in their houses, as if they were in cages in +the open air; and in one we saw a mirror and an evergreen branch, +showing where dwelt a young girl in time of peace. + +Ah! who could foresee that their happiness would so soon be destroyed, +not by the fury of the winds or the wrath of heaven, but by the rage of +man! + +Even the cattle and pigeons seemed seeking their lost homes among the +ruins; the oxen and the goats, scattered through the streets, lowed and +bleated plaintively. Fowls were roosting upon the trees, and +everywhere, everywhere we saw the traces of cannon-balls. + +At the last house an old man with flowing white hair, sat at the +threshold of what had been his cottage, with a child upon his knees, +glaring on us as we passed. "Did he see us?" I do not know. His +furrowed brow and stony eyes spoke of despair. How many years of +labor, of patient economy, of suffering, had he passed to make sure a +quiet old age! Now all was crushed, ruined; the child and he had no +longer a roof to cover their heads. + +And those great trenches--fully a mile of them--at which the country +people were working in such haste, to keep the plague from completing +the work war began! I saw them, too, from the top of the hill of Kaya, +and turned away my eyes, horror-stricken. Russians, French, Prussians, +were there heaped pell-mell, as if God had made them to love each other +before the invention of arms and uniforms, which divide them for the +profit of those who rule them. There they lay, side by side; and the +part of them which could not die knew no more of war, but cursed the +crimes that had for centuries kept them apart. + +But what was sadder yet, was the long line of ambulances--bearing the +agonized wounded--those of whom they speak so much in the bulletins to +make the loss seem less, and who die by thousands in the hospitals, far +from all they love; while at their homes cannon are firing, and +church-bells are ringing with joyous chimes--rejoicing that thousands +of men are slain! + +At length we reach Lutzen, but it was so full of wounded that we were +obliged to continue on to Leipzig. We saw in the streets only +half-dead wretches, stretched on straw along the walls of the houses. +It was more than an hour before we reached a church, where fifteen or +twenty of us who could no longer proceed were left. + +Our ambulance conductor and his men, after refreshing themselves at a +tavern at the street corner, remounted, and we continued our journey to +Leipzig. + +I saw and heard no more; my head swam; a murmuring filled my ears, I +thought trees were men, and an intolerable thirst burned my lips. + +For a long while past, many in the wagons had been shrieking, calling +upon their mothers, trying to rise and fling themselves upon the road. +I know not whether I did the same; but I awoke as from a horrible +dream, as two men seized me, each by a leg, placing their arms under my +body, and carried me through a dark square. The sky seemed covered +with stars, and innumerable lights shone from an immense edifice before +us. It was the hospital of the market-place at Leipzig. + +The two men who were carrying me ascended a spiral stairway which led +to an immense hall where beds were laid together in three lines, so +close that they touched each other. On one of these beds I was placed, +in the midst of oaths, cries for pity, and muttered complaints from +hundreds of fever-stricken wounded. The windows were open, and the +flames of the lanterns flickered in the gusts of wind. Surgeons, +assistants, and nurses with great aprons tied beneath their arms, came +and went, while the groans from the halls below, and the rolling of +ambulances, cracking of whips and neighing of horses without, seemed to +pierce my very brain. While they were undressing me, they handled me +roughly, and my wound pained me so horribly that I could not avoid +shrieking. A surgeon came up at once, and scolded them for not being +more careful. That is all I remember that night; for I became +delirious, and raved constantly of Catharine, Monsieur Goulden, and +Aunt Grédel, as my neighbor, an old artilleryman, whom my cries +prevented from sleeping, afterward told me. I awoke the next morning +at about eight o'clock, at the first roll of the drum, and saw the hall +better, and then learned that I had the bone of my left shoulder +broken. A dozen surgeons were around me; one of them, a stout, dark +man, whom they called Monsieur the Baron, was opening my bandages, +while an assistant at the foot of the bed held a basin of warm water. +The baron examined my wound; all the others bent forward to hear what +he might say. He spoke a few moments, but all that I could understand +was, that the ball had struck from below, breaking the bone and passing +out behind. I saw that he knew his business well, for the Prussians +had fired from below, over the garden wall, so that the ball must have +ranged upward. He washed the wound himself, and with a couple of turns +of his hand, replaced the bandage, so that my shoulder could not move, +and everything was in order. + +I felt much better. Ten minutes after a hospital steward put a shirt +on me without hurting me--such was his skill. + +The surgeon, passing to another bed, cried: + +"What! You here again, old fellow?" + +"Yes; it is I, Monsieur the Baron," replied the artilleryman, proud to +be recognized; "the first time was at Austerlitz, the second at Jena, +and then I received two thrusts of a lance at Smolensk." + +"Yes, yes," said the surgeon kindly; "and now what is the matter with +you?" + +"Three sabre-cuts on my left arm while I was defending my piece from +the Prussian hussars." + +The surgeon unwound the bandage, and asked, + +"Have you the cross?" + +"No, Monsieur the Baron." + +"What is your name?" + +"Christian Zimmer, of the Second horse artillery." + +"Very good!" + +He dressed the wounds, and went to the next, saying: + +"You will soon be well." + +He returned, chatting with the others, and went out after finishing his +round and giving some orders to the nurses. + +The old artilleryman's heart seemed overflowing with joy; and, as I +concluded from his name that he came from Alsace, I spoke to him in our +language, at which he was still more rejoiced. He was a tall +fellow--at least six feet in height, with round shoulders, a flat +forehead, large nose, light red mustaches, and was as hard as a rock, +but a good man for all that. His eyes twinkled when I spoke Alsatian +to him, and he pricked up his ears at once. If I asked him in our +tongue he was willing to give me everything he had, but he had only a +clasp of the hand, which cracked the bones in mine to give. He called +me _Josephel_, as they did at home, and said: + +"Josephel, be careful how you swallow the medicines they give you, only +take what you know. All that does not smell good is good for nothing. +If they would give us a bottle of _Rikevir_ every day we would soon be +well; but it is easier to spoil our digestion with a handful of vile +boiled herbs, than to bring us a little of the good white wine of +Alsace." + +When I told him I was afraid of dying of the fever, he looked angry +with his great gray eyes, and said: + +"Josephel, you are a fool. Do you think that such tall fellows as you +and I were born to die in a hospital? No, no; drive the idea from your +head." + +But he spoke in vain, for every morning the surgeons, making their +rounds, found seven or eight dead. Some died in fevers, some in deadly +chill; so that heat or cold might be the presage of death. + +Zimmer said that all this proceeded from the evil drugs which the +doctors invented. "Do you see that tall, thin fellow?" he asked. +"Well, that man can boast of having killed more men than a field-piece; +he is always primed, with his match lighted; and that little brown +fellow--I would send him instead of the Emperor to the Russians and +Prussians; he would kill more of them than a whole army corps." + +He would have made me laugh with his jokes if the litters had not been +constantly passing. + +At the end of three weeks my shoulder began to heal, and Zimmer's +wounds were also doing well. They gave us every morning some good +boiled beef which warmed our hearts, and in the evening a little beef +with half a glass of wine, the sight alone of which rejoiced us and +made the future look hopeful. + +About this time, too, they allowed us to walk in the large garden, full +of elms, behind the hospital. There were benches under the trees, and +we walked the paths like millionnaires in our gray great-coats and +forage-caps. The weather was magnificent; and we could see far along +the poplar bordered Partha. This river falls into the Elster, on the +left, forming a long blue line. On the same side stretches a forest of +beech trees, and in front are three or four great white roads, which +cross fields of wheat, barley and hay, and hop plantations; no sight +could be pleasanter, or richer, especially when the breeze falls upon +it and these harvests rise and fall in the sunlight like waves of the +sea. The increasing heat presaged a fine year and often, when looking +at the beautiful scenery around, I thought of Phalsbourg, and the tears +came to my eyes. + +"I would like to know what makes you cry so, Josephel," said Zimmer. +"Instead of catching a fever in the hospital, or losing a leg or arm, +like hundreds of others, here we are quietly seated in the shade; we +are well fed, and can smoke when we have any tobacco; and still you +cry. What more do you want, Josephel?" + +Then I told him of Catharine; of our walks at Quatre-Vents; of our +promises; of all my former life, which then seemed a dream. He +listened, smoking his pipe. + +"Yes, yes," said he; "all this is very sad. Before the conscription of +1798, I too was going to marry a girl of our village, who was named +Margrédel, and whom I loved better than all the world beside. We had +promised to marry each other, and all through the campaign of Zurich, I +never passed a day without thinking of her. But when I first received +a furlough and reached home, what did I hear? Margrédel had been three +months married to a shoemaker, named Passauf." + +"You may imagine my wrath, Josephel; I could not see clearly; I wanted +to demolish everything; and, as they told me that Passauf was at the +_Grand-Cerf_ brewery, thither I started, looking neither to the right +nor left. There I saw him drinking with three or four rogues. As I +rushed forward, he cried, 'There comes Christian Zimmer! How goes it, +Christian? Margrédel sends you her compliments.' He winked his eye. +I seized a glass, which I hurled at his head, and broke to pieces, +saying, 'Give her that for my wedding present, you beggar!' The +others, seeing their friend thus maltreated, very naturally fell upon +me. I knocked two or three of them over with a jug, jumped on a table, +sprang through a window, and beat a retreat. + +"'It was time,' I thought. + +"But that was not all," he continued; "I had scarcely reached my +mother's when the gendarmerie arrived, and they arrested me. They put +me on a wagon and conducted me from brigade to brigade until we reached +my regiment, which was at Strasbourg. I remained six weeks at +Finckmatt, and would probably have received the ball and chain, if we +had not had to cross the Rhine to Hohenlinden. + +"The Commandant Courtaud himself said to me: + +"'You can boast of striking a hard blow, but if you happen again to +knock people over with jugs, it will not be well for you--I warn you. +Is that any way to fight, animal? Why do we wear sabres, if not to use +them and do our country honor?' + +"I had no reply to make. + +"From that day, Josephel, the thought of marriage never troubled me. +Don't talk to me of a soldier who has a wife to think of. Look at our +generals who are married, do they fight as they used to? No, they have +but one idea, and that is to increase their store and to profit by +their wealth by living well with their duchesses and little dukes at +home. My grandfather Yéri, the forester, always said that a good hound +should be lean, and I think the same of good generals and good +soldiers. The poor fellows are always in working order, but our +generals grow fat from their good dinners at home." + +So spoke my friend Zimmer in the honesty of his heart, and all this did +not lessen my sadness. + +As soon as I could sit up, I hastened to inform Monsieur Goulden, by +letter, that I was in the hospital of Halle, in one of the five +buildings of Leipzig, slightly wounded in the arm, but that he need +fear nothing for me, for I was growing better and better. I asked him +to show my letter to Catharine and Aunt Grédel to comfort them in the +midst of such fearful war. I told him, too, that my greatest happiness +would be to receive news from home and of the health of all whom I +loved. + +From that moment I had no rest; every morning I expected an answer, and +to see the postmaster distribute twenty or thirty letters in our ward, +without my receiving one, almost broke my heart; I hurried to the +garden and wept. There was a little dark corner where they threw +broken pottery--a place buried in shade, which pleased me much, because +no one ever came there--there I passed my time dreaming on an old +moss-covered bench. Evil thoughts crossed my brain--I almost believed +that Catharine could forget her promises, and I muttered to myself, +"Ah! if you had not been picked up at Kaya! All would then have been +ended! Why were you not abandoned? Better to have been, than to +suffer thus!" + +To such a pass did I finally arrive, that I no longer wished to +recover, when one morning the letter-carrier, among other names, called +that of Joseph Bertha. I lifted my hand without being able to speak, +and a large, square letter, covered with innumerable post-marks, was +handed me. I recognized Monsieur Goulden's handwriting, and turned +pale. + +"Well," said Zimmer, laughing, "it is come at last." + +I did not answer, but thrust the letter in my pocket, to read it at +leisure and alone. I went to the end of the garden and opened it. Two +or three apple-blossoms dropped upon the ground, with an order for +money, on which Monsieur Goulden had written a few words. But what +touched me most was the handwriting of Catharine, which I gazed at +without reading a word, while my heart beat as if about to burst +through my bosom. + +At last I grew a little calmer and read the letter slowly, stopping +from time to time to make sure that I made no mistake--that it was +indeed my dear Catharine who wrote, and that I was not in a dream. + +I have kept that letter, because it brought, so to speak, life back to +me. Here it is as I received it on the eighth day of June, 1813: + + +"MY DEAR JOSEPH:--I write you to tell you I yet love you alone, and +that, day by day, I love you more. + +"My greatest grief is to know that you are wounded, in a hospital, and +that I cannot take care of you. Since the conscripts departed, we have +not had a moment's peace of mind. My mother says I am silly to weep +night and day, but she weeps as much as I, and her wrath falls heavily +on Pinacle, who dared not come to the market-place, because she carried +a hammer in her basket. + +"But our greatest grief was when we heard that the battle had taken +place, and that thousands of men had fallen; mother ran every morning +to the post-office, while I could not move from the house. At last +your letter came, thank heaven! to cheer us. Now I am better, for I +can weep at my ease, thanking God that He has saved your life. + +"And when I think how happy we used to be, Joseph--when you came every +Sunday, and we sat side by side without stirring and thought of +nothing! Ah! we did not know how happy we were; we knew not what might +happen--but God's will be done. If you only recover! if we may only +hope to be once again as happy as we were! + +"Many people talk of peace, but the Emperor so loves war, that I fear +it is far off. + +"What pleases me most is to know that your wound is not dangerous, and +that you still love me. Ah! Joseph, I will love you forever--that is +all I can say. I can say it from the bottom of my heart; and I know my +mother loves you too! + +"Now, Monsieur Goulden wishes to say a few words to you, so I will +close. The weather is beautiful here, and the great apple-tree in the +garden is full of flowers; I have plucked a few, which I shall put in +this letter when M. Goulden has written. Perhaps with God's blessing +we shall yet eat together one of those large apples. Embrace me as I +embrace you, Joseph, Farewell! Farewell!" + + +As I finished reading this, Zimmer arrived, and in my joy, I said: + +"Sit down, Zimmer, and I will read you my sweetheart's letter. You +will see whether she is a Margrédel." + +"Let me light my pipe first," he answered; and having done so, he +added: "Go on, Josephel, but I warn you that I am an old bird, and do +not believe all I hear; women are more cunning than we." + +Notwithstanding this bit of philosophy, I read Catharine's letter +slowly to him. When I had ended, he took it, and for a long time gazed +at it dreamily, and then handed it back, saying: + +"There! Josephel. She _is_ a good girl, and a sensible one, and will +never marry any one but you." + +"Do you really think so?" + +"Yes; you may rely upon her; she will never marry a Passauf. I would +rather distrust the Emperor than such a girl." + +I could have embraced Zimmer for these words; but I said: + +"I have received a bill for one hundred francs. Now for some white +wine of Alsace. Let us try to get out." + +"That is well thought of," said he, twisting his mustache and putting +his pipe in his pocket. "I do not like to mope in a garden when there +are taverns outside. We must get permission." + +We arose joyfully and went to the hospital, when, the letter-carrier, +coming out, stopped Zimmer, saying: + +"Are you Christian Zimmer, of the Second horse artillery?" + +"I have that honor, monsieur the carrier." + +"Well, here is something for you," said the other, handing him a little +package and a large letter. + +Zimmer was stupefied, never having received anything from home or from +anywhere else. He opened the packet--a box appeared--then the box--and +saw the cross of honor. He became pale; his eyes filled with tears, he +staggered against a balustrade, and then shouted "_Vive l'Empereur!_" +in such tones that the three halls rang and rang again. + +The carrier looked on smiling. + +"You are satisfied," said he. + +"Satisfied! I need but one thing more." + +"And what is that?" + +"Permission to go to the city." + +"You must ask Monsieur Tardieu, the surgeon-in-chief." + +He went away laughing, while we ascended arm-in-arm, to ask permission +of the surgeon-major, an old man, who had heard the "_Vive +l'Empereur!_" and demanded gravely: + +"What is the matter?" + +Zimmer showed his cross and replied: + +"Pardon, major; but I am more than usually merry." + +"I can easily believe you," said Monsieur Tardieu; "you want a pass to +the city?" + +"If you will be so good; for myself and my comrade, Joseph Bertha." + +The surgeon had examined my wound the day before. He took out his +portfolio and gave us passes. We left as proud as kings--Zimmer of his +cross, I, of my letter. + +Downstairs in the great vestibule the porter cried: + +"Hold on there! Where are you going?" + +Zimmer showed him our passes, and we sallied forth, glad to breathe the +free air, without, once more. A sentinel showed us the post-office, +where I was to receive my hundred francs. + +Then, more gravely, for our joy had sunk deeper in our hearts, we +reached the gate of Halle about two musket shots to the left, at the +end of a long avenue of lindens. Each faubourg is separated from the +old ramparts only by these avenues, and all around Leipzig passes +another very wide one, also bordered with lindens. The ramparts are +very old--such as we see at Saint Hippolyte, on the upper +Rhine,--crumbling, grass-grown walls; at least such they are if the +Germans have not repaired them since 1813. + + + + +XVI + +How much were we to learn that day! At the hospital no one troubled +himself about anything: when every morning you see fifty wounded come +in, and when every evening you see as many depart upon the bier, you +have the world before you in a narrow compass, and you think-- + +"After us comes the end of the universe!" + +But without, these ideas change. When I caught the first glimpse of +the street of Halle,--that old city with its shops, its gateways filled +with merchandise, its old peaked roofs, its heavy wagons laden with +bales, in a word, all its busy commercial life,--I was struck with +wonder; I had never seen anything like it, and I said to myself: + +"This is indeed a mercantile city, such as they talk of--full of +industrious people trying to make a living, or competence, or wealth; +where every one seeks to rise, not to the injury of others, but by +working--contriving night and day how to make his family prosperous; so +that all profit by inventions and discoveries. Here is the happiness +of peace in the midst of a fearful war!" + +But the poor wounded, wandering about with their arms in slings, or +perhaps dragging a leg after them as they limped on crutches, were sad +sights to see. + +I walked dreamily through the streets, led by Zimmer, who recognized +every corner, and kept repeating: + +"There--there is the church of Saint Nicholas; that large building is +the university: that on yonder is the _Hôtel de Ville_." + +He seemed to remember every stone, having been there in 1807, before +the battle of Friedland, and continued: + +"We are the same here as if we were in Metz, or Strasbourg, or any +other city in France. The people wish us well. After the campaign of +1806, they used to do all they could for us. The citizens would take +three or four of us at a time to dinner with them. They even gave us +balls and called us the heroes of Jena. Go where we would they +everywhere received us as benefactors of the country. We named their +elector King of Saxony, and gave him a good slice of Poland." + +Suddenly he stopped before a little, low door and cried: + +"Hold! Here is the Golden Sheep Brewery. The front is on the other +street, but we can enter here. Come!" + +I followed him into a narrow, winding passage which led to an old +court, surrounded by rubble walls, with little moss-covered galleries +under the roof and a weathercock upon the peak, as in the Tanner's Lane +in Strasbourg. To the right was the brewery, and in a corner a great +wheel, turned by an enormous dog, which pumped the beer to every story +of the house. + +The clinking of glasses was heard coming from a room which opened on +the Rue de Tilly, and under the windows of this was a deep cellar +resounding with the cooper's hammer. The sweet smell of the new March +beer filled the air, and Zimmer, with a look of satisfaction, cried: + +"Yes, here I came six years ago with Ferré and stout Rousillon. How +glad I am to see it all again, Josephel! It was six years ago. Poor +Rousillon! he left his bones at Smolensk last year! and Ferré must now +be at home in his village near Toul, for he lost his left leg at +Wagram. How everything comes back as I think of it!" + +At the same time he pushed open the door, and we entered a lofty hall, +full of smoke. I saw, through the thick, gray atmosphere, a long row +of tables, surrounded by men drinking--the greater number in short +coats and little caps, the remainder in the Saxon uniform. The first +were students, young men of family who came to Leipzig to study law, +medicine, and all that can be learned by emptying glasses and leading a +jolly life, which they call _Fuchs-commerce_. They often fight among +themselves with a sort of blade rounded at the point and only its tip +sharpened, so that they slash their faces, as Zimmer told me, but life +is never endangered. This shows the good sense of these students, who +know very well that life is precious, and that one had better get five +or six slashes, or even more, than lose it. + +Zimmer laughed as he told me these things; his love of glory blinded +him; he said they might as well load cannon with roasted apples, as +fight with swords rounded at the point. + +But we entered the hall, and we saw the oldest of the students--a tall +withered-looking man with a red nose and long flaxen beard, stained +with beer--standing upon a table, reading the gazette aloud which hung +from his hand like an apron. He held the paper in one hand, and in the +other a long porcelain pipe. His comrades, with their long, light hair +falling upon their shoulders, were listening with the deepest interest; +and as we entered, they shouted, "_Vaterland! Vaterland!_" + +They touched glasses with the Saxon soldiers, while the tall student +bent over to take up his glass, and the round, fat brewer cried: + +"_Gesundheit! Gesundheit!_" + +Scarcely had we made half a dozen steps toward them, when they became +silent. + +"Come, come, comrades!" cried Zimmer, "don't disturb yourselves. Go on +reading. We do not object to hear the news." + +But they did not seem inclined to profit by our invitation, and the +reader descended from the table, folding up his paper, which he put in +his pocket. + +"We are done," said he, "we are done." + +"Yes; we are done," repeated the others, looking at each other with a +peculiar expression. + +Two or three of the German soldiers rose and left the room, as if to +take the air in the court. And the fat landlord said: + +"You do not perhaps know that the large hall is on the Rue de Tilly?" + +"Yes; we know it very well," replied Zimmer; "but I like this little +hall better. Here I used to come, long ago, with two old comrades, to +empty a few glasses in honor of Jena and Auerstadt. I know this room +of old." + +"Ah! as you please, as you please," returned the landlord. "Do you +wish some March beer?" + +"Yes; two glasses and the gazette." + +"Very good." + +The glasses were handed us, and Zimmer, who observed nothing, tried to +open a conversation with the students; but they excused themselves, +and, one after another, went out. I saw that they hated us, but dared +not show it. + +The gazette, which was from France, spoke of an armistice, after two +new victories at Bautzen and Wurtschen. This armistice commenced on +the sixth of June, and a conference was then being held at Prague, in +Bohemia, to arrange on terms of peace. All this naturally gave me +pleasure. I thought of again seeing home. But Zimmer, with his habit +of thinking aloud, filled the hall with his reflections, and +interrupted me at every line. + +"An armistice!" he cried. "Do we want an armistice. After having +beaten those Prussians and Russians at Lutzen, Bautzen and Wurtschen, +ought we not to annihilate them? Would they give us an armistice if +they had beaten us? There, Joseph, you see the Emperor's character--he +is too good. It is his only fault. He did the same thing after +Austerlitz, and he had to begin over again. I tell you, he is too +good; and if he were not so, we should have been masters of Europe." + +As he spoke, he looked around as if seeking assent; but the students +scowled, and no one replied. At last Zimmer rose. + +"Come, Joseph," said he; "I know nothing of politics, but I insist that +we should give no armistice to those beggars. When they are down we +should keep them there." + +After we had paid our reckoning, and were once more in the street, he +continued: + +"I do not know what was the matter with those people to-day. We must +have disturbed them in something." + +"It is very possible," I replied. "They certainly did not seem like +the good-natured folks you were speaking of." + +"No," said he. "Those young fellows are far beneath the old students I +have seen. _They_ passed--I might say--their lives at the brewery. +They drank twenty and sometimes thirty glasses a day; even I, Joseph, +had no chance with such fellows. Five or six of them whom they called +'seniors' had gray beards and a venerable appearance. We sang _Fanfan +la Tulipe_ and 'King Dagobert' together, which are not political songs, +you know. But these fellows are good for nothing." + +I knew afterward, that those students were members of the _Tugend-bund_. + +On returning to the hospital, after having had a good dinner and drank +a bottle of wine apiece in the inn of La Grappe in the Rue de Tilly, we +learned that we were to go, that same evening, to the barracks of +Rosenthal--a sort of depot for wounded, near Lutzen, where the roll was +called morning and evening, but where, at all other times, we were at +liberty to do as we pleased. Every three days, the surgeon made his +visit; as soon as one was well, he received his order to march to +rejoin his corps. + +One may imagine the condition of from twelve to fifteen hundred poor +wretches clothed in gray great-coats with leaden buttons, shakos shaped +like flower-pots, and shoes worn out by marches and +counter-marches--pale, weak, most of them without a sou, in a rich city +like Leipzig. We did not cut much of a figure among these students, +these good citizens and smiling young women, who, despite our glory, +looked on us as vagabonds. + +All the fine stories of my comrade only made me feel my situation more +bitterly. + +It is true that we were formerly well received, but in those days our +men did not always act honestly by those who treated them like +brothers, and now doors were slammed in our faces. We were reduced to +the necessity of contemplating squares, churches, and the outside of +sausage-shops, which are there very handsome, from morning till night. + +We tried every way of amusing ourselves; the idlers played at +_drogue_[1], the younger ones drank. We had also a game called "Cat +and Rat," which we played in front of the barracks. A stake was +planted in the ground, to which two cords were fastened; the rat held +one of these, and the cat the other. Their eyes were bandaged. The +cat was armed with a cudgel and tried to catch the rat, who kept out of +the way as much as he could, listening for the cat's approach--thus +they kept going around on tiptoe, and exhibiting their cunning to the +company. + + +[1] A game at cards, played among soldiers, in which the loser wears a +forked stick on his nose till he wins again. + + +Zimmer told me that in former times the good Germans came in crowds to +see this game, and you could hear them laugh half a league off when the +cat touched the rat with his club. But times were indeed changed; +every one passed by now without even turning their heads; we only lost +our labor when we tried to interest them in our favor. + +During the six weeks we remained at Rosenthal, Zimmer and I often +wandered through the city to kill time. We went by way of the faubourg +of Randstatt and pushed as far as Lindenau, on the road to Lutzen. +There were nothing but bridges, swamps and wooded islets as far as the +eye could reach. There we would eat an omelette with bacon at the +tavern of the Carp, and wash it down with a bottle of white wine. They +no longer gave us credit, as after Jena; I believe, on the contrary, +that the innkeeper would have made us pay double and triple, for the +honor of the German Fatherland, if my comrade had not known the price +of eggs and bacon and wine as well as any Saxon among them. + +In the evening, when the sun was setting behind the reeds of the Elster +and the Pleisse, we returned to the city accompanied by the mournful +notes of the frogs, which swarm in thousands in the marshes. + +Sometimes we would stop with folded arms at the railing of a bridge and +gaze at the old ramparts of Leipzig, its churches, its old ruins, and +its castle of Pleissenbourg, all glowing in the red twilight. The city +runs to a point where the Pleisse and the Partha branch off, and the +rivers meet above. It is in the shape of a fan, the faubourg of Halle +at the handle and the seven other faubourgs spreading off.[2] We gazed +too at the thousand arms of the Elster and the Pleisse, winding like +threads among islands already growing dark in the twilight, although +the waters glittered like gold. All this seemed very beautiful. + + +[2] On the English map the river is the Rotha, not the Partha (or +Parde), and at the point here alluded to it joins the _Elster_, not the +_Pleisse_, as stated previously.--_Translator's Note_. + + +But if we had known that we would one day be forced to cross these +rivers under the enemy's cannon, after having lost the most fearful and +the bloodiest of battles, and that entire regiments would disappear +beneath those waters, which then gladdened our eyes, I think that the +sight would have made us sad enough. + +At other times we would walk along the bank of the Pleisse as far as +Mark-Kléeberg. It was more than a league, and every field was covered +with harvests which they were hastening to garner. The people in their +great wagons seemed not to see us, and if we asked for information they +pretended not to understand us. Zimmer always grew angry. I held him +back, telling him that the beggarly wretches only sought a pretext for +falling upon us, and that we had, besides, orders to humor them. + +"Very good!" he said; "but if the war comes this way, let them look +out! We have overwhelmed them with benefits and this is how they +receive us!" + +But what shows better yet the ill-feeling of the people toward us was +what happened us the day after the conclusion of the armistice, when, +about eleven o'clock, we went together to bathe in the Elster. We had +already thrown off our clothes, and Zimmer seeing a peasant +approaching, cried: + +"Holloa, comrade! Is there any danger here?" + +"No. Go in boldly," replied the man. "It is a good place." + +Zimmer, mistrusting nothing, went some fifteen feet out. He was a good +swimmer, but his left arm was yet weak, and the strength of the current +carried him away so quickly that he could not even catch the branches +of the willows which hung over him; and were it not that he was carried +to a ford, where he gained a footing, he would have been swept between +two muddy islands, and certainly lost. + +The peasant stood to see the effect of his advice. I was very angry, +and dressed myself as quickly as I could, shaking my fist at him, but +he laughed, and ran, quicker than I could follow him, to the city. +Zimmer was wild with wrath, and wished to pursue him to Connewitz; but +how could we find him among three or four hundred houses, and if we did +find him, what could we do? + +Finally we went into the water where there was footing, and its +coolness calmed us. + +I remember how, as we returned to Leipzig, Zimmer talked of nothing but +vengeance. + +"The whole country is against us!" cried he; "the citizens look black +at us, the women turn their backs, the peasants try to drown us, and +the innkeepers refuse us credit, as if we had not conquered them three +or four times; and all this comes of our extraordinary goodness; we +should have declared that we were their masters! We have granted to +the Germans kings and princes; we have even made dukes, counts and +barons with the names of their villages; we have loaded them with +honors, and see their gratitude! + +"Instead of having ordered us to respect the people, we should be given +full power over them; then the thieves would change faces and treat us +well, as they did in 1806. Force is everything. In the first place, +conscripts are made by force, for if they were not forced to come, they +would all stay at home. Of the conscripts soldiers are made by +force--by discipline being taught them; with soldiers battles are +gained by force, and then people are forced to give you everything: +they prepare triumphal arches for you and call you heroes because they +are afraid of you; that is how it is! + +"But the Emperor is too good. If he were not so good I would not have +been in danger of drowning to-day;--the sight of my uniform would have +made that peasant tremble at the idea of telling me a lie." + +So spoke Zimmer, and all this yet remains in my memory. It happened +August 12, 1813. + +Returning to Leipzig, we saw joy painted on the countenances of the +inhabitants. It did not display itself openly; but the citizens, +meeting, would shake hands with an air of huge satisfaction, and the +general rejoicing glistened even in the eyes of servants and the +poorest workmen. + +Zimmer said: "These Germans seem to be merry about something, they all +look so good-natured." + +"Yes," I replied; "their good humor comes from the fine weather and +good harvest." + +It was true the weather was very fine, but when we reached the +barracks, we found some of our officers at the gate, talking eagerly +together, while those who were going by came up to listen, and then we +learned the cause of so much joy. The conference at Prague was broken +off, and Austria, too, was about to declare war against us, which gave +us two hundred thousand more men to take care of. I have learned since +that we then stood three hundred thousand men against five hundred and +twenty thousand, and that among our enemies were two old French +generals, Moreau and Bernadotte. Every one can read that in books, but +we did not yet know it, and we were sure of victory, for we had never +lost a battle. The ill-feeling of the people did not trouble us: in +time of war peasants and citizens are in a manner reckoned as nothing; +they are only asked for money and provisions, which they always give, +for they know that if they made the least resistance they would be +stripped to the last farthing. + +The day after we got this important news there was a general +inspection, and twelve hundred of the wounded of Lutzen were ordered to +rejoin their corps. They went by companies with arms and baggage, some +following the road to Altenbourg, which runs along the Elster, and some +the road to Wurtzen, farther to the left. + +Zimmer was of the number, having himself asked leave to go. I went +with him just beyond the gate, and there we embraced with emotion. I +stayed behind, as my arm was still weak. + +We were now not more than five or six hundred, among whom were a number +of masters of arms, of teachers of dancing and French elegance--fellows +to be found at all depots of wounded. I did not care to become +acquainted with them, and my only consolation was in thinking of +Catharine, and sometimes of my old comrades Klipfel and Zébédé, of whom +I received no tidings. + +It was a sad enough life; the people looked upon us with an evil eye; +they dared say nothing, knowing that the French army was only four +days' march away, and Blücher and Schwartzenberg much farther. +Otherwise, how soon they would have fallen upon us! + +One evening the rumor prevailed that we had just won a great victory at +Dresden. There was general consternation; the inhabitants remained +shut up in their houses. I went to read the newspaper at the "Bunch of +Grapes," in the Rue de Tilly. The French papers were there always on +the table; no one opened them but me. + +But the following week, at the beginning of September, I saw the same +change in people's faces as I observed the day the Austrians declared +against us. I guessed we had met some misfortune, and we had, as I +learned afterward, for the Paris papers said nothing of it. + +Bad weather set in at the end of August, and the rain fell in torrents. +I no longer left the barracks. Often, as seated upon my bed, I gazed +at the Elster boiling beneath the falling floods, and the trees, and +the little islands swaying in the wind, I thought: "Poor soldiers! poor +comrades! What are you doing now? Where are you? On the high road +perhaps, or in the open fields!" + +And despite my sadness at living where I was, I remembered that I was +less to be pitied than they. But one day the old Surgeon Tardieu made +his round and said to me: + +"Your arm is strong again--let us see--raise it for me. All right! all +right!" + +The next day at roll-call, they passed me into a hall where there were +clothing, knapsacks, cartridge-boxes and shoes in abundance. I +received a musket, two packets of cartridges, and marching papers for +the Sixth at Gauernitz, on the Elbe. This was the first of October. +Twelve or fifteen of us set out together, under charge of a +quartermaster of the Twenty-seventh named Poitevin. + +On the road, one after another left us to take the way to his corps; +but Poitevin, four infantry men and I, kept on to the village of +Gauernitz. + + + + +XVII + +We were following the Wurtzen high road, our muskets slung on our +backs, our great-coat capes turned up, bending beneath our knapsacks, +and feeling down-hearted enough, as you may imagine. The rain was +falling, and ran from our shakos down our necks; the wind shook the +poplars, and their yellow leaves, fluttering around us, told of the +approach of winter. So hour after hour passed. + +From time to time, at long intervals, we came upon a village with its +sheds, dunghills and gardens, surrounded with palings. The women +standing behind their windows, with little dull panes, gazed at us as +we went by; a dog bayed; a man splitting wood at his threshold turned +to follow us with his eyes, and we kept on, on, splashed and muddied to +our necks. We looked back; from the end of the village the road +stretched on as far as one could see; gray clouds trailed along the +despoiled fields, and a few lean rooks were flying away, uttering their +melancholy cry. + +Nothing could be sadder than such a view; and to it was added the +thought that winter was coming on, and that soon we must sleep without +a roof, in the snow. We might well be silent, as we were, save the +quartermaster Poitevin. He was a veteran,--sallow, wrinkled, with +hollow cheeks, mustaches an ell long, and a red nose, like all brandy +drinkers. He had a lofty way of speaking, which he interspersed with +barrack slang. When the rain came down faster than ever, he cried, +with a strange burst of laughter: "Ay, ay, Poitevin, this will teach +you to hiss!" The old drunkard perceived that I had a little money in +my pocket, and kept near me, saying: "Young man, if your knapsack tires +you, hand it to me." But I only thanked him for his kindness. + +Notwithstanding my disgust at being with a man who gazed at every +tavern sign when we passed through a village, and said at each one: "A +little glass of something would do us good as the time passes," I could +not help paying for a glass now and then, so that he did not quit me. + +We were nearing Wurtzen and the rain was falling in torrents, when the +quartermaster cried for the twentieth time: + +"Ay, Poitevin! Here is life for you! This will teach you to hiss!" + +"What sort of a proverb is that of yours?" I asked; "I would like to +know how the rain would teach you to hiss." + +"It is not a proverb, young man; it is an idea which runs in my head +when I try to be cheerful." + +Then, after a moment's pause, he continued: + +"You must know," said he, "that in 1806, when I was a student at Rouen, +I happened once to hiss a piece in the theatre, with a number of other +young fellows like myself. Some hissed, some applauded; blows were +struck, and the police carried us by dozens to the watch-house. The +Emperor, hearing of it, said: 'Since they like fighting so much, put +them in my armies! There they can gratify their tastes!' And, of +course, the thing was done; and no one dared hiss in that part of the +country, not even fathers and mothers of families." + +"You were a conscript, then?" I asked. + +"No, my father had just bought me a substitute. It was one of the +Emperor's jokes; one of those jokes which we long remember; twenty or +thirty of us are dead of hardship and want. A few others, instead of +filling honorable positions in their towns, such as doctors, judges, +lawyers, have become old drunkards. This is what is called a good +joke!" + +Then he began to laugh, looking at me from the corner of his eye. I +had become very thoughtful, and two or three times more, before we +reached Gauernitz, I paid for the poor wretch's little glasses of +something. + +It was about five o'clock in the evening, and we were approaching the +village of Risa, when we descried an old mill, with its wooden bridge, +over which a bridle-path ran. We struck off from the road and took +this path, to make a short cut to the village, when we heard cries and +shrieks for help, and, at the same moment, two women, one old, and the +other somewhat younger, ran across a garden, dragging two children with +them. They were trying to gain a little wood which bordered the road, +and at the same moment we saw several of our soldiers come out of the +mill with sacks, while others came up from a cellar with little casks, +which they hastened to place on a cart standing near; still others were +driving cows and horses from a stable, while an old man stood at the +door, with uplifted hands, as if calling down Heaven's curse upon them; +and five or six of the evil-minded wretches surrounded the miller, who +was all pale, with his eyes starting from their sockets. + +The whole scene, the mill, the dam, the broken windows, the flying +women, our soldiers in fatigue caps, looking like veritable bandits, +the old man cursing them, the cows shaking their heads to throw off +those who were leading them, while others pricked them behind with +their bayonets--all seems yet before me--I seem yet to see it. + +"There," cried the quartermaster, "there are fellows pillaging. We are +not far from the army." + +"But that is horrible!" I cried. "They are robbers." + +"Yes," returned the quartermaster, coolly; "it is contrary to +discipline, and if the Emperor knew of it, they would be shot like +dogs." + +We crossed the little bridge, and found the thieves crowded around a +cask which they had tapped, passing around the cup. This sight roused +the quartermaster's indignation, and he cried majestically: + +"By whose permission are you plundering in this way?" + +Several turned their heads, but seeing that we were but three, for the +rest of our party had gone on, one of them replied: + +"Ha! what do you want, old joker? A little of the spoil, I suppose. +But you need not curl up your mustaches on that account. Here, drink a +drop." + +The speaker held out the cup, and the quartermaster took it and drank, +looking at me as he did so. + +"Well, young man," said he, "will you have some, too? It is famous +wine, this." + +"No, I thank you," I replied. + +Several of the pillaging party now cried: + +"Hurry, there; it is time to get back to camp." + +"No, no," replied others; "there is more to be had here." + +"Comrades," said the quartermaster, in a tone of gentle reproof and +warning, "you know, comrades, you must go gently about it." + +"Yes, yes, old fellow," replied a drum-major, with half-closed eyes, +and a mocking smile; "do not be alarmed; we will pluck the pigeon +according to rule. We will take care; we will take care." + +The quartermaster said no more, but seemed ashamed on my account. He +at length said: + +"What would you have, young man? War is war. One cannot see himself +starving, with food at hand." + +He was afraid I would report him; he would have remained with the +pillagers, but for the fear of being captured. I replied, to relieve +his mind: + +"Those are probably good fellows, but the sight of a cup of wine makes +them forget everything." + +At length, about ten o'clock at night, we saw the bivouac fires, on a +gloomy hill-side to the right of the village of Gauernitz, and of an +old castle from which a few lights also shone. Farther on, in the +plain, a great number of other fires were burning. The night was +clear, and as we approached the bivouac, the sentry challenged: + +"Who goes there?" + +"France!" replied the quartermaster. + +My heart beat, as I thought that, in a few moments, I should again meet +my old comrades, if they were yet in the world. + +Some men of the guard came forward from a sort of shed, half a +musket-shot from the village, to find out who we were. The commandant +of the post, a gray-haired sub-lieutenant, his arm in a sling under his +cloak, asked us whence we came, whither we were going, and whether we +had met any parties of Cossacks on our route. The quartermaster +answered his questions. The lieutenant informed us that Souham's +division had that morning left Gauernitz, and ordered us to follow him, +that he might examine our marching-papers; which we did in silence, +passing among the bivouac fires, around which men, covered with dried +mud, were sleeping, in groups of twenty. Not one moved. + +We arrived at the officers' quarters. It was an old brick-kiln, with +an immense roof, resting on posts driven into the ground. A large fire +was burning in it, and the air was agreeably warm. Around it soldiers +were sleeping, with a contented look, their backs against the wall; the +flames lighted up their figures under the dark rafters. Near the posts +shone stacks of arms. I seem yet to see these things; I feel the +kindly warmth which penetrated me. I see my comrades, their clothes +smoking, a few paces from the kiln, where they were gravely waiting +until the officer should have finished reading the marching-papers, by +the dim, red light. One bronzed old veteran watched alone, seated on +the ground, and mending a shoe with a needle and thread. + +The officer handed me back my paper first, saying: + +"You will rejoin your battalion to-morrow, two leagues hence, near +Torgau." + +Then the old soldier, looking at me, placed his hand upon the ground, +to show that there was room beside him, and I seated myself. I opened +my knapsack, and put on new stockings and shoes, which I had brought +from Leipzig, after which I felt much better. + +The old man asked: + +"You are rejoining your corps?" + +"Yes; the Sixth at Torgau." + +"And you came from?"---- + +"The hospital at Leipzig." + +"That is easily seen," said he; "you are fat as a beadle. They fed you +on chickens down there, while we were eating cow-beef." + +I looked around at my sleeping neighbors. He was right; the poor +conscripts were mere skin and bone. They were bronzed as veterans, and +scarcely seemed able to stand. + +The old man, in a moment, continued his questions: + +"You were wounded?" + +"Yes, veteran, at Lutzen." + +"Four months in the hospital!" said he, whistling; "what luck! I have +just returned from Spain, flattering myself that I was going to meet +the _Kaiserliks_ of 1807 once more--sheep, regular sheep--but they have +become worse than guerillas. Everything goes to the bad." + +He said the most of this to himself, without paying much attention to +me, all the while sewing his shoe, which from time to time he tried on, +to be sure that the sewn part would not hurt his foot. At last he put +the thread in his knapsack, and the shoe upon his foot, and stretched +himself upon a truss of straw. + +I was too fatigued to sleep at once, and for an hour lay awake. + +In the morning I set out again with the quartermaster Poitevin, and +three other soldiers of Souham's division. Our route lay along the +bank of the Elbe; the weather was wet and the wind swept fiercely over +the river, throwing the spray far on the land. + +We hastened on for an hour, when suddenly the quartermaster cried: + +"Attention!" + +He had halted suddenly, and stood listening. We could hear nothing but +the sighing of the wind through the trees, and the splash of the waves; +but his ear was finer than ours. + +"They are skirmishing yonder," said he, pointing to a wood on our +right. "The enemy may be near us, and the best thing we can do is to +enter the wood and pursue our way cautiously. We can see at the other +end of it what is going on; and if the Prussians or Russians are there, +we can beat a retreat without their perceiving us. If they are French, +we will go on." + +We all thought the quartermaster was right; and, in my heart, I admired +the shrewdness of the old drunkard. We kept on toward the wood, +Poitevin leading, and the others following, with our pieces cocked. We +marched slowly, stopping every hundred paces to listen. The shots grew +nearer; they were fired at intervals, and the quartermaster said: + +"They are sharp-shooters reconnoitring a body of cavalry, for the +firing is all on one side." + +It was true. In a few moments we perceived, through the trees, a +battalion of French infantry about to make their soup, and in the +distance, on the plain beyond, platoons of Cossacks defiling from one +village to another. A few skirmishers along the edge of the wood were +firing on them, but they were almost beyond musket-range. + +"There are your people, young man," said Poitevin. "You are at home." + +He had good eyes to read the number of a regiment at such a distance. +I could only see ragged soldiers with their cheeks and +famine-glistening eyes. Their great-coats were twice too large for +them, and fell in folds along their bodies like cloaks. I say nothing +of the mud; it was everywhere. No wonder the Germans were exultant, +even after our victory at Dresden. + +We went toward a couple of little tents, before which three or four +horses were nibbling the scanty grass. I saw Colonel Lorain, who now +commanded the Third battalion--a tall, thin man, with brown mustaches +and a fierce air. He looked at me frowningly, and when I showed my +papers, only said: + +"Go and rejoin your company." + +I started off, thinking that I would recognize some of the Fourth; but, +since Lutzen, companies had been so mingled with companies, regiments +with regiments, and divisions with divisions, that, on arriving at the +camp of the grenadiers, I knew no one. The men seeing me approach, +looked distrustfully at me, as if to say: + +"Does _he_ want some of our beef? Let us see what he brings to the +pot!" + +I was almost ashamed to ask for my company, when a bony veteran, with a +nose long and pointed like an eagle's beak, and a worn-out coat hanging +from his shoulders, lifting his head, and gazing at me, said quietly: + +"Hold! It is Joseph. I thought he was buried four months ago." + +Then I recognized my poor Zébédé. My appearance seemed to affect him, +for, without rising, he squeezed my hand, crying: + +"Klipfel! here is Joseph!" + +Another soldier, seated near a pot, turned his head, saying: + +"It is you, Joseph, is it? Then you were not killed." + +This was all my welcome. Misery had made them so selfish that they +thought only of themselves. But Zébédé was always good-hearted; he +made me sit near him, throwing a glance at the others that commanded +respect, and offered me his spoon, which he had fastened to the +button-hole of his coat. I thanked him, and produced from my knapsack +a dozen sausages, a good loaf of bread, and a flask of brandy, which I +had the foresight to purchase at Risa. I handed a couple of the +sausages to Zébédé, who took them with tears in his eyes. I was also +going to offer some to the others; but he put his hand on my arm, +saying: + +"What is good to eat is good to keep." + +We retired from the circle and ate, drinking at the same time; the rest +of the soldiers said nothing, but looked wistfully at us. Klipfel, +smelling the sausages, turned and said: + +"Holloa! Joseph! Come and eat with us. Comrades are always comrades, +you know." + +"That is all very well," said Zébédé; "but I find meat and drink the +best comrades." + +He shut up my knapsack himself, saying: + +"Keep that, Joseph. I have not been so well regaled for more than a +month. You shall not lose by it." + +A half-hour after, the recall was beaten; the skirmishers came in, and +Sergeant Pinto, who was among the number, recognized me, and said: + +"Well; so you have escaped! But you came back in an evil moment! +Things go wrong--wrong!" + +The colonel and commandants mounted, and we began moving. The Cossacks +withdrew. We marched with arms at will; Zébédé was at my side and +related all that passed since Lutzen; the great victories of Bautzen +and Wurtschen; the forced marches to overtake the retreating enemy; the +march on Berlin; then the armistice, during which we were encamped in +the little towns; then the arrival of the veterans of Spain--men +accustomed to pillaging and living on the peasantry. + +Unfortunately, at the close of the armistice all were against us. The +country people looked on us with horror; they cut the bridges down, and +kept the Russians and Prussians informed of all our movements, and +whenever any misfortune happened us, instead of helping us, they tried +to force us deeper in the mire. The great rains came to finish us, and +the day of the battle of Dresden it fell so heavily that the Emperor's +hat hung down upon his shoulders. But when victorious, we only laughed +at these things; we felt warm just the same, and we could change our +clothes. But the worst of all was when we were beaten, and flying +through the mud--hussars, dragoons, and such gentry on our tracks,--we +not knowing when we saw a light in the night whether to advance or to +perish in the falling deluge. + +Zébédé told me all this in detail; how, after the victory of Dresden, +General Vandamme, who was to cut off the retreat of the Austrians, had +penetrated to Kulm in his ardor; and how those whom we had beaten the +day before fell upon him on all sides, front, flank, and rear, and +captured him and several other generals, utterly destroying his _corps +d'armée_. Two days before, on the 26th of August, a similar misfortune +happened to our division, as well as to the Fifth, Sixth, and Eleventh +corps on the heights of Lowenberg. We should have crushed the +Prussians there, but by a false movement of Marshal Macdonald, the +enemy surprised us in a ravine with our artillery in confusion, our +cavalry disordered, and our infantry unable to fire owing to the +pelting rain; we defended ourselves with the bayonet, and the Third +battalion made its way, in spite of the Prussian charges, to the river +Katzbach. There Zébédé received two blows on his head from the butt of +a grenadier's musket, and was thrown into the river. The current bore +him along, while he held Captain Arnauld by the arm; and both would +have been lost, if by good luck the captain in the darkness of the +night had not seized the overhanging branch of a tree on the other +side, and thus managed to regain the bank. He told me how all that +night, despite the blood that flowed from his nose and ears, he had +marched to the village of Goldberg, almost dead with hunger, fatigue, +and his wounds, and how a joiner had taken pity upon him and given him +bread, onions, and water. He told me how, on the day following, the +whole division, followed by the other corps, had marched across the +fields, each one taking his own course, without orders, because the +marshals, generals, and all mounted officers had fled as far as +possible, in the fear of being captured. He assured me that fifty +hussars could have captured them, one after another; but that by good +fortune, Blücher could not cross the flooded river, so that they +finally rallied at Wolda, where the drummers of every corps beat the +march for their regiments at all the corners of the village. By this +means every man extricated himself and followed his own drum. + +But the happiest thing in this rout was, that a little farther on, at +Buntzlau, their officers met them, surprised at yet having troops to +lead. This was what my comrade told me, to say nothing of the distrust +which we were obliged to have of our allies, who at any moment might +fall on us unprepared to receive them. He told me how Marshal Oudinot +and Marshal Ney had been beaten: the first at Gross-Beeren, and the +other at Dennewitz. This was sad indeed, for in these retreats the +conscripts died from exhaustion, sickness and every kind of hardship. +The veterans of Spain and Germany, hardened by bad weather, could alone +resist such fatigue. + +"In a word," said Zébédé, "we had everything against us--the country, +the continual rains, and our own generals, who were weary of all this. +Some of them are dukes and princes, and grow tired of being forever in +the mud instead of being seated in comfortable arm-chairs; and others, +like Vandamme, are impatient to become marshals, by performing some +grand stroke. We poor wretches, who have nothing to gain but being +crippled the rest of our days, and who are the sons of peasants and +workingmen who fought to get rid of one nobility, must perish to create +a new one!" + +I saw then that the poorest, the most miserable are not always the most +foolish, and that through suffering they come at last to see the +sorrowful truth. But I said nothing, and I prayed God to give me +strength and courage to support the hardships the coming of which these +faults and this injustice foretold. + +We were between three armies, who were uniting to crush us; that of the +north, commanded by Bernadotte; that of Silesia, commanded by Blücher; +and the army of Bohemia, commanded by Schwartzenberg. We believed at +one time we were going to cross the Elbe, to fall on the Prussians and +Swedes; at another, that we were about attacking the Austrians toward +the mountains as we had done fifty times in Italy and other places. +But they ended by understanding our movements, and when we seemed to +approach, they retired. They feared the Emperor especially, but he +could not be at once in Bohemia and Silesia, and so we were forced to +make horrible marches and countermarches. + +All that the soldiers asked, was to fight, for through marching and +sleeping in the mud, half rations and vermin had made their lives a +misery. Each one prayed that all this might end one way or the other. +It was too much for human endurance; it could not last. + +I, myself, at the end of a few days, was weary of such a life; my legs +could scarcely support me, and I grew leaner and leaner. + +Every night we were disturbed by a beggar named Thielmann, who raised +the peasantry against us; he followed us like a shadow; watched us from +village to village, on the heights, on the roads, in the valleys; his +army were all who bore us a grudge, and he had always men enough. + +It was about this time, too, that the Bavarians, the Badeners, and the +Wurtembergers declared against us, so that all Europe was upon us. + +At length we had the consolation of seeing that the army was collecting +as for a great battle; instead of meeting Platow's Cossacks and +Thielmann's partisans in the neighborhood of villages, we found +hussars, chasseurs, dragoons from Spain, artillery, pontoon trains on +the march. The rain still fell in floods; those who could no longer +drag themselves along sat down in the mud at the foot of a tree and +abandoned themselves to their unhappy fate. + +The eleventh of October we bivouacked near the village of Lousig; the +twelfth near Graffenheinichen; the thirteenth we crossed the Mulda, and +saw the Old Guard defile across the bridge, and La-Tour-Maubourg. It +was announced that the Emperor crossed too, but we departed with +Dombrowski's division and Souham's corps. + +At moments the rain would cease falling and a ray of autumn sun shine +out from between the clouds, and then we could see the whole army +marching; cavalry and infantry advancing from all sides, on Leipzig. +On the other side of the Mulda glittered the bayonets of the Prussians; +but we yet saw no Austrians and Russians: they doubtless came from +other directions. + +On the fourteenth of October, our battalion was detached to reconnoitre +the village of Aaken. The enemy were in force there, and received us +with a scattering artillery fire, and we remained all night without +being able to light a fire, on account of the pouring rain. The next +day we set out to rejoin our division by forced marches. Every one +said, I know not why: + +"The battle is approaching! the fight is coming on!" + +Sergeant Pinto declared that he felt the Emperor in the air. I felt +nothing, but I knew that we were marching on Leipzig, and I thought to +myself, "If we have a battle, God grant that you do not get an ugly +hurt as at Lutzen, and that you may see Catharine again!" The night +following the weather cleared up a little, thousands of stars shone +out, and we still kept on. The next day, about ten o'clock, near a +village whose name I cannot recollect, we were ordered to halt, and +then we felt a trembling in the air. The colonel and Sergeant Pinto +said: + +"The battle has begun!" and at the same moment, the colonel, waving his +sword, cried: "Forward!" + +We started at a run; knapsacks, cartouche-boxes, muskets, mud, all +drove on; we cared for nothing. Half an hour after we saw, a few +thousand paces ahead, a long column, in which followed artillery, +cavalry, and infantry, one after the other; behind us, on the road to +Duben, we saw another, all pushing forward at their utmost speed. +Regiments even advancing at the double quick across the fields. + +At the end of the road we could see the two spires of the churches of +Saint Nicholas and Saint Thomas in Leipzig, piercing the sky, while to +the right and left, on both sides of the city, rose great clouds of +smoke through which broad flashes were darting. The noise increased; +we were yet more than a league from the city, but we were forced to +almost shout to hear each other, and men gazed around, pale as death, +seeming by their looks to say: + +"This is indeed a battle?" + +Sergeant Pinto cried that it was worse than Eylau. He laughed no more, +nor did Zébédé; but on, on we rushed, officers incessantly urging us +forward. We seemed to grow delirious; the love of country was indeed +striving within us, but still greater was the furious eagerness for the +fight. + +At eleven o'clock we descried the battle-field about a league in front +of Leipzig. We saw the steeples and roofs crowded with people, and the +old ramparts on which I had walked so often, thinking of Catharine. +Opposite us, twelve or fifteen hundred yards distant, two regiments of +red lancers were drawn up, and a little to the left, two or three +regiments of mounted chasseurs in the fields along the Partha, and +between them filed the long column from Duben. Farther on, along the +slope, were the divisions Ricard, Dombrowski, Souham, and several +others, with their rear to the city; cannons limbered, with their +caissons--the cannoneers and artillerymen on horseback--stood ready to +start off; and far behind, on a hill, around one of those old +farmhouses with flat roofs and immense outlying sheds, so often seen in +that country, glittered the brilliant uniforms of the staff. + +It was the army of reserve, commanded by Ney. His left wing +communicated with Marmont, who was posted on the road to Halle, and his +right with the grand army, commanded by the Emperor in person. In this +manner our troops formed an immense circle around Leipzig; and the +enemy, arriving from all points, sought to join their divisions so as +to form a yet larger circle around us, and to inclose us in Leipzig as +in a trap. + +While we waited thus, three fearful battles were going on at once: one +against the Austrians and Russians at Wachau; another against the +Prussians at Mockern on the road to Halle; and the third on the road to +Lutzen, to defend the bridge of Lindenau, attacked by General Giulay. + +These things I learned afterward; but every one ought to tell what he +saw himself: in this way the world will know the truth. + + + + +XVIII + +The battalion was commencing to descend the hill, opposite Leipzig, to +rejoin our division, when we saw a staff-officer crossing the plain +below, and coming at full gallop toward us. In two minutes he was with +us; Colonel Lorain had spurred forward to meet him; they exchanged a +few words, and the officer returned. Hundreds of others were rushing +over the plain in the same manner, bearing orders. + +"Head of column to the right!" shouted the colonel. + +We took the direction of a wood, which skirts the Duben road some half +a league. It was a beech forest, but in it were birches and oaks. +Once at its borders, we were ordered to re-prime our guns, and the +battalion was deployed through the wood as skirmishers. We advanced +twenty-five paces apart, and each of us kept his eyes well opened, as +may be imagined. Every minute Sergeant Pinto would cry out: + +"Get under cover!" + +But he did not need to warn us: each one hastened to take his post +behind a stout tree, to reconnoitre well before proceeding to another. +To what dangers must peaceable people be exposed! We kept on in this +manner some ten minutes, and, as we saw nothing, began to grow +confident, when suddenly, one, two, three shots rang out. Then they +came from all sides, and rattled from end to end of our line. At the +same instant I saw my comrade on the left fall, trying, as he sank to +the earth, to support himself by the trunk of the tree behind which he +was standing. This roused me. I looked to the right and saw, fifty or +sixty paces off, an old Prussian soldier, with his long red mustaches +covering the lock of his piece; he was aiming deliberately at me. I +fell at once to the ground, and at the same moment heard the report. +It was a close escape, for the comb, brush, and handkerchief in my +shako were broken and torn by the bullet. A cold shiver ran through me. + +"Well done! a miss is as good as a mile!" cried the old sergeant, +starting forward at a run, and I, who had no wish to remain longer in +such a place, followed with right good-will. + +Lieutenant Bretonville, waving his sabre, cried, "Forward!" while, to +the right, the firing still continued. We soon arrived at a clearing, +where lay five or six trunks of felled trees, and a little lake full of +high grass, but not a tree standing, that might serve us for a cover. +Nevertheless, five or six of our men advanced boldly, when the sergeant +called out: + +"Halt! The Prussians are in ambush around us. Look sharp!" + +Scarcely had he spoken, when a dozen bullets whistled through the +branches, and at the same time, a number of Prussians rose, and plunged +deeper into the forest opposite. + +"There they go! Forward!" cried Pinto. + +But the bullet in my shako had rendered me cautious; it seemed as if I +could almost see through the trees, and, as the sergeant started forth +into the clearing, I held his arm, pointing out to him the muzzle of a +musket peeping out from a bush, not a hundred paces before us. The +others, clustering around, saw it too, and Pinto whispered: + +"Stay, Bertha; remain here and do not lose sight of him, while we turn +the position." + +They set off, to the right and left, and I, behind my tree, my piece at +my shoulder, waited like a hunter for his game. At the end of two or +three minutes, the Prussian, hearing nothing, rose slowly. He was +quite a boy, with little blonde mustaches, and a tall, slight, but +well-knit figure. I could have killed him as he stood, but the thought +of thus slaying a defenceless man froze my blood. Suddenly he saw me, +and bounded aside. Then I fired, and breathed more freely as I saw him +running, like a stag, toward the wood. + +At the same moment, five or six reports rang out to the right and left; +the sergeant Zébédé, Klipfel, and the rest appeared, and a hundred +paces farther on we found the young Prussian upon the ground blood +gushing from his mouth. He gazed at us with a scared expression, +raising his arms, as if to parry bayonet-thrusts, but the sergeant +called gleefully to him: + +"Fear nothing! Your account is settled." + +No one offered to injure him further; but Klipfel took a beautiful +pipe, which was hanging out of his pocket, saying: + +"For a long time I have wanted a pipe, and here is a fine one." + +"Fusileer Klipfel!" cried Pinto, indignantly, "will you be good enough +to put back that pipe? Leave it to the Cossacks to rob the wounded! A +French soldier knows only honor!" + +Klipfel threw down the pipe and we departed, not one caring to look +back at the wounded Prussian. We arrived at the edge of the forest, +outside which, among tufted bushes, the Prussians we pursued had taken +refuge. We saw them rise to fire upon us, but they immediately lay +down again. We might have remained there tranquilly, since we had +orders to occupy the wood, and the shots of the Prussians could not +hurt us, protected as we were by the trees. On the other side of the +slope we heard a terrific battle going on; the thunder of cannon was +increasing, it filled the air with one continuous roar. But our +officers held a council, and decided that the bushes were a part of the +forest, and that the Prussians must be driven from them. This +determination cost many a life. + +We received orders, then, to drive the enemy's tirailleurs, and as they +fired as we came on, we started at a run, so as to be upon them before +they could reload. Our officers ran, also full of ardor. We thought +the bushes ended at the top of the hill, and that we could sweep off +the Prussians by dozens. But scarcely had we arrived, out of breath, +upon the ridge, when old Pinto cried: + +"Hussars!" + +I looked up, and saw the _Colbacks_ rushing down upon us like a +tempest. Scarcely had I seen them, when I began to spring down the +hill, going, I verily believe, in spite of weariness and my knapsack, +fifteen feet at a bound. I saw before me, Pinto, Zébédé, and the +others, making their best speed. Behind, on came the hussars, their +officers shouting orders in German, their scabbards clanking and horses +neighing. The earth shook beneath them. + +I took the shortest road to the wood, and had almost reached it, when I +came upon one of the trenches where the peasants were in the habit of +digging clay for their houses. It was more than twenty feet wide, and +forty or fifty long, and the rain had made the sides very slippery; but +as I heard the very breathing of the horses behind me, while my hair +rose on my head, without thinking of aught else, I sprang forward, and +fell upon my face: another fusileer of my company was already there. +We rose as soon as we could, and at the same instant two hussars glided +down the slippery side of the trench. The first, cursing like a fiend, +aimed a sabre-stroke at my poor comrade's head, but as he rose in his +stirrups to give force to the blow I buried my bayonet in his side, +while the other brought down his blade upon my shoulder with such +force, that, were it not for my epaulette, I believe that I had been +wellnigh cloven in two. Then he lunged, but as the point of his sabre +touched my breast, a bullet from above crashed through his skull. I +looked around, and saw one of our men, up to his knees in the clay. He +had heard the oaths of the hussars and the neighing of the horses, and +had come to the edge of the trench to see what was going on. + +"Well, comrade," said he, laughing, "it was about time." + +I had not strength to reply, but stood trembling like an aspen leaf. +He unfixed his bayonet, and stretched the muzzle of his piece to me to +help me out. Then I squeezed his hand, saying: + +"You saved my life! What is your name?" + +He told me that his name was Jean Pierre Vincent. I have often since +thought that I should be only too happy to render that man any service +in my power; but two days after, the second battle of Leipzig took +place; then the retreat from Hanau began, and I never saw him again. + +Sergeant Pinto and Zébédé came up a moment after. Zébédé said: + +"We have escaped once more, Joseph, and now we are the only Phalsbourg +men in the battalion. Klipfel was sabred by the hussars." + +"Did you see him?" I cried. + +"Yes; he received over twenty wounds, and kept calling to me for aid." +Then, after a moment's pause, he added, "O Joseph! it is terrible to +hear the companion of your childhood calling for help, and not be able +to give it! But they were too many. They surrounded him on all sides." + +The thoughts of home rushed upon both our minds. I thought I could see +grandmother Klipfel when she would learn the news, and this made me +think too of Catharine. + +From the time of the charge of the hussars until night, the battalion +remained in the same position, skirmishing with the Prussians. We kept +them from occupying the wood; but they prevented us from ascending to +the ridge. The next day we knew why. The hill commanded the entire +course of the Partha, and the fierce cannonade we heard came from +Dombrowski's division, which was attacking the Prussian left wing, in +order to aid General Marmont at Mockern, where twenty thousand French, +posted in a ravine, were holding eighty thousand of Blücher's troops in +check; while toward Wachau a hundred and fifteen thousand French were +engaged with two hundred thousand Austrians and Russians. More than +fifteen hundred cannon were thundering at once. Our poor little +fusillade was like the humming of a bee in a storm, and we sometimes +ceased firing, on both sides, to listen. It seemed as if some +supernatural, infernal battle were going on; the air was filled with +smoke; the earth trembled beneath our feet: our soldiers like Pinto +declared they had never seen anything like it. + +About six o'clock, a staff-officer brought orders to Colonel Lorain, +and immediately after a retreat was sounded. The battalion had lost +sixty men by the charge of Russian hussars and the musketry. + +It was night when we left the forest, and on the banks of the +Partha--among caissons, wagons, retreating divisions, ambulances filled +with wounded, all defiling over the two bridges--we had to wait more +than two hours for our turn to cross. The heavens were black; the +artillery still growled afar off, but the three battles were ended. We +heard that we had beaten the Austrians and the Russians at Wachau, on +the other side of Leipzig; but our men returning from Mockern were +downcast and gloomy; not a voice cried _Vive l'Empereur!_ as after a +victory. + +Once on the other side of the river, the battalion proceeded down the +Partha a good half-league, as far as the village of Schoenfeld; the +night was damp; we marched along heavily, our muskets on our shoulders, +our heads bent down, and our eyes closing for want of sleep. + +Behind us the great column of cannon, caissons, baggage-wagons and +troops retreating from Mockern filled the air with a hoarse murmur, and +from time to time the cries of the artillerymen and teamsters, shouting +to make room, arose above the tumult. But these noises insensibly grew +less, and we at length reached a burial-ground, where we were ordered +to stack arms and break ranks. + +By this time the sky had cleared, and I recognized Schoenfeld in the +moonlight. How often had I eaten bread and drank white wine with +Zimmer there at the Golden Sheaf, when the sun shone brightly and the +leaves were green around! But those times had passed! + +Sentries were posted, and a few men went to the village for wood and +provisions. I sat against the cemetery wall, and at length fell +asleep. About three o'clock in the morning, I was awoke. + +It was Zébédé. "Joseph," said he, "come to the fire. If you remain +here, you run the risk of catching the fever." + +I arose, sick with fatigue and suffering. A fine rain filled the air. +My comrade drew me toward the fire, which smoked in the drizzling +atmosphere; it seemed to give out no heat; but Zébédé having made me +drink a draught of brandy I felt at least less cold, and gazed at the +bivouac fires on the other side of the Partha. + +"The Prussians are warming themselves in our wood," said Zébédé. + +"Yes," I replied; "and poor Klipfel is there too, but he no longer +feels the cold." + +My teeth chattered. These words saddened us both. A few moments after +Zébédé resumed: + +"Do you remember, Joseph, the black ribbon he wore the day of the +conscription, and how he cried, 'we are all condemned to death, like +those gone to Russia? I want a black ribbon. We must wear our own +mourning!' And his little brother said: 'No, no, Jacob, I do not want +it!' and wept! but Klipfel put on the black ribbon notwithstanding; he +saw the hussars in his dreams." + +As Zébédé spoke, I recalled those things, and I saw too that wretch +Pinacle on the Town Hall Square, calling me and shaking a black ribbon +over his head: "Ha, cripple! you must have a fine ribbon; the ribbon of +those who win!" + +This remembrance, together with the cold, which seemed to freeze the +very marrow in our bones, made me shudder. I thought Pinacle was +right; that I had seen the last of home. I thought of Catharine, of +Aunt Grédel, of good Monsieur Goulden, and I cursed those who had +forced me from them. + +At daybreak, wagons arrived with food and brandy for us; the rain had +ceased; we made soup, but nothing could warm me; I had caught the +fever; within I was cold while my body burned. I was not the only one +in the battalion in that condition; three-fourths of the men were +suffering from it: and, for a month before, those who could no longer +march had lain down by the roadside weeping and calling upon their +mothers like little children. Hunger, forced marches, the rain, and +grief had done their work, and happy was it for the parents that they +could not see their cherished sons perishing along the road; it would +be too fearful; many would think there was no mercy in earth or heaven. + +As the light increased, we saw to the left, on the other side of the +river--and of a great ravine filled with willows and aspens--burnt +villages, heaps of dead, abandoned wagons, broken caissons, dismounted +cannon and ravaged fields stretched as far as the eye could reach on +the Halle, Lindenthal and Dölitch roads. It was worse than at Lutzen. +We saw the Prussians deploy, and advance their thousands over the +battle-field. They were to join with the Russians and Austrians and +close the great circle around us, and we could not prevent them, +especially as Bernadotte and the Russian General Beningsen had come up +with twenty thousand fresh troops. Thus, after fighting three battles +in one day, were we, only one hundred and thirty thousand strong, +seemingly about to be entrapped in the midst of three hundred thousand +bayonets, not to speak of fifty thousand horse and twelve hundred +cannon. + +From Schoenfeld, the battalion started to rejoin the division at +Kohlgarten. All the roads were lined with slow-moving ambulances, +filled with wounded; all the wagons of the country around had been +impressed for this service; and, in the intervals between them, marched +hundreds of poor fellows with their arms in slings, or their heads +bandaged--pale, crestfallen, half dead. All who could drag themselves +along kept out of the ambulances, but tried nevertheless to reach a +hospital. We made our way, with a thousand difficulties, through this +mass, when, near Kohlgarten, twenty hussars, galloping at full speed, +and with levelled pistols, drove back the crowd, right and left, into +the fields, shouting, as they pressed on: + +"The Emperor! the Emperor!" + +The battalion drew up, and presented arms; and a few moments after, the +mounted grenadiers of the guard--veritable giants, with their great +boots, their immense bear-skin hats, descending to their shoulders and +only allowing their mustaches, nose, and eyes to remain visible--passed +at a gallop. Our men looked joyfully at them, glad that such robust +warriors were on our side. + +Scarcely had they passed, when the staff tore after. Imagine a hundred +and fifty to two hundred marshals, generals, and other superior +officers, mounted on magnificent steeds, and so covered with embroidery +that the color of their uniforms was scarcely visible; some tall, thin, +and haughty; others short, thick-set, and red-faced; others again young +and handsome, sitting like statues in their saddles; all with eager +look and flashing eyes. It was a magnificent and terrible sight. + +But the most striking figure among those captains, who for twenty years +had made Europe tremble, was Napoleon himself, with his old hat and +gray overcoat; his large, determined chin and neck buried between his +shoulders. All shouted "_Vive l'Empereur!_" but he heard nothing of +it. He paid no more attention to us than to the drizzling rain which +filled the air, but gazed with contracted brows at the Prussian army +stretching along the Partha to join the Austrians. So I saw him on +that day and so he remains in my memory. The battalion had been on the +march for a quarter of an hour, when at length Zébédé said: + +"Did you see him, Joseph?" + +"I did," I replied; "I saw him well, and I will remember the sight all +my life." + +"It is strange," said my comrade; "he does not seem to be pleased. At +Wurschen, the day after the battle, he seemed rejoiced to hear our +'_Vive l'Empereur!_' and the generals all wore merry faces too. To-day +they seem savage, and nevertheless the captain said that we bore off +the victory on the other side of Leipzig." + +Others thought the same thing without speaking of it, but there was a +growing uneasiness among all. + +We found the regiment bivouacked near Kohlgarten. In every direction +camp-fires were rolling their smoke to the sky. A drizzling rain +continued to fall, and the men, seated on their knapsacks around the +fires, seemed depressed and gloomy. The officers formed groups of +their own. On all sides it was whispered that such a war had never +before been seen; it was one of extermination; that it did not help us +to defeat the enemy, for they only desired to kill us off, knowing that +they had four or five times our number of men, and would finally remain +masters. + +They said, too, that the Emperor had won the battle at Wachau, against +the Austrians and Russians; but that the victory was useless, because +they did not retreat, but stood awaiting masses of reinforcements. On +the side of Mockern we knew that we had lost, in spite of Marmont's +splendid defence; the enemy had crushed us beneath the weight of their +numbers. We only had one real advantage that day on our side; that was +keeping our line of retreat on Erfurt: for Giulay had not been able to +seize the bridges of the Elster and Pleisse. All the army, from the +simple soldier to the marshal, thought that we would have to retreat as +soon as possible, and that our position was of the worst; unfortunately +the Emperor thought otherwise, and we had to remain. + +All day on the seventeenth we lay in our position without firing a +shot. A few spoke of the arrival of General Regnier with sixteen +thousand Saxons; but the defection of the Bavarians taught us what +confidence we could put in our allies. + +Toward evening of the next day, we discovered the army of the north on +the plateau of Breitenfeld. This was sixty thousand more men for the +enemy. I can yet hear the maledictions levelled at Bernadotte--the +cries of indignation of those who knew him as a simple officer in the +army of the Republic, who cried out that he owed us all--that we made +him a king with our blood, and that he now came to give us the +finishing blow. + +That night, a general movement rearward was made; our lines drew closer +and closer around Leipzig; then all became quiet. But this did not +prevent our reflecting; on the contrary, every one thought, in the +silence: + +"What will to-morrow bring forth? Shall I at this hour see the moon +rising among the clouds as I now see her? Will the stars yet shine for +me to see?" + +And when, in the dim night, we gazed at the circle of fire which for +nearly six leagues stretched around us, we cried within ourselves: + +"Now indeed the world is against us; all nations demand our +extermination; they want no more of our glory!" + +But we remembered that we had the honor of bearing the name of +Frenchmen, and must conquer or die. + + + + +XIX + +In the midst of such thoughts, day broke. Nothing was stirring yet, +and Zébédé said: + +"What a chance for us, if the enemy should fear to attack us!" + +The officers spoke of an armistice; but suddenly about nine o'clock, +our couriers came galloping in, crying that the enemy was moving his +whole line down upon us, and directly after we heard cannon on our +right, along the Elster. We were already under arms, and set out +across the fields toward the Partha to return to Schoenfeld. The +battle had begun. + +On the hills overlooking the river, two or three divisions, with +batteries in the intervals, and cannon at the flanks, awaited the +enemy's approach; beyond, over the points of their bayonets, we could +see the Prussians, the Swedes, and the Russians, advancing on all sides +in deep, never-ending masses. Shortly after, we took our place in +line, between two hills, and then we saw five or six thousand Prussians +crossing the river, and all together shouting, "_Vaterland! +Vaterland!_" This caused a tremendous tumult, like that of clouds of +rooks flying north. + +At the same instant the musketry opened from both sides of the river. +The valley through which the Partha flows was filled with smoke; the +Prussians were already upon us--we could see their furious eyes and +wild looks; they seemed like savage beasts rushing down on us. Then +but one shout of "_Vive l'Empereur!_" smote the sky and we dashed +forward. The shock was terrible; thousands of bayonets crossed; we +drove them back, were ourselves driven back; muskets were clubbed; the +opposing ranks were confounded and mingled in one mass; the fallen were +trampled upon, while the thunder of artillery, the whistling of +bullets, and the thick white smoke enclosing all, made the valley seem +the pit of hell, peopled by contending demons. Despair urged us, and +the wish to revenge our deaths before yielding up our lives. The pride +of boasting that they once defeated Napoleon incited the Prussians; for +they are the proudest of men, and their victories at Gross-Beeren and +Katzbach had made them fools. But the river swept away them and their +pride! Three times they crossed and rushed at us. We were indeed +forced back by the shock of their numbers, and how they shouted then! +They seemed to wish to devour us. Their officers, waving their swords +in the air, cried, "_Vorwärtz! Vorwärtz!_" and all advanced like a +wall, with the greatest courage--that we cannot deny. Our cannon +opened huge gaps in their lines; still they pressed on; but at the top +of the hill we charged again, and drove them to the river. We would +have massacred them to a man, were it not for one of their batteries +before Mockern, which enfiladed us and forced us to give up the pursuit. + +This lasted until two o'clock; half our officers were killed or +wounded; the colonel, Lorain, was among the first, and the commandant, +Gémeau, the latter; all along the river side were heaps of dead, or +wounded men crawling away from the struggle. Some, furious, would rise +to their knees to fire a last shot or deliver a final bayonet-thrust. +Never was anything seen like it. In the river floated long lines of +corpses, some showing their faces, others their backs, others their +feet. They followed each other like rafts of wood, and no one paid the +least attention to the sight--no one of us knew that the same might not +be his condition at any minute. + +[Illustration: In the river the dead were floating by in files.] + +The carnage reached from Schoenfeld to Grossdorf, along the Partha. + +At length the Swedes and Prussians ceased their attacks, and started +farther up the river to turn our position, and masses of Russians came +to occupy the places they had left. + +The Russians formed in two columns, and descended to the valley, with +shouldered arms, in admirable order. Twice they assailed us with the +greatest bravery, but without uttering wild beasts' cries, like the +Prussians. Their cavalry attempted to carry the old bridge above +Schoenfeld, and the cannonade increased. On all sides, as far as eye +could reach, we saw only the enemy massing their forces, and when we +had repulsed one of their columns, another of fresh men took its place. +The fight had ever to be fought over again. + +Between two and three o'clock, we learned that the Swedes and the +Prussian cavalry had crossed the river above Grossdorf, and were about +to take us in the rear, a mode which pleased them much better than +fighting face to face. Marshal Ney immediately changed front, throwing +his right wing to the rear. Our division still remained supported on +Schoenfeld, but all the others retired from the Partha, to stretch +along the plain, and the entire army formed but one line around Leipzig. + +The Russians, behind the road to Mockern, prepared for a third attack +toward three o'clock; our officers were making new dispositions to +receive them; when a sort of shudder ran from one end of our lines to +the other, and in a few moments all knew that the sixteen thousand +Saxons and the Wurtemberg cavalry, in our very centre, had passed over +to the enemy, and that on their way they had the infamy to turn the +forty guns they carried with them, on their old brothers-in-arms of +Durutte's division. + +This treason, instead of discouraging us, so added to our fury, that if +we had been allowed, we would have crossed the river to massacre them. +They say that they were defending their country. It is false! They +had only to have left us on the Duben road; why did they not go then? +They might have done like the Bavarians and quitted us before the +battle; they might have remained neutral--might have refused to serve; +but they deserted us only because fortune was against us. If they knew +we were going to win, they would have continued our very good friends, +so that they might have their share of the spoil or glory--as after +Jena and Friedland. This is what every one thought, and it is why +those Saxons are, and will ever remain, traitors: not only did they +abandon their friends in distress, but they murdered them, to make a +welcome with the enemy. God is just. And so great was their new +allies' scorn of them, that they divided half Saxony between themselves +after the battle. The French might well laugh at Prussian, Austrian, +and Russian gratitude. + +From the time of this desertion until evening, it was a war of +vengeance that we carried on; the allies might crush us by numbers, but +they should pay dearly for their victory! + +At nightfall, while two thousand pieces of artillery were thundering +together, we were attacked for the seventh time in Schoenfeld. The +Russians on one side and the Prussians on the other poured in upon us. +We defended every house. In every lane the walls crumbled beneath the +bullets, and roofs fell in on every side. There were now no shouts as +at the beginning of the battle; all were cool and pale with rage. The +officers had collected scattered muskets and cartridge-boxes, and now +loaded and fired like the men. We defended the gardens, too, and the +cemetery, where we had bivouacked, until there were more dead above +than beneath the soil. Every inch of earth cost a life. + +It was night when Marshal Ney brought up a reinforcement--whence I knew +not. It was what remained of Ricard's division and Souham's Second. +The _débris_ of our regiments united, and hurled the Russians to the +other side of the old bridge, which no longer had a rail, that having +been swept away by the shot. Six twelve-pounders were posted on the +bridge and maintained a fire for one hour longer. The remainder of the +battalion, and of some others in our rear, supported the guns; and I +remember how their flashes lit up the forms of men and horses, heaped +beneath the dark arches. The sight lasted only a moment, but it was a +horrible moment indeed! + +At half-past seven, masses of cavalry advanced on our left, and we saw +them whirling about two large squares, which slowly retired. Then we +received orders to retreat. Not more than two or three thousand men +remained at Schoenfeld with the six pieces of artillery. We reached +Kohlgarten without being pursued, and were to bivouac around Rendnitz. +Zébédé was yet living, and, as we marched on, listening to the +cannonade, which continued, despite the darkness, along the Elster, he +said, suddenly: + +"How is it that we are here, Joseph, when so many thousand others that +stood by our side are dead? It seems as if we bore charmed lives, and +could not die." + +I made no reply. + +"Think you there was ever before such a battle?" he asked. "No, it +cannot be. It is impossible." + +It was indeed a battle of giants. From ten in the morning until seven +in the evening, we had held our own against three hundred and sixty +thousand men, without, at night, having lost an inch: and, +nevertheless, we were but a hundred and thirty thousand. God keep me +from speaking ill of the Germans. They were fighting for the +independence of their country. But they might do better than celebrate +the anniversary of the battle of Leipzig every year. There is not much +to boast of in fighting an enemy three to one. + +Approaching Rendnitz, we marched over heaps of dead. At every step we +encountered dismounted cannon, broken caissons, and trees cut down by +shot. There a division of the Young Guard and the mounted grenadiers, +led by Napoleon himself, had repulsed the Swedes who were advancing +into the breach made by the treachery of the Saxons. Two or three +burning houses lit up the scene. The mounted grenadiers were yet at +Rendnitz, but crowds of disbanded troops were passing up and down the +street. No rations had been distributed, and all were seeking +something to eat and drink. + +As we defiled by a large house, we saw behind the wall of a court two +_cantinières_, who were giving the soldiers drink from their wagons. +There were there chasseurs, cuirassiers, lancers, hussars, infantry of +the line and of the guard, all mingled together, with torn uniforms, +broken shakos, and plumeless helmets, and all seemingly famished. + +Two or three dragoons stood on the wall near a pot of burning pitch, +their arms crossed on their long white cloaks, covered from head to +foot with blood, like butchers. + +Zébédé, without speaking, pushed me with his elbow, and we entered the +court, while the others pursued their way. It took us full a quarter +of an hour to reach one of the wagons. I held up a crown of six +livres, and the _cantinière_, kneeling behind her cask, handed me a +large glass of brandy and a piece of white bread, at the same time +taking my money. I drank and passed the glass to Zébédé, who emptied +it. We had as much difficulty in getting out of the crowd as in +entering. Hard, famished faces and cavernous eyes were on all sides of +us. No one moved willingly. Each thought only of himself, and cared +not for his neighbor. They had escaped a thousand deaths to-day only +to dare a thousand more to-morrow. Well might they mutter, "Every one +for himself, and God for us all." + +As we went through the village street, Zébédé said, "You have bread?" + +"Yes." + +I broke it in two, and gave him half. We began to eat, at the same +time hastening on. We heard distant firing. At the end of twenty +minutes we had overtaken the rear of the column, and recognized the +battalion of Captain Adjutant-Major Vidal, who was marching near it. +We had taken our places in the ranks before any one noticed our absence. + +The nearer we approached the city the more detachments, cannon and +baggage we encountered hastening to Leipzig. + +Toward ten o'clock we passed through the faubourg of Rendnitz. The +general of brigade, Fournier, took command of us and ordered us to +oblique to the left. At midnight we arrived at the long promenades +which border the Pleisse, and halted under the old leafless lindens, +and stacked arms. A long line of fires flickered in the fog as far as +Randstadt; and, when the flames burnt high, they threw a glare on +groups of Polish lancers, lines of horses, cannon, and wagons, while, +at intervals beyond, sentinels stood like statues in the mist. A +heavy, hollow sound arose from the city, and mingled with the rolling +of our trains over the bridge at Lindenau. It was the beginning of the +retreat. + +Then every one put his knapsack at the foot of a tree and stretched +himself on the ground, his arm under his head. A quarter of an hour +after all were sleeping. + + + + +XX + +What occurred until daybreak I know not. Baggage, wounded, and +prisoners doubtless continued to crowd across the bridge. But then a +terrific shock woke us all. We started up, thinking the enemy were +upon us, when two officers of hussars came galloping in with the news +that a powder wagon had exploded by accident in the grand avenue of +Randstadt, at the river-side. The dark, red smoke rolled up to the +sky, and slowly disappeared, while the old houses continued to shake as +if an earthquake were rolling by. + +Quiet was soon restored. Some lay down to sleep: but it was growing +lighter every minute; and, glancing toward the river, I saw our troops +extending until lost in the distance along the five bridges of the +Elster and Pleisse, which follow, one after another, and make, so to +speak, but one. Thousands of men must defile over this bridge, and, of +necessity, take time in doing so. And the idea struck every one that +it would have been much better to have thrown several bridges across +the two rivers; for at any instant the enemy might attack us, and then +retreat would have become difficult indeed. But the Emperor had +forgotten to give the order, and no one dared do anything without +orders. Not a marshal of France would have dared to take it upon +himself to say that two bridges were better than one. To such a point +had the terrible discipline of Napoleon reduced those old captains! +They obeyed like machines, and disturbed themselves about nothing. +Such was their fear of displeasing their master. + +As I gazed at that bridge, which seemed endless, I thought, "Heaven +grant that they may let us cross now, for we have had enough of battles +and carnage! Once on the other side and we are on the road to France, +indeed, and I may again see Catharine, Aunt Grédel, and Father +Goulden!" So thinking, I grew sad; I gazed at the thousands of +artillerymen and baggage-guards swarming over the bridge, and saw the +tall bear-skin shakos of the Old Guard, who stood with shouldered arms +immovable on the hill of Lindenau on the other side of the river--and +as I thought they were fairly on their way to France, how I longed to +be in their place! Zébédé, through whose mind the same thoughts were +running, said: + +"Hey! Joseph; if we were only there!" + +But I felt bitterly, indeed, when, about seven o'clock, three wagons +came to distribute provisions and ammunition among us, and it became +evident that we were to become the rear-guard. In spite of my hunger, +I felt like throwing my bread against a wall. A few moments after, two +squadrons of Polish lancers appeared coming up the bank, and behind +them five or six generals, Poniatowski among the number. He was a man +of about fifty, tall, slight, and with a melancholy expression. He +passed without looking at us. General Fournier, who now commanded our +brigade, spurred from among his staff, and cried: + +"By file, left!" + +I never so felt my heart sink. I would have sold my life for two +farthings; but nevertheless, we had to move on, and turn our backs to +the bridge. + +We soon arrived at a place called Hinterthor--an old gate on the road +to Caunewitz. To the right and left stretched ancient ramparts, and +behind, rows of houses. We were posted in covered roads, near this +gate, which the sappers had strongly barricaded. Captain Vidal then +commanded the battalion, reduced to three hundred and twenty-five men. +A few worm-eaten palisades served us for intrenchments, and, on all the +roads before us, the enemy were advancing. This time they wore white +coats and flat caps, with a raised piece in front, on which we could +see the two-headed eagle of the _kreutzers_. Old Pinto, who recognized +them at once, cried: + +"Those fellows are the _kaiserliks_! We have beaten them fifty times +since 1793; but if the father of Marie Louise had a heart, they would +be with us now instead of against us." + +For some moments a cannonade had been going on at the other side of the +city, where Blücher was attacking the faubourg of Halle. + +Soon after, the firing stretched along to the right; it was Bernadotte +attacking the faubourg of Kohlgartenthor, and at the same time the +first shells of the Austrians fell in our covered ways; they followed +in file; many passing over Hinterthor, burst in the houses and the +streets of the faubourg. + +At nine o'clock the Austrians formed their columns of attack on the +Caunewitz road, and poured down on us from all sides. Nevertheless we +held our own until about ten o'clock, and then were forced back to the +old ramparts, through the breaches of which the Kaiserliks pursued us +under the cross-fire of the Fourteenth and Twenty-ninth of the line. +The poor Austrians were not inspired with the fury of the Prussians, +but nevertheless, showed a true courage; for, at half-past ten they had +won the ramparts, and although, from all the neighboring windows, we +kept up a deadly fire, we could not force them back. Six months before +it would have horrified me to think of men being thus slaughtered, but +now I was as insensible as any old soldier, and the death of one man or +of a hundred would not cost me a thought. + +Until this time all had gone well, but how were we to get out of the +houses? Unless we climbed on the roof, retreat was no longer possible. +This again was one of those terrible moments I shall never forget. All +at once the idea struck me that we should be caught like foxes which +they smoke in their holes. The enemy held every avenue. I went to a +window in the rear, and saw that it looked out on a yard, and that the +yard had no gate except in front. I thought it not unlikely that the +Austrians, in revenge for the loss we had inflicted upon them, might +put us to the point of the bayonet. It would have been natural enough. +Thinking thus, I ran back to a room, where a dozen of us yet remained, +and there I saw Sergeant Pinto leaning against the wall, his arms +hanging by his sides, and his face as white as paper. He had just +received a bullet in the breast, but the old man's warrior soul was +still strong within him, as he cried: + +"Defend yourselves, conscripts! Defend yourselves! Show the +Kaiserliks that a French soldier is yet worth four of them! ah the +villains!" + +We heard the sound of blows on the door below thundering like +cannon-shot. We still kept up our fire, but hopelessly, when we heard +the clatter of hoofs without. The firing ceased, and we saw through +the smoke four squadrons of lancers dashing like a troop of lions +through the midst of the Austrians. All yielded before them. The +Kaiserliks fled, but the long, blue lances, with their red pennons, +were swifter than they, and many a white coat was pierced from behind. +The lancers were Poles--the most terrible warriors I have ever seen, +and, to speak truth, our friends, and our brothers. They never turned +from us in our hour of need; they gave us the last drop of their blood. +And what have we done for their unhappy country? When I think of our +ingratitude, my heart bleeds. The Poles rescued us. Seeing them so +proud and brave, we rushed out, attacking the Austrians with the +bayonet, and driving them into the trenches. We were for the time +victorious, but it was time to beat a retreat, for the enemy were +already filling Leipzig; the gates of Halle and Grimma were forced, and +that of Peters-Thau delivered up by our friends the Badeners and our +other friends the Saxons. Soldiers, citizens, and students kept up a +fire from the windows, on our retiring troops. + +We had only time to re-form and take the road along the Pleisse; the +lancers awaited us there: we defiled behind them, and, as the Austrians +again pressed around us, they charged once more to drive them back. +What brave fellows and magnificent horsemen were those Poles! How +those who saw them charge--in such a moment--must admire them! + +The division, reduced from fifteen to eight thousand men, retired step +by step before fifty thousand foes, and not without often turning and +replying to the Austrian fire. + +We neared the bridge--with what joy, I need not say. But it was no +easy task to reach it, for infantry and horse crowded the whole width +of the avenue, and continued to come from all the neighboring roads, +until the crowd formed an impenetrable mass, which advanced slowly, +with groans and smothered cries, which might be heard at a distance of +half a mile, despite the rattling of musketry. Woe to those upon the +sides of the bridge! they were forced into the water and no one +stretched a hand to save them. In the middle, men and even horses were +carried along with the crowd; they had no need of making any exertion +of their own. But how were we to get there? The enemy were advancing +nearer and nearer every moment. It is true we had stationed a few +cannon so as to sweep the principal approaches, and some troops yet +remained in line to repulse their attacks, but they had guns to sweep +the bridge, and those who remained behind must receive their whole +fire. This accounted for the press on the bridge. + +At two or three hundred paces from the bridge, the idea of rushing +forward and throwing myself into the midst of the crowd, entered my +mind; but Captain Vidal, Lieutenant Bretonville, and other old officers +said: + +"Shoot down the first man that leaves the ranks!" + +It was horrible to be so near safety, and yet unable to escape. + +This was between eleven and twelve o'clock. The fusillade grew nearer +on the right and left, and a few bullets began to whistle over our +heads. From the side of Halle we saw the Prussians rush pellmell out +with our own soldiers. Terrible cries now arose from the bridge. +Cavalry, to make way for themselves, sabred the infantry, who replied +with the bayonet. It was a general _sauve qui peut_. At every +movement of the crowd, some one fell from the bridge, and, trying to +regain his place, dragged five or six with him into the water. + +In the midst of this horrible confusion, this pandemonium of shouts, +cries, groans, musket-shots, and sabre-strokes, a crash like a peal of +thunder was heard, and the first arch of the bridge rose upward into +the air with all upon it. + +Hundreds of wretches were torn to pieces, and hundreds of others were +crushed beneath the falling ruins. + +A sapper had blown up the arch! + +At this sight, the cry of treason rang from mouth to mouth. "We are +lost--betrayed!" was now the cry on all sides. The tumult was fearful. +Some, in the rage of despair, turned upon the enemy like wild beasts at +bay, thinking only of vengeance; others broke their arms, cursing +heaven and earth for their misfortunes. Mounted officers and generals +dashed into the river to cross it by swimming, and many soldiers +followed them without taking time to throw off their knapsacks. The +thought that the last hope of safety was gone, and nothing now remained +but to be massacred, made men mad. I had seen the Partha choked with +dead bodies the day before, but this scene was a thousand times more +horrible; drowning wretches dragging down those who happened to be near +them; shrieks and yells of rage, or for help; a broad river concealed +by a mass of heads and struggling arms. + +Captain Vidal, who, by his coolness and steady eye, had hitherto kept +us to our duty, even Captain Vidal now appeared discouraged. He thrust +his sabre into the scabbard, and cried, with a strange laugh: + +"The game is up! Let us be gone!" + +I touched his arm; he looked sadly and kindly at me. + +"What do you wish, my child?" he asked. + +"Captain," said I, "I was four months in the hospital at Leipzig: I +have bathed in the Elster, and I know a ford." + +"Where?" + +"Ten minutes' march above the bridge." + +He drew his sabre at once from its sheath, and shouted: + +"Follow me, my boys, and you, Bertha, lead." + +The entire battalion, which did not now number more than two hundred +men, followed; a hundred others, who saw us start confidently forward, +joined us without knowing where we were going. The Austrians were +already on the terrace of the avenue; farther down, gardens, separated +by hedges, stretched to the Elster. I recognized the road which Zimmer +and I had traversed so often in July, when the ground was covered with +flowers. The enemy fired on us, but we did not reply. I entered the +water first; Captain Vidal next, then the others, two abreast. It +reached our shoulders, for the river was swollen by the autumn rains; +but we crossed, notwithstanding, without the loss of a man. Nearly all +of us had our muskets when we reached the other bank, and we pressed +onward across the fields, and soon reached the little wooden bridge at +Schleissig, and thence turned to Lindenau. + +We marched silently, turning from time to time to gaze on the other +side of the Elster, where the battle still raged in the streets of +Leipzig. The furious shouts, and the deep boom of cannon still reached +our ears; and it was only when, about two o'clock, we overtook the long +column which stretched, till lost in the distance, on the road to +Erfurt, that the sounds of conflict were lost in the roll of wagons and +artillery trains. + + + + +XXI + +Hitherto I have described the grandeur of war--battles glorious to +France, notwithstanding our mistakes and misfortunes. When we were +fighting all Europe alone, always one against two, and often one to +three; when we finally succumbed, not through the courage of our foes, +but borne down by treason, and the weight of numbers, we had no reason +to blush for our defeat, and the victors have little reason to exult in +it. It is not numbers that makes the glory of a people or an army--it +is virtue and bravery. This is what I think in all sincerity, and I +believe that right feeling, sensible men in every country will think +the same. + +But now I must relate the horrors of retreat, and this is the hardest +part of my task. It is said that confidence gives strength, and this +is especially true of the French. While they advanced in full hope of +victory, they were united; the will of their chiefs was their only law; +they knew that they could succeed only by strict observance of +discipline. But when driven back, no one had confidence save in +himself, and commands were forgotten. Then these men--once so brave +and so proud, who marched so gayly to the fight--scattered to right and +left; sometimes fleeing alone, sometimes in groups. Then those who, a +little while before, trembled at their approach, grew bold; they came +on, first timidly, but, meeting no resistance, became insolent. Then +they would swoop down and carry off three or four laggards at a time, +as I have seen crows in winter swoop upon a fallen horse, which they +did not dare approach while he could yet remain on his feet. + +I have seen miserable Cossacks--very beggars, with nothing but old rags +hanging around them; an old cap of tattered skin over their ears; +unshorn beards, covered with vermin; mounted on old worn-out horses, +without saddles, and with only a piece of rope by way of stirrups, an +old rusty pistol all their fire-arms, and a nail at the end of a pole +for a lance; I have seen those wretches, who resembled sallow and +decrepit Jews more than soldiers, stop ten, fifteen, twenty of our men, +and lead them off like sheep. + +And the tall, lank peasants, who, a few months before, trembled if we +only looked at them--I have seen them arrogantly repulse old +soldiers--cuirassiers, artillerymen, dragoons who had fought through +the Spanish war, men who could have crushed them with a blow of their +fist; I have seen these peasants insist that they had no bread to sell, +while the odor of the oven arose on all sides of us; that they had no +wine, no beer, when we heard glasses clinking to right and left. And +no one dared punish them; no one dared take what he wanted from the +wretches who laughed to see us in such straits, for each one was +retreating on his own account; we had no leaders, no discipline, and +they could easily out-number us. + +And to hunger, misery, weariness, and fever, the horrors of an +approaching winter were added. The rain never ceased falling from the +gray sky, and the winds pierced us to the bones. How could poor +beardless conscripts, mere shadows, fleshless and worn out, endure all +this? They perished by thousands; their bodies covered the roads. The +terrible _typhus_ pursued us. Some said it was a plague, engendered by +the dead not being buried deep enough; others, that it was the +consequence of sufferings that required more than human strength to +bear. I know not how this may be, but the villages of Alsace and +Lorraine, to which we brought it, will long remember their sufferings; +of a hundred attacked by it, not more than ten or twelve, at the most, +recovered. + +At length--since I must continue this sad story--on the evening of the +nineteenth, we bivouacked at Lutzen, where our regiments re-formed as +best they might. The next day early, as we marched on Weissenfels, we +had to skirmish with the Westphalians, who followed us as far as the +village of Eglaystadt. The twenty-second we bivouacked on the glacis +at Erfurt, where we received new shoes and uniforms. Five or six +disbanded companies joined our battalion--nearly all conscripts. Our +new coats and shoes were much too large for us; but they were warm; we +felt like new men. + +We had to start again the twenty-second, and the following days passed +near Götha, Teitlobe, Eisenach and Salminster. The Cossacks +reconnoitred us from a distance. Our hussars would drive them off; but +they returned the moment pursuit was relaxed. Many of our men went +pillaging in the night, and were absent at roll-call, and the sentries +received orders to shoot all who attempted to leave their bivouacs. + +I had had the fever ever since we left Leipzig; it increased day by +day, and I became so weak that I could scarcely rise in the mornings to +follow the march. Zébédé looked sadly at me, and sometimes said: + +"Courage, Joseph! We will soon be at home!" + +These words reanimated me; I felt my face flush. + +"Yes, yes!" I said; "we will soon be home; I must see home once more!" + +The tears forced themselves to my eyes. Zébédé carried knapsack when I +was tired, and continued: + +"Lean on my arm. We are getting nearer every day, now, Joseph. A few +dozen leagues are nothing." + +My heart beat more bravely, but my strength was gone. I could no +longer carry my musket; it was heavy as lead. I could not eat; my +knees trembled beneath me; still I did not despair, but kept murmuring +to myself: "This is nothing. When you see the clock-tower of +Phalsbourg your fever will leave you. You will have good air, and +Catharine will nurse you. All will yet be well!" + +Others, no worse than I, fell by the roadside, but still I toiled on; +when near Folde, we learned that fifty thousand Bavarians were posted +in the forests through which we were to pass, for the purpose of +cutting off our retreat. This was my finishing stroke, for I knew I +could no longer load, fire, or defend myself with the bayonet. I felt +that all my sufferings to get so far toward home were useless. +Nevertheless, I made an effort, when we were ordered to march, and +tried to rise. + +"Come, come, Joseph!" said Zébédé; "courage!" + +But I could not move, and lay sobbing like a child. + +"Come, stand up!" he said. + +"I cannot. O God! I cannot!" + +I clutched his arm. Tears streamed down his face. He tried to lift +me, but he was too weak; I held fast to him, crying: + +"Zébédé, do not abandon me!" + +Captain Tidal approached, and gazed sadly on me. + +"Cheer up, my lad," said he; "the ambulances will be along in half an +hour." + +But I knew what that meant, and I drew Zébédé closer to me. He +embraced me, and I whispered in his ear: + +"Kiss Catharine for me--promise! Tell her that I died thinking of her, +and bear her my last farewell!" + +"Yes, yes!" he sobbed. "My poor Joseph!" + +I could cling to him no longer. He placed me on the ground, and ran +away without turning his head. The column departed, and I gazed at it +as one who sees his last hope fading from his eyes. The last of the +battalion disappeared over the ridge of a hill. I closed my eyes. An +hour passed, or perhaps a longer time, when the boom of cannon startled +me, and I saw a division of the guard pass at a quick step with +artillery and wagons. Seeing some sick in the wagons, I cried, +wistfully: + +"Take me! Take me!" + +But no one listened; still they kept on, while the thunder of artillery +grew louder and louder. More than ten thousand men, cavalry and +infantry, passed me, but I had no longer strength to call out to them. + +At last the long line ended; I saw knapsacks and shakos disappear +behind the hill, and I lay down to sleep forever, when once more I was +aroused by the rolling of five or six pieces of artillery along the +road. The cannoneers sat sabre in hand, and behind came the caissons. +I hoped no more from these than from the others, when suddenly I +perceived a tall, lean, red-bearded veteran mounted beside one of the +pieces, and bearing the cross upon his breast. It was my old friend +Zimmer, my old comrade of Leipzig. He was passing without seeing me, +when I cried, with all the strength that remained to me: + +"Christian! Christian!" + +He heard me in spite of the noise of the guns; stopped, and turned +round. + +"Christian!" I cried, "take pity on me!" + +He saw me lying at the foot of a tree, and came to me with a pale face +and staring eyes: + +"What! Is it you, my poor Joseph?" cried he, springing from his horse. + +He lifted me in his arms as if I were an infant, and shouted to the men +who were driving the last wagon: + +"Halt!" + +[Illustration: "Halt! Stop!"] + +Then embracing me, he placed me in it, my head upon a knapsack. I saw +too that he wrapped a great cavalry cloak around my feet, as he cried: + +"Forward! Forward! It is growing warm yonder!" + +I remember no more, but I have the faint impression of hearing the +sound of heavy guns and rattle of musketry, mingled with shouts and +commands. Branches of tall pines seemed to pass between me and the sky +through the night; but all this might have been a dream. But that day, +behind Solmunster, in the woods of Hanau, we had a battle with the +Bavarians, and routed them. + + + + +XXII + +On the fifteenth of January, 1814, two months and a half after the +battle of Hanau, I awoke in a good bed, and at the end of a little, +well-warmed room; and gazing at the rafters over my head, then at the +little windows, where the frost had spread its silver sheen, I +exclaimed: "It is winter!" At the same time I heard the crash of +artillery and the crackling of a fire, and turning over on my bed in a +few moments, I saw seated at its side a pale young woman, with her arms +folded, and I recognized--Catharine! I recognized, too, the room where +I had spent so many happy Sundays before going to the wars. But the +thunder of the cannon made me think I was dreaming. I gazed for a long +while at Catharine, who seemed more beautiful than ever, and the +question rose, "Where is Aunt Grédel? am I at home once more? God +grant that this be not a dream!" + +At last I took courage and called softly: + +"Catharine!" And she, turning her head cried: + +"Joseph! Do you know me?" + +"Yes," I replied, holding out my hand. + +She approached, trembling and sobbing, when again and again the cannon +thundered. + +"What are those shots I hear?" I cried. + +"The guns of Phalsbourg," she answered. "The city is besieged." + +"Phalsbourg besieged! The enemy in France!" + +I could speak no more. Thus had so much suffering, so many tears, so +many thousands of lives gone for nothing, ay, worse than nothing, for +the foe was at our homes. For an hour I could think of nothing else; +and now, old and gray-haired as I am, the thought fills me with +bitterness. Yes, we old men have seen the German, the Russian, the +Swede, the Spaniard, the Englishman, masters of France, garrisoning our +cities, taking whatever suited them from our fortresses, insulting our +soldiers, changing our flag, and dividing among themselves, not only +our conquests since 1804, but even those of the Republic. These were +the fruits of ten years of glory! + +But let us not speak of these things, the future will pass upon them. +They will tell us that after Lutzen and Bautzen, the enemy offered to +leave us Belgium, part of Holland, all the left bank of the Rhine as +far as Bâle, with Savoy and the kingdom of Italy; and that the Emperor +refused to accept these conditions, brilliant as they were, because he +placed the satisfaction of his own pride before the happiness of France! + +But to return to my story. For two weeks after the battle of Hanau, +thousands of wagons, filled with wounded, crowded the road from +Strasbourg to Nancy, and passed through Phalsbourg. + +They stretched in one long line through all Alsace to Lorraine. + +Not one in the sad _cortége_ escaped the eyes of Aunt Grédel and +Catharine. What their thoughts were, I need not say. More than twelve +hundred wagons had passed;--I was in none of them. Thousands of +fathers and mothers sought among them for their children. How many +returned without them! + +The third day Catharine found me among a heap of other wretches, in +basket wagons from Mayence, with sunken cheeks and glaring eyes--dying +of hunger. She knew me at once, but Aunt Grédel gazed long before she +cried: + +"Yes! it is he! It is Joseph!" + +She took me home, and watched over me night and day. I wanted only +water, for which I constantly shrieked. No one in the village believed +that I would ever recover, but the happiness of breathing my native air +and of once more seeing those I loved, saved me. + +It was about six months after, on the 15th of July, 1814, that +Catharine and I were married; Monsieur Goulden, who loved us as his own +children, gave me half his business, and we lived together as happy as +birds. + +Then the wars were ended; the allies gradually returned to their homes; +the Emperor went to Elba, and King Louis XVIII. gave us a reasonable +amount of liberty. Once more the sweet days of youth returned--the +days of love, of labor, and of peace. The future was once more full of +hope--of hope that every one, by good conduct and economy, would at +some time attain a position in the world, win the esteem of good men, +and raise his family without fear of being carried off by the +conscription seven or eight years after. + +Monsieur Goulden, who was not too well satisfied at seeing the old +kings and nobility return, thought, notwithstanding, that they had +suffered enough in foreign lands to understand that they were not the +only people in the world, and to respect our rights; he thought, too, +that the Emperor Napoleon would have the good sense to remain +quiet--but he was mistaken. The Bourbons returned with their old +notions, and the Emperor only awaited the moment of vengeance. + +All this was to bring more miseries upon us, which I would willingly +relate, if this story did not seem already long enough. But here let +us rest. If people of sense tell me that I have done well in relating +my campaign of 1813--that my story may show youth the vanity of +military glory, and prove that no man can gain happiness save by peace, +liberty, and labor--then I will take up my pen once more, and give you +the story of Waterloo! + + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Conscript, by +Émile Erckmann and Alexandre Chatrian + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CONSCRIPT *** + +***** This file should be named 31288-8.txt or 31288-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/1/2/8/31288/ + +Produced by Al Haines + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Conscript + A Story of the French war of 1813 + +Author: Émile Erckmann + Alexandre Chatrian + +Release Date: February 15, 2010 [EBook #31288] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CONSCRIPT *** + + + + +Produced by Al Haines + + + + + +</pre> + + +<BR><BR> + +<A NAME="img-front"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-front.jpg" ALT="War and Glory" BORDER="2" WIDTH="478" HEIGHT="693"> +<H4 CLASS="h4center" STYLE="width: 478px"> +War and Glory +</H4> +</CENTER> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +HISTORICAL ROMANCES OF FRANCE +</H4> + +<BR><BR> + +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +THE CONSCRIPT +</H1> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +A STORY OF THE FRENCH WAR OF 1813 +</H4> + +<BR><BR> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH OF +</H4> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +ERCKMANN-CHATRIAN +</H3> + +<BR><BR> + +<H5 ALIGN="center"> +ILLUSTRATED +</H5> + +<BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +NEW YORK :::::::::::::::::::::: 1911 +</H3> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +ILLUSTRATIONS +</H2> + +<H4> +<A HREF="#img-front"> +<I>War and glory</I> . . . . . . . . . . <I>Frontispiece</I> +</A> +</H4> + +<H4> +<A HREF="#img-010"> +<I>The dragoon fell heavily</I> +</A> +</H4> + +<H4> +<A HREF="#img-134"> +"<I>Close up the ranks!</I>" +</A> +</H4> + +<H4> +<A HREF="#img-162"> +<I>Everything gave way before him</I> +</A> +</H4> + +<H4> +<A HREF="#img-254"> +<I>In the river the dead were floating by in files</I> +</A> +</H4> + +<H4> +<A HREF="#img-278"> +"<I>Halt! Stop!</I>" +</A> +</H4> + +<BR><BR><BR> + + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +INTRODUCTORY NOTE +</H3> + +<P> +Instead of following "Madame Thérèse" with stories celebrating the +victories of Napoleon and thus appealing to their compatriots' love of +glory and military illusions, MM. Erckmann-Chatrian take up next the +tragic and far more significant story of 1812-13. With "The Conscript" +begins their long, sustained, and eloquent sermon against war and +war-wagers—the exordium, so to say, of their arraignment of Napoleon +for wanton and insatiate love of conquest. "The Conscript" is +certainly one of the most impressive statements of the darker side of +the national pursuit of military glory that have ever been made. The +first part of the book is taken up with a vivid and pathetic account of +the passage of the <I>grande armée</I> through Alsace on its way to Moscow +and the Beresina, of the anxious waiting for news of the battles that +succeeded, of the first suspicions of disaster and their overwhelming +confirmation, of the final rout and awful straggling retreat and return +of the great expedition, and its demoralized and harassed entry within +the national frontiers once more. The second and major portion +narrates the rude surprise of the continuation of warfare and the still +more fatal campaign which opened so dubiously with Lutzen and Bautzen, +and culminated so disastrously in Leipsic and the capitulation of +Paris. Poor Joseph Bertha, who tells the affecting and exciting story, +is snatched away from his betrothed and his peaceful trade by the +conscription, and his individual experiences in the campaign are as +interesting, from the point of view of romance, as their representative +nature and his shrewd and simple reflections upon them are historically +and philanthropically suggestive. Certainly, war, in the minutiae of +its reality, has never been more graphically painted than in "The +Conscript of 1813." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap01"></A> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +THE STORY OF A CONSCRIPT +</H2> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +I +</H3> + +<P> +Those who have not seen the glory of the Emperor Napoleon, during the +years 1810, 1811, and 1812, can never conceive what a pitch of power +one man may reach. +</P> + +<P> +When he passed through Champagne, or Lorraine, or Alsace, people +gathering the harvest or the vintage would leave everything to run and +see him; women, children, and old men would come a distance of eight or +ten leagues to line his route, and cheer and cry, "<I>Vive l'Empereur! +Vive l'Empereur!</I>" One would think that he was a god, that mankind +owed its life to him, and that, if he died, the world would crumble and +be no more. A few old Republicans would shake their heads and mutter +over their wine that the Emperor might yet fall, but they passed for +fools. Such an event appeared contrary to nature, and no one even gave +it a thought. +</P> + +<P> +I was in my apprenticeship since 1804, with an old watchmaker, Melchior +Goulden, at Phalsbourg. As I seemed weak and was a little lame, my +mother wished me to learn an easier trade than those of our village, +for at Dagsberg there were only wood-cutters and charcoal-burners. +Monsieur Goulden liked me very much. We lived on the first story of a +large house opposite the "Red Ox" inn, and near the French gate. +</P> + +<P> +That was the place to see princes, ambassadors, and generals come and +go, some on horseback and some in carriages drawn by two or four +horses; there they passed in embroidered uniforms, with waving plumes +and decorations from every country under the sun. And in the highway +what couriers, what baggage-wagons, what powder-trains, cannon, +caissons, cavalry, and infantry did we see! Those were stirring times! +</P> + +<P> +In five or six years the innkeeper, George, had made a fortune. He had +fields, orchards, houses, and money in abundance; for all these people, +coming from Germany, Switzerland, Russia, Poland, or elsewhere, cared +little for a few handfuls of gold scattered upon their road; they were +all nobles, who took a pride in showing their prodigality. +</P> + +<P> +From morning until night, and even during the night, the "Red Ox" kept +its tables in readiness. Through the long windows on the first story +nothing was to be seen but great white table-cloths, glittering with +silver and covered with game, fish, and other rare viands, around which +the travellers sat side by side. In the yard behind, horses neighed, +postilions shouted, maid-servants laughed, coaches rattled. Ah! the +hotel of the "Red Ox" will never see such prosperous times again. +</P> + +<P> +Sometimes, too, people of the city stopped there, who in other times +were known to gather sticks in the forest or to work on the highway. +But now they were commandants, colonels, generals, and had won their +grades by fighting in every land on earth. Old Melchior, with his +black silk cap pulled over his ears, his weak eyelids, his nose pinched +between great horn spectacles, and his lips tightly pressed together, +could not sometimes avoid putting aside his magnifying-glass and punch +upon the workbench, and throwing a glance toward the inn, especially +when the cracking of the whips of the postilions, with their heavy +boots, little jackets, and perukes of twisted hemp, awoke the echoes of +the ramparts and announced a new arrival. Then he became all +attention, and from time to time would exclaim: +</P> + +<P> +"Hold! It is the son of Jacob, the slater," or of "the old scold, Mary +Ann," or of "the cooper, Frantz Sepel! He has made his way in the +world; there he is, colonel and baron of the empire into the bargain. +Why don't he stop at the house of his father, who lives yonder in the +<I>Rue des Capucins</I>?" +</P> + +<P> +But when he saw them shaking hands right and left in the street with +those who recognized them, his tone changed; he wiped his eyes with his +great spotted handkerchief, and murmured: +</P> + +<P> +"How pleased poor old Annette will be! Good! good! <I>He</I> is not proud; +he is a man. God preserve him from cannon-balls!" +</P> + +<P> +Others passed as if ashamed to recognize their birth-place; others went +gayly to see their sisters or cousins, and everybody spoke of them. +One would imagine that all Phalsbourg wore their crosses and their +epaulettes; while the arrogant were despised even more than when they +swept the roads. +</P> + +<P> +Nearly every month <I>Te Deums</I> were chanted, and the cannon at the +arsenal fired their salutes of twenty-one rounds for some new victory, +making one's heart flutter. During the week following every family was +uneasy; poor mothers especially waited for letters, and the first that +came all the city knew of; "such an one had received a letter from +Jacques or Claude," and all ran to see if it spoke of their Joseph or +their Jean-Baptiste. I do not speak of promotions or the official +reports of deaths; as for the first, every one knew that the killed +must be replaced; and as for the reports of deaths, parents awaited +them weeping, for they did not come immediately; sometimes indeed they +never came, and the poor father and mother hoped on, saying, "Perhaps +our boy is a prisoner. When they make peace he will return. How many +have returned whom we thought dead!" +</P> + +<P> +But they never made peace. When one war was finished, another was +begun. We always needed something, either from Russia or from Spain, +or some other country. The Emperor was never satisfied. +</P> + +<P> +Often when regiments passed through the city, with their great coats +pulled back, their knapsacks on their backs, their great gaiters +reaching to the knee, and muskets carried at will; often when they +passed covered with mud or white with dust, would Father Melchior, +after gazing upon them, ask me dreamily: +</P> + +<P> +"How many, Joseph, think you we have seen pass since 1804?" +</P> + +<P> +"I cannot say, Monsieur Goulden," I would reply, "at least four or five +hundred thousand." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, at least!" he said, "and how many have returned?" +</P> + +<P> +Then I understood his meaning, and answered: +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps they returned by Mayence or some other route. It cannot be +possible otherwise!" +</P> + +<P> +But he only shook his head, and said: +</P> + +<P> +"Those whom you have not seen return are dead, as hundreds and hundreds +of thousands more will die, if the good God does not take pity upon us, +for the Emperor loves only war. He has already spilt more blood to +give his brothers crowns than our great Revolution cost to win the +rights of man." +</P> + +<P> +Then we set about our work again; but the reflections of Monsieur +Goulden gave me some terrible subjects for thought. +</P> + +<P> +It was true that I was a little lame in the left leg; but how many +others with defects of body had received their orders to march +notwithstanding! +</P> + +<P> +These ideas kept running through my head, and when I thought long over +them, I grew very melancholy. They seemed terrible to me, not only +because I had no love for war, but because I was going to marry +Catharine of Quatre-Vents. We had been in some sort reared together. +Nowhere could be found a girl so fresh and laughing. She was +fair-haired, with beautiful blue eyes, rosy cheeks, and teeth as white +as milk. She was approaching eighteen; I was nineteen, and Aunt +Margrédel seemed pleased to see me coming early every Sunday morning to +breakfast and dine with them. +</P> + +<P> +Catharine and I often went into the orchard behind the house; there we +bit the same apples and the same pears; we were the happiest creatures +in the world. It was I who took her to high mass and vespers; and on +holidays she never left my side, and refused to dance with the other +youths of the village. Everybody knew that we would some day be +married; but, if I should be so unfortunate as to be drawn in the +conscription, there was an end of matters. I wished that I was a +thousand times more lame; for at the time of which I speak they had +first taken the unmarried men, then the married men who had no +children, then those with one child; and I constantly asked myself, +"Are lame fellows of more consequence than fathers of families? Could +they not put me in the cavalry?" The idea made me so unhappy that I +already thought of fleeing. +</P> + +<P> +But in 1812, at the beginning of the Russian war, my fear increased. +From February until the end of May, every day we saw pass regiments +after regiments—dragoons, cuirassiers, carbineers, hussars, lancers of +all colors, artillery, caissons, ambulances, wagons, provisions, +rolling on forever, like a river which runs on and on, and of which one +can never see the end. +</P> + +<P> +I still remember that this began with soldiers driving large wagons +drawn by oxen. These oxen were in the place of horses, and were to be +used for food later on, when they should have used up their provisions. +Everybody said, "What a fine idea! When the soldiers can no longer +feed the oxen, the oxen will feed the soldiers." Unhappily those who +said this did not know that the oxen could only make seven or eight +leagues a day, and that for every eight days of marching, they must +have at least one day's rest; so that indeed, the poor animals' hoofs +were already dry and worn out, their lips drooping, their eyes standing +out of their heads, and little but skin and bone left of them. For +three weeks they kept passing in this way, all torn with thrusts of the +bayonet. Meat became cheap, for they killed many of the oxen; but few +wanted their flesh, the diseased meat being unhealthy. They never went +more than twenty leagues beyond the Rhine. +</P> + +<P> +After that, we saw more lancers, sabres, and helmets file past. All +flowed through the French gate, crossed the Place d'Armes, and streamed +out at the German gate. +</P> + +<P> +At last, on the 10th of May, in the year 1812, in the early morning, +the guns of the arsenal announced the coming of the master of all. I +was yet sleeping when the first shot shook the little panes of my +window till they rattled like a drum, and Monsieur Goulden, with a +lighted candle, opened my door, saying, "Get up, he is here!" +</P> + +<P> +We opened the window. Through the night I saw a hundred dragoons, of +whom many bore torches, enter at a gallop under the French gate; they +shook the earth as they passed; their lights glanced along the +house-fronts like dancing flames, and from every window we heard +ceaseless shouts of "<I>Vive l'Empereur!</I>" +</P> + +<P> +I was gazing at the carriage, when a horse crashed against the post to +which the butcher Klein was accustomed to fasten his cattle. The +dragoon fell heavily, his helmet rolled in the gutter, and immediately +a head leaned out of the carriage to see what had happened—a large +head, pale and fat, with a tuft of hair on the forehead: it was +Napoleon; he held his hand up as if about taking a pinch of snuff, and +said a few words roughly. The officer galloping by the side of the +coach bent down to reply; and his master took his snuff and turned the +corner, while the shouts redoubled and the cannons roared louder than +ever. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-010"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-010.jpg" ALT="The dragoon fell heavily." BORDER="2" WIDTH="477" HEIGHT="692"> +<H4 CLASS="h4center" STYLE="width: 477px"> +The dragoon fell heavily. +</H4> +</CENTER> + +<P> +This was all that I saw. +</P> + +<P> +The Emperor did not stop at Phalsbourg, and, when he was on the road to +Saverne, the guns fired their last shot, and silence reigned once more. +The guards at the French gate raised the drawbridge, and the old +watchmaker said: +</P> + +<P> +"You have seen him?" +</P> + +<P> +"I have, Monsieur Goulden." +</P> + +<P> +"Well," he continued, "that man holds all our lives in his hand; he +need but breathe upon us and we are gone. Let us bless Heaven that he +is not evil-minded; for if he were, the world would see again the +horrors of the days of the barbarian kings and the Turks." +</P> + +<P> +He seemed lost in thought, but in a moment he added: +</P> + +<P> +"You can go to bed again. The clock is striking three." +</P> + +<P> +He returned to his room, and I to my bed. The deep silence without +seemed strange after such a tumult, and until daybreak I never ceased +dreaming of the Emperor. I dreamed, too, of the dragoon, and wanted to +know if he were killed. The next day we learned that he was carried to +the hospital and would recover. +</P> + +<P> +From that day until the month of September they often sang the <I>Te +Deum</I>, and fired twenty-one guns for new victories. It was nearly +always in the morning, and Monsieur Goulden cried: +</P> + +<P> +"Eh, Joseph! Another battle won! Fifty thousand men lost! +Twenty-five standards, a hundred guns won. All goes well, all goes +well. It only remains now to order a new levy to replace the dead!" +</P> + +<P> +He pushed open my door, and I saw him, bald, in his shirt-sleeves, with +his neck bare, washing his face in the wash-bowl. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you think, Monsieur Goulden," I asked, in great trouble, "that they +will also take the lame?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, no," he said kindly; "fear nothing, my child, you could not serve. +We will fix that. Only work well, and never mind the rest." +</P> + +<P> +He saw my anxiety, and it pained him. I never met a better man. Then +he dressed himself to go to wind up the city clocks—those of Monsieur +the Commandant of the place, of Monsieur the Mayor, and other notable +personages. I remained at home. Monsieur Goulden did not return until +after the <I>Te Deum</I>. He took off his great brown coat, put his peruke +back in its box, and again pulling his silk cap over his ears, said: +</P> + +<P> +"The army is at Wilna or at Smolensk, as I learn from Monsieur the +Commandant. God grant that we may succeed this time and make peace, +and the sooner the better, for war is a terrible thing." +</P> + +<P> +I thought, too, that, if we had peace, so many men would not be needed, +and that I could marry Catharine. Any one can imagine the wishes I +formed for the Emperor's glory. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap02"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +II +</H3> + +<P> +It was on the 15th of September, 1812, that the news came of the great +victory of the Moskowa. Every one was full of joy, and all cried, "Now +we will have peace! now the war is ended!" +</P> + +<P> +Some discontented folks might say that China yet remained to be +conquered; such mar-joys are always to be found. +</P> + +<P> +A week after, we learned that our forces were in Moscow, the largest +and richest city in Russia, and then everybody figured to himself the +booty we would capture, and the reduction it would make in the taxes. +But soon came the rumor that the Russians had set fire to their +capital, and that it was necessary to retreat on Poland or to die of +hunger. Nothing else was spoken of in the inns, the breweries, or the +market; no one could meet his neighbor without saying, "Well, well, +things go badly; the retreat has commenced." +</P> + +<P> +People grew pale, and hundreds of peasants waited morning and night at +the post-office, but no letters came now. I passed and repassed +through the crowd without paying much attention to it, for I had seen +so much of the same thing. And besides, I had a thought in my mind +which gladdened my heart, and made everything seem rosy to me. +</P> + +<P> +You must know that for six months past I had wished to make Catharine a +magnificent present for her birthday, which fell on the 18th of +December. Among the watches which hung in Monsieur Goulden's window +was one little one, of the prettiest kind, with a silver case full of +little circles, which made it shine like a star. Around the face, +under the glass, was a thread of copper, and on the face were painted +two lovers, the youth evidently declaring his love, and giving to his +sweetheart a large bouquet of roses, while she modestly lowered her +eyes and held out her hand. +</P> + +<P> +The first time I saw the watch, I said to myself: "You will not let +that escape; that watch is for Catharine, and, although you must work +every day till midnight for it, she must have it." Monsieur Goulden, +after seven in the evening, allowed me work on my own account. He had +old watches to clean and regulate; and as this work was often very +troublesome, old Father Melchior paid me reasonably for it. But the +little watch was thirty-five francs, and one can imagine how many hours +at night I would have to work for it. I am sure that if Monsieur +Goulden knew that I wanted it he would have given it me for a present, +but I would not have let him take a farthing less for it; I would have +regarded doing so something shameful. I kept saying: "You must earn +it; no one else must have any claim upon it." Only for fear somebody +else might take a fancy to buy it, I put it aside in a box, telling +Father Melchior that I knew a purchaser. +</P> + +<P> +Under these circumstances, every one can readily understand how it was +that all these stories of war went in at one ear and out at the other +with me. While I worked I imagined Catharine's joy, and for five +months that was all I had before my eyes. I thought how pleased she +would look, and asked myself, "What will she say?" Sometimes I +imagined she would cry out, "Oh, Joseph! what are you thinking of? It +is much too beautiful for me. No, no; I cannot take so fine a watch +from you!" Then I thought I would force it upon her; I would slip it +into her apron-pocket, saying, "Come, come, Catharine! Do you wish to +give me pain?" I could see how she wanted it, and that she spoke so +only to seem to refuse it. Then I imagined her blushing, with her +hands raised, saying, "Joseph, now I know indeed that you love me!" +And she would embrace me with tears in her eyes. I felt very happy. +Aunt Grédel approved of all. In a word, a thousand such scenes passed +through my mind, and when I retired at night I thought: "There is no +one as happy as you, Joseph. See what a present you can make Catharine +by your toil; and she surely is preparing something for your birthday, +for she thinks only of you; you are both very happy, and, when you are +married, all will go well." +</P> + +<P> +While I was thus working on, thinking only of happiness, the winter +began, earlier than usual, toward the commencement of November. It did +not begin with snow, but with dry, cold weather and heavy frosts. In a +few days all the leaves had fallen and the earth was hard as ice and +all covered with hoar-frost; tiles, pavement, and window-panes +glittered with it. Fires had to be made that winter to keep the cold +from coming in at the windows, and, when the doors were opened for a +moment, the heat seemed to disappear at once. The wood crackled in the +stoves and burnt away like straw in the fierce draught of the chimneys. +</P> + +<P> +Every morning I hastened to wash the panes of the shop-window with warm +water, and I scarcely closed it when a frosty sheen covered it. +Without, people ran puffing with their coat-collars over their ears and +their hands in their pockets. No one stood still, and when doors +opened, they soon closed. +</P> + +<P> +I don't know what became of the sparrows, whether they were dead or +living, but not one twittered in the chimneys, and save the reveille +and retreat sounded in the barracks, no noise broke the silence. +</P> + +<P> +Often when the fire crackled merrily, did Monsieur Goulden stop his +work, and, gazing on the frost-covered panes, exclaim: +</P> + +<P> +"Our poor soldiers! our poor soldiers!" +</P> + +<P> +He said this so mournfully that I felt a choking in my throat as I +replied: +</P> + +<P> +"But, Monsieur Goulden, they ought now to be in Poland in good +barracks; for to suppose that human beings could endure a cold like +this—it is impossible." +</P> + +<P> +"Such a cold as this," he said; "yes, here it is cold, very cold from +the winds from the mountains; but what is this frost to that of the +north, of Russia and of Poland? God grant that they started early +enough. My God! my God! the leaders of men have a heavy weight to +bear." +</P> + +<P> +Then he would be silent, and for hours I would think of what he had +said to me; I pictured to myself our soldiers on the march, running to +keep themselves warm. But the thought of Catharine always came back to +me, and I have often thought since that when one is happy, the misery +of others affects him but little, especially in youth, when the +passions are strongest, and when we have had little knowledge of great +griefs. +</P> + +<P> +After the frosts so much snow fell that the couriers were stopped on +the road toward Quatre-Vents. I feared that I could not go to see +Catharine on her fête-day; but two companies of infantry set out with +pick-axes, and dug through the frozen snow a way for carriages, and +that road remained open until the beginning of April, 1813. +</P> + +<P> +Nevertheless, Catharine's birthday approached day by day, and my +happiness increased in proportion. I had already the thirty-five +francs, but I did not know how to tell Monsieur Goulden that I wished +to buy the watch; I wanted to keep the whole matter secret; and I did +not at all like to talk about it. +</P> + +<P> +At length, on the eve of the eventful day, between six and seven in the +evening, while we were working in silence, the lamp between us, +suddenly I took my resolution, and said: +</P> + +<P> +"You know, Monsieur Goulden, that I spoke to you of a purchaser for the +little silver watch." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, Joseph," said he, without raising his head, "but he has not come +yet." +</P> + +<P> +"It is I who am the purchaser, Monsieur Goulden." +</P> + +<P> +Then he looked up in astonishment. I took out the thirty-five francs +and laid them on the work-bench. He stared at me. +</P> + +<P> +"But," he said, "it is not such a watch as that you want, Joseph; you +want one that will fill your pocket and mark the seconds. Those little +watches are only for women." +</P> + +<P> +I knew not what to say. +</P> + +<P> +Monsieur Goulden, after meditating a few moments, began to smile. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah!" he exclaimed; "good! good! I understand now; to-morrow is +Catharine's birthday. Now I know why you worked day and night. Hold! +take back this money; I do not want it." +</P> + +<P> +I was all confusion. +</P> + +<P> +"Monsieur Goulden, I thank you," I replied; "but this watch is for +Catharine, and I wish to have earned it. You will pain me if you +refuse the money; I would as lief not take the watch." +</P> + +<P> +He said nothing more, but took the thirty-five francs; then he opened +his drawer, and chose a pretty steel chain, with two little keys of +silver-gilt, which he fastened to the watch. Then he put all together +in a box with a rose-colored favor. He did all this slowly, as if +affected; then he gave me the box. +</P> + +<P> +"It is a pretty present, Joseph," said he. "Catharine ought to think +herself happy in having such a lover as you. She is a good girl. Now +we can take our supper. Set the table." +</P> + +<P> +The table was arranged, and then Monsieur Goulden took from a closet a +bottle of his Metz wine, which he kept for great occasions, and we +supped like old friends, rather than as master and apprentice; all the +evening he never stopped speaking of the merry days of his youth; +telling me how he once had a sweetheart, but that, in 1792, he left +home in the <I>levée en masse</I> at the time of the Prussian invasion, and +that on his return to Fénétrange, he found her married—a very natural +thing, since he had never mustered courage enough to declare his love. +However, this did not prevent his remaining faithful to the tender +remembrance, and when he spoke of it he seemed sad indeed. I recounted +all this in imagination to Catharine, and it was not until the stroke +of ten, at the passage of the rounds, which relieved the sentries on +post every twenty minutes on account of the great cold, that we put two +good logs on the fire, and at length went to bed. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap03"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +III +</H3> + +<P> +The next day, the 18th of December, I arose about six in the morning. +It was terribly cold; my little window was covered with a sheet of +frost. +</P> + +<P> +I had taken care the night before to lay out on the back of a chair my +sky-blue coat, my trousers, my goat-skin vest, and my fine black silk +cravat. Everything was ready; my well-polished shoes lay at the foot +of the bed; I had only to dress myself; but the cold I felt upon my +face, the sight of those window-panes, and the deep silence without, +made me shiver in anticipation. If it had not been Catharine's +birthday, I would have remained in bed until midday; but suddenly that +recollection made me jump out of bed, and rush to the great delf stove, +where some embers of the preceding night almost always remained among +the cinders. I found two or three, and hastened to collect and put +them under some split wood and two large logs, after which I ran back +to my bed. +</P> + +<P> +Monsieur Goulden, under the huge curtains, with the coverings pulled up +to his nose and his cotton night-cap over his eyes, woke up, and cried +out: +</P> + +<P> +"Joseph, we have not had such cold for forty years. I never felt it +so. What a winter we shall have!" +</P> + +<P> +I did not answer, but looked out to see if the fire was lighting; the +embers burnt well; I heard the chimney draw, and at once all blazed up. +The sound of the flames was merry enough, but it required a good +half-hour to feel the air any warmer. +</P> + +<P> +At last I arose and dressed myself. Monsieur Goulden kept on chatting, +but I thought only of Catharine, and when at length, toward eight +o'clock, I started out, he exclaimed: +</P> + +<P> +"Joseph, what are you thinking of? Are you going to Quatre-Vents in +that little coat? You would be dead before you had got half way. Go +into my closet, and take my great cloak, and the mittens, and the +double-soled shoes lined with flannel." +</P> + +<P> +I was so smart in my fine clothes that I reflected whether it would be +better to follow his advice, and he, seeing my hesitation, said: +</P> + +<P> +"Listen! a man was found frozen yesterday on the way to Wecham. Doctor +Steinbrenner said that he sounded like a piece of dry wood when they +tapped upon him. He was a soldier, and had left the village between +six and seven o'clock, and at eight they found him; so that the frost +did not take long to do its work. If you want your nose and ears +frozen, you have only to go out as you are." +</P> + +<P> +I knew then, that he was right; so I put on the thick shoes, and passed +the cord of the mittens over my shoulders, and put the cloak over all. +Thus accoutred, I sallied forth, after thanking Monsieur Goulden, who +warned me not to stay too late, for the cold increased toward night, +and great numbers of wolves were crossing the Rhine on the ice. +</P> + +<P> +I had not gone as far as the church when I turned up the fox-skin +collar of the cloak to shield my ears. The cold was so keen that it +seemed as though the air were filled with needles, and one's body +shrank involuntarily from head to foot. +</P> + +<P> +Under the German gate, I saw the soldier on guard, in his great gray +mantle, standing back in his box like a saint in his niche; he had his +sleeve wrapped about his musket where he held it, to keep his fingers +from the iron, and two long icicles hung from his mustaches. No one +was on the bridge, not even the toll-gatherer, but a little farther on, +I saw three carts in the middle of the road with their canvas-tops all +covered and glistening with frost; they were unharnessed and abandoned. +Everything in the distance seemed dead; all living things had hidden +themselves from the cold; and I could hear nothing but the snow +crunching under my feet. Running along the cemetery, where the crosses +and gravestones glistened in the snow, I said to myself: "Those who +sleep there are no longer cold!" I drew my cloak over my breast, and +hid my nose in the fur collar, thanking Monsieur Goulden for his lucky +thought. I also thrust my hands into the muffler to the elbows, and +ran along in the deep trench, extending farther than the eye could +reach, that the soldiers had made from the town as far as Quatre-Vents. +On each side were walls of ice. In some places swept by the wind, I +could see the oak forest and the bluish mountain, both seeming much +nearer than they were, on account of the clearness of the air. Not a +dog barked in a farm-yard; it was too cold even for that. +</P> + +<P> +But in spite of all this the thought of Catharine warmed my heart, and +soon I descried the first houses of Quatre-Vents. The chimneys and the +thatched roofs, to the right and left of the road, were scarcely higher +than the mountains of snow, and the villagers had dug trenches along +the walls, so that they could pass to each other's houses. But that +day every family kept around its hearth, and the little round +window-panes seemed painted red, from the great fires burning within. +Before each door was a truss of straw to keep the cold from entering +beneath it. +</P> + +<P> +At the fifth door to the right I stopped to take off my mittens; then I +opened and closed it very quickly. I was at the house of Grédel Bauer, +the widow of Matthias Bauer, and Catharine's mother. +</P> + +<P> +As I entered, and while Aunt Grédel, seated by the hearth, astonished +at my fox-skin collar, was yet turning her gray head, Catharine, in her +Sunday dress—a pretty striped petticoat, a kerchief with long fringe +folded across her bosom, a red apron fastened around her slender waist, +a pretty cap of blue silk with black velvet bands setting off her rosy +and white face, soft eyes, and rather short nose—Catharine, I say, +exclaimed: +</P> + +<P> +"It is Joseph!" +</P> + +<P> +And without waiting to look twice, she ran to greet me, saying: +</P> + +<P> +"I knew the cold would not keep you from coming." +</P> + +<P> +I was so happy that I could not speak. I took off my cloak, which I +hung upon a nail on the wall, with my mittens; I took off Monsieur +Goulden's great shoes, and turned pale with joy. +</P> + +<P> +I would have said something agreeable, but could not; suddenly I +exclaimed: +</P> + +<P> +"See here, Catharine; here is something for your birthday, but you must +give me a kiss before opening the box." +</P> + +<P> +She put up her pretty red cheek to me, and then ran to the table. Aunt +Grédel also came to see the present. Catharine untied the cord and +opened the box. I was behind them; my heart jumped, jumped,—I feared +that the watch was not pretty enough. But in an instant, Catharine, +clasping her hands, said in a low voice: +</P> + +<P> +"How beautiful! It is a watch!" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," said Aunt Grédel; "it is beautiful! I never saw so fine a one. +One would think it was silver." +</P> + +<P> +"But it <I>is</I> silver," returned Catharine, turning toward me inquiringly. +</P> + +<P> +Then I said: +</P> + +<P> +"Do you think, Aunt Grédel, that I would be capable of giving a gilt +watch to one whom I love better than my own life? If I could do such a +thing, I would despise myself more than the dirt of my shoes." +</P> + +<P> +Catharine, hearing this, threw her arms around my neck; and as we stood +thus, I thought: "this is the happiest day of my life." I could not +let her go. +</P> + +<P> +Aunt Grédel asked: +</P> + +<P> +"But what is this painted upon the face?" +</P> + +<P> +I could not speak to answer her; and only at last, when we were seated +beside each other, I took the watch and said: +</P> + +<P> +"That painting, Aunt Grédel, represents two lovers who love each other +more than they can tell: Joseph Bertha and Catharine Bauer; Joseph is +offering a bouquet of roses to his sweetheart, who is stretching out +her hand to take them." +</P> + +<P> +When Aunt Grédel had sufficiently admired the watch, she said: +</P> + +<P> +"Come until I kiss you, Joseph. I see very well that you must have +economized closely, and worked hard for this watch, and I think it is +very pretty, and that you are a good workman, and will do us no +discredit." +</P> + +<P> +I kissed Aunt Grédel's cheek, and from then until midday, I did not let +go Catharine's hand. We were as happy as could be looking at each +other. Aunt Grédel bustled about to prepare a large pancake with dried +prunes, and wine, and cinnamon, and other good things in it; but we +paid no attention to her, and it was only when she put on her red +jacket and black sabots, and called, "Come, my children; to table!" +that we saw the fine tablecloth, the great porringer, the pitcher of +wine, and the large round, golden pancake on a plate in the middle. +The sight rejoiced us not a little, and Catharine said: +</P> + +<P> +"Sit there, Joseph, opposite the window, that I may look at you. But +you must fix my watch, for I do not know where to put it." +</P> + +<P> +I passed the chain around her neck, and then, seating ourselves, we ate +gayly. Without, not a sound was heard; within, the fire crackled +merrily upon the hearth. It was very pleasant in the large kitchen, +and the gray cat, a little wild, gazed at us through the balusters of +the stairs without daring to come down. +</P> + +<P> +Catharine, after dinner, sang <I>Der liebe Gott</I>. She had a sweet, clear +voice, and it seemed to float to heaven. I sang low, merely to sustain +her. Aunt Grédel, who could never rest doing nothing, began spinning; +the hum of her wheel filled up the silences, and we all felt happy. +When one song was ended, we began another. At three o'clock, Aunt +Grédel served up the pancake, and as we ate it, laughing, like the +happiest of beings, she would exclaim: +</P> + +<P> +"Come, come; now, you are children in reality." +</P> + +<P> +She pretended to be angry, but we could see in her eyes that she was +happy from the bottom of her heart. This lasted until four o'clock, +when night began to come on apace; the darkness seemed to enter by the +little windows, and, knowing that we must soon part, we sat sadly +around the hearth on which the red flames were dancing. Catharine +pressed my hand. I would almost have given my life to remain longer. +Another half-hour passed, when Aunt Grédel cried: +</P> + +<P> +"Listen, Joseph! It is time for you to go; the moon does not rise till +after midnight, and it will soon be dark as a kiln outside, and an +accident happens so easily in these great frosts." +</P> + +<P> +These words seemed to fall like a bolt of ice, and I felt Catharine's +clasp tighten on my hand. But Aunt Grédel was right. +</P> + +<P> +"Come," said she, rising and taking down the cloak from the wall; "you +will come again Sunday." +</P> + +<P> +I had to put on the heavy shoes, the mittens, and the cloak of Monsieur +Goulden, and would have wished that I were a hundred years doing so, +but, unfortunately, Aunt Grédel assisted me. When I had the great +collar drawn up to my ears, she said: +</P> + +<P> +"Now, kiss us good-by, Joseph." +</P> + +<P> +I kissed her first, then Catharine, who did not say a word. After that +I opened the door and the terrible cold, entering, admonished me not to +wait. +</P> + +<P> +"Hasten, Joseph," said my aunt. +</P> + +<P> +"Good-night, Joseph, good-night!" cried Catharine, "and do not forget +to come Sunday." +</P> + +<P> +I turned round to wave my hand; and then I ran on without raising my +head, for the cold was so intense that it brought tears to my eyes even +behind the great collar. +</P> + +<P> +I ran on thus some twenty minutes, scarcely daring to breathe, when a +drunken voice called out: +</P> + +<P> +"Who goes there?" +</P> + +<P> +I looked through the dim night, and saw, fifty paces before me, +Pinacle, the pedler, with his huge basket, his otter-skin cap, woollen +gloves, and iron-pointed staff. The lantern hanging from the strap of +his basket lit up his debauched face, his chin bristling with yellow +beard, and his great nose shaped like an extinguisher. He glared with +his little eyes like a wolf, and repeated, "Who goes there?" +</P> + +<P> +This Pinacle was the greatest rogue in the country. He had the year +before a difficulty with Monsieur Goulden, who demanded of him the +price of a watch which he undertook to deliver to Monsieur Anstett, the +curate of Homert, and the money for which he put into his pocket, +saying he paid it to me. But although the villain made oath before the +justice of the peace, Monsieur Goulden knew the contrary, for on the +day in question neither he nor I had left the house. Besides, Pinacle +wanted to dance with Catharine at a festival at Quatre-Vents, and she +refused because she knew the story of the watch, and was, besides, +unwilling to leave me. +</P> + +<P> +The sight, then, of this rogue with his iron-shod stick in the middle +of the road did not tend to rejoice my heart. Happily a little path +which wound around the cemetery was at my left, and, without replying, +I dashed through it although the snow reached my waist. +</P> + +<P> +Then he, guessing who I was, cried furiously: +</P> + +<P> +"Aha! it is the little lame fellow! Halt! halt! I want to bid you +good-evening. You came from Catharine's, you watch-stealer." +</P> + +<P> +But I sprang like a hare through the heaps of snow; he at first tried +to follow me, but his pack hindered him, and, when I gained the ground +again, he put his hands around his mouth, and shrieked: +</P> + +<P> +"Never mind, cripple, never mind! Your reckoning is coming all the +same; the conscription is coming—the grand conscription of the +one-eyed, the lame, and the hunch-backed. You will have to go, and you +will find a place under ground like the others." +</P> + +<P> +He continued his way, laughing like the sot he was, and I, scarcely +able to breathe, kept on, thanking Heaven that the little alley was so +near; for Pinacle, who was known always to draw his knife in a fight, +might have done me an ill turn. +</P> + +<P> +In spite of my exertion, my feet, even in the thick shoes, were +intensely cold, and I again began running. +</P> + +<P> +That night the water froze in the cisterns of Phalsbourg and the wines +in the cellars—things that had not happened before for sixty years. +</P> + +<P> +On the bridge and under the German gate the silence seemed yet deeper +than in the morning, and the night made it seem terrible. A few stars +shone between the masses of white cloud that hung over the city. All +along the street I met not a soul, and when I reached home, after +shutting the door of our lower passage, it seemed warm to me, although +the little stream that ran from the yard along the wall was frozen. I +stopped a moment to take breath; then I ascended in the dark, my hand +on the baluster. +</P> + +<P> +When I opened the door of my room, the cheerful warmth of the stove was +grateful indeed. Monsieur Goulden was seated in his arm-chair before +the fire, his cap of black silk pulled over his ears, and his hands +resting upon his knees. +</P> + +<P> +"Is that you, Joseph?" he asked without turning round. +</P> + +<P> +"It is," I answered. "How pleasant it is here, and how cold out of +doors! We never had such a winter." +</P> + +<P> +"No," he said gravely. "It is a winter that will long be remembered." +</P> + +<P> +I went into the closet and hung the cloak and mittens in their places, +and was about relating my adventure with Pinacle, when he resumed: +</P> + +<P> +"You had a pleasant day of it, Joseph." +</P> + +<P> +"I have had, indeed. Aunt Grédel and Catharine wished me to make you +their compliments." +</P> + +<P> +"Very good, very good," said he; "the young are right to amuse +themselves, for when they grow old, and suffer, and see so much of +injustice, selfishness, and misfortune, everything is spoiled in +advance." +</P> + +<P> +He spoke as if talking to himself, gazing at the fire. I had never +seen him so sad, and I asked: +</P> + +<P> +"Are you not well, Monsieur Goulden?" +</P> + +<P> +But he, without replying, murmured: +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, yes; this is to be a great military nation; this is glory!" +</P> + +<P> +He shook his head and bent over gloomily, his heavy gray brows +contracted in a frown. +</P> + +<P> +I knew not what to think of all this, when raising his head again, he +said: +</P> + +<P> +"At this moment, Joseph, there are four hundred thousand families +weeping in France; the grand army has perished in the snows of Russia; +all those stout young men whom for two months we saw passing our gates +are buried beneath them. The news came this afternoon. Oh! it is +horrible! horrible!" +</P> + +<P> +I was silent. Now I saw clearly that we must have another +conscription, as after all campaigns, and this time the lame would most +probably be called. I grew pale, and Pinacle's prophecy made my hair +stand on end. +</P> + +<P> +"Go to bed, Joseph; rest easy," said Monsieur Goulden. "I am not +sleepy; I will stay here; all this upsets me. Did you remark anything +in the city?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, Monsieur Goulden." +</P> + +<P> +I went to my room and to bed. For a long time I could not close my +eyes, thinking of the conscription, of Catharine, and of so many +thousands of men buried in the snow, and then I plotted flight to +Switzerland. +</P> + +<P> +About three o'clock Monsieur Goulden retired, and a few minutes after, +through God's grace, I fell asleep. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap04"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +IV +</H3> + +<P> +When I arose in the morning, about seven, I went to Monsieur Goulden's +room to begin work, but he was still in bed, looking weary and sick. +</P> + +<P> +"Joseph," said he, "I am not well. This horrible news has made me ill, +and I have not slept at all." +</P> + +<P> +"Shall I not make you some tea?" I asked. +</P> + +<P> +"No, my child, that is not worth while. I will get up by and by. But +this is the day to regulate the city clocks; I cannot go; for to see so +many good people—people I have known for thirty years—in misery, +would kill me. Listen, Joseph: take those keys hanging behind the door +and go. I will try to sleep a little. If I could sleep an hour or +two, it would do me good." +</P> + +<P> +"Very well, Monsieur Goulden," I replied; "I will go at once." +</P> + +<P> +After putting more wood in the stove, I took the cloak and mittens, +drew Monsieur Goulden's bed-curtains, and went out, the bunch of keys +in my pocket. The illness of Father Melchior grieved me very much for +a while, but a thought came to console me, and I said to myself: "You +can climb up the city clock-tower, and see the house of Catharine and +Aunt Grédel." Thinking thus, I arrived at the house of Brainstein, the +bell-ringer, who lived at the corner of the little place, in an old, +tumble-down barrack. His two sons were weavers, and in their old home +the noise of the loom and the whistle of the shuttle was heard from +morning till night. The grandmother, old and blind, slept in an +armchair, on the back of which perched a magpie. Father Brainstein, +when he did not have to ring the bells for a christening, a funeral, or +a marriage, kept reading his almanac behind the small round panes of +his window. +</P> + +<P> +Beside their hut was a little box under the roof of the old hall, where +the cobbler Koniam worked, and farther on were the butchers' and +fruiterers' shops. +</P> + +<P> +I came then to Brainstein's, and the old man, when he saw me, rose up, +saying: +</P> + +<P> +"It is you, Monsieur Joseph." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, Father Brainstein; I came in place of Monsieur Goulden, who is +not well." +</P> + +<P> +"Very good; it is all the same." +</P> + +<P> +He took up his staff and put on his woollen cap, driving away the cat +that was sleeping upon it; then he took the great key of the steeple +from a drawer, and we went out together, I glad to find myself again in +the open air, despite the cold; for their miserable room was gray with +vapor, and as hard to breathe in as a kettle; I could never understand +how people could live in such a way. +</P> + +<P> +At last we gained the street, and Father Brainstein said: +</P> + +<P> +"You have heard of the great Russian disaster, Monsieur Joseph?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, Father Brainstein; it is fearful!" +</P> + +<P> +"Ah!" said he, "there will be many a Mass said in the churches; every +one will weep and pray for their children, the more that they are dead +in a heathen land." +</P> + +<P> +"Certainly, certainly," I replied. +</P> + +<P> +We crossed the court, and in front of the tower-hall, opposite the +guard-house, many peasants and city people were already standing, +reading a placard. We went up the steps and entered the church, where +more than twenty women, young and old, were kneeling on the pavement, +in spite of the terrible cold. +</P> + +<P> +"Is it not as I said?" said Brainstein. "They are coming already to +pray, and half of them have been here since five o'clock." +</P> + +<P> +He opened the little door of the steeple leading to the organ, and we +began climbing up in the dark. Once in the organ-loft, we turned to +the left of the bellows, and went up to the bells. +</P> + +<P> +I was glad to see the blue sky and breathe the free air again, for the +bad odor of the bats which inhabited the tower almost suffocated me. +But how terrible the cold was in that cage, open to every wind, and how +dazzlingly the snow shone over twenty leagues of country! All the +little city of Phalsbourg, with its six bastions, three <I>demilunes</I>, +two advanced works, its barracks, magazines, bridges, <I>glacis</I>, +ramparts; its great parade-ground, and little, well-aligned houses, +were beneath me, as if drawn on white paper. I was not yet accustomed +to the height, and I held fast on the middle of the platform for fear I +might jump off, for I had read of people having their heads turned by +great heights. I did not dare go to the clock, and, if Brainstein had +not set me the example, I would have remained there, pressed against +the beam from which the bells hung; but he said: +</P> + +<P> +"Come, Monsieur Joseph, and see if it is right." +</P> + +<P> +Then I took out Monsieur Goulden's large watch which marked seconds, +and I saw that the clock was considerably slow. Brainstein helped me +to wind it up, and we regulated it. +</P> + +<P> +"The clock is always slow in winter," said he, "because of the iron +working." +</P> + +<P> +After becoming somewhat accustomed to the elevation, I began to look +around. There were the Oakwood barracks, the upper barracks, +Bigelberg, and lastly, opposite me, Quatre-Vents, and the house of Aunt +Grédel, from the chimney of which a thread of blue smoke rose toward +the sky. And I saw the kitchen, and imagined Catharine, in sabots, and +woollen skirt, spinning at the corner of the hearth and thinking of me. +I no longer felt the cold; I could not take my eyes from their cottage. +</P> + +<P> +Father Brainstein, who did not know what I was looking at, said: +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, yes, Monsieur Joseph: now all the roads are covered with people +in spite of the snow. The news has already spread, and every one wants +to know the extent of his loss." +</P> + +<P> +He was right; every road and path was covered with people coming to the +city; and looking in the court, I saw the crowd increasing every moment +before the guard-house, the town-house, and the postoffice. A deep +murmur arose from the mass. +</P> + +<P> +At length, after a last, long look at Catharine's house, I had to +descend, and we went down the dark, winding stairs, as if descending +into a well. Once in the organ-loft, we saw that the crowd had greatly +increased in the church; all the mothers, the sisters, the old +grandmothers, the rich, and the poor, were kneeling on the benches in +the midst of the deepest silence; they prayed for the absent, offering +all only to see them once again. +</P> + +<P> +At first I did not realize all this; but suddenly the thought that, if +I had gone the year before, Catharine would be there, praying and +asking me of God, fell like a bolt on my heart, and I felt all my body +tremble. +</P> + +<P> +"Let us go! let us go!" I exclaimed, "this is terrible." +</P> + +<P> +"What is?" he asked. +</P> + +<P> +"War." +</P> + +<P> +We descended the stairs under the great gate, and I went across the +court to the house of Monsieur the Commandant Meunier, while Brainstein +took the way to his house. +</P> + +<P> +At the corner of the Hotel de Ville, I saw a sight which I shall +remember all my life. There, around a placard, were more than five +hundred people, men and women crowded against each other, all pale, and +with necks outstretched, gazing at it as at some horrible apparition. +They could not read it, and from time to time one would say in German +or French: +</P> + +<P> +"But they are not all dead! Some will return." +</P> + +<P> +Others cried out: +</P> + +<P> +"Let us see it! let us get near it." +</P> + +<P> +A poor old woman in the rear lifted up her hands, and cried: +</P> + +<P> +"Christopher! my poor Christopher!" +</P> + +<P> +Others, angry at her clamor, called out: +</P> + +<P> +"Keep that old woman quiet." +</P> + +<P> +Each one thought only of himself. +</P> + +<P> +Behind, the crowd continued to pour through the German gate. +</P> + +<P> +At length, Harmantier, the <I>sergent-de-ville</I>, came out of the +guard-house, and stood at the top of the steps, with another placard +like the first; a few soldiers followed him. Then a rush was made +toward him, but the soldiers kept off the crowd, and old Harmantier +began to read the placard, which he called the twenty-ninth bulletin, +and in which the Emperor informed them that during the retreat the +horses perished every night by thousands. He said nothing of the men! +</P> + +<P> +The <I>sergent-de-ville</I> read slowly; not a breath was heard in the +crowd; even the old woman, who did not understand French, listened like +the others. The buzz of a fly could have been heard. But when he came +to this passage, "Our cavalry was dismounted to such an extent that we +were forced to bring together the officers who yet owned horses to form +four companies of one hundred and fifty men each. Generals rated as +captains, and colonels as under-officers"—when he read this passage, +which told more of the misery of the grand army than all the rest, +cries and groans arose on all sides; two or three women fell and were +carried away. +</P> + +<P> +It is true that the bulletin added, "The health of his majesty was +never better," and that was a great consolation. Unfortunately it +could not restore life to three hundred thousand men buried in the +snow; and so the people went away very sad. Others came by dozens who +had not heard the news read, and from time to time Harmantier came out +to read the bulletin. +</P> + +<P> +This lasted until night; still the same scene over and over again. +</P> + +<P> +I ran from the place; I wanted to know nothing about it. +</P> + +<P> +I went to Monsieur the Commandant's. Entering a parlor, I saw him at +breakfast. He was an old man, but hale, with a red face and good +appetite. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah! it is you!" said he, "Monsieur Goulden is not coming, then?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, Monsieur the Commandant, the bad news has made him ill." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah! I understand," he said, emptying his glass; "yes, it is +unfortunate." +</P> + +<P> +And while I was regulating the clock, he added: +</P> + +<P> +"Well! tell Monsieur Goulden that we will have our revenge. We cannot +always have the upper hand. For fifteen years we have kept the drums +beating over them, and it is only right to let them have this little +morsel of consolation. And then our honor is safe; we were not beaten +fighting; without the cold and the snow, those poor Cossacks would have +had a hard time of it. But patience; the skeletons of our regiments +will soon be filled, and then let them beware." +</P> + +<P> +I wound up the clock; he rose and came to look at it, for he was a +great amateur in clock-making. He pinched my ear in a merry mood; and +then, as I was going away, he cried as he buttoned up his overcoat, +which he had opened before beginning breakfast: +</P> + +<P> +"Tell Father Goulden to rest easy; the dance will begin again in the +spring; the Kalmucks will not always have winter fighting for them. +Tell him that." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, Monsieur the Commandant," I answered, shutting the door. +</P> + +<P> +His burly figure and air of good humor comforted me a little; but in +all the other houses I went to, at the Horwiches, the Frantz-Tonis, the +Durlaches, everywhere I heard only lamentations. The women especially +were in misery; the men said nothing, but walked about with heads +hanging down, and without even looking to see what I was doing. +</P> + +<P> +Toward ten o'clock there only remained two persons for me to see: +Monsieur de la Vablerie-Chamberlan, one of the ancient nobility, who +lived at the end of the main street, with Madame Chamberlan-d'Ecof and +Mademoiselle Jeanne, their daughter. They were <I>émigrés</I>, and had +returned about three or four years before. They saw no one in the +city, and only three or four old priests in the environs. Monsieur de +la Vablerie-Chamberlan loved only the chase. He had six dogs at the +end of the yard, and a two-horse carriage; Father Robert, of the Rue +des Capucins, served them as coachman, groom, footman, and huntsman. +Monsieur de la Vablerie-Chamberlan always wore a hunting vest, a +leathern cap, and boots and spurs. All the town called him the hunter, +but they said nothing of Madame nor of Mademoiselle de Chamberlan. +</P> + +<P> +I was very sad when I pushed open the heavy door, which closed with a +pulley whose creaking echoed through the vestibule. What was then my +surprise to hear, in the midst of general mourning, the tones of a song +and harpsichord! Monsieur de la Vablerie was singing, and Mademoiselle +Jeanne accompanying him. I knew not, in those days, that the +misfortune of one was often the joy of others, and I said to myself +with my hand on the latch: "They have not heard the news from Russia." +</P> + +<P> +But while I stood thus, the door of the kitchen opened, and +Mademoiselle Louise, their servant, putting out her head, asked: +</P> + +<P> +"Who is there?" +</P> + +<P> +"It is I, Mademoiselle Louise." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah! it is you, Monsieur Joseph. Come this way." +</P> + +<P> +They had their clock in a large parlor which they rarely entered; the +high windows, with blinds, remained closed; but there was light enough +for what I had to do. I passed then through the kitchen and regulated +the antique clock, which was a magnificent piece of work of white +marble. Mademoiselle Louise looked on. +</P> + +<P> +"You have company, Mademoiselle Louise?" said I. +</P> + +<P> +"No, but monsieur ordered me to let no one in." +</P> + +<P> +"You are very cheerful here." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah! yes," she said; "and it is for the first time in years; I don't +know what is the matter." +</P> + +<P> +My work done, I left the house, meditating on these occurrences, which +seemed to me strange. The idea never entered my mind that they were +rejoicing at our defeat. +</P> + +<P> +Then I turned the corner of the street to go to Father Féral's, who was +called the "Standard-bearer," because, at the age of forty-five, he, a +blacksmith, and for many years the father of a family, had carried the +colors of the volunteers of Phalsbourg in '92, and only returned after +the Zurich campaign. He had his three sons in the army of Russia, +Jean, Louis, and George Féral. George was commandant of dragoons; the +two others, officers of infantry. +</P> + +<P> +I imagined the grief of Father Féral while I was going, but it was +nothing to what I saw when I entered his room. The poor old man, blind +and bald, was sitting in an arm-chair behind the stove, his head bowed +upon his breast, and his sightless eyes open, and staring as if he saw +his three sons stretched at his feet. He did not speak, but great +drops of sweat rolled down his forehead on his long, thin cheeks, while +his face was pale as that of a corpse. Four or five of his old +comrades of the times of the Republic—Father Desmarets, Father Nivoi, +old Paradis, and tall old Froissard—had come to console him. They sat +around him in silence, smoking their pipes, and looking as if they +themselves needed comfort. +</P> + +<P> +From time to time one or the other would say: "Come, come, Féral! are +we no longer veterans of the army of the Sambre-and-Meuse?" +</P> + +<P> +Or, +</P> + +<P> +"Courage, Standard-bearer: courage! Did we not carry the battery at +Fleurus?" +</P> + +<P> +Or some other similar remark. +</P> + +<P> +But he did not reply; every minute he sighed, his aged, hollow cheeks +swelled; then he leaned over, and the old friends made signs to each +other, shaking their heads, as if to say: +</P> + +<P> +"This looks bad." +</P> + +<P> +I hastened to regulate the clock and depart, for to see the poor old +man in such a plight made my heart bleed. +</P> + +<P> +When I arrived at home, I found Monsieur Goulden at his work-bench. +</P> + +<P> +"You are returned, Joseph," said he. "Well?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, Monsieur Goulden, you had reason to stay away; it is terrible." +</P> + +<P> +And I told him all in detail. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes; I knew it all," said he, sadly, "but our misfortunes are only +beginning; these Prussians and Austrians and Russians and +Spaniards—all the nations we have been beating since eighteen hundred +and four, are now taking advantage of our ill luck to fall upon us. We +gave them kings and queens they did not know from Adam nor Eve, and +whom they did not want, it seems, and now they are going to bring back +the old ones with all their trains of nobles, and after pouring out our +blood for the Emperor's brothers, we are about losing all we gained by +the Revolution. Instead of being first among the first we will be last +among the last. While you were away I was thinking of all this; it is +unavoidable—We relied upon soldiers alone, and now that we have no +more, we are nothing." +</P> + +<P> +He arose. I set the table, and, whilst we were dining in silence, the +bells of the steeples began to ring. +</P> + +<P> +"Some one is dead in the city," said Monsieur Goulden. +</P> + +<P> +"Indeed? I did not hear of it." +</P> + +<P> +Ten minutes after, the Rabbi Rose came in to have a glass put in his +watch. +</P> + +<P> +"Who is dead?" asked Monsieur Goulden. +</P> + +<P> +"Poor old Standard-bearer." +</P> + +<P> +"What! Father Féral?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, near an hour ago. Father Desmarets and several others tried to +comfort him; at last he asked them to read to him the last letter of +his son George, the commandant of dragoons, in which he says that next +spring he hoped to embrace his father with a colonel's epaulettes. As +the old man heard this, he tried to rise, but fell back with his head +upon his knees. That letter had broken his heart." +</P> + +<P> +Monsieur Goulden made no remark on the news. +</P> + +<P> +"Here is your watch, Monsieur Rose," said he, handing it back to the +rabbi; "it is twelve sous." +</P> + +<P> +Monsieur Rose departed, and we finished our dinner in silence. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap05"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +V +</H3> + +<P> +A few days after, the gazette announced that the Emperor was in Paris, +and that the King of Rome and the Empress Marie-Louise were about to be +crowned. Monsieur the Mayor, his coadjutor and the municipal +councillors now spoke only of the rights of the throne, and Professor +Burguet, the elder, wrote a speech on the subject which Baron +Parmentier read. But all this produced but little effect on the +people, because every one was afraid of being carried off by the +conscription, and knew that many more soldiers were needed; all were in +trouble, and I grew thinner day by day. In vain would Monsieur Goulden +say: "Fear nothing, Joseph; you cannot march. Consider, my child, that +any one as lame as you would give out at the end of the first mile." +</P> + +<P> +But all this did not lessen my uneasiness. +</P> + +<P> +Monsieur Goulden, often, too, when we were alone at work, would say to +me: +</P> + +<P> +"If those who are now masters, and who tell us that God placed them +here on earth to make us happy, would foresee at the beginning of a +campaign the poor old men, the hapless mothers, whose very hearts they +have torn away to satisfy their pride—if they could see the tears and +hear the groans of these poor people when they are coldly told 'Your +son is dead; you will see him no more; he perished, crushed by horses' +hoofs, or torn to pieces by a cannon-ball, or died mayhap afar off in a +hospital, after having his arm or leg cut off,—burning with fever, +without one kind word to console him, but calling for his parents as +when he was an infant,'—if, I say, these haughty ones of earth could +thus see the tears of those mothers, I do not believe that one among +them would be barbarous enough to continue the war. But they think +nothing of this; they think other folks do not love their children as +they love theirs; they think people are no more than beasts. They are +wrong; all their great genius, their lofty notions of glory, are as +nothing, for there is only one thing for which a people should fly to +arms—men, women, children—old and young. It is when their liberty is +assailed as ours was in '92—then all should die or conquer together; +he who remains behind is a coward, who would have others fight for +him;—the victory then is not for a few, but for all;—then sons and +fathers are defending their families; if they are killed, it is a +misfortune, to be sure, but they die for their rights. Such a man, +Joseph, is the only just one, the one of which no one can complain; all +others are shameful, and the glory they bring is not glory fit for a +man, but only for a wild beast." +</P> + +<P> +On the eighth of January, a huge placard was posted on the town-hall, +stating that the Emperor would levy, after a <I>senatus-consultus</I>, as +they said in those days, in the first place, one hundred and fifty +thousand conscripts of 1813; then one hundred <I>cohortes</I> of the first +call of 1812 who thought they had already escaped; then one hundred +thousand conscripts of from 1809 to 1812, and so on to the end; so that +every loop-hole was closed, and we would have a larger army than before +the Russian expedition. +</P> + +<P> +When Father Fouze, the glazier, came to us with this news, one morning, +I almost fell, through faintness, for I thought: +</P> + +<P> +"Now they will take all, even fathers of families. I am lost!" +</P> + +<P> +Monsieur Goulden poured some water on my neck; my arms hung useless by +my side; I was pale as a corpse. +</P> + +<P> +But I was not the only one upon whom the placard had such an effect: +that year many young men refused to go; some broke their teeth off, so +as not to be able to tear the cartridge; others blew off their thumbs +with pistols, so as not to be able to hold a musket; others, again, +fled to the woods; they proclaimed them "refractories," but they had +not <I>gendarmes</I> enough to capture them. +</P> + +<P> +The mothers of families took courage to revolt after a manner, and to +encourage their sons not to obey the <I>gendarmes</I>. They aided them in +every way; they cried out against the Emperor, and the clergy of all +denominations sustained them in so doing. The cup was at last full! +</P> + +<P> +The very day of the proclamation I went to Quatre-Vents; but it was not +now in the joy of my heart; it was as the most miserable of unhappy +wretches, about to be bereft of love and life. I could scarcely walk, +and when I reached there I did not know how to announce the evil +tidings; but I saw at a glance that they knew all, for Catharine was +weeping bitterly, and Aunt Grédel was pale with indignation. +</P> + +<P> +We embraced in silence, and the first words Aunt Grédel said to me, as +in her anger she pushed her gray hair behind her ears, were: +</P> + +<P> +"You shall not go! What have we to do with wars? The priest himself +told us it was at last too much, and that we ought to have peace! You +shall not go! Do not cry, Catharine; I say he shall not go!" +</P> + +<P> +She was fairly green with anger, and rattled her kettles noisily +together, saying: +</P> + +<P> +"This carnage has lasted long enough. Our two poor cousins, Kasper and +Yokel, are already going to lose their lives in Spain for this Emperor, +and now he comes to ask us for the younger ones. He is not satisfied +to have slain three hundred thousand in Russia. Instead of thinking of +peace, like a man of sense, he thinks only of massacring the few who +remain. We will see! We will see!" +</P> + +<P> +"In the name of Heaven! Aunt Grédel, be quiet; speak lower," said I, +looking at the window. "If they hear you, we are lost." +</P> + +<P> +"I speak for them to hear me," she replied. "Your Napoleon does not +frighten me. He commenced by closing our mouths, so that he might do +as he pleased; but the end approaches. Four young women are losing +their husbands in our village alone, and ten poor young men are forced +to abandon everything, despite father, mother, religion, justice, God! +Is not this horrible?" +</P> + +<P> +I tried to answer, but she kept on: +</P> + +<P> +"Hold, Joseph," said she; "be silent; your Emperor has no heart—he +will end miserably yet. God showed his finger this winter; He saw that +we feared a man more than we feared Him; that mothers—like those whose +babes Herod slew—dared no longer cling to their own flesh when that +man demanded them for massacre; and so the cold came and our army +perished; and now those who are leaving us are the same as already +dead. God is weary of all this! You shall not go!" cried she +obstinately; "I shall not let you go; you shall fly to the woods with +Jean Kraft, Louis Bême, and all our bravest fellows; you shall go to +the mountains—to Switzerland, and Catharine and I will go with you and +remain until this destruction of men is ended." +</P> + +<P> +Then Aunt Grédel became silent. Instead of giving us an ordinary +dinner, she gave us a better one than on Catharine's birthday, and +said, with the air of one who has taken a resolution: +</P> + +<P> +"Eat, my children, and fear not; there will soon be a change!" +</P> + +<P> +I returned about four in the evening to Phalsbourg, somewhat calmer +than when I set out. But as I went up the Rue de la Munitionnaire, I +heard at the corner of the college the drum of the <I>sergent-de-ville</I>, +Harmantier, and I saw a throng gathered around him. I ran to hear what +was going on, and I arrived just as he began reading a proclamation. +</P> + +<P> +Harmantier read that, by the <I>senatus-consultus</I> of the 3d, the drawing +for the conscription would take place on the 15th. +</P> + +<P> +It was already the 8th, and only seven days remained. This upset me +completely. +</P> + +<P> +The crowd dispersed in the deepest silence. I went home sad enough, +and said to Monsieur Goulden: +</P> + +<P> +"The drawing takes place next Thursday." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah!" he exclaimed, "they are losing no time, things are pressing." +</P> + +<P> +It is easy to imagine my grief that day and the days following. I +could scarcely stand; I constantly saw myself on the point of leaving +home. I saw myself flying to the woods, the <I>gendarmes</I> at my heels, +crying, "Halt! halt!" Then I thought of the misery of Catharine, of +Aunt Grédel, of Monsieur Goulden. Then I imagined myself marching in +the ranks with a number of other wretches, to whom they were crying +out, "Forward! charge bayonets!" while whole files were being swept +away. I heard bullets whistle and shells shriek; in a word, I was in a +pitiable state. +</P> + +<P> +"Be calm, Joseph," said Monsieur Goulden; "do not torment yourself +thus. I think that of all who may be drawn there are probably not ten +who can give as good reasons as you for staying at home. The surgeon +must be blind to receive you. Besides, I will see Monsieur the +Commandant. Calm yourself." +</P> + +<P> +But these kind words could not reassure me. +</P> + +<P> +Thus I passed an entire week almost in a trance, and when the day of +the drawing arrived, Thursday morning, I was so pale, so sick-looking +that the parents of conscripts envied, so to speak, my appearance for +their sons. "That fellow," they said, "has a chance; he would drop the +first mile. Some people are born under a lucky star!" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap06"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +VI +</H3> + +<P> +The town-house of Phalsbourg, that Thursday morning, January 15, 1813, +during the drawing of the conscription, was a sight to be seen. To-day +it is bad enough to be drawn, to be forced to leave parents, friends, +home, one's cattle and one's fields, to go and learn—God knows +where—"<I>One! two!</I> one! two! halt! eyes left! eyes right! front! +carry arms!" etc., etc. Yes, this is all bad enough, but there is a +chance of returning. One can say, with something like confidence: "In +seven years I shall see my old nest again, and my parents, and perhaps +my sweetheart. I shall have seen the world, and will perhaps have some +title to be appointed forester or gendarme." This is a comfort for +reasonable people. But <I>then</I>, if you had the ill-luck to lose in the +lottery, there was an end of you; often not one in a hundred returned. +The idea that you were only going for a time never entered your head. +</P> + +<P> +The enrolled of Harberg, of Garbourg, and of Quatre-Vents were to draw +first; then those of the city, and lastly those of Wechem and +Mittelbronn. +</P> + +<P> +I was up early in the morning, and with my elbows on the work-bench I +watched the people pass by; young men in blouses, poor old men in +cotton caps and short vests; old women in jackets and woollen skirts, +bent almost double, with a staff or umbrella under their arms. They +arrived by families. Monsieur the Sub-Prefect of Sarrebourg, with his +silver collar, and his secretary, had stopped the day before at the +"Red Ox," and they were also looking out of the window. Toward eight +o'clock, Monsieur Goulden began work, after breakfasting. I ate +nothing, but stared and stared until Monsieur the Mayor Parmentier and +his co-adjutor, came for Monsieur the Sub-Prefect. +</P> + +<P> +The drawing began at nine, and soon we heard the clarionet of +Pfifer-Karl and the violin of big Andrès resounding through the +streets. They were playing the "March of the Swedes," an air to which +thousands of poor wretches had left old Alsace for ever. The +conscripts danced, linked arms, shouted until their voices seemed to +pierce the clouds, stamped on the ground, waved their hats, trying to +seem joyful while death was at their hearts. Well, it was the fashion; +and big Andrès, withered, stiff, and yellow as boxwood, and his short +chubby comrade, with cheeks extended to their utmost tension, seemed +like people who would lead you to the church-yard all the while +chatting indifferently. +</P> + +<P> +That music, those cries, sent a shudder through my heart. +</P> + +<P> +I had just put on my swallow-tailed coat and my beaver hat, to go out, +when Aunt Grédel and Catharine entered, saying: +</P> + +<P> +"Good-morning, Monsieur Goulden. We have come for the conscription." +</P> + +<P> +Then I saw how Catharine had been crying. Her eyes were red, and she +threw her arms around my neck, while her mother turned to me. +</P> + +<P> +Monsieur Goulden said: +</P> + +<P> +"It will soon be the turn of the young men of the town." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, Monsieur Goulden," answered Catharine in a choking voice; "they +have finished Harberg." +</P> + +<P> +"Then it is time for you to go, Joseph," said he; "but do not grieve; +do not be frightened. These drawings, you know, are only a matter of +form. For a long while past none can escape; for if they escape one +drawing, they are caught a year or two after. All the numbers are bad. +When the council of exemption meets, we will see what is best to be +done. To-day it is merely a sort of satisfaction they give the people +to draw in the lottery; but every one loses." +</P> + +<P> +"No matter," said Aunt Grédel; "Joseph will win." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, yes," replied Monsieur Goulden, smiling, "he cannot fail." +</P> + +<P> +Then I sallied forth with Catharine and Aunt Grédel, and we went to the +town square, where the crowd was. In all the shops, dozens of +conscripts, purchasing ribbons, thronged around the counters, weeping +and singing as if possessed. Others in the inns embraced, sobbing; but +still they sang. Two or three musicians of the neighborhood—the Gipsy +Walteufel, Rosselkasten, and George Adam—had arrived, and their pieces +thundered in terrible and heart-rending strains. +</P> + +<P> +Catharine squeezed my arm. Aunt Grédel followed. +</P> + +<P> +Opposite the guard-house I saw the pedler Pinacle afar off, his pack +opened on a little table, and beside it a long pole decked with ribbons +which he was selling to the conscripts. +</P> + +<P> +I hastened to pass by him, when he cried: +</P> + +<P> +"Ha! Cripple! Halt! Come here; I have a ribbon for you; you must +have a magnificent one—one to draw a prize by." +</P> + +<P> +He waved a long black ribbon above his head, and I grew pale despite +myself. But as we ascended the steps of the town-house, a conscript +was just descending; it was Klipfel, the smith of the French gate; he +had drawn number eight, and shouted: +</P> + +<P> +"The black for me, Pinacle! Bring it here, whatever may happen." +</P> + +<P> +His face was gloomy, but he laughed. His little brother Jean was +crying behind him, and said: +</P> + +<P> +"No, no, Jacob! not the black!" +</P> + +<P> +But Pinacle fastened the ribbon to the smith's hat, while the latter +said: +</P> + +<P> +"That is what we want now. We are all dead, and should wear our own +mourning." +</P> + +<P> +And he cried savagely: +</P> + +<P> +"<I>Vive l'Empereur!</I>" +</P> + +<P> +I was better satisfied to see the black ribbon on his hat than on mine, +and I slipped quickly through the crowd to avoid Pinacle. +</P> + +<P> +We had great difficulty in getting into the townhouse and in climbing +the old oak stairs, where people were going up and down in swarms. In +the great hall above, the gendarme Kelz walked about maintaining order +as well as he could, and in the council-chamber at the side, where +there was a painting of Justice with her eyes blindfolded, we heard +them calling off the numbers. From time to time a conscript came out +with flushed face, fastening his number to his cap and passing with +bowed head through the crowd, like a furious bull who cannot see +clearly and who would seem to wish to break his horns against the +walls. Others, on the contrary, passed as pale as death. The windows +of the town-house were open, and without we heard six or seven pieces +playing together. It was horrible. +</P> + +<P> +I pressed Catharine's hand, and we passed slowly through the crowd to +the hall where Monsieur the Sub-Prefect, the Mayors, and the +Secretaries were seated on their tribune, calling the numbers aloud, as +if pronouncing sentence of death in a court of justice, for all these +numbers were really sentences of death. +</P> + +<P> +We waited a long while. +</P> + +<P> +It seemed as if there was no longer a drop of blood in my veins, when +at last my name was called. +</P> + +<P> +I stepped up, seeing and hearing nothing; I put my hand in the box and +drew a number. +</P> + +<P> +Monsieur the Sub-Prefect cried out: +</P> + +<P> +"Number seventeen." +</P> + +<P> +Then I left without speaking, Catharine and her mother behind me. We +went out into the square, and, the air reviving me, I remembered that I +had drawn number seventeen. +</P> + +<P> +Aunt Grédel seemed confounded. +</P> + +<P> +"And I put something into your pocket, too," said she; "but that rascal +of a Pinacle gave you ill-luck." +</P> + +<P> +At the same time she drew from my coat-pocket the end of a cord. Great +drops of sweat rolled down my forehead; Catharine was white as marble, +and so we went back to Monsieur Goulden's. +</P> + +<P> +"What number did you draw, Joseph?" he asked, as soon as he saw us. +</P> + +<P> +"Seventeen," replied Aunt Grédel, sitting down with her hands upon her +knees. +</P> + +<P> +Monsieur Goulden seemed troubled for a moment, but he said instantly: +</P> + +<P> +"One is as good as another. All will go; the skeletons must be filled. +But it don't matter for Joseph. I will go and see Monsieur the Mayor +and Monsieur the Commandant. It will be telling no lie to say that +Joseph is lame; all the town knows that; but among so many they may +overlook him. That is why I go, so rest easy; do not be anxious." +</P> + +<P> +These words of good Monsieur Goulden reassured Aunt Grédel and +Catharine, who returned to Quatre-Vents full of hope; but they did not +affect me, for from that moment I had not a moment of rest day or night. +</P> + +<P> +The Emperor had a good custom: he did not allow the conscripts to +languish at home. Soon as the drawing was complete, the council of +revision met, and a few days after came the orders of march. He did +not do like those tooth-pullers who first show you their pincers and +hooks and gaze for an hour into your mouth, so that you feel half dead +before they make up their minds to begin work: he proceeded without +loss of time. +</P> + +<P> +A week after the drawing, the council of revision sat at the town-hall, +with all the mayors and a few notables of the country to give advice in +case of need. +</P> + +<P> +The day before Monsieur Goulden had put on his brown great-coat and his +best wig to go to wind up Monsieur the Mayor's clock and that of the +Commandant. He returned laughing and said: +</P> + +<P> +"All goes well, Joseph. Monsieur the Mayor and Monsieur the Commandant +know that you are lame; that is easy enough to be seen. They replied +at once, Eh, Monsieur Goulden, the young man is lame; why speak of him? +Do not be uneasy; we do not want the infirm; we want soldiers." +</P> + +<P> +These words poured balm on my wounds, and that night I slept like one +of the blessed. But the next day fear again assailed me; I remembered +suddenly how many men full of defects had gone all the same, and how +many others invented defects to deceive the council; for instance, +swallowing injurious substances to make them pale; tying up their legs +to give themselves swollen veins; or playing deaf, blind, or foolish. +Thinking over all these things, I trembled at not being lame enough, +and determined that I would appear sufficiently forlorn. I had heard +that vinegar would make one sick, and without telling Monsieur Goulden, +in my fear I swallowed all the vinegar in his bottle. Then I dressed +myself, thinking that I looked like a dead man, for the vinegar was +very strong; but when I entered Monsieur Goulden's room, he cried out: +</P> + +<P> +"Joseph, what is the matter with you? You are as red as a cock's comb." +</P> + +<P> +And, looking at myself in the mirror, I saw that my face was red to my +ears, and to the tip of my nose. I was frightened, but instead of +growing pale I became redder yet, and I cried out in my distress: +</P> + +<P> +"'Now I am lost indeed! I will seem like a man without a single +defect, and full of health. The vinegar is rushing to my head." +</P> + +<P> +"What vinegar?" asked Monsieur Goulden. +</P> + +<P> +"That in your bottle. I drank it to make myself pale, as they say +Mademoiselle Sclapp, the organist does. O heavens! what a fool I was." +</P> + +<P> +"That does not prevent your being lame," said Monsieur Goulden; "but +you tried to deceive the council, which was dishonest. But it is +half-past nine, and Werner is come to tell me you must be there at ten +o'clock. So, hurry." +</P> + +<P> +I had to go in that state; the heat of the vinegar seemed bursting from +my cheeks, and when I met Catharine and her mother, who were waiting +for me at the town-house, they scarcely knew me. +</P> + +<P> +"How happy and satisfied you look!" said Aunt Grédel. +</P> + +<P> +I would have fainted on hearing this if the vinegar had not sustained +me in spite of myself. I went upstairs in terrible agony, without +being able to move my tongue to reply, so great was the horror I felt +at my folly. +</P> + +<P> +Upstairs, more than twenty-five conscripts who pretended to be infirm, +had been examined and received, while twenty-five others, on a bench +along the wall, sat with drooping heads awaiting their turn. +</P> + +<P> +The old gendarme, Kelz, with his huge cocked hat, was walking about, +and as soon as he saw me, exclaimed: +</P> + +<P> +"At last! At last! Here is one, at all events, who will not be sorry +to go; the love of glory is shining in his eyes. Very good, Joseph; I +predict that at the end of the campaign you will be corporal." +</P> + +<P> +"But I am lame," I cried, angrily. +</P> + +<P> +"Lame!" repeated Kelz, winking and smiling, "lame! No matter. With +such health as yours you can always hold your own." +</P> + +<P> +He had scarcely ceased speaking when the door of the hall of the +Council of Revision opened, and the other gendarme, Werner, putting out +his head, called me by name, "Joseph Bertha." +</P> + +<P> +I entered, limping as much as I could, and Werner shut the door. The +mayors of the canton were seated in a semicircle, Monsieur the +Sub-Prefect and the Mayor of Phalsbourg in the middle, in arm-chairs, +and the Secretary Freylig at his table. A Harberg conscript was +dressing himself, the gendarme Descarmes helping him put on his +suspenders. This conscript, with a mass of brown hair falling over his +eyes, his neck bare, and his mouth open as he caught his breath, seemed +like a man going to be hanged. Two surgeons—the Surgeon-in-Chief of +the Hospital, with another in uniform—were conversing in the middle of +the hall. They turned to me saying, "Undress yourself." +</P> + +<P> +I did so, even to my shirt. The others looked on. +</P> + +<P> +Monsieur the Sub-Prefect observed: +</P> + +<P> +"There is a young man full of health." +</P> + +<P> +These words angered me, but I nevertheless replied respectfully: +</P> + +<P> +"I am lame, Monsieur the Sub-Prefect." +</P> + +<P> +The surgeon examined me, and the one from the hospital, to whom +Monsieur the Commandant had doubtless spoken of me, said: +</P> + +<P> +"The left leg is a little short." +</P> + +<P> +"Bah!" said the other; "it is sound." +</P> + +<P> +Then placing his hand upon my chest he said, "The conformation is good. +Cough." +</P> + +<P> +I coughed as feebly as I could; but he found me all right, and said +again: +</P> + +<P> +"Look at his color. How good his blood must be!" +</P> + +<P> +Then I, seeing that they would pass me if I remained silent, replied: +</P> + +<P> +"I have been drinking vinegar." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah!" said he; "that proves you have a good stomach; you like vinegar." +</P> + +<P> +"But I am lame!" I cried in my distress. +</P> + +<P> +"Bah! don't grieve at that," he answered; "your leg is sound. I'll +answer for it." +</P> + +<P> +"But that," said Monsieur the Mayor, "does not prevent his being lame +from birth; all Phalsbourg knows that." +</P> + +<P> +"The leg is too short," said the surgeon from the hospital; "it is +doubtless a case for exemption." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," said the Mayor; "I am sure that this young man could not endure +a long march; he would drop on the road the second mile." +</P> + +<P> +The first surgeon said nothing more. +</P> + +<P> +I thought myself saved, when Monsieur the Sub-Prefect asked: +</P> + +<P> +"You are really Joseph Bertha?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, Monsieur the Sub-Prefect," I answered. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, gentlemen," said he, taking a letter out of his portfolio, +"listen." +</P> + +<P> +He began to read the letter, which stated that, six months before, I +had bet that I could go to Laverne and back quicker than Pinacle; that +we had run the race, and I had won. +</P> + +<P> +It was unhappily too true. The villain Pinacle had always taunted me +with being a cripple, and in my anger I laid the wager. Every one knew +of it. I could not deny it. +</P> + +<P> +While I stood utterly confounded, the first surgeon said: +</P> + +<P> +"That settles the question. Dress yourself." And turning to the +secretary, he cried, "Good for service." +</P> + +<P> +I took up my coat in despair. +</P> + +<P> +Werner called another. I no longer saw anything. Some one helped me +to get my arms in my coat-sleeves. Then I found myself upon the +stairs, and while Catharine asked me what had poised, I sobbed aloud +and would have fallen from top to bottom if Aunt Grédel had not +supported me. +</P> + +<P> +We went out by the rear-way and crossed the little court. I wept like +a child, and Catharine did too. Out in the hall, in the shadow, we +stopped to embrace each other. +</P> + +<P> +Aunt Grédel cried out: +</P> + +<P> +"Oh the robbers! They are taking the lame and the sick. It is all the +same to them; next they will take us." +</P> + +<P> +A crowd began collecting, and Sepel the butcher, who was cutting meat +in the stall, said: +</P> + +<P> +"Mother Grédel, in the name of Heaven keep quiet. They will put you in +prison." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, let them put me there!" she cried, "let them murder me. I say +that men are fools to allow such outrages!" +</P> + +<P> +But the <I>sergent-de-ville</I> was coming up, and we went on together +weeping. We turned the corner of Café Hemmerle, and went into our own +house. People looked at us from the windows and said, "There is +another one who is going." +</P> + +<P> +Monsieur Goulden knowing that Aunt Grédel and Catharine would come to +dine with us the day of the revision, had had a stuffed goose and two +bottles of good Alsace wine sent from the "Golden Sheep." He was sure +that I would be exempted at once. What was his surprise, then, to see +us enter together in such distress. +</P> + +<P> +"What is the matter?" said he, raising his silk cap over his bald +forehead, and staring at us with eyes wide open. +</P> + +<P> +I had not strength enough to answer. I threw myself into the arm-chair +and burst into tears. Catharine sat down beside me, and our sobs +redoubled. +</P> + +<P> +Aunt Grédel said: +</P> + +<P> +"The robbers have taken him." +</P> + +<P> +"It is not possible!" exclaimed Monsieur Goulden, letting fall his arms +by his side. +</P> + +<P> +"It shows their villainy," replied my aunt, and growing more and more +excited, she cried, "Will a revolution never come again? Shall those +wretches always be our masters?" +</P> + +<P> +"Calm yourself, Mother Grédel," said Monsieur Goulden. "In the name of +Heaven don't cry so loud. Joseph, tell me how it happened. They are +surely mistaken; it cannot be otherwise. Did Monsieur the Mayor and +the hospital surgeon say nothing?" +</P> + +<P> +I told the history of the letter between my sobs, and Aunt Grédel, who +until then knew nothing of it, again shrieked with her hands clinched. +</P> + +<P> +"O the scoundrel! God grant that he may cross my threshold again. I +will cleave his head with my hatchet." +</P> + +<P> +Monsieur Goulden was astounded. +</P> + +<P> +"And you did not say that it was false. Then the story was true?"' +</P> + +<P> +And as I bowed my head without replying he clasped his hands, saying: +</P> + +<P> +"O youth! youth! it thinks of nothing. What folly! what folly!" +</P> + +<P> +He walked around the room; then sat down to wipe his spectacles, and +Aunt Grédel exclaimed: +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, but they shall not have him yet! Their wickedness shall yet go +for nothing. This very evening Joseph shall be in the mountains on the +way to Switzerland." +</P> + +<P> +Monsieur Goulden hearing this, looked grave; he bent his brows, and +replied in a few moments: "It is a misfortune, a great misfortune, for +Joseph is really lame. They will yet find it out, for he cannot march +two days without falling behind and becoming sick. But you are wrong, +Mother Grédel, to speak as you do and give him bad advice." +</P> + +<P> +"Bad advice!" she cried. "Then you are for having people massacred +too!" +</P> + +<P> +"No," he answered; "I do not love wars, especially where a hundred +thousand men lose their lives for the glory of one. But wars of that +kind are ended. It is not now for glory and to win new kingdoms that +soldiers are levied, but to defend our country, which had been put in +danger by tyranny and ambition. We would gladly have peace now. +Unhappily, the Russians are advancing; the Prussians are joining them: +and our friends, the Austrians, only await a good opportunity to fall +upon our rear. If we do not go to meet them, they will come to our +homes; for we are about to have Europe on our hands as we had in '93. +It is now a different matter from our wars in Spain, in Russia, and in +Germany; and I, old as I am, Mother Grédel, if the danger continues to +increase and the veterans of the republic are needed, I would be +ashamed to go and make clocks in Switzerland while others were pouring +out their blood to defend my country. Besides, remember this well, +that deserters are despised everywhere; after having committed such an +act, they have no kindred or home anywhere. They have neither father, +mother, church nor country. They are incapable of fulfilling the first +duty of man—to love and sustain their country, even though she be in +the wrong." +</P> + +<P> +He said no more at the moment, but sat gravely down. +</P> + +<P> +"Let us eat," he exclaimed, after some minutes of silence. "It is +striking twelve o'clock. Mother Grédel and Catharine, seat yourselves +there." +</P> + +<P> +They sat down, and we began dinner. I thought of the words of Monsieur +Goulden, which seemed right to me. Aunt Grédel compressed her lips, +and from time to time gazed at me as if to read my thoughts. At length +she said: +</P> + +<P> +"I despise a country where they take fathers of families after carrying +off the sons. If I were in Joseph's place, I would fly at once." +</P> + +<P> +"Listen, Aunt Grédel," I replied; "you know that I love nothing so much +as peace and quiet, but I would not, nevertheless, run away like a +coward to another country. But, notwithstanding, I will do as +Catharine says; if she wishes me to go to Switzerland, I will go." +</P> + +<P> +Then Catharine, lowering her head to hide her tears, said in a low +voice: +</P> + +<P> +"I would not have them call you a deserter." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, then, I will do like the others," I cried; "and as those of +Phalsbourg and Dagsberg are going to the wars, I will go." +</P> + +<P> +Monsieur Goulden made no remark. +</P> + +<P> +"Every one is free to do as he pleases," said he, after a while; "but I +am glad that Joseph thinks as I do." +</P> + +<P> +Then there was silence, and toward two o'clock Aunt Grédel arose and +took her basket. She seemed utterly cast down, and said: +</P> + +<P> +"Joseph, you will not listen to me, but no matter. With God's grace, +all will yet be well. You will return if He wills it, and Catharine +will wait for you." +</P> + +<P> +Catharine wept again, and I more than she; so that Monsieur Goulden +himself could not help shedding tears. +</P> + +<P> +At length Catharine and her mother descended the stairs, and Aunt +Grédel called out from the bottom: +</P> + +<P> +"Try to come and see us once or twice again, Joseph." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, yes," I answered, shutting the door. +</P> + +<P> +I could no longer stand. Never had I been so miserable, and even now, +when I think of it, my heart chills. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap07"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +VII +</H3> + +<P> +From that day I could think of nothing but my misfortune. I tried to +work, but my thoughts were far away, and Monsieur Goulden said: +</P> + +<P> +"Joseph, stop working. Make the most of the little time you can remain +among us; go to see Catharine and Mother Grédel. I still think they +will exempt you, but who can tell? They need men so much that it may +be a long time coming." +</P> + +<P> +I went every morning then to Quatre-Vents, and passed my days with +Catharine. We were very sorrowful, but very glad to see each other. +We loved one another even more than before, if that were possible. +Catharine sometimes tried to sing as in the good old times; but +suddenly she would burst into tears. Then we wept together, and Aunt +Grédel would rail at the wars which brought misery to every one. She +said that the Council of Revision deserved to be hung; that they were +all robbers, banded together to poison our lives. It solaced us a +little to hear her talk thus, and we thought she was right. +</P> + +<P> +I returned to the city about eight or nine o'clock in the evening, when +they closed the gates, and as I passed, I saw the small inns full of +conscripts and old returned soldiers drinking together. The conscripts +always paid; the others, with dirty police caps cocked over their ears, +red noses, and horse-hair stocks in place of shirt-collars, twisted +their mustaches and related with majestic air their battles, their +marches, and their duels. One can imagine nothing viler than those +holes, full of smoke, cob-webs hanging on the black beams, those old +sworders and young men drinking, shouting, and beating the tables like +crazy people; and behind, in the shadow, old Annette Schnaps or Marie +Héring—her old wig stuck back on her head, her comb with only three +teeth remaining, crosswise, in it—gazing on the scene, or emptying a +mug to the health of the braves. +</P> + +<P> +It was sad to see the sons of peasants, honest and laborious fellows, +leading such an existence; but no one thought of working, and any one +of them would have given his life for two farthings. Worn out with +shouting, drinking, and internal grief, they ended by falling asleep +over the table, while the old fellows emptied their cups, singing: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +"'Tis glory calls us on!"<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +I saw these things, and I blessed heaven for having given me, in my +wretchedness, kind hearts to keep up my courage, and prevent my falling +into such hands. +</P> + +<P> +This state of affairs lasted until the twenty-fifth of January. For +some days a great number of Italian conscripts—Piedmontese and +Genoese—had been arriving in the city; some stout and fat as Savoyards +fed upon chestnuts—their cocked hats on their curly heads; their +linsey-woolsey pantaloons dyed a dark green, and their short vests also +of wool, but brick-red, fastened around their waists by a leather belt. +They wore enormous shoes, and ate their cheese seated along the old +market-place. Others were dried up, lean, brown, shivering in their +long cassocks, seeing nothing but snow upon the roofs and gazing with +their large, black, mournful eyes upon the women who passed. They were +exercised every day in marching, and were going to fill up the skeleton +of the Sixth regiment of the line at Mayence, and were then resting for +a while in the infantry barracks. +</P> + +<P> +The captain of the recruits, who was named Vidal, lodged over our room. +He was a square-built, solid, very strong-looking man, and was, too, +very kind and civil. He came to us to have his watch repaired, and +when he learned that I was a conscript and was afraid I should never +return, he encouraged me, saying that it was all habit; that at the end +of five or six months one fights and marches as he eats his dinner; and +that many so accustom themselves to shooting at people that they +consider themselves unhappy when they are deprived of that amusement. +</P> + +<P> +But his mode of reasoning was not to my taste; the more so as I saw +five or six large grains of powder on one of his cheeks, which had +entered deeply, and as he explained to me that they came from a shot +which a Russian fired almost under his nose, such a life disgusted me +more and more, and as several days had already passed without news, I +began to think they had forgotten me, as they did Jacob, of Chèvre Hof, +of whose extraordinary luck every one yet talks. Aunt Grédel herself +said to me every time I went there, "Well, well! they will let us alone +after all!" When, on the morning of the twenty-fifth of January, as I +was about starting for Quatre-Vents, Monsieur Goulden, who was working +at his bench with a thoughtful air, turned to me with tears in his eyes +and said: +</P> + +<P> +"Listen, Joseph! I wanted to let you have one night more of quiet +sleep; but you must know now, my child, that yesterday evening the +brigadier of the <I>gendarmes</I> brought me your marching orders. You go +with the Piedmontese and Genoese and five or six young men of the +city—young Klipfel, young Loerig, Jean Léger, and Gaspard Zébédé. You +go to Mayence." +</P> + +<P> +I felt my knees give way as he spoke, and I sat down unable to speak. +Monsieur Goulden took my marching orders, beautifully written, out of a +drawer, and began to read them slowly. All that I remember is that +Joseph Bertha, native of Dabo, Canton of Phalsbourg, Arrondissement of +Sarrebourg, was incorporated in the Sixth regiment of the line, and +that he was to join his corps the twenty-ninth of January at Mayence. +</P> + +<P> +This letter produced as bad an effect on me as if I had known nothing +of it before. It seemed something new, and I grew angry. +</P> + +<P> +Monsieur Goulden, after a moment's silence, added: +</P> + +<P> +"The Italians start to-day at eleven." +</P> + +<P> +Then, as if awakening from a horrible dream, I cried: +</P> + +<P> +"But shall I not see Catharine again?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, Joseph, yes," said he, in a trembling voice. "I notified Mother +Grédel and Catharine, and thus, my boy, they will come, and you can +embrace them before leaving." +</P> + +<P> +I saw his grief, and it made me sadder yet, so that I had a hard +struggle to keep myself from bursting into tears. +</P> + +<P> +He continued after a pause: +</P> + +<P> +"You need not be anxious about anything, Joseph. I have prepared all +beforehand; and when you return, if it please God to keep me so long in +this world, you will find me always the same. I am beginning to grow +old, and my greatest happiness would be to keep you for a son, for I +found you good-hearted and honest. I would have given you what I +possess, and we would have been happy together. Catharine and you +would have been my children. But since it is otherwise, let us be +resigned. It is only for a little while. You will be sent back, I am +sure. They will soon see that you cannot make long marches." +</P> + +<P> +While he spoke, I sat silently sobbing, my face buried in my hands. +</P> + +<P> +At last he arose and took from a closet a soldier's knapsack of +cowskin, which he placed upon the table. I looked at him, thinking of +nothing but the pain of parting. +</P> + +<P> +"Here is your knapsack," he added; "and I have put in it all that you +require; two linen shirts, two flannel waistcoats, and all the rest. +You will receive at Mayence two soldier's shirts,—all that you will +need; but I have made for you some shoes, for nothing is worse than +those given the soldiers, which are almost always of horse-hide and +chafe the feet fearfully. You are none too strong in your leg, my poor +boy. Well, well, that is all." +</P> + +<P> +He placed the knapsack upon the table and sat down. +</P> + +<P> +Without, we heard the Italians making ready to depart. Above us +Captain Vidal was giving his orders. He had his horse at the barracks +of the gendarmerie, and was telling his orderly to see that he was well +rubbed and had received his hay. +</P> + +<P> +All this bustle and movement produced a strange effect upon me, and I +could not yet realize that I must quit the city. As I was thus in the +greatest distress, the door opened and Catharine entered weeping, while +Mother Grédel cried out: +</P> + +<P> +"I told you you should have fled to Switzerland; that these rogues +would finish by carrying you off. I told you so, and you would not +believe me." +</P> + +<P> +"Mother Grédel," replied Monsieur Goulden, "to go to do his duty is not +so great an evil as to be despised by honest people. Instead of all +these cries and reproaches, which serve no good purpose, you would do +better to comfort and encourage Joseph." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah!" said she; "I do not reproach him, although this is terrible." +</P> + +<P> +Catharine did not leave me; she sat by me and we embraced each other, +and she said, pressing my arm: +</P> + +<P> +"You will return?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, yes," said I, in a low voice. "And you—you will always think of +me; you will not love another?" +</P> + +<P> +She answered, sobbing: +</P> + +<P> +"No, no! I will never love any but you." +</P> + +<P> +This lasted a quarter of an hour, when the door opened and Captain +Vidal entered, his cloak rolled like a hunting-horn over his shoulder. +</P> + +<P> +"Well," said he, "well; how goes our young man?" +</P> + +<P> +"Here he is," answered Monsieur Goulden. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah!" remarked the captain; "you are making yourself miserable. It is +natural. I remember when I departed for the army. We have all a home." +</P> + +<P> +Then, raising his voice, he said: +</P> + +<P> +"Come, come, young man, courage! We are no longer children." +</P> + +<P> +He looked at Catharine. +</P> + +<P> +"I see all," said he to Monsieur Goulden. "I can understand why he +does not want to go." +</P> + +<P> +The drums beat in the street and he added: +</P> + +<P> +"We have yet twenty minutes before starting," and, throwing a glance at +me, "Do not fail to be at the first call, young man," said he, pressing +Monsieur Goulden's hand. +</P> + +<P> +He went out, and we heard his horse pawing at the door. +</P> + +<P> +The morning was overcast, and grief overwhelmed me. I could not leave +Catharine. +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly the roll beat. The drums were all collected in the square. +Monsieur Goulden, taking the knapsack by its straps, said in a grave +voice: +</P> + +<P> +"Joseph, now the last embrace: it is time to go." +</P> + +<P> +I stood up, pale as ashes. He fastened the knapsack to my shoulders. +Catharine sat sobbing, her face covered with her apron. Aunt Grédel +looked on with lips compressed. +</P> + +<P> +The roll continued for a time, then suddenly ceased. +</P> + +<P> +"The call is about commencing," said Monsieur Goulden, embracing me. +Then the fountains of his heart burst forth; tears sprang to his eyes; +and calling me his child, his son, he whispered, "Courage!" +</P> + +<P> +Aunt Grédel seated herself again, and as I bent toward her, taking my +head between her hands, she sobbed: +</P> + +<P> +"I always loved you, Joseph; ever since you were a baby. You never +gave me cause of grief—and now you must go. O God! O God!" +</P> + +<P> +I wept no longer. +</P> + +<P> +When Aunt Grédel released me, I looked a moment at Catharine, who stood +motionless. I rushed to her and threw myself on her neck. She still +kept her seat. Then I turned quickly to go, when she cried, in +heart-breaking tones: +</P> + +<P> +"O Joseph! Joseph!" +</P> + +<P> +I looked back. We threw ourselves into each other's arms, and for some +minutes remained so, sobbing. Her strength seemed to leave her, and I +placed her in the arm-chair, and rushed out of the house. +</P> + +<P> +I was already on the square, in the midst of the Italians and of a +crowd of people crying for their sons or brothers. I saw nothing; I +heard nothing. +</P> + +<P> +When the roll of the drums began again, I looked around, and saw that I +was between Klipfel and Furst, all three with our knapsacks on our +backs. Their parents stood before us, weeping as if at their funeral. +To the right, near the town-hall, Captain Vidal, on his little gray +horse, was conversing with two infantry officers. The sergeants called +the roll, and we answered. They called Zébédé, Furst, Klipfel, Bertha; +we answered like the others. Then the captain gave the word, "March!" +and we went, two abreast, toward the French gate. +</P> + +<P> +At the corner of Spitz's bakery, an old woman cried, in a choking +voice, from a window: +</P> + +<P> +"Kasper! Kasper!" +</P> + +<P> +It was Zébédé's grandmother. His lips trembled. He waved his hand +without replying, and passed on with downcast face. +</P> + +<P> +I shuddered at the thought of passing my home. As we neared it, my +knees trembled, and I heard some one call at the window; but I turned +my head toward the "Red Ox," and the rattle of the drums drowned the +voices. +</P> + +<P> +The children ran after us, shouting: +</P> + +<P> +"There goes Joseph! there goes Klipfel!" +</P> + +<P> +Under the French gate, the men on guard, drawn up in line on each side, +gazed on us as we passed at shoulder arms. We passed the outposts, and +the drum ceased playing as we turned to the right. Nothing was heard +but the plash of footsteps in the mud, for the snow was melting. +</P> + +<P> +We had passed the farm-house of Gerberhoff, and were going to the great +bridge, when I heard some one call me. It was the captain, who cried +from his horse: +</P> + +<P> +"Very well done, young man; I am satisfied with you." +</P> + +<P> +Hearing this, I could not help again bursting into tears, and the big +Furst, too, wept, as we marched along; the others, pale as marble, said +nothing. At the bridge, Zébédé took out his pipe to smoke. In front +of us, the Italians talked and laughed among themselves; their three +weeks of service had accustomed them to this life. +</P> + +<P> +Once on the way to Metting, more than a league from the city, as we +began to descend, Klipfel touched me on the shoulder, and whispered: +</P> + +<P> +"Look yonder." +</P> + +<P> +I looked, and saw Phalsbourg far beneath us; the barracks, the +magazines, the steeple whence I had seen Catharine's home six weeks +before, with old Brainstein—all were in the gray distance, with the +woods all around. I would have stopped a few moments, but the squad +marched on, and I had to keep pace with them. We entered Metting. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap08"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +VIII +</H3> + +<P> +That same day we went as far as Bitche; the next, to Hornbach; then to +Kaiserslautern. It began to snow again. +</P> + +<P> +How often during that long march did I sigh for the thick cloak of +Monsieur Goulden, and his double-soled shoes. +</P> + +<P> +We passed through innumerable villages, sometimes on the mountains, +sometimes in the plains. As we entered each little town, the drums +began to beat, and we marched with heads erect, marking the step, +trying to assume the mien of old soldiers. The people looked out of +their little windows, or came to the doors, saying, "There go the +conscripts!" +</P> + +<P> +At night we halted, glad to rest our weary feet—I, especially. I +cannot say that my leg hurt me, but my feet! I had never undergone +such fatigue. With our billet for lodging we had the right to a corner +of the fire, but our hosts also gave us a place at the table. We had +nearly always buttermilk and potatoes, and often fresh cheese or a dish +of sauerkraut. The children came to look at us, and the old women +asked us from what place we came, and what our business was before we +left home. The young girls looked sorrowfully at us, thinking of their +sweethearts, who had gone five, six, or seven months before. Then they +would take us to their son's bed. With what pleasure I stretched out +my tired limbs! How I wished to sleep all our twelve hours' halt! But +early in the morning, at daybreak, the rattling of the drums awoke me. +I gazed at the brown rafters of the ceiling, the window-panes covered +with frost, and asked myself where I was. Then my heart would grow +cold, as I thought that I was at Bitche—at Kaiserslautern—that I was +a conscript; and I had to dress fast as I could, catch up my knapsack, +and answer the roll-call. +</P> + +<P> +"A good journey to you!" said the hostess, awakened so early in the +morning. +</P> + +<P> +"Thank you," replied the conscript. +</P> + +<P> +And we marched on. +</P> + +<P> +Yes! a good journey to you! They will not see you again, poor wretch! +How many others have followed the same road! +</P> + +<P> +I will never forget how at Kaiserslautern, the second day of our march, +having unstrapped my knapsack to take out a white shirt, I discovered, +beneath, a little pocket, and opening it I found fifty-four francs in +six-livre pieces. On the paper wrapped around them were these words, +written by Monsieur Goulden: +</P> + +<P> +"While you are at the wars, be always good and honest. Think of your +friends and of those for whom you would be willing to sacrifice your +life, and treat the enemy with humanity that they may so treat our +soldiers. May Heaven guide you, and protect you in your dangers! You +will find some money enclosed; for it is a good thing, when far from +home and all who love you, to have a little of it. Write to us as +often as you can. I embrace you, my child, and press you to my heart." +</P> + +<P> +As I read this, the tears forced themselves to my eyes, and I thought, +"Thou are not wholly abandoned, Joseph: fond hearts are yearning toward +you. Never forget their kind counsels." +</P> + +<P> +At last, on the fifth day, about ten o'clock in the evening, we entered +Mayence. As long as I live I will remember it. It was terribly cold. +We had begun our march at early dawn, and long before reaching the +city, had passed through villages filled with soldiers—cavalry, +infantry, dragoons in their short jackets—some digging holes in the +ice to get water for their horses, others dragging bundles of forage to +the doors of the stables; powder-wagons, carts full of cannon-balls, +all white with frost, stood on every side; couriers, detachments of +artillery, pontoon-trains, were coming and going over the white ground; +and no more attention was paid to us than if we were not in existence. +</P> + +<P> +Captain Vidal, to warm himself, had dismounted and marched with us on +foot. The officers and sergeants hastened us on. Five or six Italians +had fallen behind and remained in the villages, no longer able to +advance. My feet wore sore and burning, and at the last halt I could +scarcely rise to resume the march. The others from Phalsbourg, +however, kept bravely on. +</P> + +<P> +Night had fallen; the sky sparkled with stars. Every one gazed +forward, and said to his comrade, "We are nearing it! we are nearing +it!" for along the horizon a dark line of seeming cloud, glittering +here and there with flashing points, told that a great city lay before +us. +</P> + +<P> +At last we entered the advanced works, and passed through the zigzag +earthen bastions. Then we dressed our ranks and marked the step, as we +usually did when approaching a town. At the corner of a sort of +demilune we saw the frozen fosse of the city, and the brick ramparts +towering above, and opposite us an old, dark gate, with the drawbridge +raised. Above stood a sentinel, who, with his musket raised, cried out: +</P> + +<P> +"Who goes there?" +</P> + +<P> +The captain, going forward alone, replied: +</P> + +<P> +"France!" +</P> + +<P> +"What regiment?" +</P> + +<P> +"Recruits for the Sixth of the Line." +</P> + +<P> +A silence ensued. Then the drawbridge was lowered, and the guard +turned out and examined us, one of them carrying a great torch. +Captain Vidal, a few paces in advance of us, spoke to the commandant of +the post, who called out at length: +</P> + +<P> +"Pass when you please." +</P> + +<P> +Our drums began to beat, but the captain ordered them to cease, and we +crossed a long bridge and passed through a second gate like the first. +Then we were in the streets of the city, which were paved with smooth +round stones. Every one tried his best to march steadily; for, +although it was night, all the inns and shops along the way were opened +and their large windows were shining, and hundreds of people were +passing to and fro as if it were broad day. +</P> + +<P> +We turned five or six corners and soon arrived in a little open place +before a high barrack, where we were ordered to halt. +</P> + +<P> +There was a shed at the corner of the barrack, and in it a <I>cantinière</I> +seated behind a small table, under a great tri-colored umbrella from +which hung two lanterns. +</P> + +<P> +Several officers came up as soon as we halted: they were the Commandant +Gémeau and some others whom I have since known. They pressed our +captain's hand laughing, then looked at us and ordered the roll to be +called. After that, we each received a ration of bread and a billet +for lodging. We were told that roll-call would take place the next +morning at eight o'clock for the distribution of arms, and then, we +were ordered to break ranks, while the officers turned up a street to +the left and went into a great coffee-house, the entrance of which was +approached by a flight of fifteen steps. +</P> + +<P> +But we, with our billets for lodging—what were we to do with them in +the middle of such a city, and, above all, the Italians, who did not +know a word either of German or French? +</P> + +<P> +My first idea was to see the <I>cantinière</I> under her umbrella. She was +an old Alsatian, round and chubby, and, when I asked for the +<I>Capougner-Strasse</I>, she replied: +</P> + +<P> +"What will you pay for?" +</P> + +<P> +I was obliged to take a glass of brandy with her; then she said: +</P> + +<P> +"Look just opposite there; if you turn the first corner to the right, +you will find the <I>Capougner-Strasse</I>. Good-evening, conscript." +</P> + +<P> +She laughed. +</P> + +<P> +Big Furst and Zébédé were also billeted in the <I>Capougner-Strasse</I>, and +we set out, glad enough to be able to limp together through the strange +city. +</P> + +<P> +Furst found his house first, but it was shut; and while he was knocking +at the door, I found mine, which had a light in two windows. I pushed +at the door, it opened, and I entered a dark alley, whence came a smell +of fresh bread, which was very welcome. Zébédé had to go farther on. +</P> + +<P> +I called out in the alley: +</P> + +<P> +"Is any one here?" +</P> + +<P> +Just then an old woman appeared with a candle at the top of a wooden +staircase. +</P> + +<P> +"What do you want?" she asked. +</P> + +<P> +I told her that I was billeted at her house. She came downstairs, and, +looking at my billet, told me in German to follow her. +</P> + +<P> +I ascended the stairs. Passing an open door, I saw two men naked to +the waist at work before an oven. I was, then, at a baker's, and her +having so much work accounted for the old woman being up so late. She +wore a cap with black ribbons, a large blue apron, and her arms were +bare to the elbows; she, too, had been working, and seemed very +sorrowful. She led me into a good-sized room with a porcelain stove +and a bed at the farther end. +</P> + +<P> +"You come late," she said. +</P> + +<P> +"We were marching all day," I replied, "and I am fainting with hunger +and weariness." +</P> + +<P> +She looked at me and I heard her say: +</P> + +<P> +"Poor child! poor child! Well, take off your shoes and put on these +sabots." +</P> + +<P> +Then she made me sit before the stove, and asked: +</P> + +<P> +"Are your feet sore?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, they have been so for three days." +</P> + +<P> +She put the candle upon the table and went out. I took off my coat and +shoes. My feet were blistered and bleeding, and pained me horribly, +and I felt for the moment as if it would almost be better to die at +once than continue in such suffering. +</P> + +<P> +This thought had more than once arisen to my mind in the march, but +now, before that good fire, I felt so worn, so miserable, that I would +gladly have lain myself down to sleep forever, notwithstanding +Catharine, Aunt Grédel, and all who loved me. Truly, I needed God's +assistance. +</P> + +<P> +While these thoughts were running through my head, the door opened, and +a tall, stout man, gray-haired, but yet strong and healthy, entered. +He was one of those I had seen at work below, and held in his hands a +bottle of wine and two glasses. +</P> + +<P> +"Good-evening!" said he, gravely and kindly. +</P> + +<P> +I looked up. The old woman was behind him. She was carrying a little +wooden tub, which she placed on the floor near my chair. +</P> + +<P> +"Take a foot-bath," said she; "it will do you good." +</P> + +<P> +This kindness on the part of a stranger affected me more than I cared +to show, and I thought: "There are kind people in the world." I took +off my stockings; my feet were bleeding, and the good old dame +repeated, as she gazed at them: +</P> + +<P> +"Poor child! poor child!" +</P> + +<P> +The man asked me whence I came. I told him from Phalsbourg in +Lorraine. Then he told his wife to bring some bread, adding that, +after we had taken a glass of wine together, he would leave me to the +repose I needed so much. +</P> + +<P> +He pushed the table before me, as I sat with my feet in the bath, and +we each drained a glass of good white wine. The old woman returned +with some hot bread, over which she had spread fresh, half-melted +butter. Then I knew how hungry I was. I was almost ill. The good +people saw my eagerness for food; for the woman said: +</P> + +<P> +"Before eating, my child, you must take your feet out of the bath." +</P> + +<P> +She knelt down and dried my feet with her apron before I knew what she +was about to do. I cried: +</P> + +<P> +"Good Heavens! madame; you treat me as if I were your son." +</P> + +<P> +She replied, after a moment's mournful silence: +</P> + +<P> +"We have a son in the army." +</P> + +<P> +Her voice trembled as she spoke, and my heart bled within me. I +thought of Catharine and Aunt Grédel, and could not speak again. I ate +and drank with a pleasure I never before felt in doing so. The two old +people sat gazing kindly on me, and, when I had finished, the man said: +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, we have a son in the army; he went to Russia last year, and we +have not since heard from him. These wars are terrible!" +</P> + +<P> +He spoke dreamily, as if to himself, all the while walking up and down +the room, his hands crossed behind his back. My eyes began to close +when he said suddenly: +</P> + +<P> +"Come, wife. Good-night, conscript." +</P> + +<P> +They went out together, she carrying the tub. +</P> + +<P> +"God reward you," I cried, "and bring your son safe home!" +</P> + +<P> +In a minute I was undressed, and, sinking on the bed, I was almost +immediately buried in a deep sleep. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap09"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +IX +</H3> + +<P> +The next morning I awoke at about seven o'clock. A trumpet was +sounding the recall at the corner of the street; horses, wagons, and +men and women on foot were hurrying past the house. My feet were yet +somewhat sore, but nothing to what they had been; and when I had +dressed, I felt like a new man, and thought to myself: +</P> + +<P> +"Joseph, if this continues, you will soon be a soldier. It is only the +first step that costs." +</P> + +<P> +I dressed in this cheerful mood. The baker's wife had put my shoes to +dry before the fire, after filling them with hot ashes to keep them +from growing hard. They were well greased and shining. +</P> + +<P> +Then I buckled on my knapsack, and hurried out, without having time to +thank those good people—a duty I intended to fulfil after roll-call. +At the end of the street—on the square—many of our Italians were +already waiting, shivering around the fountain. Furst, Klipfel, and +Zébédé arrived a moment after. +</P> + +<P> +Cannon and their caissons covered one entire side of the square. +Horses were being brought to water, led by hussars and dragoons. +Opposite us were cavalry barracks, high as the church at Phalsbourg, +while around the other three sides rose old houses with sculptured +gables, like those at Saverne, but much larger. I had never seen +anything like all this, and while I stood gazing around, the drums +began to beat, and each man took his place in the ranks, and we were +informed, first in Italian and then in French, that we were about to +receive our arms, and each one was ordered to stand forth as his name +was called. +</P> + +<P> +The wagons containing the arms now came up, and the call began. Each +received a cartouche-box, a sabre, a bayonet, and a musket. We put +them on as well as we could, over our blouses, coats or great-coats, +and we looked, with our hats, our caps, and our arms, like a veritable +band of banditti. My musket was so long and heavy that I could +scarcely carry it; and the Sergeant Pinto showed me how to buckle on +the cartouche-box. He was a fine fellow, Pinto. +</P> + +<P> +So many belts crossing my chest made me feel as if I could scarcely +breathe, and I saw at once that my miseries had not yet ended. +</P> + +<P> +After the arms, an ammunition-wagon advanced, and they distributed +fifty rounds of cartridges to each man. This was no pleasant augury. +Then, instead of ordering us to break ranks and return to our lodgings, +Captain Vidal drew his sabre and shouted: +</P> + +<P> +"By file right—march!" +</P> + +<P> +The drums began to beat. I was grieved at not being able to thank my +hosts for their kindness, and thought that they would consider me +ungrateful. But that did not prevent my following the line of march. +</P> + +<P> +We passed through a long winding street, and soon found ourselves +without the glacis, and near the frozen Rhine. Across the river high +hills appeared, and on the hills, old, gray, ruined castles, like those +of Haut-Bas and Géroldseck in the Vosges. +</P> + +<P> +The battalion descended to the river-bank, and crossed upon the ice. +The scene was magnificent—dazzling. We were not alone on the ice; +five or six hundred paces before us there was a train of powder wagons +guarded by artillerymen on the way to Frankfort. Crossing the river we +continued our march for five hours through the mountains. Sometimes we +discovered villages in the defiles; and Zébédé, who was next to me, +said: +</P> + +<P> +"As we had to leave home, I would rather go as a soldier than +otherwise. At least we shall see something new every day, and, if we +are lucky enough ever to return, how much we will have to talk of!" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," said I; "but I would like better to have less to talk about, and +to live quietly, toiling on my own account and not on account of +others, who remain safe at home while we climb about here on the ice." +</P> + +<P> +"You do not care for glory," said he; "and yet glory is something." +</P> + +<P> +And I answered him: +</P> + +<P> +"Glory is not for such as we, Zébédé; it is for others who live well, +eat well, and sleep well. They have dancings and rejoicings, as we see +by the gazettes, and glory too in the bargain, when we have won it by +dint of sweat, fasting and broken bones. But poor wretches like us, +forced away from home, when at last they return, after losing their +habits of labor and industry, and, mayhap a limb, get but little of +your glory. Many a one, among their old friends—no better men than +they—who were not, perhaps so good workmen, have made money during the +conscript's seven years of war, have opened a shop, married their +sweethearts, had pretty children, are men of position—city +councillors—notables. And when the others, who have returned from +seeking glory by killing their fellow-men, pass by with their chevrons +on their arms, those old friends turn a cold shoulder upon them, and if +the soldier has a red nose through drinking brandy which was necessary +to keep his blood warm in the rain, the snow, the forced march, while +they were drinking good wine, they say—'There goes a drunkard!' and +the poor conscript, who only asked to be let stay at home and work, +becomes a sort of beggar. This is what I think about the matter, +Zébédé; I cannot see the justice of all this, and I would rather have +these friends of glory go fight themselves, and leave us to remain in +peace at home." +</P> + +<P> +"Well," he replied, "I think much as you do, but, as we are forced to +fight, it is as well to say that we are fighting for glory. If we go +about looking miserable, people will laugh at us." +</P> + +<P> +Conversing thus, we reached a large river, which, the sergeant told us, +was the Main, and near it, upon our road, was a little village. We did +not know the name of the village, but there we halted. +</P> + +<P> +We entered the houses, and those who could bought some brandy, wine, +and bread. Those who had no money crunched their ration of biscuits, +and gazed wistfully at their more fortunate comrades. +</P> + +<P> +About five in the evening we arrived at Frankfort, which is a city yet +older than Mayence, and full of Jews. They took us to a place called +Saxenhausen, where the Tenth Hussars and the Baden Chasseurs were in +barracks,—old buildings which were formerly a hospital, as I was told +and believe, for within there was a large yard, with arches under the +walls; beneath these arches the horses were stabled, and in the rooms +above, the men. +</P> + +<P> +We arrived at this place after passing through innumerable little +streets, so narrow that we could scarcely see the stars between the +chimneys. Captain Florentin, and the two lieutenants, Clavel and +Bretonville, were awaiting us. After roll-call our sergeants led us by +detachments to the rooms above the Chasseurs. They were great halls +with little windows, and between the windows were the beds. +</P> + +<P> +Sergeant Pinto hung his lantern to the pillar in the middle; each man +placed his piece in the rack, and then took off his knapsack, his +blouse and his shoes, without speaking. Zébédé was my bed-fellow. God +knows we were sleepy enough. Twenty minutes after, we were buried in +slumber. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap10"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +X +</H3> + +<P> +At Frankfort I learned to understand military life. Up to that time I +had been but a simple conscript, then I became a soldier. I do not +speak merely of drill,—the way of turning the head right or left, +measuring the steps, lifting the hand to the height of the first or +second band to load, aiming, recovering arms at the word of +command—that is only an affair of a month or two, if a man really +desires to learn; but I speak of discipline—of remembering that the +corporal is always in the right when he speaks to a private soldier, +the sergeant when he speaks to the corporal, the sergeant-major when +speaking to the sergeant, the second lieutenant when he orders the +sergeant-major, and so on to the Marshal of France—even if the +superior asserts that two and two make five, or that the moon shines at +midday. +</P> + +<P> +This is very difficult to learn; but there is one thing that assists +you immensely, and that is a sort of placard hung up in every room in +the barracks, and which is from time to time read to you. This placard +presupposes everything that a soldier might wish to do, as, for +instance, to return home, to refuse to serve, to resist his officer, +and always ends by speaking of death, or at least five years with a +ball and chain. +</P> + +<P> +The day after our arrival at Frankfort I wrote to Monsieur Goulden, to +Catharine, and to Aunt Grédel. You may imagine how sadly. It seemed +to me, in addressing them, that I was yet at home. I told them of the +hardships I had undergone, of the good luck that had happened to me at +Mayence, and the courage it required not to drop behind in the march. +I told them that I was in good health, for which I thanked God, and +that I was even stronger than before I left home, and sent them a +thousand remembrances. Our Phalsbourg conscripts, who saw me writing, +made me add a few words for each of their families. I wrote also to +Mayence, to the good couple of the <I>Capougner-Strasse</I>, who had been so +kind to me, telling them how I was forced to march without being able +to thank them, and asking their forgiveness for so doing. +</P> + +<P> +That day, in the afternoon, we received our uniforms. Dozens of Jews +made their appearance and bought our old clothes. I kept only my shoes +and stockings. The Italians had great difficulty in making these +respectable merchants comprehend their wishes, but the Genoese were as +cunning as the Jews, and their bargainings lasted until night. Our +corporals received more than one glass of wine; it was policy to make +friends of them, for morning and evening they taught us the drill in +the snow-covered yard. The <I>cantinière</I> Christine was always at her +post with a warming-pan under her feet. She took young men of good +family into special favor, and the young men of good family were all +those who spent their money freely. Poor fools! How many of them +parted with their last <I>sou</I> in return for her miserable flattery! +When that was gone they were mere beggars; but vanity rules all, from +the conscripts to the generals. +</P> + +<P> +All this time recruits were constantly arriving from France, and +ambulances full of wounded from Poland. What a sight was that before +the hospital Saint Esprit on the other side of the river! It was a +procession without an end. All these poor wretches were frost-bitten; +some had their noses, some their ears frozen, others an arm, others a +leg! They were laid in the snow to prevent them from dropping to +pieces. Others got out of the carts clinging and holding on, and +looked at you like wild beasts, their eyes sunk in their heads, their +hair bristling up: the gypsies who sleep in nooks in the woods would +have had pity on them; and yet these were the best off, because they +escaped from the carnage, while thousands of their comrades had +perished in the snow, or on the battle-field. Klipfel, Zébédé, Furst, +and I often went to see these poor wretches, and never did we see men +so miserably clad. Some wore jackets which once belonged to Cossacks, +crushed shakos, women's dresses, and many had only handkerchiefs wound +round their feet in lieu of shoes and stockings. They gave us a +history of the retreat from Moscow, and then we knew that the +twenty-ninth bulletin told only truth. +</P> + +<P> +These stories enraged our men against the Russians. Many said, "If the +war would only begin again, they would have a hard job of it then: it +is not over! it is not over!" I was at times almost overcome with +wrath after hearing some tale of horror; and sometimes I thought to +myself, "Joseph, are you not losing your wits? These Russians are +defending their families, their homes, all that man holds most dear. +We hate them for defending themselves; we would have despised them had +they not done so." +</P> + +<P> +But about this time an extraordinary event occurred. +</P> + +<P> +You must know that my comrade, Zébédé, was the son of the gravedigger +of Phalsbourg, and sometimes between ourselves we called him +"Gravedigger." This he took in good part from us; but one evening +after drill, as he was crossing the yard, a hussar cried out: +</P> + +<P> +"Halloo, Gravedigger! help me to drag in these bundles of straw." +</P> + +<P> +Zébédé, turning about, replied: +</P> + +<P> +"My name is not Gravedigger, and you can drag in your own straw. Do +you take me for a fool?" +</P> + +<P> +Then the other cried in a still louder tone: +</P> + +<P> +"Conscript, you had better come, or beware!" +</P> + +<P> +Zébédé, with his great hooked nose, his gray eyes and thin lips, never +bore too good a character for mildness. He went up to the hussar and +asked: +</P> + +<P> +"What is that you say?" +</P> + +<P> +"I tell you to take up those bundles of straw, and quickly, too. Do +you hear, conscript?" +</P> + +<P> +He was quite an old man, with mustaches and red, bushy whiskers. +Zébédé seized one of the latter, but received two blows in the face. +Nevertheless, a fist-full of the whisker remained in his grasp, and, as +the dispute had attracted a crowd to the spot, the hussar shook his +finger, saying: +</P> + +<P> +"You will hear from me to-morrow, conscript." +</P> + +<P> +"Very good," returned Zébédé; "we shall see. You will probably hear +from me too, veteran." +</P> + +<P> +He came immediately after to tell me all this, and I, knowing that he +had never handled a weapon more warlike than a pickaxe, could not help +trembling for him. +</P> + +<P> +"Listen, Zébédé," I said; "all that there now remains for you to do, +since you do not want to desert, is to ask pardon of this old fellow; +for those veterans all know some fearful tricks of fence which they +have brought from Egypt or Spain, or somewhere else. If you wish, I +will lend you a crown to pay for a bottle of wine to make up the +quarrel." +</P> + +<P> +But he, knitting his brows, would hear none of this. +</P> + +<P> +"Rather than beg his pardon," said he, "I would go and hang myself. I +laugh him and his comrades to scorn. If he has tricks of fence, I have +a long arm, that will drive my sabre through his bones as easily as his +will penetrate my flesh." +</P> + +<P> +The thought of the blows made him insensible to reason; and soon Chazy, +the <I>maître d'armes</I>, Corporal Fleury, Furst, and Léger came in. They +all said that Zébédé was in the right, and the <I>maître d'armes</I> added +that blood alone could wash out the stain of a blow; that the honor of +the recruits required Zébédé to fight. +</P> + +<P> +Zébédé answered proudly that the men of Phalsbourg had never feared the +sight of a little blood, and that he was ready. Then the <I>maître +d'armes</I> went to see our Captain, Florentin, who was one of the most +magnificent men imaginable—tall, well-formed, broad-shouldered, with +regular features, and the Cross, which the Emperor had himself given +him at Eylau. The captain even went further than the <I>maître d'armes</I>; +he thought it would set the conscripts a good example, and that if +Zébédé refused to fight he would be unworthy to remain in the Third +Battalion of the Sixth of the Line. +</P> + +<P> +All that night I could not close my eyes. I heard the deep breathing +of my poor comrade as he slept, and I thought: "Poor Zébédé! another +day, and you will breathe no more." I shuddered to think how near I +was to a man so near death. At last, as day broke, I fell asleep, when +suddenly I felt a cold blast of wind strike me. I opened my eyes, and +there I saw the old hussar. He had lifted up the coverlet of our bed, +and said as I awoke: +</P> + +<P> +"Up, sluggard! I will show you what manner of man you struck." +</P> + +<P> +Zébédé rose tranquilly, saying: +</P> + +<P> +"I was asleep, veteran; I was asleep." +</P> + +<P> +The other, hearing himself thus mockingly called "veteran," would have +fallen upon my comrade in his bed; but two tall fellows who served him +as seconds held him back, and, besides, the Phalsbourg men were there. +</P> + +<P> +"Quick, quick! Hurry!" cried the old hussar. +</P> + +<P> +But Zébédé dressed himself calmly, without any haste. After a moment's +silence, he said: +</P> + +<P> +"Have we permission to go outside our quarters, old fellows?" +</P> + +<P> +"There is room enough for us in the yard," replied one of the hussars. +</P> + +<P> +Zébédé put on his great-coat, and, turning to me, said: +</P> + +<P> +"Joseph and you, Klipfel, I choose for my seconds." +</P> + +<P> +But I shook my head. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, then, Furst," said he. +</P> + +<P> +The whole party descended the stairs together. I thought Zébédé was +lost, and thought it hard, that not only must the Russians seek our +lives, but that we must seek each other's. +</P> + +<P> +All the men in the room crowded to the windows. I alone remained +behind upon my bed. At the end of five minutes the clash of sabres +made my heart almost cease to beat; the blood seemed no longer to flow +through my veins. +</P> + +<P> +But this did not last long; for suddenly Klipfel exclaimed, "Touched!" +</P> + +<P> +Then I made my way—I know not how—to a window, and, looking over the +heads of the others, saw the old hussar leaning against the wall, and +Zébédé rising, his sabre all dripping with blood. He had fallen upon +his knees during the fight, and, while the old man's sword pierced the +air just above his shoulder, he plunged his blade into the hussar's +breast. If he had not slipped, he himself would have been run through +and through. +</P> + +<P> +The hussar sank at the foot of the wall. His seconds lifted him in +their arms, while Zébédé pale as a corpse, gazed at his bloody sabre, +and Klipfel handed him his cloak. Almost immediately the reveille was +sounded, and we went off to morning call. +</P> + +<P> +These events happened on the eighteenth of February. The same day we +received orders to pack our knapsacks, and left Frankfort for +Seligenstadt, where we remained until the eighth of March, by which +time all the recruits were well instructed in the use of the musket and +the school of the platoon. From Seligenstadt we went to Schweinheim, +and on the twenty-fourth of March, 1813, joined the division at +Aschaffenbourg, where Marshal Ney passed us in review. +</P> + +<P> +The captain of the company was named Florentin; the lieutenant, +Bretonville; the commandant of the battalion, Gémeau; the captain, +Vidal; the colonel, Zapfel; the general of brigade, Ladoucette; and the +general of division, Souham. These are things that every soldier +should know. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap11"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XI +</H3> + +<P> +The melting of the snows began about the middle of March. I remember +that during the great review of Aschaffenbourg, on a large open space +whence one saw the Main as far as eye could reach, the rain never +ceased to fall from ten o'clock in the morning till three o'clock in +the afternoon. We had on our left a castle, from the windows of which +people looked out quite at their ease, while the water ran into our +shoes. On the right the river rushed, foaming, seen dimly as if +through a mist. Every moment, to keep us brightened up, the order rang +out: +</P> + +<P> +"Carry arms! Shoulder arms!" +</P> + +<P> +The Marshal advanced slowly, surrounded by his staff. What consoled +Zébédé was, that we were about to see "the bravest of the brave." I +thought "If I could only get a place at the corner of a good fire, I +would gladly forego that pleasure." +</P> + +<P> +At last he arrived in front of us, and I can yet see him, his chapeau +dripping with rain, his blue coat covered with embroidery and +decorations, and his great boots. He was a handsome, florid man, with +a short nose and sparkling eyes. He did not seem at all haughty; for, +as he passed our company, who presented arms, he turned suddenly in his +saddle and said: +</P> + +<P> +"Hold! It is Florentin!" +</P> + +<P> +Then the captain stood erect, not knowing what to reply. It seemed +that the Marshal and he had been common soldiers together in the time +of the Republic. The captain at last answered: +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, Marshal; it is Sebastian Florentin." +</P> + +<P> +"Faith, Florentin," said the Marshal, stretching him arm toward Russia, +"I am glad to see you again. I thought we had left you there." +</P> + +<P> +All our company felt honored, and Zébédé said: "That is what I call a +man. I would spill my blood for him." +</P> + +<P> +I could not see why Zébédé should wish to spill his blood because the +Marshal had spoken a few words to an old comrade. +</P> + +<P> +That's all I remember of Aschaffenbourg. +</P> + +<P> +In the evening we went in again to eat our soup at Schweinheim, a place +rich in wines, hemp, and corn, where almost everybody looked at us with +unfriendly eyes. +</P> + +<P> +We lodged by threes or fours in the houses, like so many bailiff's men, +and had meat every day, either beef, mutton, or bacon. +</P> + +<P> +Our bread was very good, as was also our wine. But many of our men +pretended to find fault with everything, thinking thus to pass for +people of consequence. They were mistaken; for more than once I heard +the citizens say in German: +</P> + +<P> +"Those fellows, in their own country, were only beggars. If they +returned to France, they would find nothing but potatoes to live upon." +</P> + +<P> +And the citizens were quite right; and I always found that people so +difficult to please abroad were but poor wretches at home. For my +part, I was well content to meet such good fare. Two conscripts from +St.-Dié were with me at the village-postmaster's: his horses had almost +all been taken for our cavalry. This could not have put him into a +good humor; but he said nothing, and smoked his pipe behind the stove +from morning till night. His wife was a tall, strong woman, and his +two daughters were very pretty; they were afraid of us, and ran away +when we returned from drill, or from mounting guard at the end of the +village. +</P> + +<P> +On the evening of the fourth day, as we were finishing our supper, an +old man in a great-coat came in. His hair was white, and his mien and +appearance neat and respectable. He saluted us, and then said to the +master of the house, in German: +</P> + +<P> +"These are recruits?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, Monsieur Stenger," replied the other, "we will never be rid of +them. If I could poison them all, it would be a good deed." +</P> + +<P> +I turned quietly, and said: +</P> + +<P> +"I understand German: do not speak in such a manner." +</P> + +<P> +The postmaster's pipe fell from his hand. +</P> + +<P> +"You are very imprudent in your speech, Monsieur Kalkreuth," said the +old man; "if others beside this young man had understood you, you know +what would happen." +</P> + +<P> +"It is only my way of talking," replied the postmaster. "What can you +expect? When everything is taken from you—when you are robbed, year +after year—it is but natural that you should at last speak bitterly." +</P> + +<P> +The old man, who was none other than the pastor of Schweinheim, then +said to me: +</P> + +<P> +"Monsieur, your manner of acting is that of an honest man; believe me +that Monsieur Kalkreuth is incapable of such a deed—of doing evil even +to our enemies." +</P> + +<P> +"I do believe it, sir," I replied, "or I should not eat so heartily of +these sausages." +</P> + +<P> +The postmaster, hearing these words, began to laugh, and, in the excess +of his joy, cried: +</P> + +<P> +"I would never have thought that a Frenchman could have made me laugh." +</P> + +<P> +My two comrades were ordered for guard duty; they went, but I alone +remained. Then the postmaster went after a bottle of old wine, and +seated himself at the table to drink with me, which I gladly agreed to. +From that day until our departure, these people had every confidence in +me. Every evening we chatted at the corner of the fire; the pastor +came, and even the young girls would come downstairs to listen. They +were of fair and light complexion, with blue eyes; one was perhaps +eighteen, the other twenty; I thought I saw in them a resemblance to +Catharine, and this made my heart beat. +</P> + +<P> +They knew that I had a sweetheart at home, because I could not help +telling them so, and this made them pity me. +</P> + +<P> +The postmaster complained bitterly of the French, the pastor said they +were a vain, immoral nation, and that on that account all Germany would +soon rise against us; that they were weary of the evil doings of our +soldiers and the cupidity of our generals, and had formed the +<I>Tugend-Bund</I>[<A NAME="chap11fn1text"></A><A HREF="#chap11fn1">1</A>] to oppose us. +</P> + +<BR> + +<A NAME="chap11fn1"></A> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[<A HREF="#chap11fn1text">1</A>] League of virtue. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"At first," said he, "you talked to us of liberty: we liked to hear +that, and our good wishes were rather for your armies than those of the +King of Prussia and Emperor of Austria; you made war upon our soldiers +and not upon us; you upheld ideas which every one thought great and +just, and so you did not quarrel with peoples but only with their +masters. To-day it is very different; all Germany is flying to arms; +all her youth are rising, and it is we who talk of Liberty, of Virtue +and of Justice to France. He who has them on his side is ever the +stronger, because he has against him only the evil-minded of all +nations, and has with him youth, courage, great ideas,—everything +which lifts the soul above thoughts of self, and which urges man to +sacrifice his life without regret. You have long had all this, but you +wanted it no longer. Long ago, I well remember, your generals fought +for Liberty, slept on straw, in barns, like simple soldiers; they were +men of might and terror; now they must have their sofas; they are more +noble than our nobles and richer than our bankers. So it comes to pass +that war, once so grand—once an art, a sacrifice—once devotion to +one's country—has become a trade, for sale at more than one market. +It is, to be sure, very noble yet, since epaulettes are yet worn, but +there is a difference between fighting for immortal ideas and fighting +merely to enrich one's self. +</P> + +<P> +"It is now our turn to talk of Liberty and Country; and this is the +reason why I think this war will be a sorrowful one for you. All +thinking men, from simple students to professors of theology, are +rising against you in arms. You have the greatest general of the world +at your head, but we have eternal justice. You believe you have the +Saxons, the Bavarians, the Badeners and the Hessians on your side; +undeceive yourselves; the children of old Germany well know that the +greatest crime, the greatest shame, is to fight against our brothers. +Let kings make alliances; the people are against you in spite of them; +they are defending their lives, their Fatherland—all that God makes us +love and that we cannot betray without crime. All are ready to assail +you; the Austrians would massacre you if they could, notwithstanding +the marriage of Marie Louise with your Emperor; men begin to see that +the interests of Kings are not the interests of all mankind, and that +the greatest genius cannot change the nature of things." +</P> + +<P> +Thus would the pastor discourse gravely; but I did not then fully +understand what he meant, and I thought, "Words are only words; and +bullets are bullets. If we only encounter students and professors of +theology, all will go well, and discipline will keep the Hessians and +Bavarians and Saxons from turning against us, as it forces us Frenchmen +to fight, little as we may like it. Does not the soldier obey the +corporal, the corporal the sergeant, and so on to the marshal, who does +what the King wishes? One can see very well that this pastor never +served in a regiment, for if he did he would know that ideas are +nothing and orders everything; but I do not care to contradict him, for +then the postmaster would bring me no more wine after supper. Let them +think as they please. All that I hope is that we shall have only +theologians to fight." +</P> + +<P> +While we used to chat thus, suddenly, on the morning of the +twenty-seventh of March, the order for our departure came. The +battalion rested that night at Lauterbach, the next at Neukirchen, and +we did nothing but march, march, march. Those who did not grow +accustomed to carrying the knapsack could not complain of want of +practice. How we travelled! I no longer sweated under my fifty +cartridges in my cartouche-box, my knapsack on my back and my musket on +my shoulder, and I do not know if I limped. +</P> + +<P> +We were not the only ones in motion; all were marching; everywhere we +met regiments on the road, detachments of cavalry, long lines of +cannon, ammunition trains—all advancing toward Erfurt, as after a +heavy rain thousands of streams, by thousands of channels, seek the +river. +</P> + +<P> +Our sergeants keep repeating, "We are nearing them! there will be hot +work soon;" and we thought, "So much the better!" that those beggarly +Prussians and Russians had drawn their fate upon themselves. If they +had remained quiet we would have been yet in France. +</P> + +<P> +These thoughts embittered us all toward the enemy, and as we met +everywhere people who seemed to rejoice alone in fighting, Klipfel and +Zébédé talked only of the pleasure it would give them to meet the +Prussians; and I, not to seem less courageous than they, adopted the +same strain. +</P> + +<P> +On the eighth of April, the battalion entered Erfurt, and I will never +forget how, when we broke ranks before the barracks, a package of +letters was handed to the sergeant of the company. Among the number +was one for me, and I recognized Catharine's writing at once. This +affected me so that it made my knees tremble. Zébédé took my musket, +telling me to read it, for he, too, was glad to hear from home. +</P> + +<P> +I put it in my pocket, and all our Phalsbourg men followed me to hear +it, but I only commenced when I was quietly seated on my bed in the +barracks, while they crowded around. Tears rolled down my cheeks as +she told me how she remembered and prayed for the far-off conscript. +</P> + +<P> +My comrades, as I read, exclaimed: +</P> + +<P> +"And we are sure that there are some at home to pray for us, too." +</P> + +<P> +One spoke of his mother, another of his sisters, and another of his +sweetheart. +</P> + +<P> +At the end of the letter, Monsieur Goulden added a few words, telling +me that all our friends were well, and that I should take courage, for +our troubles could not last forever. He charged me to be sure to tell +my comrades that their friends thought of them and complained of not +having received a word from them. +</P> + +<P> +This letter was a consolation to us all. We knew that before many days +passed we must be on the field of battle, and it seemed a last farewell +from home for at least half of us. Many were never to hear again from +their parents, friends, or those who loved them in this world. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap12"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XII +</H3> + +<P> +But, as Sergeant Pinto said, all we had yet seen was but the prelude to +the ball; the dance was now about to commence. +</P> + +<P> +Meanwhile we did duty at the citadel with a battalion of the +Twenty-seventh, and from the top of the ramparts we saw all the +environs covered with troops, some bivouacking, others quartered in the +villages. +</P> + +<P> +The sergeant had formed a particular friendship for me, and on the +eighteenth, on relieving guard at Warthau gate, he said: +</P> + +<P> +"Fusilier Bertha, the Emperor has arrived." +</P> + +<P> +I had yet heard nothing of this, and replied, respectfully: +</P> + +<P> +"I have just had a little glass with the sapper Merlin, sergeant, who +was on duty last night at the general's quarters, and he said nothing +of it." +</P> + +<P> +Then he, closing his eye, said, with a peculiar expression: +</P> + +<P> +"Everything is moving; I feel his presence in the air. You do not yet +understand this, conscript, but he is here; everything says so. Before +he came, we were lame, crippled; only a wing of the army seemed able to +move at once. But now, look there, see those couriers galloping over +the road; all is life. The dance is beginning: the dance is beginning! +Kaiserliks and the Cossacks do not need spectacles to see that he is +with us; they will feel him presently." +</P> + +<P> +And the sergeant's laugh rang hoarsely from beneath his long mustaches. +I had a presentiment that great misfortunes might be coming upon me, +yet I was forced to put a good face upon it. But the sergeant was +right, for that very day, about three in the afternoon, all the troops +stationed around the city were in motion, and at five we were put under +arms. The Marshal Prince of Moskowa entered the town surrounded by the +officers and generals who composed his staff, and, almost immediately +after, the gray-haired Souham followed and passed us in review upon the +square. Then he spoke in a loud, clear voice so that every one could +hear: +</P> + +<P> +"Soldiers!" said he, "you will form part of the advance-guard of the +Third corps. Try to remember that you are Frenchmen. <I>Vive +l'Empereur!</I>" +</P> + +<P> +All shouted "<I>Vive l'Empereur!</I>" till the echoes rang again, while the +general departed with Colonel Zapfel. +</P> + +<P> +That night we were relieved by the Hessians, and left Erfurt with the +Tenth hussars and a regiment of chasseurs. At six or seven in the +morning we were before the city of Weimar, and saw the sun rising on +its gardens, its churches, and its houses, as well as on an old castle +to the right. Here we bivouacked, and the hussars went forward to +reconnoitre the town. About nine, while we were breakfasting, suddenly +we heard the rattle of musketry and carbines. Our hussars had +encountered the Prussian hussars in the streets, and they were firing +on each other. But it was so far off that we saw nothing of the combat. +</P> + +<P> +At the end of an hour the hussars returned, having lost two men. Thus +began the campaign. +</P> + +<P> +We remained five days in our camp, while the whole Third corps were +coming up. As we were the advance-guard, we started again by way of +Suiza and Warthau. Then we saw the enemy; Cossacks who kept ever +beyond the range of our guns, and the farther they retired the greater +grew our courage. +</P> + +<P> +But it annoyed me to hear Zébédé constantly exclaiming in a tone of +ill-humor: +</P> + +<P> +"Will they never stop; never make a stand!" +</P> + +<P> +I thought that if they kept retreating we could ask nothing better. We +would gain all we wanted without loss of life or suffering. +</P> + +<P> +But at last they halted on the farther side of the broad and deep +river, and I saw a great number posted near the bank to cut us to +pieces if we should cross unsupported. +</P> + +<P> +It was the twenty-ninth of April, and growing late. Never did I see a +more glorious sunset. On the opposite side of the river stretched a +wide plain as far as the eye could reach, and on this, sharply outlined +against the glowing sky, stood horsemen, with their shakos drooping +forward, their green jackets, little cartridge-boxes slung under the +arm, and their sky-blue trousers; behind them glittered thousands of +lances, and Sergeant Pinto recognized them as the Russian cavalry and +Cossacks. He knew the river, too, which, he said, was the Saale. +</P> + +<P> +We went as near as we could to the water to exchange shots with the +horsemen, but they retired and at last disappeared entirely under the +blood-red sky. We made our bivouac along the river, and posted our +sentries. On our left was a large village; a detachment was sent to it +to purchase meat; for since the arrival of the Emperor we had orders to +pay for everything. +</P> + +<P> +During the night other regiments of the division came up; they, too, +bivouacked along the bank, and their long lines of fires, reflected in +the ever-moving waters, glared grandly through the darkness. +</P> + +<P> +No one felt inclined to sleep. Zébédé, Klipfel, Furst, and I messed +together, and we chatted as we lay around our fire: +</P> + +<P> +"To-morrow we will have it hot enough, if we attempt to cross the +river! Our friends in Phalsbourg, over their warm suppers, scarcely +think of us lying here, with nothing but a piece of cow-beef to eat, a +river flowing beside us, the damp earth beneath, and only the sky for a +roof, without speaking of the sabre-cuts and bayonet-thrusts our +friends yonder have in store for us." +</P> + +<P> +"Bah!" said Klipfel; "this is life. I would not pass my days +otherwise. To enjoy life we must be well to-day, sick to-morrow; then +we appreciate the pleasure of the change from pain to ease. As for +shots and sabre-strokes, with God's aid, we will give as good as we +take!" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," said Zébédé, lighting his pipe, "when I lose my place in the +ranks, it will not be for the want of striking hard at the Russians!" +</P> + +<P> +So we lay wakeful for two or three hours. Léger lay stretched out in +his great-coat, his feet to the fire, asleep, when the sentinel cried: +</P> + +<P> +"Who goes there?" +</P> + +<P> +"France!" +</P> + +<P> +"What regiment?" +</P> + +<P> +"Sixth of the Line." +</P> + +<P> +It was Marshal Ney and General Brenier, with engineer and artillery +officers, and guns. The Marshal replied "Sixth of the Line," because +he knew beforehand that we were there, and this little fact rejoiced us +and made us feel very proud. We saw him pass on horseback with General +Souham and five or six other officers of high grade, and although it +was night we could see them distinctly, for the sky was covered with +stars and the moon shone bright; it was almost as light as day. +</P> + +<P> +They stopped at a bend of the river and posted six guns, and +immediately after a pontoon train arrived with oak planks and all +things necessary for throwing two bridges across. Our hussars scoured +the banks collecting boats, and the artillerymen stood at their pieces +to sweep down any who might try to hinder the work. For a long while +we watched their labor, while again and again we heard the sentry's +"<I>Qui vive!</I>" It was the regiments of the Third corps arriving. +</P> + +<P> +At daybreak I fell asleep, and Klipfel had to shake me to arouse me. +On every side they were beating the reveille; the bridges were +finished, and we were going to cross the Saale. +</P> + +<P> +A heavy dew had fallen, and each man hastened to wipe his musket, to +roll up his great-coat and buckle it on his knapsack. One assisted the +other, and we were soon in the ranks. It might have been four o'clock +in the morning, and everything seemed gray in the mist that arose from +the river. Already two battalions were crossing on the bridges, the +officers and colors in the centre. Then the artillery and caissons +crossed. +</P> + +<P> +Captain Florentin had just ordered us to renew our primings, when +General Souham, General Chemineau, Colonel Zapfel, and our commandant +arrived. The battalion began its march. I looked forward expecting to +see the Russians coming on at a gallop, but nothing stirred. +</P> + +<P> +As each regiment reached the farther bank it formed a square with +ordered arms. At five o'clock the entire division had passed. The sun +dispersed the mist, and we saw, about three-fourths of a league to our +right, an old city with its pointed roofs, slated clock-tower, +surmounted by a cross, and, farther away, a castle; it was Weissenfels. +</P> + +<P> +Between us and the city was a deep valley. Marshal Ney, who had just +come up, wished to reconnoitre this before advancing into it. Two +companies of the Twenty-seventh were deployed as skirmishers and the +squares moved onward in common time, with the officers, sappers, and +drums in the centre, the cannon in the intervals and the caissons in +the rear. +</P> + +<P> +We all mistrusted this valley—the more so since we had seen, the +evening before, a mass of cavalry, which could not have retired beyond +the great plain that lay before us. Notwithstanding our distrust, it +made us feel very proud and brave to see ourselves drawn up in our long +ranks—our muskets loaded, the colors advanced, the generals in the +rear full of confidence—to see our masses thus moving onward without +hurry, but calmly marking the step; yes, it was enough to make our +hearts beat high with pride and hope! And I said to myself: "Perhaps +at sight of us the enemy will fly, which will be the best for them and +for us." +</P> + +<P> +I was in the second rank, behind Zébédé, and from time to time I +glanced at the other square, which was moving on the same line with us, +in the centre of which I saw the Marshal and his staff, all trying to +catch a glimpse of what was going on ahead. +</P> + +<P> +The skirmishers had by this time reached the ravine, which was bordered +with brambles and hedges. I had already seen a movement on its farther +side, like the motion of a cornfield in the wind, and the thought +struck me that the Russians, with their lances and sabres, were there, +although I could scarcely believe it. But when our skirmishers reached +the hedges, the fusillade began, and I saw clearly the glitter of their +lances. At the same instant a flash like lightning gleamed in front of +us, followed by a fierce report. The Russians had their cannon with +them; they had opened on us. I know not what noise made me turn my +head, and there I saw an empty space in the ranks to my left. +</P> + +<P> +At the same time Colonel Zapfel said quietly: +</P> + +<P> +"Close up the ranks!" +</P> + +<P> +And Captain Florentin repeated: +</P> + +<P> +"Close up the ranks!" +</P> + +<A NAME="img-134"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-134.jpg" ALT=""Close up the ranks!"" BORDER="2" WIDTH="483" HEIGHT="700"> +<H4 CLASS="h4center" STYLE="width: 483px"> +"Close up the ranks!" +</H4> +</CENTER> + +<P> +All this was done so quickly that I had no time for thought. But fifty +paces farther on another flash shone out; there was another murmur in +the ranks—as if a fierce wind was passing—and another vacant space, +this time to the right. +</P> + +<P> +And thus, after every shot from the Russians, the colonel said, "Close +up the ranks!" and I knew that each time he spoke there was a breach in +the living wall! It was no pleasant thing to think of, but still we +marched on toward the valley. At last I did not dare to think at all, +when General Chemineau, who had entered our square, cried in a terrible +voice: +</P> + +<P> +"Halt!" +</P> + +<P> +I looked forward, and saw a mass of Russians coming down upon us. +</P> + +<P> +"Front rank, kneel! Fix bayonets! Ready!" cried the general. +</P> + +<P> +As Zébédé knelt, I was now, so to speak, in the front rank. On came +the line of horses, each rider bending over his saddle-bow, with sabre +flashing in his hand. Then again the general's voice was heard behind +us, calm, tranquil, giving orders as coolly as on parade: +</P> + +<P> +"Attention for the command of fire! Aim! Fire!" +</P> + +<P> +The four squares fired together; it seemed as if the skies were falling +in the crash. When the smoke lifted, we saw the Russians broken and +flying; but our artillery opened, and the cannon-balls sped faster than +they. +</P> + +<P> +"Charge!" shouted the general. +</P> + +<P> +Never in my life did such a wild joy possess me. On every side the cry +of <I>Vive l'Empereur!</I> shook the air, and in my excitement I shouted +like the others. But we could not pursue them far, and soon we were +again moving calmly on. We thought the fight was ended; but when +within two or three hundred paces of the ravine, we heard the rush of +horses, and again the general cried: +</P> + +<P> +"Halt! Kneel! Fix bayonets!" +</P> + +<P> +On came the Russians from the valley like a whirlwind; the earth shook +beneath their weight; we heard no more orders, but each man knew that +he must fire into the mass, and the file-firing began, rattling like +the drums in a grand review. Those who have not seen a battle can form +but little idea of the excitement, the confusion, and yet the order of +such a moment. A few of the Russians neared us; we saw their forms +appear a moment through the smoke, and then saw them no more. In a few +moments more the ringing voice of General Chemineau arose, sounding +above the crash and rattle: +</P> + +<P> +"Cease firing!" +</P> + +<P> +We scarcely dared obey. Each one hastened to deliver a final shot; +then the smoke slowly lifted, and we saw a mass of cavalry ascending +the farther side of the ravine. +</P> + +<P> +The squares deployed at once into columns; the drums beat the charge; +our artillery still continued its fire; we rushed on, shouting: +</P> + +<P> +"Forward! forward! <I>Vive l'Empereur!</I>" +</P> + +<P> +We descended the ravine, over heaps of horses and Russians; some dead, +some writhing upon the earth, and we ascended the slope toward +Weissenfels at a quick step. The Cossacks and chasseurs bent forward +in their saddles, their cartridge-boxes dangling behind them, galloping +before us in full flight. The battle was won. +</P> + +<P> +But as we reached the gardens of the city, they posted their cannon, +which they had brought off with them, behind a sort of orchard, and +reopened upon us, a ball carrying away both the axe and head of the +sapper, Merlin. The corporal of sappers, Thomé, had his arm fractured +by a piece of the axe, and they were compelled to amputate his arm at +Weissenfels. Then we started toward them on a run, for the sooner we +reached them the less time they would have for firing. +</P> + +<P> +We entered the city at three places, marching through hedges, gardens, +hop-fields, and climbing over walls. The marshals and generals +followed after. Our regiment entered by an avenue bordered with +poplars, which ran along the cemetery, and, as we debouched in the +public square another column came through the main street. +</P> + +<P> +There we halted, and the Marshal, without losing a moment, despatched +the Twenty-seventh to take a bridge and cut off the enemy's retreat. +During this time the rest of the division arrived, and was drawn up in +the square. The burgomaster and councillors of Weissenfels were +already on the steps of the town-hall to bid us welcome. +</P> + +<P> +When we were re-formed, the Marshal-Prince of Moskowa passed before the +front of our battalion and said joyfully: +</P> + +<P> +"Well done! I am satisfied with you! The Emperor will know of your +conduct!" +</P> + +<P> +He could not help laughing at the way we rushed on the guns. General +Souham cried: +</P> + +<P> +"Things go bravely on!" +</P> + +<P> +He replied: +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, yes; 'tis in the blood! 'tis in the blood." +</P> + +<P> +The battalion remained there until the next day. We were lodged with +the citizens, who were afraid of us and gave us all we asked. The +Twenty-seventh returned in the evening and was quartered in the old +chateau. We were very tired. After smoking two or three pipes +together, chatting about our glory, Zébédé, Klipfel and I went together +to the shop of a joiner and slept on a heap of shavings, and remained +there until midnight, when they beat the reveille. We rose; the joiner +gave us some brandy, and we went out. The rain was falling in +torrents. That night the battalion went to bivouac before the village +of Clépen, two hours' march from Weissenfels. +</P> + +<P> +Other detachments came and rejoined us. The Emperor had arrived at +Weissenfels, and all the Third corps were to follow us. We talked only +of this all the day; but the day after, at five in the morning, we set +off again in the advance. +</P> + +<P> +Before us rolled a river called the Rippach. Instead of turning aside +to take the bridge, we forded it where we were. The water reached our +waists; and I thought, as I pulled my shoes out of the mud, "If any one +had told me this in the days when I was afraid of catching a cold in +the head at M. Goulden's, and when I changed my stockings twice a week, +I should never have believed it. Well, strange things happen to one in +this life." +</P> + +<P> +As we passed down the other bank of the river in the rushes, we +discovered a band of Cossacks observing us from the heights to the +left. They followed slowly, without daring to attack us, and so we +kept on until it was broad day, when suddenly a terrific fusillade and +the thunder of heavy guns made us turn our heads toward Clépen. The +commandant, on horseback, looked over the tops of the reeds. +</P> + +<P> +The sounds of conflict lasted a considerable time, and Sergeant Pinto +said: +</P> + +<P> +"The division is advancing; it is attacked." +</P> + +<P> +The Cossacks gazed, too, toward the fight, and at the end of an hour +disappeared. Then we saw the division advancing in column in the plain +to the right, driving before them the masses of Russian cavalry. +</P> + +<P> +"Forward!" cried the commandant. +</P> + +<P> +We ran, without knowing why, along the river bank, until we reached an +old bridge where the Rippach and Gruna met. Here we were to intercept +the enemy: but the Cossacks had discovered our design, and their whole +army fell back behind the Gruna, which they forded, and, the division +rejoining us, we learned that Marshal Bessières had been killed by a +cannon-ball. +</P> + +<P> +We left the bridge to bivouac before the village of Gorschen. The +rumor that a great battle was approaching ran through the ranks, and +they said that all that had passed was only a trial to see how the +recruits would act under fire. One may imagine the reflections of a +thoughtful man under such circumstances, among such hare-brained +fellows as Furst, Zébédé, and Klipfel, who seemed to rejoice at the +prospect, as if it could bring them aught else than bullet-wounds or +sabre-cuts. All night long I thought of Catharine, and prayed God to +preserve my life and my hands, which are so needful for poor people to +gain their bread. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap13"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XIII +</H3> + +<P> +We lighted our fires on the hill before Gross Gorschen and a detachment +descended to the village and brought back five or six old cows to make +soup of. But we were so worn out that many would rather sleep than +eat. Other regiments arrived with cannon and munitions. About eleven +o'clock there were from ten to twelve thousand men there and two +thousand and more in the village—all Souham's division. The general +and his ordnance officers were quartered in an old mill to the left, +near a stream called Floss-Graben. The line of sentries were stretched +along the base of the hill a musket-shot off. At length I fell asleep, +but I awoke every hour, and behind us, toward the road leading from the +old bridge of Poserna to Lutzen and Leipzig, I heard the rolling of +wagons, of artillery and caissons, rising and falling through the +silence. +</P> + +<P> +Sergeant Pinto did not sleep; he sat smoking his pipe and drying his +feet at the fire. Every time one of us moved, he would try to talk and +say: +</P> + +<P> +"Well, conscript?" +</P> + +<P> +But they pretended not to hear him, and turned over, gaping, to sleep +again. +</P> + +<P> +The clock of Gross-Gorschen was striking six when I awoke. I was sore +and weary yet. Nevertheless, I sat up and tried to warm myself, for I +was very cold. The fires were smoking, and almost extinguished. +Nothing of them remained but the ashes and a few embers. The sergeant, +erect, was gazing over the vast plain where the sun shot a few long +lines of gold, and, seeing me awake, put a coal in his pipe and said: +</P> + +<P> +"Well, fusilier Bertha, we are now in the rearguard." +</P> + +<P> +I did not know what he meant. +</P> + +<P> +"That astonishes you," he continued; "but we have not stirred, while +the army has made a half-wheel. Yesterday it was before us in the +Rippach; now it is behind us, near Lutzen; and, instead of being in the +front we are in rear; so that now," said he, closing an eye and drawing +two long puffs of his pipe, "we are the last, instead of the foremost." +</P> + +<P> +"And what do we gain by it?" I asked. +</P> + +<P> +"We gain the honor of first reaching Leipzig, and falling on the +Prussians," he replied. "You will understand this by and by, +conscript." +</P> + +<P> +I stood up, and looked around. I saw before us a wide, marshy plain, +traversed by the Gruna-Bach and the Floss-Graben. A few hills arose +along these streams, and beyond ran a large river, which the sergeant +told me was the Elster. The morning mist hung over all. +</P> + +<P> +Turning around, I saw behind us in the valley the point of the +clock-tower of Gross-Gorschen, and farther on, to the right and left, +five or six little villages built in the hollows between the hills, for +it is a country of hills, and the villages of Kaya, Eisdorf, +Starsiedel, Rahna, Klein-Gorschen and Gross-Gorschen, which I knew +before, are between them, on the borders of little lakes, where +poplars, willows and aspens grow. Gross-Gorschen, where we bivouacked, +was farthest advanced in the plain, toward the Elster; Kaya was +farthest off, and behind it passed the high-road from Lutzen to +Leipzig. We saw no fires on the hills save those of our division; but +the entire corps occupied the villages scattered in our rear, and +head-quarters were at Kaya. +</P> + +<P> +At seven o'clock the drums and the trumpets of the artillery sounded +the reveille. We went down to the village, some to look for wood, +others for straw or hay. Ammunition-wagons came up, and bread and +cartridges were distributed. There we were to remain, to let the army +march by upon Leipzig; this was why Sergeant Pinto said we would be in +the rear-guard. +</P> + +<P> +Two <I>cantinières</I> arrived from the village; and, as I had yet a few +crowns remaining, I offered Klipfel and Zébédé a glass of brandy each, +to counteract the effects of the fogs of the night. I also presumed to +offer one to Sergeant Pinto, who accepted it, saying that bread and +brandy warmed the heart. +</P> + +<P> +We felt quite happy, and no one suspected the horrors the day was to +bring forth. We thought the Russians and the Prussians were seeking us +behind the Gruna-Bach; but they knew well where we were. And suddenly, +about ten o'clock, General Souham, mounted, arrived with his officers. +I was sentry near the stacks of arms, and I think I can now see him, as +he rode to the top of the hill, with his gray hair and white-bordered +hat; and as he took out his field-glass, and, after an earnest gaze, +returned quickly, and ordered the drums to beat the recall. The +sentries at once fell into the ranks, and Zébédé, who had the eyes of a +falcon, said: +</P> + +<P> +"I see yonder, near the Elster, masses of men forming and advancing in +good order, and others coming from the marshes by the three bridges. +We are lost if all those fall upon our rear!" +</P> + +<P> +"A battle is beginning," said Sergeant Pinto, shading his eyes with his +hands, "or I know nothing of war. Those beggarly Prussians and +Russians want to take us on the flank with their whole force, as we +defile on Leipzig, so as to cut us in two. It is well thought of on +their part. We are always teaching them the art of war." +</P> + +<P> +"But what will we do?" asked Klipfel. +</P> + +<P> +"Our part is simple," answered the sergeant. "We are here twelve to +fifteen thousand men, with old Souham, who never gave an enemy an inch. +We will stand here like a wall, one to six or seven, until the Emperor +is informed how matters stand, and sends us aid. There go the staff +officers now." +</P> + +<P> +It was true; five or six officers were galloping over the plain of +Lutzen toward Leipzig. They sped like the wind, and I prayed to God to +have them reach the Emperor in time to send the whole army to our +assistance; for there was something horrible in the certainty that we +were about to perish, and I would not wish my greatest enemy in such a +position as ours was then. +</P> + +<P> +Sergeant Pinto continued: +</P> + +<P> +"You will have a chance now, conscripts; and if any of you come out +alive, they will have something to boast of. Look at those blue lines +advancing, with their muskets on their shoulders, along Floss-Graben. +Each of those lines is a regiment. There are thirty of them. That +makes sixty thousand Prussians, without counting those lines of +horsemen, each of which is a squadron. Those advancing to their left, +near Rippach, glittering in the sun, are the dragoons and cuirassiers +of the Russian Imperial Guard. There are eighteen or twenty thousand +of them, and I first saw them at Austerlitz, where we fixed them +finely. Those masses of lances in the rear are Cossacks. We will have +a hundred thousand men on our hands in an hour. This is a fight to win +the cross in, and if one does not get it now he can never hope to do +so!" +</P> + +<P> +"Do you think so, sergeant?" said Zébédé, whose ideas were never very +clear, and who already imagined he held the cross in his fingers, while +his eyes glittered with excitement. +</P> + +<P> +"It will be hand to hand," replied the sergeant; "and suppose that in +the <I>mêlée</I>, you see a colonel or a flag near you, spring on him or it; +never mind sabres or bayonets; seize them, and then your name goes on +the list." +</P> + +<P> +As he spoke, I remembered that the Mayor of Phalsbourg had received the +cross for having gone to meet the Empress Marie Louise in carriages +garlanded with flowers, singing old songs, and I thought his method +much preferable to that of Sergeant Pinto. +</P> + +<P> +But I had not time to think more, for the drama beat on all sides, and +each one ran to where the arms of his company were stacked and seized +his musket. Our officers formed us, great guns came at a gallop from +the village, and were posted on the brow of the hill a little to the +rear, so that the slope served them as a species of redoubt. Farther +away, in the villages of Rahna, of Kaya, and of Klein-Gorschen, all was +motion, but we were the first the Prussians would fall upon. +</P> + +<P> +The enemy halted about twice a cannon-shot off, and the cavalry swarmed +by hundreds up the hill to reconnoitre us. I was in utter despair as I +gazed on their immense masses swarming on both sides of the river, the +advanced lines of which were already beginning to form in columns, and +I said to myself, "This time, Joseph, all is over, all is lost; there +is no help for it; all you can do is to revenge yourself, defend +yourself, to fight pitilessly, and die." +</P> + +<P> +While these thoughts were passing through my head, General Chemineau +galloped along our front, crying: +</P> + +<P> +"Form square." +</P> + +<P> +The officers on the right, on the left, in advance, in the rear, took +up the word and it passed from right to left; four squares of four +battalions each were formed. I found myself in the third, on one of +the interior sides, a circumstance which in some degree reassured me; +for I thought that the Prussians, who were advancing in three columns, +would first attack those directly opposite them. But scarcely had the +thought struck me when a hail of cannon-shot from the guns which the +Prussians had massed on a hill to the left, swept through us just as at +Weissenfels; and that was not all. They had thirty pieces of artillery +playing upon us. One can imagine from this what gaps they made. The +balls shrieked sometimes over our heads, sometimes through the ranks, +and then again struck the earth, which they scattered over us. +</P> + +<P> +Our heavy guns replied to their fire with a vigor which kept us from +hearing one half the hissing and roaring of theirs, but could not +silence it, and the horrible cry of "Close up the ranks! Close up the +ranks!" was ever sounding in our ears. +</P> + +<P> +We were enveloped in smoke without having fired a shot, and I said to +myself, "if we stay here another quarter of an hour we shall all be +massacred without having a chance to defend ourselves," which seemed to +me fearful, when the head of the Prussian columns appeared between the +hills, moving forward with a deep, hoarse murmur, like the noise of an +inundation. Then the three first sides of our square, the second and +the third obliquing to the right and left fired. God only knows how +many Prussians fell. But instead of stopping they rushed on, shouting +like wolves, "<I>Vaterland! Vaterland!</I>" and we fired again into their +very bosoms. +</P> + +<P> +Then began the work of death in earnest. Bayonet-thrust, sabre-stroke, +blows from the butt-end of our pieces, crashed on all sides. They +tried to crush us by mere weight of numbers, and came on like furious +bulls. A battalion rushed upon us, thrusting with their bayonets; we +returned their blows without leaving the ranks, and they were swept +away almost to a man by two cannon which were in position fifty paces +in our rear. +</P> + +<P> +They were the last who tried to break our squares. They turned and +fled down the hill-side, and we were loading our guns to kill every man +of them, when their pieces again opened fire, and we heard a great +noise on our right. It was their cavalry charging under cover of their +fire. I could not see the fight, for it was at the other end of the +division, but their heavy guns swept us off by dozens as we stood +inactive. General Chemineau had his thigh broken; we could not hold +out much longer when the order was given to retreat, which we did with +a pleasure easily understood! +</P> + +<P> +We retired to Gross-Gorschen, pursued by the Prussians, both sides +maintaining a constant fire. The two thousand men in the village +checked the enemy while we ascended the opposite slope to gain +Klein-Gorschen. But the Prussian cavalry came on once more to cut off +our retreat and keep us under the fire of their artillery. Then my +blood boiled with anger, and I heard Zébédé cry, "Let us fight our way +to the top rather than remain here!" +</P> + +<P> +To do this was fearfully dangerous, for their regiments of hussars and +chasseurs advanced in good order to charge. Still we kept retreating, +when a voice on the top of the ridge cried: "Halt!" and at the same +moment the hussars, who were already rushing down upon us, received a +terrific discharge of case and grape-shot, which swept them down by +hundreds. It was Girard's division, who had come to our assistance +from Ivlein-Gorschen and had placed sixteen pieces in position to open +upon them. The hussars fled faster than they came, and the six squares +of Girard's division united with ours at Klein-Gorschen, to check the +Prussian infantry, which still continued to advance, the three first +columns in front and three others, equally strong, supporting them. +</P> + +<P> +We had lost Gross-Gorschen, but now, between Ivlein-Gorschen and Rahna +the battle raged more fiercely than ever. +</P> + +<P> +I thought now of nothing but vengeance. I was wild with excitement and +wrath against those who sought to kill me. I felt a sort of hatred +against those Prussians whose shouts and insolent manner disgusted me. +I was, nevertheless, very glad to see Zébédé near me yet, and as we +stood awaiting new attacks, with our arms resting on the ground, I +pressed his hand. +</P> + +<P> +"We have escaped narrowly enough," said he. "God grant the Emperor may +soon arrive, and with cannon, for they are twenty times stronger than +we." +</P> + +<P> +He no longer spoke of winning the cross. +</P> + +<P> +I looked around to see if the sergeant was with us yet, and saw him +calmly wiping his bayonet; not a feature showed any trace of +excitement—that encouraged me. I would have wished to know if Klipfel +and Furst were unhurt, but the command, "Carry arms!" made me think of +myself. +</P> + +<P> +The three first columns of the enemy had halted on the hill of +Gross-Gorschen to await their supports. The village in the valley +between us was on fire, the flames bursting from the thatched roofs and +the smoke rising to the sky, and to the left across the ploughed field +we saw a long line of cannon coming down to open upon us. +</P> + +<P> +It might have been mid-day when the six columns began their march and +deployed masses of hussars and cavalry on both sides of Gross-Gorschen. +Our artillery, placed behind the squares on the top of the ridge, +opened a terrible fire on the Prussian gunners, who replied all along +their line. +</P> + +<P> +Our drums began to beat in the squares to give warning that the enemy +were approaching, but their rattle was like the buzz of a fly in the +storm, while in the valley the Prussians shouted all together, +"<I>Vaterland! Vaterland!</I>" +</P> + +<P> +Their fire by battalion, as they climbed the hill, enveloped us in +smoke—as the wind blew toward us—and hindered us from seeing them. +Nevertheless, we began our file-firing. We heard and saw nothing but +the noise and smoke of battle for the next quarter of an hour, when +suddenly the Prussian hussars were in our square. I know not how it +happened, but there they were on their little horses, sabring us +without mercy. We fought with our bayonets; we shouted; they slashed, +and fired their pistols. The carnage was horrible. Zébédé, Sergeant +Pinto, and some twenty of the company held together. I shall see all +my life long the pale-faced, long-mustached hussars, the straps of +their shakos tight under their jaws, whose horses reared and neighed as +they dashed over the heaps of dead and wounded. I remember the cries, +French and German in a horrid mixture, that arose; how they called us +"<I>Schweinpelz</I>" and how old Pinto never ceased to cry, "Strike bravely, +my boys; strike bravely!" +</P> + +<P> +I never knew how we escaped; we ran at random through the smoke, and +dashed through the midst of sabres and flying bullets. I only remember +that Zébédé every moment cried out to me, "Come on! come on!" and that +at last we found ourselves on a hill-side behind a square which yet +held firm, with Sergeant Pinto and seven or eight others of the company. +</P> + +<P> +We were covered with blood, and looked like butchers. +</P> + +<P> +"Load!" cried the sergeant. +</P> + +<P> +Then I saw blood and hair on my bayonet, and I knew that in my fury I +must have given some terrible blows. In a moment old Pinto said, "The +regiment is totally routed; the beggarly Prussians have sabred half of +it; we shall find the remainder by and by. Now," he cried, "we must +keep the enemy out of the village. By file, left! March!" +</P> + +<P> +We descended a little stairway which led to one of the gardens of +Klein-Gorschen, and entering a house, the sergeant barricaded the door +leading to the fields with a heavy kitchen table; then he showed us the +door opening on the street, telling us, "Here is our way of retreat." +This done, we went to the floor above, and found a pretty large room, +with two windows looking out upon the village, and two upon the hill, +which was still covered with smoke and resounding with the crash of +musketry and artillery. At one end in an alcove was a broken bedstead, +and near it a cradle. The people of the house had no doubt fled at the +beginning of the battle, but a dog, with ears erect and flashing eyes, +glared at us from beneath the curtains. All this comes back to me like +a dream. +</P> + +<P> +The sergeant opened the window and fired at two or three Prussian +hussars who were already advancing down the street. Zébédé and the +others standing behind him stood ready. I looked toward the hill to +see if the squares had yet remained unbroken, and I saw them retreating +in good order, firing as they went from all four sides on the masses of +cavalry which surrounded them completely. Through the smoke I could +perceive the colonel on horseback, sabre in hand, and by him the +colors, so torn by shot that they were mere rags hanging on the staff. +</P> + +<P> +Beyond, on the left, a column of the enemy were debouching from the +road and marching on Klein-Gorschen. This column evidently designed +cutting off our retreat on the village, but hundreds of disbanded +soldiers like us had arrived, and were pouring in from all sides, some +turning ever and anon to fire, others wounded, trying to crawl to some +place of shelter. They took possession of the houses, and, as the +column approached, musketry rattled upon them from all the windows. +This checked the enemy, and at the same moment the divisions of Brenier +and Marchand, which the Prince of Moskowa had despatched to our +assistance, began to deploy to the right. We heard afterward that +Marshal Ney had followed the Emperor in the direction of Leipzig and +came back on hearing the sound of cannon. +</P> + +<P> +The Prussians halted, and the firing ceased on both sides. Our squares +and columns began to climb the hills again, opposite Starsiedel, and +the defenders of the village rushed from the houses to join their +regiments. Ours had become mingled with two or three others; and, when +the reinforcing divisions halted before Kaya, we could scarcely find +our places. The roll was called, and of our company but forty-two men +remained; Furst and Léger were dead, but Zébédé, Klipfel, and I were +unhurt. +</P> + +<P> +But, unluckily, the battle was not yet over, for the Prussians, flushed +with victory, were already making their dispositions to attack us at +Kaya; reinforcements were hurrying to them, and it seemed that, for so +great a general, the Emperor had made a gross blunder in stretching his +lines to Leipzig, and leaving us to be overpowered by an army of over a +hundred thousand men. +</P> + +<P> +As we were re-forming behind Brenier's division, eighteen thousand +veterans of the Prussian guard charged up the hill, carrying the shakos +of our killed on their bayonets in token of victory. Once more the +fight began, the mass of Russian cavalry, which we had seen glittering +in the sun in the morning, came down on our flank,—on the left, +between Klein-Gorschen and Starsiedel,—but the Sixth corps had arrived +in time to cover it, and stood the shock like a castle wall. Once more +shouts, groans, the clashing of sabre against bayonet, the crash of +musketry and thunder of cannon shook the sky, while the plain was +hidden in a cloud of smoke, through which we could see the glitter of +helmets, cuirasses, and thousands of lances. +</P> + +<P> +We were retiring, when something passed along our front like a flash of +lightning. It was Marshal Ney surrounded by his staff. I never saw +such a countenance; his eyes sparkled and his lips trembled with rage. +In a second's time he had dashed along the lines, and drew up in front +of our columns. The retreat stopped at once; he called us on, and, as +if led by a kind of fascination, we dashed on to meet the Prussians, +cheering like madmen as we went. But the Prussian line stood firm; +they fought hard to keep the victory they had won, and besides were +constantly receiving reinforcements, while we were worn out with five +hours' fighting. +</P> + +<P> +Our battalion was now in the second line, and the enemy's shot passed +over our heads; but a horrible din made my flesh creep; it was the +rattling of the grape-shot among the bayonets. +</P> + +<P> +In the midst of shouts, orders, and the whistling of bullets, we again +began to fall back over heaps of dead; our first division re-entered +Klein-Gorschen, and once more the fight was hand to hand. In the main +street of the village nothing was seen or heard but shots and blows, +and generals, mounted, fought sword in hand like private soldiers. +</P> + +<P> +This lasted some minutes; we in the ranks, said, "all is well, all is +well, now we are advancing;" but again they were reinforced, and we +were obliged to continue our retreat, and unhappily in such haste that +many did not stop until they reached Kaya. This village was on the +ridge and the last before reaching Lutzen. It is a long, narrow lane +of houses, separated from each other by little gardens, stables and +bee-hives. If the enemy forced us to Kaya, our army was cut in two. I +recalled the words of M. Goulden—"If unluckily the allies get the best +of us, they will revenge themselves on us in our own country for all we +have been doing to them the last ten years." The battle seemed +irretrievably lost, for Marshal Ney himself, in the centre of a square, +was retreating; and many soldiers, to get away from the <I>mêlée</I>, were +carrying off wounded officers on their muskets. Everything looked +gloomy, indeed. +</P> + +<P> +I entered Kaya on the right of the village, leaping over hedges, and +creeping under the fences which separated the gardens, and was turning +the corner of a street, when I saw some fifty officers on the brow of a +hill before me, and behind them masses of artillery galloping at full +speed along the Leipzig road. Then I saw the Emperor himself, a little +in advance of the others; he was seated, as if in an arm-chair, on his +white horse, and I could see him well, beneath the clear sky, +motionless and looking at the battle through his field-glass. +</P> + +<P> +My heart beat gladly; I cried "<I>Vive l'Empereur!</I>" with all my +strength, and rushed along the main street of Kaya. I was one of the +first to enter, and I saw the inhabitants of the village, men, women, +and children, hastening to the cellars for protection. +</P> + +<P> +Many to whom I have related the foregoing have sneered at me for +running so fast; but I can only reply that when Michel Ney retreated, +it was high time for Joseph Bertha to do so too. +</P> + +<P> +Klipfel, Zébédé, Sergeant Pinto, and the others of the company had not +yet arrived when masses of black smoke arose above the roofs; shattered +tiles fell into the streets, and shot buried themselves an the walls, +or crashed through the beams with a horrible noise. +</P> + +<P> +At the same time, our soldiers rushed in through the lanes, over the +hedges and fences, turning from time to time to fire on the enemy. Men +of all arms were mingled, some without shakos or knapsacks, their +clothes torn and covered with blood; but they retreated furiously, and +were nearly all mere children, boys of fifteen or twenty; but courage +is inborn in the French people. +</P> + +<P> +The Prussians—led by old officers who shouted "<I>Forwärts! +Forwärts!</I>"—followed like packs of wolves, but we turned and opened +fire from the hedges, and fences, and houses. How many of them bit the +dust I know not, but others always supplied the places of those who +fell. Hundreds of balls whistled by our ears and flattened themselves +on the stone walls; the plaster was broken from the walls, and the +thatch hung from the rafters, and as I turned for the twentieth time to +fire, my musket dropped from my hand; I stooped to lift it, but I fell +too: I had received a shot in the left shoulder and the blood ran like +warm water down my breast. I tried to rise, but all that I could do +was to seat myself against the wall while the blood continued to run +down even to my thighs, and I shuddered at the thought that I was to +die there. +</P> + +<P> +Still the fight went on. +</P> + +<P> +Fearful that another bullet might reach me, I crawled to the corner of +a house, and fell into a little trench which brought water from the +street to the garden. My left arm was heavy as lead; my head swam; I +still heard the firing, but it seemed a dream, and I closed my eyes. +</P> + +<P> +When I again opened them, night was coming on, and the Prussians filled +the village. In the garden, before me, was an old general, with white +hair, on a tall brown horse. He shouted in a trumpet-like voice to +bring on the cannon, and officers hurried away with his orders. Near +him, standing on a little wall, two surgeons were bandaging his arm. +Behind, on the other side, was a little Russian officer, whose plume of +green feathers almost covered his hat. I saw all this at a glance—the +old man with his large nose and broad forehead, his quick glancing +eyes, and bold air; the others around him; the surgeon, a little bald +man with spectacles, and five or six hundred paces away, between two +houses, our soldiers re-forming. +</P> + +<P> +The firing had ceased, but between Klein-Gorschen and Kaya terrible +cries arose, and I could hear the heavy rumbling of artillery, neighing +of horses, cries and shouts of drivers, and cracking of whips. Without +knowing why, I dragged myself to the wall, and scarcely had I done so, +when two sixteen pounders, each drawn by six horses, turned the corner +of the street. The artillery-men beat the horses with all their +strength, and the wheels rolled over the heaps of dead and wounded as +if they were going over straw. Now I knew whence came the cries I had +heard, and my hair stood on end with horror. +</P> + +<P> +"Here!" cried the old man in German; "aim yonder, between those two +houses near the fountain." +</P> + +<P> +The two guns were turned at once; the old man, his left arm in a sling, +cantered up the street, and I heard him say, in short, quick tones, to +the young officer as he passed where I lay: +</P> + +<P> +"Tell the Emperor Alexander that I am at Kaya. The battle is won if I +am reinforced. Let them not discuss the matter, but send help at once. +Napoleon is coming, and in half an hour we will have him upon us with +his Guard. I will stand, let it cost what it may. But in God's name +do not lose a minute, and the victory is ours!" +</P> + +<P> +The young man set off at a gallop, and at the same moment a voice near +me whispered: +</P> + +<P> +"That old wretch is Blücher. Ah, scoundrel! if I only had my gun!" +</P> + +<P> +Turning my head, I saw an old sergeant, withered and thin, with long +wrinkles in his cheeks, sitting against the door of the house, +supporting himself with his hands on the ground, as with a pair of +crutches, for a ball had passed through him from side to side. His +yellow eyes followed the Prussian general; his hooked nose seemed to +droop like the beak of an eagle over his thick mustache, and his look +was fierce and proud. +</P> + +<P> +"If I had my musket," he repeated, "I would show you whether the battle +is won." +</P> + +<P> +We were the only two living beings among heaps of dead. +</P> + +<P> +I thought that perhaps I should be buried in the morning with the +others, in the garden opposite us, and that I would never again see +Catharine; the tears ran down my cheeks, and I could not help murmuring: +</P> + +<P> +"Now all is indeed ended!" +</P> + +<P> +The sergeant gazed at me and, seeing that I was yet so young, said +kindly: +</P> + +<P> +"What is the matter with you, conscript?" +</P> + +<P> +"A ball in the shoulder, <I>mon sergeant</I>." +</P> + +<P> +"In the shoulder! That is better than one through the body. You will +get over it." +</P> + +<P> +And after a moment's thought he continued: +</P> + +<P> +"Fear nothing. You will see home again!" +</P> + +<P> +I thought that he pitied my youth and wished to console me; but my +chest seemed crushed, and I could not hope. +</P> + +<P> +The sergeant said no more, only from time to time he raised his head to +see if our columns were coming. He swore between his teeth and ended +by falling at length upon the ground, saying: +</P> + +<P> +"My business is done! But the villain has paid for it!" +</P> + +<P> +He gazed at the hedge opposite, where a Prussian grenadier was +stretched, cold and stiff, the old sergeant's bayonet yet in his body. +</P> + +<P> +It might then have been six in the evening. The enemy filled all the +houses, gardens, orchards, the main streets and the alleys. I was cold +and had dropped my head forward upon my knees, when the roll of +artillery called me again to my senses. The two pieces in the garden +and many others posted behind them threw their broad flashes through +the darkness, while Russians and Prussians crowded through the street. +But all this was as nothing in comparison to the fire of the French, +from the hill opposite the village, while the constant glare showed the +Young Guard coming on at the double-quick, generals and colonels on +horseback in the midst of the bayonets, waving their swords and +cheering them on, while the twenty-four guns the Emperor had sent to +support the movement thundered behind. The old wall against which I +leaned shook to its foundations. In the street the balls mowed down +the enemy like grass before the scythe. It was their turn to close up +the ranks. +</P> + +<P> +I also heard the enemy's artillery replying behind us, and I thought, +"Heaven grant that the French win the day; then their suffering wounded +will be taken care of, instead of these Prussians and Cossacks first +looking after their own, and leaving us all to perish." +</P> + +<P> +I paid no further attention to the sergeant, I only looked at the +Prussian gunners loading their guns, aiming and firing them, cursing +them all the time from the bottom of my heart, but all the time +listening to the inspiring shouts of "<I>Vive l'Empereur!</I>" ringing out +in the momentary silence between the reports of the guns. +</P> + +<P> +In about twenty minutes the Russians and Prussians were forced to fall +back; going in crowds by the narrow passage where we were; the shouts +of "<I>Vive l'Empereur!</I>" grew nearer and nearer. The cannoneers at the +pieces before me loaded and fired at their utmost speed, when three or +four grape-shots fell among them and broke the wheel of one of their +guns, besides killing two and wounding another of their men. I felt a +hand seize my arm. It was the old sergeant. His eyes were glazing in +death, but he laughed scornfully and savagely. The roof of our shelter +fell in; the walls bent, but we cared not, we only saw the defeat of +the enemy and heard the shouts of our men nearer and nearer, when the +old sergeant gasped in my ear: +</P> + +<P> +"Here he is!" +</P> + +<P> +He rose to his knees, supporting himself with one hand, while with the +other he waved his hat in the air, and cried in a ringing voice: +</P> + +<P> +"<I>Vive l'Empereur!</I>" +</P> + +<P> +Then he fell on his face to the earth and moved no more. +</P> + +<P> +And I, raising myself too from the ground, saw Napoleon, riding calmly +through the hail of shot—-his hat pulled down over his large head—his +gray great-coat open, a broad red ribbon crossing his white vest—there +he rode, calm and imperturbable, his face lit up with the reflection +from the bayonets. None stood their ground before <I>him</I>; the Prussian +artillerymen abandoned their pieces and sprang over the garden-hedge, +despite the cries of their officers who sought to keep them back. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-162"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-162.jpg" ALT="Everything gave way before him." BORDER="2" WIDTH="476" HEIGHT="695"> +<H4 CLASS="h4center" STYLE="width: 476px"> +Everything gave way before him. +</H4> +</CENTER> + +<P> +All this I saw—it seems graved with fire on my memory, but from that +moment I can remember no more of the battle, for in that certainty of +victory I lost consciousness and fell like a corpse in the midst of +corpses. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap14"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XIV +</H3> + +<P> +When sense returned it was night and all was silent around. Clouds +were scudding across the sky, and the moon shone down upon the +abandoned village, the broken guns, and the pale upturned faces of the +dead, as calmly as for ages she had looked on the flowing water, the +waving grass, and the rustling leaves which fall in autumn. Men are +but insects in the midst of creation; lives but drops in the ocean of +eternity, and none so truly feel their insignificance as the dying. +</P> + +<P> +I could not move from where I lay in the intensest pain. My right arm +alone could I stir, and raising myself with difficulty upon my elbow, I +saw the dead heaped along the street, their white faces shining like +snow in the moonlight. The mouths and eyes of some were wide open, +others lay on their faces, their knapsacks and cartridge-boxes on their +backs and their hands grasping their muskets. The sight thrilled me +with horror, and my teeth chattered. +</P> + +<P> +I would have cried for help, but my voice was no louder than that of a +sobbing child. But my feeble cry awoke others, and groans and shrieks +arose on all sides. The wounded thought succor was coming, and all who +could cried piteously. These cries lasted some time; then all was +silent, and I only heard a horse neigh painfully on the other side of +the hedge. The poor animal tried to rise, and I saw its head and long +neck appear; then it fell again to the earth. +</P> + +<P> +The effort I made reopened my wound, and again I felt the blood running +down my arm. I closed my eyes to die, and the scenes of my early +childhood, of my native village, the face of my poor mother as she sang +me to sleep, my little room, with its alcove, our old dog Pommer with +whom I used to play and roll over and over on the ground; my father as +he came home gayly in the evening, his axe on his shoulder, and took me +up in his strong arms to embrace me—all rose dreamily before me. +</P> + +<P> +How little those parents thought that they were rearing their boy to +die miserably far from friends, and home, and succor! How great would +have been their desolation—what maledictions would they have poured on +those who reduced him to such a state! Ah! if they were but there!—if +I could have asked their forgiveness for all the pain I had given them! +As these thoughts rushed over me the tears rolled down my cheeks; my +heart heaved: I sobbed like a child. +</P> + +<P> +Then Catharine, Aunt Grédel, and Monsieur Goulden passed before me. I +saw their grief and fear when the news of the battle came. Aunt Grédel +running to the post-office every day to learn something of me, and +Catharine prayerfully awaiting her return, while Monsieur Goulden read +in the gazette how the Third corps suffered more heavily than the +others, as he paced the room with drooping head and at last sat +dreamily at his work-bench. My heart was with them; it followed Aunt +Grédel to the post-office, and returned with her all sadly to the +village, and there it saw Catharine in her despairing grief. +</P> + +<P> +Then the postman Roedig seemed to arrive at Quatre-Vents. He opened +his leathern sack, and handed a large paper to Aunt Grédel, while +Catharine stood pale as death beside her. It was the official notice +of my death: I heard Catharine's heart-rending cries as she fell +swooning to the ground, and Aunt Grédel's maledictions, as, with her +gray hair streaming about her head, she cried that justice was no +longer to be found—that it were better that we had never been born, +since even God seemed to have abandoned us. Good Father Goulden came +to console them, but could only sob too: all wept together in their +desolation, crying: +</P> + +<P> +"Joseph! Poor, poor Joseph!" +</P> + +<P> +My heart seemed bursting. +</P> + +<P> +The thought came that thirty or forty thousand families in France, in +Russia, in Germany, were soon to receive the same news—news yet more +terrible, for many of the wretches stretched on the battle-field had +father and mother, and this was horrible to think of—it seemed as if a +wail from all human kind were rising from earth to heaven. +</P> + +<P> +Then I remembered those poor women of Phalsbourg, praying in the church +when we heard of the retreat from Russia, and I understood how their +hearts were torn. I thought that Catharine would soon go there, and +year after year she would pray—thinking of me. Yes—for I knew we had +loved each other from childhood, and that she could never forget me, +and tear after tear coursed down my cheeks. This confidence soothed me +in my grief—the certainty that she would preserve her love for me +until age whitened her hair; that I should be ever before her eyes, and +that she would never marry another. +</P> + +<P> +Toward morning a shower began to fall, and the monotonous dropping on +the roofs alone broke the silence. I thought of the good God, whose +power and mercy are limitless, and I hoped that He would pardon my sins +in consideration of my sufferings. +</P> + +<P> +The rain filled the little trench in which I had been lying. From time +to time a wall fell in the village, and the cattle, scared away by the +battle, began to resume confidence and return. I heard a goat bleat in +a neighboring stable. A great shepherd's dog wandered fearfully among +the heaps of dead. The horse, seeing him, neighed in terror—he took +him for a wolf—and the dog fled. +</P> + +<P> +I remember all these details, for, when we are dying, we see +everything, we hear everything, for we know that we are seeing and +hearing our last. +</P> + +<P> +But how my whole frame thrilled with joy when, at the corner of the +street, I thought I heard the sound of voices! How eagerly I listened! +And I raised myself upon my elbow, and called for help. It was yet +night; but the first gray streak of day was becoming visible in the +east, and afar off, through the falling rain, I saw a light in the +fields, now coming onward, now stopping. I saw dark forms bending +around it. They were only confused shadows. But others besides me saw +the light; for on all sides arose groans and plaintive cries, from +voices so feeble that they seemed like those of children calling their +mothers. +</P> + +<P> +What is this life to which we attach so great a price? This miserable +existence, so full of pain and suffering? Why do we so cling to it, +and fear more to lose it than aught else in the world? What is it that +is to come hereafter that makes us shudder at the mere thought of +death? Who knows? For ages and ages all have thought and thought on +the great question, but none have yet solved it. I, in my eagerness to +live, gazed on that light as the drowning man looks to the shore. I +could not take my eyes from it, and my heart thrilled with hope. I +tried again to shout, but my voice died on my lips. The pattering of +the rain on the ruined dwellings, and on the trees, and on the ground, +drowned all other sounds, and, although I kept repeating, "They hear +us! They are coming!" and although the lantern seemed to grow larger +and larger, after wandering for some time over the field, it slowly +disappeared behind a little hill. +</P> + +<P> +I fell once more senseless to the ground. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap15"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XV +</H3> + +<P> +When I returned to myself, I looked around. I was in a long hall, with +posts all around. Some one gave me wine and water to drink, and it was +most grateful. I was in a bed, and beside me was an old gray-mustached +soldier, who, when he saw my eyes open, lifted up my head and held a +cup to my lips. +</P> + +<P> +"Well," said he cheerfully, "well! we are better." +</P> + +<P> +I could not help smiling as I thought that I was yet among the living. +My chest and arm were stiff with bandages; I felt as if a hot iron were +burning me there; but no matter, I lived! +</P> + +<P> +I gazed at the heavy rafters crossing the space above me; at the tiles +of the roof, through which the daylight entered in more than one spot; +I turned and looked to the other side, and saw that I was in one of +those vast sheds used by the brewers of the country as a shelter for +their casks and wagons. All around, on mattresses and heaps of straw, +numbers of wounded lay ranged; and in the middle, on a large +kitchen-table, a surgeon-major and his two aids, their shirt-sleeves +rolled up, were amputating the leg of a soldier, who was shrieking in +agony. Behind them was a mass of legs and arms. I turned away sick +and trembling. +</P> + +<P> +Five or six soldiers were walking about, giving bread and drink to the +wounded. +</P> + +<P> +But the man who impressed himself most on my memory was a surgeon with +sleeves rolled up, who cut and cut without paying the slightest +attention to what was going on around; he was a man with a large nose +and wrinkled cheeks, and every moment flew into a passion at his +assistants, who could not give him his knives, pincers, lint, or linen +fast enough, or who were not quick enough sponging up the blood. +</P> + +<P> +Things went on quickly, however, for in less than a quarter of an hour +he had cut off two legs. +</P> + +<P> +Without, against the posts, was a large wagon full of straw. +</P> + +<P> +They had just laid out on the table a Russian carbineer, six feet in +height at least; a ball had pierced his neck near the ear, and while +the surgeon was asking for his little knives, a cavalry surgeon passed +before the shed. He was short, stout, and badly pitted with the +small-pox, and held a portfolio under his arm. +</P> + +<P> +"Ha! Forel!" cried he, cheerfully. +</P> + +<P> +"It is Duchêne," said our surgeon, turning around. "How many wounded?" +</P> + +<P> +"Seventeen to eighteen thousand." +</P> + +<P> +"Aha! Well, how goes it this morning?" +</P> + +<P> +"Passably—I am looking for a tavern." +</P> + +<P> +Our surgeon left the shed to chat with his comrade; they conversed +quietly, while the assistants sat down to drink a cup of wine, and the +Russian rolled his eyes despairingly. +</P> + +<P> +"See, Duchêne; you have only to go down the street, opposite that well, +do you see?" +</P> + +<P> +"Very well indeed." +</P> + +<P> +"Just opposite you will see the canteen." +</P> + +<P> +"Very good; thank you; I am off." +</P> + +<P> +He started, and our surgeon called after him: +</P> + +<P> +"A good appetite to you, Duchêne!" +</P> + +<P> +Then he returned to his Russian, whose neck he laid open. He worked +ill-humoredly, constantly scolding his aids. +</P> + +<P> +"Be quick!" he said, "be quick!" +</P> + +<P> +The Russian writhed and groaned, but he paid no attention to that, and +at last, throwing the bullet upon the ground, he bandaged up the wound, +and cried, "Carry him off!" +</P> + +<P> +They lifted the Russian from the table, and stretched him on a mattress +beside the others; then they laid his neighbor upon the table. +</P> + +<P> +I could not think that such horrors took place in the world; but I was +yet to see worse than this. +</P> + +<P> +At five or six beds from mine sat an old corporal with his leg bound +up. He closed one eye knowingly, and said to his neighbor, whose arm +had just been cut off: +</P> + +<P> +"Conscript, look at that heap! I will bet that you cannot recognize +your arm." +</P> + +<P> +The other, who had hitherto shown the greatest courage, looked, and +fell back senseless. +</P> + +<P> +Then the corporal began laughing, saying: +</P> + +<P> +"He has recognized it. It is the lower one, with the little blue +flower. It always produces that effect." +</P> + +<P> +He looked around self-approvingly, but no one laughed with him. +</P> + +<P> +Every moment the wounded called for water. +</P> + +<P> +"Drink! Drink!" +</P> + +<P> +When one began, all followed, and the old soldier had certainly +conceived a liking for me, for each time he passed, he presented the +cup. +</P> + +<P> +I did not remain in the shed more than an hour. A dozen ambulances +drew up before the door, and the peasants of the country round, in +their velvet jackets, and large black slouched hats, their whips on +their shoulders, held the horses by the reins. A picket of hussars +arrived soon after, and their officer dismounting, entered and said: +</P> + +<P> +"Excuse me, major, but here is an order to escort twelve wagons of +wounded as far as Lutzen. Is it here that we are to receive them?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, it is here," replied the surgeon. +</P> + +<P> +The peasants and the ambulance-drivers, after giving us a last draught +of wine, began carrying us to the wagons. As one was filled, it +departed, and another advanced. I was in the third, seated on the +straw, in the front row, beside a conscript of the Twenty-seventh, who +had lost his right hand; behind was another who had lost a leg; then +came one whose head was laid open, and another whose jaw was broken; so +was the wagon filled. +</P> + +<P> +They had given us our great-coats; but despite them and the sun, which +was shining brightly, we shivered with cold, and left only our noses +and forage-caps, or linen bandages on the splints visible. No one +spoke; each was too much occupied thinking of himself. +</P> + +<P> +At moments I was terribly cold; then flashes of heat would dart through +me, and flush me as in a fever; and indeed it was the beginning of the +fever. But as we left Kaya, I was yet well; I saw everything clearly, +and it was not until we neared Leipzig that I felt indeed sick. +</P> + +<P> +At last we were all placed in the wagons, and arranged according to our +condition—those able to sit up, in the first that set out, the others +stretched in the last, and we started. The hussars rode beside us, +smoking and chatting, paying no attention to us. +</P> + +<P> +In passing through Kaya, I saw all the horrors of war. The village was +but a mass of cinders; the roofs had fallen, and the walls alone +remained standing; the rafters were broken; we could see the remnants +of rooms, stairs, and doors heaped within. The poor villagers, women, +children, and old men, came and went with sorrowful faces. We could +see them going up and down in their houses, as if they were in cages in +the open air; and in one we saw a mirror and an evergreen branch, +showing where dwelt a young girl in time of peace. +</P> + +<P> +Ah! who could foresee that their happiness would so soon be destroyed, +not by the fury of the winds or the wrath of heaven, but by the rage of +man! +</P> + +<P> +Even the cattle and pigeons seemed seeking their lost homes among the +ruins; the oxen and the goats, scattered through the streets, lowed and +bleated plaintively. Fowls were roosting upon the trees, and +everywhere, everywhere we saw the traces of cannon-balls. +</P> + +<P> +At the last house an old man with flowing white hair, sat at the +threshold of what had been his cottage, with a child upon his knees, +glaring on us as we passed. "Did he see us?" I do not know. His +furrowed brow and stony eyes spoke of despair. How many years of +labor, of patient economy, of suffering, had he passed to make sure a +quiet old age! Now all was crushed, ruined; the child and he had no +longer a roof to cover their heads. +</P> + +<P> +And those great trenches—fully a mile of them—at which the country +people were working in such haste, to keep the plague from completing +the work war began! I saw them, too, from the top of the hill of Kaya, +and turned away my eyes, horror-stricken. Russians, French, Prussians, +were there heaped pell-mell, as if God had made them to love each other +before the invention of arms and uniforms, which divide them for the +profit of those who rule them. There they lay, side by side; and the +part of them which could not die knew no more of war, but cursed the +crimes that had for centuries kept them apart. +</P> + +<P> +But what was sadder yet, was the long line of ambulances—bearing the +agonized wounded—those of whom they speak so much in the bulletins to +make the loss seem less, and who die by thousands in the hospitals, far +from all they love; while at their homes cannon are firing, and +church-bells are ringing with joyous chimes—rejoicing that thousands +of men are slain! +</P> + +<P> +At length we reach Lutzen, but it was so full of wounded that we were +obliged to continue on to Leipzig. We saw in the streets only +half-dead wretches, stretched on straw along the walls of the houses. +It was more than an hour before we reached a church, where fifteen or +twenty of us who could no longer proceed were left. +</P> + +<P> +Our ambulance conductor and his men, after refreshing themselves at a +tavern at the street corner, remounted, and we continued our journey to +Leipzig. +</P> + +<P> +I saw and heard no more; my head swam; a murmuring filled my ears, I +thought trees were men, and an intolerable thirst burned my lips. +</P> + +<P> +For a long while past, many in the wagons had been shrieking, calling +upon their mothers, trying to rise and fling themselves upon the road. +I know not whether I did the same; but I awoke as from a horrible +dream, as two men seized me, each by a leg, placing their arms under my +body, and carried me through a dark square. The sky seemed covered +with stars, and innumerable lights shone from an immense edifice before +us. It was the hospital of the market-place at Leipzig. +</P> + +<P> +The two men who were carrying me ascended a spiral stairway which led +to an immense hall where beds were laid together in three lines, so +close that they touched each other. On one of these beds I was placed, +in the midst of oaths, cries for pity, and muttered complaints from +hundreds of fever-stricken wounded. The windows were open, and the +flames of the lanterns flickered in the gusts of wind. Surgeons, +assistants, and nurses with great aprons tied beneath their arms, came +and went, while the groans from the halls below, and the rolling of +ambulances, cracking of whips and neighing of horses without, seemed to +pierce my very brain. While they were undressing me, they handled me +roughly, and my wound pained me so horribly that I could not avoid +shrieking. A surgeon came up at once, and scolded them for not being +more careful. That is all I remember that night; for I became +delirious, and raved constantly of Catharine, Monsieur Goulden, and +Aunt Grédel, as my neighbor, an old artilleryman, whom my cries +prevented from sleeping, afterward told me. I awoke the next morning +at about eight o'clock, at the first roll of the drum, and saw the hall +better, and then learned that I had the bone of my left shoulder +broken. A dozen surgeons were around me; one of them, a stout, dark +man, whom they called Monsieur the Baron, was opening my bandages, +while an assistant at the foot of the bed held a basin of warm water. +The baron examined my wound; all the others bent forward to hear what +he might say. He spoke a few moments, but all that I could understand +was, that the ball had struck from below, breaking the bone and passing +out behind. I saw that he knew his business well, for the Prussians +had fired from below, over the garden wall, so that the ball must have +ranged upward. He washed the wound himself, and with a couple of turns +of his hand, replaced the bandage, so that my shoulder could not move, +and everything was in order. +</P> + +<P> +I felt much better. Ten minutes after a hospital steward put a shirt +on me without hurting me—such was his skill. +</P> + +<P> +The surgeon, passing to another bed, cried: +</P> + +<P> +"What! You here again, old fellow?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes; it is I, Monsieur the Baron," replied the artilleryman, proud to +be recognized; "the first time was at Austerlitz, the second at Jena, +and then I received two thrusts of a lance at Smolensk." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, yes," said the surgeon kindly; "and now what is the matter with +you?" +</P> + +<P> +"Three sabre-cuts on my left arm while I was defending my piece from +the Prussian hussars." +</P> + +<P> +The surgeon unwound the bandage, and asked, +</P> + +<P> +"Have you the cross?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, Monsieur the Baron." +</P> + +<P> +"What is your name?" +</P> + +<P> +"Christian Zimmer, of the Second horse artillery." +</P> + +<P> +"Very good!" +</P> + +<P> +He dressed the wounds, and went to the next, saying: +</P> + +<P> +"You will soon be well." +</P> + +<P> +He returned, chatting with the others, and went out after finishing his +round and giving some orders to the nurses. +</P> + +<P> +The old artilleryman's heart seemed overflowing with joy; and, as I +concluded from his name that he came from Alsace, I spoke to him in our +language, at which he was still more rejoiced. He was a tall +fellow—at least six feet in height, with round shoulders, a flat +forehead, large nose, light red mustaches, and was as hard as a rock, +but a good man for all that. His eyes twinkled when I spoke Alsatian +to him, and he pricked up his ears at once. If I asked him in our +tongue he was willing to give me everything he had, but he had only a +clasp of the hand, which cracked the bones in mine to give. He called +me <I>Josephel</I>, as they did at home, and said: +</P> + +<P> +"Josephel, be careful how you swallow the medicines they give you, only +take what you know. All that does not smell good is good for nothing. +If they would give us a bottle of <I>Rikevir</I> every day we would soon be +well; but it is easier to spoil our digestion with a handful of vile +boiled herbs, than to bring us a little of the good white wine of +Alsace." +</P> + +<P> +When I told him I was afraid of dying of the fever, he looked angry +with his great gray eyes, and said: +</P> + +<P> +"Josephel, you are a fool. Do you think that such tall fellows as you +and I were born to die in a hospital? No, no; drive the idea from your +head." +</P> + +<P> +But he spoke in vain, for every morning the surgeons, making their +rounds, found seven or eight dead. Some died in fevers, some in deadly +chill; so that heat or cold might be the presage of death. +</P> + +<P> +Zimmer said that all this proceeded from the evil drugs which the +doctors invented. "Do you see that tall, thin fellow?" he asked. +"Well, that man can boast of having killed more men than a field-piece; +he is always primed, with his match lighted; and that little brown +fellow—I would send him instead of the Emperor to the Russians and +Prussians; he would kill more of them than a whole army corps." +</P> + +<P> +He would have made me laugh with his jokes if the litters had not been +constantly passing. +</P> + +<P> +At the end of three weeks my shoulder began to heal, and Zimmer's +wounds were also doing well. They gave us every morning some good +boiled beef which warmed our hearts, and in the evening a little beef +with half a glass of wine, the sight alone of which rejoiced us and +made the future look hopeful. +</P> + +<P> +About this time, too, they allowed us to walk in the large garden, full +of elms, behind the hospital. There were benches under the trees, and +we walked the paths like millionnaires in our gray great-coats and +forage-caps. The weather was magnificent; and we could see far along +the poplar bordered Partha. This river falls into the Elster, on the +left, forming a long blue line. On the same side stretches a forest of +beech trees, and in front are three or four great white roads, which +cross fields of wheat, barley and hay, and hop plantations; no sight +could be pleasanter, or richer, especially when the breeze falls upon +it and these harvests rise and fall in the sunlight like waves of the +sea. The increasing heat presaged a fine year and often, when looking +at the beautiful scenery around, I thought of Phalsbourg, and the tears +came to my eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"I would like to know what makes you cry so, Josephel," said Zimmer. +"Instead of catching a fever in the hospital, or losing a leg or arm, +like hundreds of others, here we are quietly seated in the shade; we +are well fed, and can smoke when we have any tobacco; and still you +cry. What more do you want, Josephel?" +</P> + +<P> +Then I told him of Catharine; of our walks at Quatre-Vents; of our +promises; of all my former life, which then seemed a dream. He +listened, smoking his pipe. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, yes," said he; "all this is very sad. Before the conscription of +1798, I too was going to marry a girl of our village, who was named +Margrédel, and whom I loved better than all the world beside. We had +promised to marry each other, and all through the campaign of Zurich, I +never passed a day without thinking of her. But when I first received +a furlough and reached home, what did I hear? Margrédel had been three +months married to a shoemaker, named Passauf." +</P> + +<P> +"You may imagine my wrath, Josephel; I could not see clearly; I wanted +to demolish everything; and, as they told me that Passauf was at the +<I>Grand-Cerf</I> brewery, thither I started, looking neither to the right +nor left. There I saw him drinking with three or four rogues. As I +rushed forward, he cried, 'There comes Christian Zimmer! How goes it, +Christian? Margrédel sends you her compliments.' He winked his eye. +I seized a glass, which I hurled at his head, and broke to pieces, +saying, 'Give her that for my wedding present, you beggar!' The +others, seeing their friend thus maltreated, very naturally fell upon +me. I knocked two or three of them over with a jug, jumped on a table, +sprang through a window, and beat a retreat. +</P> + +<P> +"'It was time,' I thought. +</P> + +<P> +"But that was not all," he continued; "I had scarcely reached my +mother's when the gendarmerie arrived, and they arrested me. They put +me on a wagon and conducted me from brigade to brigade until we reached +my regiment, which was at Strasbourg. I remained six weeks at +Finckmatt, and would probably have received the ball and chain, if we +had not had to cross the Rhine to Hohenlinden. +</P> + +<P> +"The Commandant Courtaud himself said to me: +</P> + +<P> +"'You can boast of striking a hard blow, but if you happen again to +knock people over with jugs, it will not be well for you—I warn you. +Is that any way to fight, animal? Why do we wear sabres, if not to use +them and do our country honor?' +</P> + +<P> +"I had no reply to make. +</P> + +<P> +"From that day, Josephel, the thought of marriage never troubled me. +Don't talk to me of a soldier who has a wife to think of. Look at our +generals who are married, do they fight as they used to? No, they have +but one idea, and that is to increase their store and to profit by +their wealth by living well with their duchesses and little dukes at +home. My grandfather Yéri, the forester, always said that a good hound +should be lean, and I think the same of good generals and good +soldiers. The poor fellows are always in working order, but our +generals grow fat from their good dinners at home." +</P> + +<P> +So spoke my friend Zimmer in the honesty of his heart, and all this did +not lessen my sadness. +</P> + +<P> +As soon as I could sit up, I hastened to inform Monsieur Goulden, by +letter, that I was in the hospital of Halle, in one of the five +buildings of Leipzig, slightly wounded in the arm, but that he need +fear nothing for me, for I was growing better and better. I asked him +to show my letter to Catharine and Aunt Grédel to comfort them in the +midst of such fearful war. I told him, too, that my greatest happiness +would be to receive news from home and of the health of all whom I +loved. +</P> + +<P> +From that moment I had no rest; every morning I expected an answer, and +to see the postmaster distribute twenty or thirty letters in our ward, +without my receiving one, almost broke my heart; I hurried to the +garden and wept. There was a little dark corner where they threw +broken pottery—a place buried in shade, which pleased me much, because +no one ever came there—there I passed my time dreaming on an old +moss-covered bench. Evil thoughts crossed my brain—I almost believed +that Catharine could forget her promises, and I muttered to myself, +"Ah! if you had not been picked up at Kaya! All would then have been +ended! Why were you not abandoned? Better to have been, than to +suffer thus!" +</P> + +<P> +To such a pass did I finally arrive, that I no longer wished to +recover, when one morning the letter-carrier, among other names, called +that of Joseph Bertha. I lifted my hand without being able to speak, +and a large, square letter, covered with innumerable post-marks, was +handed me. I recognized Monsieur Goulden's handwriting, and turned +pale. +</P> + +<P> +"Well," said Zimmer, laughing, "it is come at last." +</P> + +<P> +I did not answer, but thrust the letter in my pocket, to read it at +leisure and alone. I went to the end of the garden and opened it. Two +or three apple-blossoms dropped upon the ground, with an order for +money, on which Monsieur Goulden had written a few words. But what +touched me most was the handwriting of Catharine, which I gazed at +without reading a word, while my heart beat as if about to burst +through my bosom. +</P> + +<P> +At last I grew a little calmer and read the letter slowly, stopping +from time to time to make sure that I made no mistake—that it was +indeed my dear Catharine who wrote, and that I was not in a dream. +</P> + +<P> +I have kept that letter, because it brought, so to speak, life back to +me. Here it is as I received it on the eighth day of June, 1813: +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +"MY DEAR JOSEPH:—I write you to tell you I yet love you alone, and +that, day by day, I love you more. +</P> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +"My greatest grief is to know that you are wounded, in a hospital, and +that I cannot take care of you. Since the conscripts departed, we have +not had a moment's peace of mind. My mother says I am silly to weep +night and day, but she weeps as much as I, and her wrath falls heavily +on Pinacle, who dared not come to the market-place, because she carried +a hammer in her basket. +</P> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +"But our greatest grief was when we heard that the battle had taken +place, and that thousands of men had fallen; mother ran every morning +to the post-office, while I could not move from the house. At last +your letter came, thank heaven! to cheer us. Now I am better, for I +can weep at my ease, thanking God that He has saved your life. +</P> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +"And when I think how happy we used to be, Joseph—when you came every +Sunday, and we sat side by side without stirring and thought of +nothing! Ah! we did not know how happy we were; we knew not what might +happen—but God's will be done. If you only recover! if we may only +hope to be once again as happy as we were! +</P> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +"Many people talk of peace, but the Emperor so loves war, that I fear +it is far off. +</P> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +"What pleases me most is to know that your wound is not dangerous, and +that you still love me. Ah! Joseph, I will love you forever—that is +all I can say. I can say it from the bottom of my heart; and I know my +mother loves you too! +</P> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +"Now, Monsieur Goulden wishes to say a few words to you, so I will +close. The weather is beautiful here, and the great apple-tree in the +garden is full of flowers; I have plucked a few, which I shall put in +this letter when M. Goulden has written. Perhaps with God's blessing +we shall yet eat together one of those large apples. Embrace me as I +embrace you, Joseph, Farewell! Farewell!" +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +As I finished reading this, Zimmer arrived, and in my joy, I said: +</P> + +<P> +"Sit down, Zimmer, and I will read you my sweetheart's letter. You +will see whether she is a Margrédel." +</P> + +<P> +"Let me light my pipe first," he answered; and having done so, he +added: "Go on, Josephel, but I warn you that I am an old bird, and do +not believe all I hear; women are more cunning than we." +</P> + +<P> +Notwithstanding this bit of philosophy, I read Catharine's letter +slowly to him. When I had ended, he took it, and for a long time gazed +at it dreamily, and then handed it back, saying: +</P> + +<P> +"There! Josephel. She <I>is</I> a good girl, and a sensible one, and will +never marry any one but you." +</P> + +<P> +"Do you really think so?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes; you may rely upon her; she will never marry a Passauf. I would +rather distrust the Emperor than such a girl." +</P> + +<P> +I could have embraced Zimmer for these words; but I said: +</P> + +<P> +"I have received a bill for one hundred francs. Now for some white +wine of Alsace. Let us try to get out." +</P> + +<P> +"That is well thought of," said he, twisting his mustache and putting +his pipe in his pocket. "I do not like to mope in a garden when there +are taverns outside. We must get permission." +</P> + +<P> +We arose joyfully and went to the hospital, when, the letter-carrier, +coming out, stopped Zimmer, saying: +</P> + +<P> +"Are you Christian Zimmer, of the Second horse artillery?" +</P> + +<P> +"I have that honor, monsieur the carrier." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, here is something for you," said the other, handing him a little +package and a large letter. +</P> + +<P> +Zimmer was stupefied, never having received anything from home or from +anywhere else. He opened the packet—a box appeared—then the box—and +saw the cross of honor. He became pale; his eyes filled with tears, he +staggered against a balustrade, and then shouted "<I>Vive l'Empereur!</I>" +in such tones that the three halls rang and rang again. +</P> + +<P> +The carrier looked on smiling. +</P> + +<P> +"You are satisfied," said he. +</P> + +<P> +"Satisfied! I need but one thing more." +</P> + +<P> +"And what is that?" +</P> + +<P> +"Permission to go to the city." +</P> + +<P> +"You must ask Monsieur Tardieu, the surgeon-in-chief." +</P> + +<P> +He went away laughing, while we ascended arm-in-arm, to ask permission +of the surgeon-major, an old man, who had heard the "<I>Vive +l'Empereur!</I>" and demanded gravely: +</P> + +<P> +"What is the matter?" +</P> + +<P> +Zimmer showed his cross and replied: +</P> + +<P> +"Pardon, major; but I am more than usually merry." +</P> + +<P> +"I can easily believe you," said Monsieur Tardieu; "you want a pass to +the city?" +</P> + +<P> +"If you will be so good; for myself and my comrade, Joseph Bertha." +</P> + +<P> +The surgeon had examined my wound the day before. He took out his +portfolio and gave us passes. We left as proud as kings—Zimmer of his +cross, I, of my letter. +</P> + +<P> +Downstairs in the great vestibule the porter cried: +</P> + +<P> +"Hold on there! Where are you going?" +</P> + +<P> +Zimmer showed him our passes, and we sallied forth, glad to breathe the +free air, without, once more. A sentinel showed us the post-office, +where I was to receive my hundred francs. +</P> + +<P> +Then, more gravely, for our joy had sunk deeper in our hearts, we +reached the gate of Halle about two musket shots to the left, at the +end of a long avenue of lindens. Each faubourg is separated from the +old ramparts only by these avenues, and all around Leipzig passes +another very wide one, also bordered with lindens. The ramparts are +very old—such as we see at Saint Hippolyte, on the upper +Rhine,—crumbling, grass-grown walls; at least such they are if the +Germans have not repaired them since 1813. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap16"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XVI +</H3> + +<P> +How much were we to learn that day! At the hospital no one troubled +himself about anything: when every morning you see fifty wounded come +in, and when every evening you see as many depart upon the bier, you +have the world before you in a narrow compass, and you think— +</P> + +<P> +"After us comes the end of the universe!" +</P> + +<P> +But without, these ideas change. When I caught the first glimpse of +the street of Halle,—that old city with its shops, its gateways filled +with merchandise, its old peaked roofs, its heavy wagons laden with +bales, in a word, all its busy commercial life,—I was struck with +wonder; I had never seen anything like it, and I said to myself: +</P> + +<P> +"This is indeed a mercantile city, such as they talk of—full of +industrious people trying to make a living, or competence, or wealth; +where every one seeks to rise, not to the injury of others, but by +working—contriving night and day how to make his family prosperous; so +that all profit by inventions and discoveries. Here is the happiness +of peace in the midst of a fearful war!" +</P> + +<P> +But the poor wounded, wandering about with their arms in slings, or +perhaps dragging a leg after them as they limped on crutches, were sad +sights to see. +</P> + +<P> +I walked dreamily through the streets, led by Zimmer, who recognized +every corner, and kept repeating: +</P> + +<P> +"There—there is the church of Saint Nicholas; that large building is +the university: that on yonder is the <I>Hôtel de Ville</I>." +</P> + +<P> +He seemed to remember every stone, having been there in 1807, before +the battle of Friedland, and continued: +</P> + +<P> +"We are the same here as if we were in Metz, or Strasbourg, or any +other city in France. The people wish us well. After the campaign of +1806, they used to do all they could for us. The citizens would take +three or four of us at a time to dinner with them. They even gave us +balls and called us the heroes of Jena. Go where we would they +everywhere received us as benefactors of the country. We named their +elector King of Saxony, and gave him a good slice of Poland." +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly he stopped before a little, low door and cried: +</P> + +<P> +"Hold! Here is the Golden Sheep Brewery. The front is on the other +street, but we can enter here. Come!" +</P> + +<P> +I followed him into a narrow, winding passage which led to an old +court, surrounded by rubble walls, with little moss-covered galleries +under the roof and a weathercock upon the peak, as in the Tanner's Lane +in Strasbourg. To the right was the brewery, and in a corner a great +wheel, turned by an enormous dog, which pumped the beer to every story +of the house. +</P> + +<P> +The clinking of glasses was heard coming from a room which opened on +the Rue de Tilly, and under the windows of this was a deep cellar +resounding with the cooper's hammer. The sweet smell of the new March +beer filled the air, and Zimmer, with a look of satisfaction, cried: +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, here I came six years ago with Ferré and stout Rousillon. How +glad I am to see it all again, Josephel! It was six years ago. Poor +Rousillon! he left his bones at Smolensk last year! and Ferré must now +be at home in his village near Toul, for he lost his left leg at +Wagram. How everything comes back as I think of it!" +</P> + +<P> +At the same time he pushed open the door, and we entered a lofty hall, +full of smoke. I saw, through the thick, gray atmosphere, a long row +of tables, surrounded by men drinking—the greater number in short +coats and little caps, the remainder in the Saxon uniform. The first +were students, young men of family who came to Leipzig to study law, +medicine, and all that can be learned by emptying glasses and leading a +jolly life, which they call <I>Fuchs-commerce</I>. They often fight among +themselves with a sort of blade rounded at the point and only its tip +sharpened, so that they slash their faces, as Zimmer told me, but life +is never endangered. This shows the good sense of these students, who +know very well that life is precious, and that one had better get five +or six slashes, or even more, than lose it. +</P> + +<P> +Zimmer laughed as he told me these things; his love of glory blinded +him; he said they might as well load cannon with roasted apples, as +fight with swords rounded at the point. +</P> + +<P> +But we entered the hall, and we saw the oldest of the students—a tall +withered-looking man with a red nose and long flaxen beard, stained +with beer—standing upon a table, reading the gazette aloud which hung +from his hand like an apron. He held the paper in one hand, and in the +other a long porcelain pipe. His comrades, with their long, light hair +falling upon their shoulders, were listening with the deepest interest; +and as we entered, they shouted, "<I>Vaterland! Vaterland!</I>" +</P> + +<P> +They touched glasses with the Saxon soldiers, while the tall student +bent over to take up his glass, and the round, fat brewer cried: +</P> + +<P> +"<I>Gesundheit! Gesundheit!</I>" +</P> + +<P> +Scarcely had we made half a dozen steps toward them, when they became +silent. +</P> + +<P> +"Come, come, comrades!" cried Zimmer, "don't disturb yourselves. Go on +reading. We do not object to hear the news." +</P> + +<P> +But they did not seem inclined to profit by our invitation, and the +reader descended from the table, folding up his paper, which he put in +his pocket. +</P> + +<P> +"We are done," said he, "we are done." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes; we are done," repeated the others, looking at each other with a +peculiar expression. +</P> + +<P> +Two or three of the German soldiers rose and left the room, as if to +take the air in the court. And the fat landlord said: +</P> + +<P> +"You do not perhaps know that the large hall is on the Rue de Tilly?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes; we know it very well," replied Zimmer; "but I like this little +hall better. Here I used to come, long ago, with two old comrades, to +empty a few glasses in honor of Jena and Auerstadt. I know this room +of old." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah! as you please, as you please," returned the landlord. "Do you +wish some March beer?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes; two glasses and the gazette." +</P> + +<P> +"Very good." +</P> + +<P> +The glasses were handed us, and Zimmer, who observed nothing, tried to +open a conversation with the students; but they excused themselves, +and, one after another, went out. I saw that they hated us, but dared +not show it. +</P> + +<P> +The gazette, which was from France, spoke of an armistice, after two +new victories at Bautzen and Wurtschen. This armistice commenced on +the sixth of June, and a conference was then being held at Prague, in +Bohemia, to arrange on terms of peace. All this naturally gave me +pleasure. I thought of again seeing home. But Zimmer, with his habit +of thinking aloud, filled the hall with his reflections, and +interrupted me at every line. +</P> + +<P> +"An armistice!" he cried. "Do we want an armistice. After having +beaten those Prussians and Russians at Lutzen, Bautzen and Wurtschen, +ought we not to annihilate them? Would they give us an armistice if +they had beaten us? There, Joseph, you see the Emperor's character—he +is too good. It is his only fault. He did the same thing after +Austerlitz, and he had to begin over again. I tell you, he is too +good; and if he were not so, we should have been masters of Europe." +</P> + +<P> +As he spoke, he looked around as if seeking assent; but the students +scowled, and no one replied. At last Zimmer rose. +</P> + +<P> +"Come, Joseph," said he; "I know nothing of politics, but I insist that +we should give no armistice to those beggars. When they are down we +should keep them there." +</P> + +<P> +After we had paid our reckoning, and were once more in the street, he +continued: +</P> + +<P> +"I do not know what was the matter with those people to-day. We must +have disturbed them in something." +</P> + +<P> +"It is very possible," I replied. "They certainly did not seem like +the good-natured folks you were speaking of." +</P> + +<P> +"No," said he. "Those young fellows are far beneath the old students I +have seen. <I>They</I> passed—I might say—their lives at the brewery. +They drank twenty and sometimes thirty glasses a day; even I, Joseph, +had no chance with such fellows. Five or six of them whom they called +'seniors' had gray beards and a venerable appearance. We sang <I>Fanfan +la Tulipe</I> and 'King Dagobert' together, which are not political songs, +you know. But these fellows are good for nothing." +</P> + +<P> +I knew afterward, that those students were members of the <I>Tugend-bund</I>. +</P> + +<P> +On returning to the hospital, after having had a good dinner and drank +a bottle of wine apiece in the inn of La Grappe in the Rue de Tilly, we +learned that we were to go, that same evening, to the barracks of +Rosenthal—a sort of depot for wounded, near Lutzen, where the roll was +called morning and evening, but where, at all other times, we were at +liberty to do as we pleased. Every three days, the surgeon made his +visit; as soon as one was well, he received his order to march to +rejoin his corps. +</P> + +<P> +One may imagine the condition of from twelve to fifteen hundred poor +wretches clothed in gray great-coats with leaden buttons, shakos shaped +like flower-pots, and shoes worn out by marches and +counter-marches—pale, weak, most of them without a sou, in a rich city +like Leipzig. We did not cut much of a figure among these students, +these good citizens and smiling young women, who, despite our glory, +looked on us as vagabonds. +</P> + +<P> +All the fine stories of my comrade only made me feel my situation more +bitterly. +</P> + +<P> +It is true that we were formerly well received, but in those days our +men did not always act honestly by those who treated them like +brothers, and now doors were slammed in our faces. We were reduced to +the necessity of contemplating squares, churches, and the outside of +sausage-shops, which are there very handsome, from morning till night. +</P> + +<P> +We tried every way of amusing ourselves; the idlers played at +<I>drogue</I>[<A NAME="chap16fn1text"></A><A HREF="#chap16fn1">1</A>], the younger ones drank. We had also a game called "Cat +and Rat," which we played in front of the barracks. A stake was +planted in the ground, to which two cords were fastened; the rat held +one of these, and the cat the other. Their eyes were bandaged. The +cat was armed with a cudgel and tried to catch the rat, who kept out of +the way as much as he could, listening for the cat's approach—thus +they kept going around on tiptoe, and exhibiting their cunning to the +company. +</P> + +<BR> + +<A NAME="chap16fn1"></A> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[<A HREF="#chap16fn1text">1</A>] A game at cards, played among soldiers, in which the loser wears a +forked stick on his nose till he wins again. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Zimmer told me that in former times the good Germans came in crowds to +see this game, and you could hear them laugh half a league off when the +cat touched the rat with his club. But times were indeed changed; +every one passed by now without even turning their heads; we only lost +our labor when we tried to interest them in our favor. +</P> + +<P> +During the six weeks we remained at Rosenthal, Zimmer and I often +wandered through the city to kill time. We went by way of the faubourg +of Randstatt and pushed as far as Lindenau, on the road to Lutzen. +There were nothing but bridges, swamps and wooded islets as far as the +eye could reach. There we would eat an omelette with bacon at the +tavern of the Carp, and wash it down with a bottle of white wine. They +no longer gave us credit, as after Jena; I believe, on the contrary, +that the innkeeper would have made us pay double and triple, for the +honor of the German Fatherland, if my comrade had not known the price +of eggs and bacon and wine as well as any Saxon among them. +</P> + +<P> +In the evening, when the sun was setting behind the reeds of the Elster +and the Pleisse, we returned to the city accompanied by the mournful +notes of the frogs, which swarm in thousands in the marshes. +</P> + +<P> +Sometimes we would stop with folded arms at the railing of a bridge and +gaze at the old ramparts of Leipzig, its churches, its old ruins, and +its castle of Pleissenbourg, all glowing in the red twilight. The city +runs to a point where the Pleisse and the Partha branch off, and the +rivers meet above. It is in the shape of a fan, the faubourg of Halle +at the handle and the seven other faubourgs spreading off.[<A NAME="chap16fn2text"></A><A HREF="#chap16fn2">2</A>] We gazed +too at the thousand arms of the Elster and the Pleisse, winding like +threads among islands already growing dark in the twilight, although +the waters glittered like gold. All this seemed very beautiful. +</P> + +<BR> + +<A NAME="chap16fn2"></A> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[<A HREF="#chap16fn2text">2</A>] On the English map the river is the Rotha, not the Partha (or +Parde), and at the point here alluded to it joins the <I>Elster</I>, not the +<I>Pleisse</I>, as stated previously.—<I>Translator's Note</I>. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +But if we had known that we would one day be forced to cross these +rivers under the enemy's cannon, after having lost the most fearful and +the bloodiest of battles, and that entire regiments would disappear +beneath those waters, which then gladdened our eyes, I think that the +sight would have made us sad enough. +</P> + +<P> +At other times we would walk along the bank of the Pleisse as far as +Mark-Kléeberg. It was more than a league, and every field was covered +with harvests which they were hastening to garner. The people in their +great wagons seemed not to see us, and if we asked for information they +pretended not to understand us. Zimmer always grew angry. I held him +back, telling him that the beggarly wretches only sought a pretext for +falling upon us, and that we had, besides, orders to humor them. +</P> + +<P> +"Very good!" he said; "but if the war comes this way, let them look +out! We have overwhelmed them with benefits and this is how they +receive us!" +</P> + +<P> +But what shows better yet the ill-feeling of the people toward us was +what happened us the day after the conclusion of the armistice, when, +about eleven o'clock, we went together to bathe in the Elster. We had +already thrown off our clothes, and Zimmer seeing a peasant +approaching, cried: +</P> + +<P> +"Holloa, comrade! Is there any danger here?" +</P> + +<P> +"No. Go in boldly," replied the man. "It is a good place." +</P> + +<P> +Zimmer, mistrusting nothing, went some fifteen feet out. He was a good +swimmer, but his left arm was yet weak, and the strength of the current +carried him away so quickly that he could not even catch the branches +of the willows which hung over him; and were it not that he was carried +to a ford, where he gained a footing, he would have been swept between +two muddy islands, and certainly lost. +</P> + +<P> +The peasant stood to see the effect of his advice. I was very angry, +and dressed myself as quickly as I could, shaking my fist at him, but +he laughed, and ran, quicker than I could follow him, to the city. +Zimmer was wild with wrath, and wished to pursue him to Connewitz; but +how could we find him among three or four hundred houses, and if we did +find him, what could we do? +</P> + +<P> +Finally we went into the water where there was footing, and its +coolness calmed us. +</P> + +<P> +I remember how, as we returned to Leipzig, Zimmer talked of nothing but +vengeance. +</P> + +<P> +"The whole country is against us!" cried he; "the citizens look black +at us, the women turn their backs, the peasants try to drown us, and +the innkeepers refuse us credit, as if we had not conquered them three +or four times; and all this comes of our extraordinary goodness; we +should have declared that we were their masters! We have granted to +the Germans kings and princes; we have even made dukes, counts and +barons with the names of their villages; we have loaded them with +honors, and see their gratitude! +</P> + +<P> +"Instead of having ordered us to respect the people, we should be given +full power over them; then the thieves would change faces and treat us +well, as they did in 1806. Force is everything. In the first place, +conscripts are made by force, for if they were not forced to come, they +would all stay at home. Of the conscripts soldiers are made by +force—by discipline being taught them; with soldiers battles are +gained by force, and then people are forced to give you everything: +they prepare triumphal arches for you and call you heroes because they +are afraid of you; that is how it is! +</P> + +<P> +"But the Emperor is too good. If he were not so good I would not have +been in danger of drowning to-day;—the sight of my uniform would have +made that peasant tremble at the idea of telling me a lie." +</P> + +<P> +So spoke Zimmer, and all this yet remains in my memory. It happened +August 12, 1813. +</P> + +<P> +Returning to Leipzig, we saw joy painted on the countenances of the +inhabitants. It did not display itself openly; but the citizens, +meeting, would shake hands with an air of huge satisfaction, and the +general rejoicing glistened even in the eyes of servants and the +poorest workmen. +</P> + +<P> +Zimmer said: "These Germans seem to be merry about something, they all +look so good-natured." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," I replied; "their good humor comes from the fine weather and +good harvest." +</P> + +<P> +It was true the weather was very fine, but when we reached the +barracks, we found some of our officers at the gate, talking eagerly +together, while those who were going by came up to listen, and then we +learned the cause of so much joy. The conference at Prague was broken +off, and Austria, too, was about to declare war against us, which gave +us two hundred thousand more men to take care of. I have learned since +that we then stood three hundred thousand men against five hundred and +twenty thousand, and that among our enemies were two old French +generals, Moreau and Bernadotte. Every one can read that in books, but +we did not yet know it, and we were sure of victory, for we had never +lost a battle. The ill-feeling of the people did not trouble us: in +time of war peasants and citizens are in a manner reckoned as nothing; +they are only asked for money and provisions, which they always give, +for they know that if they made the least resistance they would be +stripped to the last farthing. +</P> + +<P> +The day after we got this important news there was a general +inspection, and twelve hundred of the wounded of Lutzen were ordered to +rejoin their corps. They went by companies with arms and baggage, some +following the road to Altenbourg, which runs along the Elster, and some +the road to Wurtzen, farther to the left. +</P> + +<P> +Zimmer was of the number, having himself asked leave to go. I went +with him just beyond the gate, and there we embraced with emotion. I +stayed behind, as my arm was still weak. +</P> + +<P> +We were now not more than five or six hundred, among whom were a number +of masters of arms, of teachers of dancing and French elegance—fellows +to be found at all depots of wounded. I did not care to become +acquainted with them, and my only consolation was in thinking of +Catharine, and sometimes of my old comrades Klipfel and Zébédé, of whom +I received no tidings. +</P> + +<P> +It was a sad enough life; the people looked upon us with an evil eye; +they dared say nothing, knowing that the French army was only four +days' march away, and Blücher and Schwartzenberg much farther. +Otherwise, how soon they would have fallen upon us! +</P> + +<P> +One evening the rumor prevailed that we had just won a great victory at +Dresden. There was general consternation; the inhabitants remained +shut up in their houses. I went to read the newspaper at the "Bunch of +Grapes," in the Rue de Tilly. The French papers were there always on +the table; no one opened them but me. +</P> + +<P> +But the following week, at the beginning of September, I saw the same +change in people's faces as I observed the day the Austrians declared +against us. I guessed we had met some misfortune, and we had, as I +learned afterward, for the Paris papers said nothing of it. +</P> + +<P> +Bad weather set in at the end of August, and the rain fell in torrents. +I no longer left the barracks. Often, as seated upon my bed, I gazed +at the Elster boiling beneath the falling floods, and the trees, and +the little islands swaying in the wind, I thought: "Poor soldiers! poor +comrades! What are you doing now? Where are you? On the high road +perhaps, or in the open fields!" +</P> + +<P> +And despite my sadness at living where I was, I remembered that I was +less to be pitied than they. But one day the old Surgeon Tardieu made +his round and said to me: +</P> + +<P> +"Your arm is strong again—let us see—raise it for me. All right! all +right!" +</P> + +<P> +The next day at roll-call, they passed me into a hall where there were +clothing, knapsacks, cartridge-boxes and shoes in abundance. I +received a musket, two packets of cartridges, and marching papers for +the Sixth at Gauernitz, on the Elbe. This was the first of October. +Twelve or fifteen of us set out together, under charge of a +quartermaster of the Twenty-seventh named Poitevin. +</P> + +<P> +On the road, one after another left us to take the way to his corps; +but Poitevin, four infantry men and I, kept on to the village of +Gauernitz. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap17"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XVII +</H3> + +<P> +We were following the Wurtzen high road, our muskets slung on our +backs, our great-coat capes turned up, bending beneath our knapsacks, +and feeling down-hearted enough, as you may imagine. The rain was +falling, and ran from our shakos down our necks; the wind shook the +poplars, and their yellow leaves, fluttering around us, told of the +approach of winter. So hour after hour passed. +</P> + +<P> +From time to time, at long intervals, we came upon a village with its +sheds, dunghills and gardens, surrounded with palings. The women +standing behind their windows, with little dull panes, gazed at us as +we went by; a dog bayed; a man splitting wood at his threshold turned +to follow us with his eyes, and we kept on, on, splashed and muddied to +our necks. We looked back; from the end of the village the road +stretched on as far as one could see; gray clouds trailed along the +despoiled fields, and a few lean rooks were flying away, uttering their +melancholy cry. +</P> + +<P> +Nothing could be sadder than such a view; and to it was added the +thought that winter was coming on, and that soon we must sleep without +a roof, in the snow. We might well be silent, as we were, save the +quartermaster Poitevin. He was a veteran,—sallow, wrinkled, with +hollow cheeks, mustaches an ell long, and a red nose, like all brandy +drinkers. He had a lofty way of speaking, which he interspersed with +barrack slang. When the rain came down faster than ever, he cried, +with a strange burst of laughter: "Ay, ay, Poitevin, this will teach +you to hiss!" The old drunkard perceived that I had a little money in +my pocket, and kept near me, saying: "Young man, if your knapsack tires +you, hand it to me." But I only thanked him for his kindness. +</P> + +<P> +Notwithstanding my disgust at being with a man who gazed at every +tavern sign when we passed through a village, and said at each one: "A +little glass of something would do us good as the time passes," I could +not help paying for a glass now and then, so that he did not quit me. +</P> + +<P> +We were nearing Wurtzen and the rain was falling in torrents, when the +quartermaster cried for the twentieth time: +</P> + +<P> +"Ay, Poitevin! Here is life for you! This will teach you to hiss!" +</P> + +<P> +"What sort of a proverb is that of yours?" I asked; "I would like to +know how the rain would teach you to hiss." +</P> + +<P> +"It is not a proverb, young man; it is an idea which runs in my head +when I try to be cheerful." +</P> + +<P> +Then, after a moment's pause, he continued: +</P> + +<P> +"You must know," said he, "that in 1806, when I was a student at Rouen, +I happened once to hiss a piece in the theatre, with a number of other +young fellows like myself. Some hissed, some applauded; blows were +struck, and the police carried us by dozens to the watch-house. The +Emperor, hearing of it, said: 'Since they like fighting so much, put +them in my armies! There they can gratify their tastes!' And, of +course, the thing was done; and no one dared hiss in that part of the +country, not even fathers and mothers of families." +</P> + +<P> +"You were a conscript, then?" I asked. +</P> + +<P> +"No, my father had just bought me a substitute. It was one of the +Emperor's jokes; one of those jokes which we long remember; twenty or +thirty of us are dead of hardship and want. A few others, instead of +filling honorable positions in their towns, such as doctors, judges, +lawyers, have become old drunkards. This is what is called a good +joke!" +</P> + +<P> +Then he began to laugh, looking at me from the corner of his eye. I +had become very thoughtful, and two or three times more, before we +reached Gauernitz, I paid for the poor wretch's little glasses of +something. +</P> + +<P> +It was about five o'clock in the evening, and we were approaching the +village of Risa, when we descried an old mill, with its wooden bridge, +over which a bridle-path ran. We struck off from the road and took +this path, to make a short cut to the village, when we heard cries and +shrieks for help, and, at the same moment, two women, one old, and the +other somewhat younger, ran across a garden, dragging two children with +them. They were trying to gain a little wood which bordered the road, +and at the same moment we saw several of our soldiers come out of the +mill with sacks, while others came up from a cellar with little casks, +which they hastened to place on a cart standing near; still others were +driving cows and horses from a stable, while an old man stood at the +door, with uplifted hands, as if calling down Heaven's curse upon them; +and five or six of the evil-minded wretches surrounded the miller, who +was all pale, with his eyes starting from their sockets. +</P> + +<P> +The whole scene, the mill, the dam, the broken windows, the flying +women, our soldiers in fatigue caps, looking like veritable bandits, +the old man cursing them, the cows shaking their heads to throw off +those who were leading them, while others pricked them behind with +their bayonets—all seems yet before me—I seem yet to see it. +</P> + +<P> +"There," cried the quartermaster, "there are fellows pillaging. We are +not far from the army." +</P> + +<P> +"But that is horrible!" I cried. "They are robbers." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," returned the quartermaster, coolly; "it is contrary to +discipline, and if the Emperor knew of it, they would be shot like +dogs." +</P> + +<P> +We crossed the little bridge, and found the thieves crowded around a +cask which they had tapped, passing around the cup. This sight roused +the quartermaster's indignation, and he cried majestically: +</P> + +<P> +"By whose permission are you plundering in this way?" +</P> + +<P> +Several turned their heads, but seeing that we were but three, for the +rest of our party had gone on, one of them replied: +</P> + +<P> +"Ha! what do you want, old joker? A little of the spoil, I suppose. +But you need not curl up your mustaches on that account. Here, drink a +drop." +</P> + +<P> +The speaker held out the cup, and the quartermaster took it and drank, +looking at me as he did so. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, young man," said he, "will you have some, too? It is famous +wine, this." +</P> + +<P> +"No, I thank you," I replied. +</P> + +<P> +Several of the pillaging party now cried: +</P> + +<P> +"Hurry, there; it is time to get back to camp." +</P> + +<P> +"No, no," replied others; "there is more to be had here." +</P> + +<P> +"Comrades," said the quartermaster, in a tone of gentle reproof and +warning, "you know, comrades, you must go gently about it." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, yes, old fellow," replied a drum-major, with half-closed eyes, +and a mocking smile; "do not be alarmed; we will pluck the pigeon +according to rule. We will take care; we will take care." +</P> + +<P> +The quartermaster said no more, but seemed ashamed on my account. He +at length said: +</P> + +<P> +"What would you have, young man? War is war. One cannot see himself +starving, with food at hand." +</P> + +<P> +He was afraid I would report him; he would have remained with the +pillagers, but for the fear of being captured. I replied, to relieve +his mind: +</P> + +<P> +"Those are probably good fellows, but the sight of a cup of wine makes +them forget everything." +</P> + +<P> +At length, about ten o'clock at night, we saw the bivouac fires, on a +gloomy hill-side to the right of the village of Gauernitz, and of an +old castle from which a few lights also shone. Farther on, in the +plain, a great number of other fires were burning. The night was +clear, and as we approached the bivouac, the sentry challenged: +</P> + +<P> +"Who goes there?" +</P> + +<P> +"France!" replied the quartermaster. +</P> + +<P> +My heart beat, as I thought that, in a few moments, I should again meet +my old comrades, if they were yet in the world. +</P> + +<P> +Some men of the guard came forward from a sort of shed, half a +musket-shot from the village, to find out who we were. The commandant +of the post, a gray-haired sub-lieutenant, his arm in a sling under his +cloak, asked us whence we came, whither we were going, and whether we +had met any parties of Cossacks on our route. The quartermaster +answered his questions. The lieutenant informed us that Souham's +division had that morning left Gauernitz, and ordered us to follow him, +that he might examine our marching-papers; which we did in silence, +passing among the bivouac fires, around which men, covered with dried +mud, were sleeping, in groups of twenty. Not one moved. +</P> + +<P> +We arrived at the officers' quarters. It was an old brick-kiln, with +an immense roof, resting on posts driven into the ground. A large fire +was burning in it, and the air was agreeably warm. Around it soldiers +were sleeping, with a contented look, their backs against the wall; the +flames lighted up their figures under the dark rafters. Near the posts +shone stacks of arms. I seem yet to see these things; I feel the +kindly warmth which penetrated me. I see my comrades, their clothes +smoking, a few paces from the kiln, where they were gravely waiting +until the officer should have finished reading the marching-papers, by +the dim, red light. One bronzed old veteran watched alone, seated on +the ground, and mending a shoe with a needle and thread. +</P> + +<P> +The officer handed me back my paper first, saying: +</P> + +<P> +"You will rejoin your battalion to-morrow, two leagues hence, near +Torgau." +</P> + +<P> +Then the old soldier, looking at me, placed his hand upon the ground, +to show that there was room beside him, and I seated myself. I opened +my knapsack, and put on new stockings and shoes, which I had brought +from Leipzig, after which I felt much better. +</P> + +<P> +The old man asked: +</P> + +<P> +"You are rejoining your corps?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes; the Sixth at Torgau." +</P> + +<P> +"And you came from?"—— +</P> + +<P> +"The hospital at Leipzig." +</P> + +<P> +"That is easily seen," said he; "you are fat as a beadle. They fed you +on chickens down there, while we were eating cow-beef." +</P> + +<P> +I looked around at my sleeping neighbors. He was right; the poor +conscripts were mere skin and bone. They were bronzed as veterans, and +scarcely seemed able to stand. +</P> + +<P> +The old man, in a moment, continued his questions: +</P> + +<P> +"You were wounded?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, veteran, at Lutzen." +</P> + +<P> +"Four months in the hospital!" said he, whistling; "what luck! I have +just returned from Spain, flattering myself that I was going to meet +the <I>Kaiserliks</I> of 1807 once more—sheep, regular sheep—but they have +become worse than guerillas. Everything goes to the bad." +</P> + +<P> +He said the most of this to himself, without paying much attention to +me, all the while sewing his shoe, which from time to time he tried on, +to be sure that the sewn part would not hurt his foot. At last he put +the thread in his knapsack, and the shoe upon his foot, and stretched +himself upon a truss of straw. +</P> + +<P> +I was too fatigued to sleep at once, and for an hour lay awake. +</P> + +<P> +In the morning I set out again with the quartermaster Poitevin, and +three other soldiers of Souham's division. Our route lay along the +bank of the Elbe; the weather was wet and the wind swept fiercely over +the river, throwing the spray far on the land. +</P> + +<P> +We hastened on for an hour, when suddenly the quartermaster cried: +</P> + +<P> +"Attention!" +</P> + +<P> +He had halted suddenly, and stood listening. We could hear nothing but +the sighing of the wind through the trees, and the splash of the waves; +but his ear was finer than ours. +</P> + +<P> +"They are skirmishing yonder," said he, pointing to a wood on our +right. "The enemy may be near us, and the best thing we can do is to +enter the wood and pursue our way cautiously. We can see at the other +end of it what is going on; and if the Prussians or Russians are there, +we can beat a retreat without their perceiving us. If they are French, +we will go on." +</P> + +<P> +We all thought the quartermaster was right; and, in my heart, I admired +the shrewdness of the old drunkard. We kept on toward the wood, +Poitevin leading, and the others following, with our pieces cocked. We +marched slowly, stopping every hundred paces to listen. The shots grew +nearer; they were fired at intervals, and the quartermaster said: +</P> + +<P> +"They are sharp-shooters reconnoitring a body of cavalry, for the +firing is all on one side." +</P> + +<P> +It was true. In a few moments we perceived, through the trees, a +battalion of French infantry about to make their soup, and in the +distance, on the plain beyond, platoons of Cossacks defiling from one +village to another. A few skirmishers along the edge of the wood were +firing on them, but they were almost beyond musket-range. +</P> + +<P> +"There are your people, young man," said Poitevin. "You are at home." +</P> + +<P> +He had good eyes to read the number of a regiment at such a distance. +I could only see ragged soldiers with their cheeks and +famine-glistening eyes. Their great-coats were twice too large for +them, and fell in folds along their bodies like cloaks. I say nothing +of the mud; it was everywhere. No wonder the Germans were exultant, +even after our victory at Dresden. +</P> + +<P> +We went toward a couple of little tents, before which three or four +horses were nibbling the scanty grass. I saw Colonel Lorain, who now +commanded the Third battalion—a tall, thin man, with brown mustaches +and a fierce air. He looked at me frowningly, and when I showed my +papers, only said: +</P> + +<P> +"Go and rejoin your company." +</P> + +<P> +I started off, thinking that I would recognize some of the Fourth; but, +since Lutzen, companies had been so mingled with companies, regiments +with regiments, and divisions with divisions, that, on arriving at the +camp of the grenadiers, I knew no one. The men seeing me approach, +looked distrustfully at me, as if to say: +</P> + +<P> +"Does <I>he</I> want some of our beef? Let us see what he brings to the +pot!" +</P> + +<P> +I was almost ashamed to ask for my company, when a bony veteran, with a +nose long and pointed like an eagle's beak, and a worn-out coat hanging +from his shoulders, lifting his head, and gazing at me, said quietly: +</P> + +<P> +"Hold! It is Joseph. I thought he was buried four months ago." +</P> + +<P> +Then I recognized my poor Zébédé. My appearance seemed to affect him, +for, without rising, he squeezed my hand, crying: +</P> + +<P> +"Klipfel! here is Joseph!" +</P> + +<P> +Another soldier, seated near a pot, turned his head, saying: +</P> + +<P> +"It is you, Joseph, is it? Then you were not killed." +</P> + +<P> +This was all my welcome. Misery had made them so selfish that they +thought only of themselves. But Zébédé was always good-hearted; he +made me sit near him, throwing a glance at the others that commanded +respect, and offered me his spoon, which he had fastened to the +button-hole of his coat. I thanked him, and produced from my knapsack +a dozen sausages, a good loaf of bread, and a flask of brandy, which I +had the foresight to purchase at Risa. I handed a couple of the +sausages to Zébédé, who took them with tears in his eyes. I was also +going to offer some to the others; but he put his hand on my arm, +saying: +</P> + +<P> +"What is good to eat is good to keep." +</P> + +<P> +We retired from the circle and ate, drinking at the same time; the rest +of the soldiers said nothing, but looked wistfully at us. Klipfel, +smelling the sausages, turned and said: +</P> + +<P> +"Holloa! Joseph! Come and eat with us. Comrades are always comrades, +you know." +</P> + +<P> +"That is all very well," said Zébédé; "but I find meat and drink the +best comrades." +</P> + +<P> +He shut up my knapsack himself, saying: +</P> + +<P> +"Keep that, Joseph. I have not been so well regaled for more than a +month. You shall not lose by it." +</P> + +<P> +A half-hour after, the recall was beaten; the skirmishers came in, and +Sergeant Pinto, who was among the number, recognized me, and said: +</P> + +<P> +"Well; so you have escaped! But you came back in an evil moment! +Things go wrong—wrong!" +</P> + +<P> +The colonel and commandants mounted, and we began moving. The Cossacks +withdrew. We marched with arms at will; Zébédé was at my side and +related all that passed since Lutzen; the great victories of Bautzen +and Wurtschen; the forced marches to overtake the retreating enemy; the +march on Berlin; then the armistice, during which we were encamped in +the little towns; then the arrival of the veterans of Spain—men +accustomed to pillaging and living on the peasantry. +</P> + +<P> +Unfortunately, at the close of the armistice all were against us. The +country people looked on us with horror; they cut the bridges down, and +kept the Russians and Prussians informed of all our movements, and +whenever any misfortune happened us, instead of helping us, they tried +to force us deeper in the mire. The great rains came to finish us, and +the day of the battle of Dresden it fell so heavily that the Emperor's +hat hung down upon his shoulders. But when victorious, we only laughed +at these things; we felt warm just the same, and we could change our +clothes. But the worst of all was when we were beaten, and flying +through the mud—hussars, dragoons, and such gentry on our tracks,—we +not knowing when we saw a light in the night whether to advance or to +perish in the falling deluge. +</P> + +<P> +Zébédé told me all this in detail; how, after the victory of Dresden, +General Vandamme, who was to cut off the retreat of the Austrians, had +penetrated to Kulm in his ardor; and how those whom we had beaten the +day before fell upon him on all sides, front, flank, and rear, and +captured him and several other generals, utterly destroying his <I>corps +d'armée</I>. Two days before, on the 26th of August, a similar misfortune +happened to our division, as well as to the Fifth, Sixth, and Eleventh +corps on the heights of Lowenberg. We should have crushed the +Prussians there, but by a false movement of Marshal Macdonald, the +enemy surprised us in a ravine with our artillery in confusion, our +cavalry disordered, and our infantry unable to fire owing to the +pelting rain; we defended ourselves with the bayonet, and the Third +battalion made its way, in spite of the Prussian charges, to the river +Katzbach. There Zébédé received two blows on his head from the butt of +a grenadier's musket, and was thrown into the river. The current bore +him along, while he held Captain Arnauld by the arm; and both would +have been lost, if by good luck the captain in the darkness of the +night had not seized the overhanging branch of a tree on the other +side, and thus managed to regain the bank. He told me how all that +night, despite the blood that flowed from his nose and ears, he had +marched to the village of Goldberg, almost dead with hunger, fatigue, +and his wounds, and how a joiner had taken pity upon him and given him +bread, onions, and water. He told me how, on the day following, the +whole division, followed by the other corps, had marched across the +fields, each one taking his own course, without orders, because the +marshals, generals, and all mounted officers had fled as far as +possible, in the fear of being captured. He assured me that fifty +hussars could have captured them, one after another; but that by good +fortune, Blücher could not cross the flooded river, so that they +finally rallied at Wolda, where the drummers of every corps beat the +march for their regiments at all the corners of the village. By this +means every man extricated himself and followed his own drum. +</P> + +<P> +But the happiest thing in this rout was, that a little farther on, at +Buntzlau, their officers met them, surprised at yet having troops to +lead. This was what my comrade told me, to say nothing of the distrust +which we were obliged to have of our allies, who at any moment might +fall on us unprepared to receive them. He told me how Marshal Oudinot +and Marshal Ney had been beaten: the first at Gross-Beeren, and the +other at Dennewitz. This was sad indeed, for in these retreats the +conscripts died from exhaustion, sickness and every kind of hardship. +The veterans of Spain and Germany, hardened by bad weather, could alone +resist such fatigue. +</P> + +<P> +"In a word," said Zébédé, "we had everything against us—the country, +the continual rains, and our own generals, who were weary of all this. +Some of them are dukes and princes, and grow tired of being forever in +the mud instead of being seated in comfortable arm-chairs; and others, +like Vandamme, are impatient to become marshals, by performing some +grand stroke. We poor wretches, who have nothing to gain but being +crippled the rest of our days, and who are the sons of peasants and +workingmen who fought to get rid of one nobility, must perish to create +a new one!" +</P> + +<P> +I saw then that the poorest, the most miserable are not always the most +foolish, and that through suffering they come at last to see the +sorrowful truth. But I said nothing, and I prayed God to give me +strength and courage to support the hardships the coming of which these +faults and this injustice foretold. +</P> + +<P> +We were between three armies, who were uniting to crush us; that of the +north, commanded by Bernadotte; that of Silesia, commanded by Blücher; +and the army of Bohemia, commanded by Schwartzenberg. We believed at +one time we were going to cross the Elbe, to fall on the Prussians and +Swedes; at another, that we were about attacking the Austrians toward +the mountains as we had done fifty times in Italy and other places. +But they ended by understanding our movements, and when we seemed to +approach, they retired. They feared the Emperor especially, but he +could not be at once in Bohemia and Silesia, and so we were forced to +make horrible marches and countermarches. +</P> + +<P> +All that the soldiers asked, was to fight, for through marching and +sleeping in the mud, half rations and vermin had made their lives a +misery. Each one prayed that all this might end one way or the other. +It was too much for human endurance; it could not last. +</P> + +<P> +I, myself, at the end of a few days, was weary of such a life; my legs +could scarcely support me, and I grew leaner and leaner. +</P> + +<P> +Every night we were disturbed by a beggar named Thielmann, who raised +the peasantry against us; he followed us like a shadow; watched us from +village to village, on the heights, on the roads, in the valleys; his +army were all who bore us a grudge, and he had always men enough. +</P> + +<P> +It was about this time, too, that the Bavarians, the Badeners, and the +Wurtembergers declared against us, so that all Europe was upon us. +</P> + +<P> +At length we had the consolation of seeing that the army was collecting +as for a great battle; instead of meeting Platow's Cossacks and +Thielmann's partisans in the neighborhood of villages, we found +hussars, chasseurs, dragoons from Spain, artillery, pontoon trains on +the march. The rain still fell in floods; those who could no longer +drag themselves along sat down in the mud at the foot of a tree and +abandoned themselves to their unhappy fate. +</P> + +<P> +The eleventh of October we bivouacked near the village of Lousig; the +twelfth near Graffenheinichen; the thirteenth we crossed the Mulda, and +saw the Old Guard defile across the bridge, and La-Tour-Maubourg. It +was announced that the Emperor crossed too, but we departed with +Dombrowski's division and Souham's corps. +</P> + +<P> +At moments the rain would cease falling and a ray of autumn sun shine +out from between the clouds, and then we could see the whole army +marching; cavalry and infantry advancing from all sides, on Leipzig. +On the other side of the Mulda glittered the bayonets of the Prussians; +but we yet saw no Austrians and Russians: they doubtless came from +other directions. +</P> + +<P> +On the fourteenth of October, our battalion was detached to reconnoitre +the village of Aaken. The enemy were in force there, and received us +with a scattering artillery fire, and we remained all night without +being able to light a fire, on account of the pouring rain. The next +day we set out to rejoin our division by forced marches. Every one +said, I know not why: +</P> + +<P> +"The battle is approaching! the fight is coming on!" +</P> + +<P> +Sergeant Pinto declared that he felt the Emperor in the air. I felt +nothing, but I knew that we were marching on Leipzig, and I thought to +myself, "If we have a battle, God grant that you do not get an ugly +hurt as at Lutzen, and that you may see Catharine again!" The night +following the weather cleared up a little, thousands of stars shone +out, and we still kept on. The next day, about ten o'clock, near a +village whose name I cannot recollect, we were ordered to halt, and +then we felt a trembling in the air. The colonel and Sergeant Pinto +said: +</P> + +<P> +"The battle has begun!" and at the same moment, the colonel, waving his +sword, cried: "Forward!" +</P> + +<P> +We started at a run; knapsacks, cartouche-boxes, muskets, mud, all +drove on; we cared for nothing. Half an hour after we saw, a few +thousand paces ahead, a long column, in which followed artillery, +cavalry, and infantry, one after the other; behind us, on the road to +Duben, we saw another, all pushing forward at their utmost speed. +Regiments even advancing at the double quick across the fields. +</P> + +<P> +At the end of the road we could see the two spires of the churches of +Saint Nicholas and Saint Thomas in Leipzig, piercing the sky, while to +the right and left, on both sides of the city, rose great clouds of +smoke through which broad flashes were darting. The noise increased; +we were yet more than a league from the city, but we were forced to +almost shout to hear each other, and men gazed around, pale as death, +seeming by their looks to say: +</P> + +<P> +"This is indeed a battle?" +</P> + +<P> +Sergeant Pinto cried that it was worse than Eylau. He laughed no more, +nor did Zébédé; but on, on we rushed, officers incessantly urging us +forward. We seemed to grow delirious; the love of country was indeed +striving within us, but still greater was the furious eagerness for the +fight. +</P> + +<P> +At eleven o'clock we descried the battle-field about a league in front +of Leipzig. We saw the steeples and roofs crowded with people, and the +old ramparts on which I had walked so often, thinking of Catharine. +Opposite us, twelve or fifteen hundred yards distant, two regiments of +red lancers were drawn up, and a little to the left, two or three +regiments of mounted chasseurs in the fields along the Partha, and +between them filed the long column from Duben. Farther on, along the +slope, were the divisions Ricard, Dombrowski, Souham, and several +others, with their rear to the city; cannons limbered, with their +caissons—the cannoneers and artillerymen on horseback—stood ready to +start off; and far behind, on a hill, around one of those old +farmhouses with flat roofs and immense outlying sheds, so often seen in +that country, glittered the brilliant uniforms of the staff. +</P> + +<P> +It was the army of reserve, commanded by Ney. His left wing +communicated with Marmont, who was posted on the road to Halle, and his +right with the grand army, commanded by the Emperor in person. In this +manner our troops formed an immense circle around Leipzig; and the +enemy, arriving from all points, sought to join their divisions so as +to form a yet larger circle around us, and to inclose us in Leipzig as +in a trap. +</P> + +<P> +While we waited thus, three fearful battles were going on at once: one +against the Austrians and Russians at Wachau; another against the +Prussians at Mockern on the road to Halle; and the third on the road to +Lutzen, to defend the bridge of Lindenau, attacked by General Giulay. +</P> + +<P> +These things I learned afterward; but every one ought to tell what he +saw himself: in this way the world will know the truth. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap18"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XVIII +</H3> + +<P> +The battalion was commencing to descend the hill, opposite Leipzig, to +rejoin our division, when we saw a staff-officer crossing the plain +below, and coming at full gallop toward us. In two minutes he was with +us; Colonel Lorain had spurred forward to meet him; they exchanged a +few words, and the officer returned. Hundreds of others were rushing +over the plain in the same manner, bearing orders. +</P> + +<P> +"Head of column to the right!" shouted the colonel. +</P> + +<P> +We took the direction of a wood, which skirts the Duben road some half +a league. It was a beech forest, but in it were birches and oaks. +Once at its borders, we were ordered to re-prime our guns, and the +battalion was deployed through the wood as skirmishers. We advanced +twenty-five paces apart, and each of us kept his eyes well opened, as +may be imagined. Every minute Sergeant Pinto would cry out: +</P> + +<P> +"Get under cover!" +</P> + +<P> +But he did not need to warn us: each one hastened to take his post +behind a stout tree, to reconnoitre well before proceeding to another. +To what dangers must peaceable people be exposed! We kept on in this +manner some ten minutes, and, as we saw nothing, began to grow +confident, when suddenly, one, two, three shots rang out. Then they +came from all sides, and rattled from end to end of our line. At the +same instant I saw my comrade on the left fall, trying, as he sank to +the earth, to support himself by the trunk of the tree behind which he +was standing. This roused me. I looked to the right and saw, fifty or +sixty paces off, an old Prussian soldier, with his long red mustaches +covering the lock of his piece; he was aiming deliberately at me. I +fell at once to the ground, and at the same moment heard the report. +It was a close escape, for the comb, brush, and handkerchief in my +shako were broken and torn by the bullet. A cold shiver ran through me. +</P> + +<P> +"Well done! a miss is as good as a mile!" cried the old sergeant, +starting forward at a run, and I, who had no wish to remain longer in +such a place, followed with right good-will. +</P> + +<P> +Lieutenant Bretonville, waving his sabre, cried, "Forward!" while, to +the right, the firing still continued. We soon arrived at a clearing, +where lay five or six trunks of felled trees, and a little lake full of +high grass, but not a tree standing, that might serve us for a cover. +Nevertheless, five or six of our men advanced boldly, when the sergeant +called out: +</P> + +<P> +"Halt! The Prussians are in ambush around us. Look sharp!" +</P> + +<P> +Scarcely had he spoken, when a dozen bullets whistled through the +branches, and at the same time, a number of Prussians rose, and plunged +deeper into the forest opposite. +</P> + +<P> +"There they go! Forward!" cried Pinto. +</P> + +<P> +But the bullet in my shako had rendered me cautious; it seemed as if I +could almost see through the trees, and, as the sergeant started forth +into the clearing, I held his arm, pointing out to him the muzzle of a +musket peeping out from a bush, not a hundred paces before us. The +others, clustering around, saw it too, and Pinto whispered: +</P> + +<P> +"Stay, Bertha; remain here and do not lose sight of him, while we turn +the position." +</P> + +<P> +They set off, to the right and left, and I, behind my tree, my piece at +my shoulder, waited like a hunter for his game. At the end of two or +three minutes, the Prussian, hearing nothing, rose slowly. He was +quite a boy, with little blonde mustaches, and a tall, slight, but +well-knit figure. I could have killed him as he stood, but the thought +of thus slaying a defenceless man froze my blood. Suddenly he saw me, +and bounded aside. Then I fired, and breathed more freely as I saw him +running, like a stag, toward the wood. +</P> + +<P> +At the same moment, five or six reports rang out to the right and left; +the sergeant Zébédé, Klipfel, and the rest appeared, and a hundred +paces farther on we found the young Prussian upon the ground blood +gushing from his mouth. He gazed at us with a scared expression, +raising his arms, as if to parry bayonet-thrusts, but the sergeant +called gleefully to him: +</P> + +<P> +"Fear nothing! Your account is settled." +</P> + +<P> +No one offered to injure him further; but Klipfel took a beautiful +pipe, which was hanging out of his pocket, saying: +</P> + +<P> +"For a long time I have wanted a pipe, and here is a fine one." +</P> + +<P> +"Fusileer Klipfel!" cried Pinto, indignantly, "will you be good enough +to put back that pipe? Leave it to the Cossacks to rob the wounded! A +French soldier knows only honor!" +</P> + +<P> +Klipfel threw down the pipe and we departed, not one caring to look +back at the wounded Prussian. We arrived at the edge of the forest, +outside which, among tufted bushes, the Prussians we pursued had taken +refuge. We saw them rise to fire upon us, but they immediately lay +down again. We might have remained there tranquilly, since we had +orders to occupy the wood, and the shots of the Prussians could not +hurt us, protected as we were by the trees. On the other side of the +slope we heard a terrific battle going on; the thunder of cannon was +increasing, it filled the air with one continuous roar. But our +officers held a council, and decided that the bushes were a part of the +forest, and that the Prussians must be driven from them. This +determination cost many a life. +</P> + +<P> +We received orders, then, to drive the enemy's tirailleurs, and as they +fired as we came on, we started at a run, so as to be upon them before +they could reload. Our officers ran, also full of ardor. We thought +the bushes ended at the top of the hill, and that we could sweep off +the Prussians by dozens. But scarcely had we arrived, out of breath, +upon the ridge, when old Pinto cried: +</P> + +<P> +"Hussars!" +</P> + +<P> +I looked up, and saw the <I>Colbacks</I> rushing down upon us like a +tempest. Scarcely had I seen them, when I began to spring down the +hill, going, I verily believe, in spite of weariness and my knapsack, +fifteen feet at a bound. I saw before me, Pinto, Zébédé, and the +others, making their best speed. Behind, on came the hussars, their +officers shouting orders in German, their scabbards clanking and horses +neighing. The earth shook beneath them. +</P> + +<P> +I took the shortest road to the wood, and had almost reached it, when I +came upon one of the trenches where the peasants were in the habit of +digging clay for their houses. It was more than twenty feet wide, and +forty or fifty long, and the rain had made the sides very slippery; but +as I heard the very breathing of the horses behind me, while my hair +rose on my head, without thinking of aught else, I sprang forward, and +fell upon my face: another fusileer of my company was already there. +We rose as soon as we could, and at the same instant two hussars glided +down the slippery side of the trench. The first, cursing like a fiend, +aimed a sabre-stroke at my poor comrade's head, but as he rose in his +stirrups to give force to the blow I buried my bayonet in his side, +while the other brought down his blade upon my shoulder with such +force, that, were it not for my epaulette, I believe that I had been +wellnigh cloven in two. Then he lunged, but as the point of his sabre +touched my breast, a bullet from above crashed through his skull. I +looked around, and saw one of our men, up to his knees in the clay. He +had heard the oaths of the hussars and the neighing of the horses, and +had come to the edge of the trench to see what was going on. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, comrade," said he, laughing, "it was about time." +</P> + +<P> +I had not strength to reply, but stood trembling like an aspen leaf. +He unfixed his bayonet, and stretched the muzzle of his piece to me to +help me out. Then I squeezed his hand, saying: +</P> + +<P> +"You saved my life! What is your name?" +</P> + +<P> +He told me that his name was Jean Pierre Vincent. I have often since +thought that I should be only too happy to render that man any service +in my power; but two days after, the second battle of Leipzig took +place; then the retreat from Hanau began, and I never saw him again. +</P> + +<P> +Sergeant Pinto and Zébédé came up a moment after. Zébédé said: +</P> + +<P> +"We have escaped once more, Joseph, and now we are the only Phalsbourg +men in the battalion. Klipfel was sabred by the hussars." +</P> + +<P> +"Did you see him?" I cried. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes; he received over twenty wounds, and kept calling to me for aid." +Then, after a moment's pause, he added, "O Joseph! it is terrible to +hear the companion of your childhood calling for help, and not be able +to give it! But they were too many. They surrounded him on all sides." +</P> + +<P> +The thoughts of home rushed upon both our minds. I thought I could see +grandmother Klipfel when she would learn the news, and this made me +think too of Catharine. +</P> + +<P> +From the time of the charge of the hussars until night, the battalion +remained in the same position, skirmishing with the Prussians. We kept +them from occupying the wood; but they prevented us from ascending to +the ridge. The next day we knew why. The hill commanded the entire +course of the Partha, and the fierce cannonade we heard came from +Dombrowski's division, which was attacking the Prussian left wing, in +order to aid General Marmont at Mockern, where twenty thousand French, +posted in a ravine, were holding eighty thousand of Blücher's troops in +check; while toward Wachau a hundred and fifteen thousand French were +engaged with two hundred thousand Austrians and Russians. More than +fifteen hundred cannon were thundering at once. Our poor little +fusillade was like the humming of a bee in a storm, and we sometimes +ceased firing, on both sides, to listen. It seemed as if some +supernatural, infernal battle were going on; the air was filled with +smoke; the earth trembled beneath our feet: our soldiers like Pinto +declared they had never seen anything like it. +</P> + +<P> +About six o'clock, a staff-officer brought orders to Colonel Lorain, +and immediately after a retreat was sounded. The battalion had lost +sixty men by the charge of Russian hussars and the musketry. +</P> + +<P> +It was night when we left the forest, and on the banks of the +Partha—among caissons, wagons, retreating divisions, ambulances filled +with wounded, all defiling over the two bridges—we had to wait more +than two hours for our turn to cross. The heavens were black; the +artillery still growled afar off, but the three battles were ended. We +heard that we had beaten the Austrians and the Russians at Wachau, on +the other side of Leipzig; but our men returning from Mockern were +downcast and gloomy; not a voice cried <I>Vive l'Empereur!</I> as after a +victory. +</P> + +<P> +Once on the other side of the river, the battalion proceeded down the +Partha a good half-league, as far as the village of Schoenfeld; the +night was damp; we marched along heavily, our muskets on our shoulders, +our heads bent down, and our eyes closing for want of sleep. +</P> + +<P> +Behind us the great column of cannon, caissons, baggage-wagons and +troops retreating from Mockern filled the air with a hoarse murmur, and +from time to time the cries of the artillerymen and teamsters, shouting +to make room, arose above the tumult. But these noises insensibly grew +less, and we at length reached a burial-ground, where we were ordered +to stack arms and break ranks. +</P> + +<P> +By this time the sky had cleared, and I recognized Schoenfeld in the +moonlight. How often had I eaten bread and drank white wine with +Zimmer there at the Golden Sheaf, when the sun shone brightly and the +leaves were green around! But those times had passed! +</P> + +<P> +Sentries were posted, and a few men went to the village for wood and +provisions. I sat against the cemetery wall, and at length fell +asleep. About three o'clock in the morning, I was awoke. +</P> + +<P> +It was Zébédé. "Joseph," said he, "come to the fire. If you remain +here, you run the risk of catching the fever." +</P> + +<P> +I arose, sick with fatigue and suffering. A fine rain filled the air. +My comrade drew me toward the fire, which smoked in the drizzling +atmosphere; it seemed to give out no heat; but Zébédé having made me +drink a draught of brandy I felt at least less cold, and gazed at the +bivouac fires on the other side of the Partha. +</P> + +<P> +"The Prussians are warming themselves in our wood," said Zébédé. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," I replied; "and poor Klipfel is there too, but he no longer +feels the cold." +</P> + +<P> +My teeth chattered. These words saddened us both. A few moments after +Zébédé resumed: +</P> + +<P> +"Do you remember, Joseph, the black ribbon he wore the day of the +conscription, and how he cried, 'we are all condemned to death, like +those gone to Russia? I want a black ribbon. We must wear our own +mourning!' And his little brother said: 'No, no, Jacob, I do not want +it!' and wept! but Klipfel put on the black ribbon notwithstanding; he +saw the hussars in his dreams." +</P> + +<P> +As Zébédé spoke, I recalled those things, and I saw too that wretch +Pinacle on the Town Hall Square, calling me and shaking a black ribbon +over his head: "Ha, cripple! you must have a fine ribbon; the ribbon of +those who win!" +</P> + +<P> +This remembrance, together with the cold, which seemed to freeze the +very marrow in our bones, made me shudder. I thought Pinacle was +right; that I had seen the last of home. I thought of Catharine, of +Aunt Grédel, of good Monsieur Goulden, and I cursed those who had +forced me from them. +</P> + +<P> +At daybreak, wagons arrived with food and brandy for us; the rain had +ceased; we made soup, but nothing could warm me; I had caught the +fever; within I was cold while my body burned. I was not the only one +in the battalion in that condition; three-fourths of the men were +suffering from it: and, for a month before, those who could no longer +march had lain down by the roadside weeping and calling upon their +mothers like little children. Hunger, forced marches, the rain, and +grief had done their work, and happy was it for the parents that they +could not see their cherished sons perishing along the road; it would +be too fearful; many would think there was no mercy in earth or heaven. +</P> + +<P> +As the light increased, we saw to the left, on the other side of the +river—and of a great ravine filled with willows and aspens—burnt +villages, heaps of dead, abandoned wagons, broken caissons, dismounted +cannon and ravaged fields stretched as far as the eye could reach on +the Halle, Lindenthal and Dölitch roads. It was worse than at Lutzen. +We saw the Prussians deploy, and advance their thousands over the +battle-field. They were to join with the Russians and Austrians and +close the great circle around us, and we could not prevent them, +especially as Bernadotte and the Russian General Beningsen had come up +with twenty thousand fresh troops. Thus, after fighting three battles +in one day, were we, only one hundred and thirty thousand strong, +seemingly about to be entrapped in the midst of three hundred thousand +bayonets, not to speak of fifty thousand horse and twelve hundred +cannon. +</P> + +<P> +From Schoenfeld, the battalion started to rejoin the division at +Kohlgarten. All the roads were lined with slow-moving ambulances, +filled with wounded; all the wagons of the country around had been +impressed for this service; and, in the intervals between them, marched +hundreds of poor fellows with their arms in slings, or their heads +bandaged—pale, crestfallen, half dead. All who could drag themselves +along kept out of the ambulances, but tried nevertheless to reach a +hospital. We made our way, with a thousand difficulties, through this +mass, when, near Kohlgarten, twenty hussars, galloping at full speed, +and with levelled pistols, drove back the crowd, right and left, into +the fields, shouting, as they pressed on: +</P> + +<P> +"The Emperor! the Emperor!" +</P> + +<P> +The battalion drew up, and presented arms; and a few moments after, the +mounted grenadiers of the guard—veritable giants, with their great +boots, their immense bear-skin hats, descending to their shoulders and +only allowing their mustaches, nose, and eyes to remain visible—passed +at a gallop. Our men looked joyfully at them, glad that such robust +warriors were on our side. +</P> + +<P> +Scarcely had they passed, when the staff tore after. Imagine a hundred +and fifty to two hundred marshals, generals, and other superior +officers, mounted on magnificent steeds, and so covered with embroidery +that the color of their uniforms was scarcely visible; some tall, thin, +and haughty; others short, thick-set, and red-faced; others again young +and handsome, sitting like statues in their saddles; all with eager +look and flashing eyes. It was a magnificent and terrible sight. +</P> + +<P> +But the most striking figure among those captains, who for twenty years +had made Europe tremble, was Napoleon himself, with his old hat and +gray overcoat; his large, determined chin and neck buried between his +shoulders. All shouted "<I>Vive l'Empereur!</I>" but he heard nothing of +it. He paid no more attention to us than to the drizzling rain which +filled the air, but gazed with contracted brows at the Prussian army +stretching along the Partha to join the Austrians. So I saw him on +that day and so he remains in my memory. The battalion had been on the +march for a quarter of an hour, when at length Zébédé said: +</P> + +<P> +"Did you see him, Joseph?" +</P> + +<P> +"I did," I replied; "I saw him well, and I will remember the sight all +my life." +</P> + +<P> +"It is strange," said my comrade; "he does not seem to be pleased. At +Wurschen, the day after the battle, he seemed rejoiced to hear our +'<I>Vive l'Empereur!</I>' and the generals all wore merry faces too. To-day +they seem savage, and nevertheless the captain said that we bore off +the victory on the other side of Leipzig." +</P> + +<P> +Others thought the same thing without speaking of it, but there was a +growing uneasiness among all. +</P> + +<P> +We found the regiment bivouacked near Kohlgarten. In every direction +camp-fires were rolling their smoke to the sky. A drizzling rain +continued to fall, and the men, seated on their knapsacks around the +fires, seemed depressed and gloomy. The officers formed groups of +their own. On all sides it was whispered that such a war had never +before been seen; it was one of extermination; that it did not help us +to defeat the enemy, for they only desired to kill us off, knowing that +they had four or five times our number of men, and would finally remain +masters. +</P> + +<P> +They said, too, that the Emperor had won the battle at Wachau, against +the Austrians and Russians; but that the victory was useless, because +they did not retreat, but stood awaiting masses of reinforcements. On +the side of Mockern we knew that we had lost, in spite of Marmont's +splendid defence; the enemy had crushed us beneath the weight of their +numbers. We only had one real advantage that day on our side; that was +keeping our line of retreat on Erfurt: for Giulay had not been able to +seize the bridges of the Elster and Pleisse. All the army, from the +simple soldier to the marshal, thought that we would have to retreat as +soon as possible, and that our position was of the worst; unfortunately +the Emperor thought otherwise, and we had to remain. +</P> + +<P> +All day on the seventeenth we lay in our position without firing a +shot. A few spoke of the arrival of General Regnier with sixteen +thousand Saxons; but the defection of the Bavarians taught us what +confidence we could put in our allies. +</P> + +<P> +Toward evening of the next day, we discovered the army of the north on +the plateau of Breitenfeld. This was sixty thousand more men for the +enemy. I can yet hear the maledictions levelled at Bernadotte—the +cries of indignation of those who knew him as a simple officer in the +army of the Republic, who cried out that he owed us all—that we made +him a king with our blood, and that he now came to give us the +finishing blow. +</P> + +<P> +That night, a general movement rearward was made; our lines drew closer +and closer around Leipzig; then all became quiet. But this did not +prevent our reflecting; on the contrary, every one thought, in the +silence: +</P> + +<P> +"What will to-morrow bring forth? Shall I at this hour see the moon +rising among the clouds as I now see her? Will the stars yet shine for +me to see?" +</P> + +<P> +And when, in the dim night, we gazed at the circle of fire which for +nearly six leagues stretched around us, we cried within ourselves: +</P> + +<P> +"Now indeed the world is against us; all nations demand our +extermination; they want no more of our glory!" +</P> + +<P> +But we remembered that we had the honor of bearing the name of +Frenchmen, and must conquer or die. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap19"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XIX +</H3> + +<P> +In the midst of such thoughts, day broke. Nothing was stirring yet, +and Zébédé said: +</P> + +<P> +"What a chance for us, if the enemy should fear to attack us!" +</P> + +<P> +The officers spoke of an armistice; but suddenly about nine o'clock, +our couriers came galloping in, crying that the enemy was moving his +whole line down upon us, and directly after we heard cannon on our +right, along the Elster. We were already under arms, and set out +across the fields toward the Partha to return to Schoenfeld. The +battle had begun. +</P> + +<P> +On the hills overlooking the river, two or three divisions, with +batteries in the intervals, and cannon at the flanks, awaited the +enemy's approach; beyond, over the points of their bayonets, we could +see the Prussians, the Swedes, and the Russians, advancing on all sides +in deep, never-ending masses. Shortly after, we took our place in +line, between two hills, and then we saw five or six thousand Prussians +crossing the river, and all together shouting, "<I>Vaterland! +Vaterland!</I>" This caused a tremendous tumult, like that of clouds of +rooks flying north. +</P> + +<P> +At the same instant the musketry opened from both sides of the river. +The valley through which the Partha flows was filled with smoke; the +Prussians were already upon us—we could see their furious eyes and +wild looks; they seemed like savage beasts rushing down on us. Then +but one shout of "<I>Vive l'Empereur!</I>" smote the sky and we dashed +forward. The shock was terrible; thousands of bayonets crossed; we +drove them back, were ourselves driven back; muskets were clubbed; the +opposing ranks were confounded and mingled in one mass; the fallen were +trampled upon, while the thunder of artillery, the whistling of +bullets, and the thick white smoke enclosing all, made the valley seem +the pit of hell, peopled by contending demons. Despair urged us, and +the wish to revenge our deaths before yielding up our lives. The pride +of boasting that they once defeated Napoleon incited the Prussians; for +they are the proudest of men, and their victories at Gross-Beeren and +Katzbach had made them fools. But the river swept away them and their +pride! Three times they crossed and rushed at us. We were indeed +forced back by the shock of their numbers, and how they shouted then! +They seemed to wish to devour us. Their officers, waving their swords +in the air, cried, "<I>Vorwärtz! Vorwärtz!</I>" and all advanced like a +wall, with the greatest courage—that we cannot deny. Our cannon +opened huge gaps in their lines; still they pressed on; but at the top +of the hill we charged again, and drove them to the river. We would +have massacred them to a man, were it not for one of their batteries +before Mockern, which enfiladed us and forced us to give up the pursuit. +</P> + +<P> +This lasted until two o'clock; half our officers were killed or +wounded; the colonel, Lorain, was among the first, and the commandant, +Gémeau, the latter; all along the river side were heaps of dead, or +wounded men crawling away from the struggle. Some, furious, would rise +to their knees to fire a last shot or deliver a final bayonet-thrust. +Never was anything seen like it. In the river floated long lines of +corpses, some showing their faces, others their backs, others their +feet. They followed each other like rafts of wood, and no one paid the +least attention to the sight—no one of us knew that the same might not +be his condition at any minute. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-254"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-254.jpg" ALT="In the river the dead were floating by in files." BORDER="2" WIDTH="478" HEIGHT="696"> +<H4 CLASS="h4center" STYLE="width: 478px"> +In the river the dead were floating by in files. +</H4> +</CENTER> + +<P> +The carnage reached from Schoenfeld to Grossdorf, along the Partha. +</P> + +<P> +At length the Swedes and Prussians ceased their attacks, and started +farther up the river to turn our position, and masses of Russians came +to occupy the places they had left. +</P> + +<P> +The Russians formed in two columns, and descended to the valley, with +shouldered arms, in admirable order. Twice they assailed us with the +greatest bravery, but without uttering wild beasts' cries, like the +Prussians. Their cavalry attempted to carry the old bridge above +Schoenfeld, and the cannonade increased. On all sides, as far as eye +could reach, we saw only the enemy massing their forces, and when we +had repulsed one of their columns, another of fresh men took its place. +The fight had ever to be fought over again. +</P> + +<P> +Between two and three o'clock, we learned that the Swedes and the +Prussian cavalry had crossed the river above Grossdorf, and were about +to take us in the rear, a mode which pleased them much better than +fighting face to face. Marshal Ney immediately changed front, throwing +his right wing to the rear. Our division still remained supported on +Schoenfeld, but all the others retired from the Partha, to stretch +along the plain, and the entire army formed but one line around Leipzig. +</P> + +<P> +The Russians, behind the road to Mockern, prepared for a third attack +toward three o'clock; our officers were making new dispositions to +receive them; when a sort of shudder ran from one end of our lines to +the other, and in a few moments all knew that the sixteen thousand +Saxons and the Wurtemberg cavalry, in our very centre, had passed over +to the enemy, and that on their way they had the infamy to turn the +forty guns they carried with them, on their old brothers-in-arms of +Durutte's division. +</P> + +<P> +This treason, instead of discouraging us, so added to our fury, that if +we had been allowed, we would have crossed the river to massacre them. +They say that they were defending their country. It is false! They +had only to have left us on the Duben road; why did they not go then? +They might have done like the Bavarians and quitted us before the +battle; they might have remained neutral—might have refused to serve; +but they deserted us only because fortune was against us. If they knew +we were going to win, they would have continued our very good friends, +so that they might have their share of the spoil or glory—as after +Jena and Friedland. This is what every one thought, and it is why +those Saxons are, and will ever remain, traitors: not only did they +abandon their friends in distress, but they murdered them, to make a +welcome with the enemy. God is just. And so great was their new +allies' scorn of them, that they divided half Saxony between themselves +after the battle. The French might well laugh at Prussian, Austrian, +and Russian gratitude. +</P> + +<P> +From the time of this desertion until evening, it was a war of +vengeance that we carried on; the allies might crush us by numbers, but +they should pay dearly for their victory! +</P> + +<P> +At nightfall, while two thousand pieces of artillery were thundering +together, we were attacked for the seventh time in Schoenfeld. The +Russians on one side and the Prussians on the other poured in upon us. +We defended every house. In every lane the walls crumbled beneath the +bullets, and roofs fell in on every side. There were now no shouts as +at the beginning of the battle; all were cool and pale with rage. The +officers had collected scattered muskets and cartridge-boxes, and now +loaded and fired like the men. We defended the gardens, too, and the +cemetery, where we had bivouacked, until there were more dead above +than beneath the soil. Every inch of earth cost a life. +</P> + +<P> +It was night when Marshal Ney brought up a reinforcement—whence I knew +not. It was what remained of Ricard's division and Souham's Second. +The <I>débris</I> of our regiments united, and hurled the Russians to the +other side of the old bridge, which no longer had a rail, that having +been swept away by the shot. Six twelve-pounders were posted on the +bridge and maintained a fire for one hour longer. The remainder of the +battalion, and of some others in our rear, supported the guns; and I +remember how their flashes lit up the forms of men and horses, heaped +beneath the dark arches. The sight lasted only a moment, but it was a +horrible moment indeed! +</P> + +<P> +At half-past seven, masses of cavalry advanced on our left, and we saw +them whirling about two large squares, which slowly retired. Then we +received orders to retreat. Not more than two or three thousand men +remained at Schoenfeld with the six pieces of artillery. We reached +Kohlgarten without being pursued, and were to bivouac around Rendnitz. +Zébédé was yet living, and, as we marched on, listening to the +cannonade, which continued, despite the darkness, along the Elster, he +said, suddenly: +</P> + +<P> +"How is it that we are here, Joseph, when so many thousand others that +stood by our side are dead? It seems as if we bore charmed lives, and +could not die." +</P> + +<P> +I made no reply. +</P> + +<P> +"Think you there was ever before such a battle?" he asked. "No, it +cannot be. It is impossible." +</P> + +<P> +It was indeed a battle of giants. From ten in the morning until seven +in the evening, we had held our own against three hundred and sixty +thousand men, without, at night, having lost an inch: and, +nevertheless, we were but a hundred and thirty thousand. God keep me +from speaking ill of the Germans. They were fighting for the +independence of their country. But they might do better than celebrate +the anniversary of the battle of Leipzig every year. There is not much +to boast of in fighting an enemy three to one. +</P> + +<P> +Approaching Rendnitz, we marched over heaps of dead. At every step we +encountered dismounted cannon, broken caissons, and trees cut down by +shot. There a division of the Young Guard and the mounted grenadiers, +led by Napoleon himself, had repulsed the Swedes who were advancing +into the breach made by the treachery of the Saxons. Two or three +burning houses lit up the scene. The mounted grenadiers were yet at +Rendnitz, but crowds of disbanded troops were passing up and down the +street. No rations had been distributed, and all were seeking +something to eat and drink. +</P> + +<P> +As we defiled by a large house, we saw behind the wall of a court two +<I>cantinières</I>, who were giving the soldiers drink from their wagons. +There were there chasseurs, cuirassiers, lancers, hussars, infantry of +the line and of the guard, all mingled together, with torn uniforms, +broken shakos, and plumeless helmets, and all seemingly famished. +</P> + +<P> +Two or three dragoons stood on the wall near a pot of burning pitch, +their arms crossed on their long white cloaks, covered from head to +foot with blood, like butchers. +</P> + +<P> +Zébédé, without speaking, pushed me with his elbow, and we entered the +court, while the others pursued their way. It took us full a quarter +of an hour to reach one of the wagons. I held up a crown of six +livres, and the <I>cantinière</I>, kneeling behind her cask, handed me a +large glass of brandy and a piece of white bread, at the same time +taking my money. I drank and passed the glass to Zébédé, who emptied +it. We had as much difficulty in getting out of the crowd as in +entering. Hard, famished faces and cavernous eyes were on all sides of +us. No one moved willingly. Each thought only of himself, and cared +not for his neighbor. They had escaped a thousand deaths to-day only +to dare a thousand more to-morrow. Well might they mutter, "Every one +for himself, and God for us all." +</P> + +<P> +As we went through the village street, Zébédé said, "You have bread?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." +</P> + +<P> +I broke it in two, and gave him half. We began to eat, at the same +time hastening on. We heard distant firing. At the end of twenty +minutes we had overtaken the rear of the column, and recognized the +battalion of Captain Adjutant-Major Vidal, who was marching near it. +We had taken our places in the ranks before any one noticed our absence. +</P> + +<P> +The nearer we approached the city the more detachments, cannon and +baggage we encountered hastening to Leipzig. +</P> + +<P> +Toward ten o'clock we passed through the faubourg of Rendnitz. The +general of brigade, Fournier, took command of us and ordered us to +oblique to the left. At midnight we arrived at the long promenades +which border the Pleisse, and halted under the old leafless lindens, +and stacked arms. A long line of fires flickered in the fog as far as +Randstadt; and, when the flames burnt high, they threw a glare on +groups of Polish lancers, lines of horses, cannon, and wagons, while, +at intervals beyond, sentinels stood like statues in the mist. A +heavy, hollow sound arose from the city, and mingled with the rolling +of our trains over the bridge at Lindenau. It was the beginning of the +retreat. +</P> + +<P> +Then every one put his knapsack at the foot of a tree and stretched +himself on the ground, his arm under his head. A quarter of an hour +after all were sleeping. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap20"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XX +</H3> + +<P> +What occurred until daybreak I know not. Baggage, wounded, and +prisoners doubtless continued to crowd across the bridge. But then a +terrific shock woke us all. We started up, thinking the enemy were +upon us, when two officers of hussars came galloping in with the news +that a powder wagon had exploded by accident in the grand avenue of +Randstadt, at the river-side. The dark, red smoke rolled up to the +sky, and slowly disappeared, while the old houses continued to shake as +if an earthquake were rolling by. +</P> + +<P> +Quiet was soon restored. Some lay down to sleep: but it was growing +lighter every minute; and, glancing toward the river, I saw our troops +extending until lost in the distance along the five bridges of the +Elster and Pleisse, which follow, one after another, and make, so to +speak, but one. Thousands of men must defile over this bridge, and, of +necessity, take time in doing so. And the idea struck every one that +it would have been much better to have thrown several bridges across +the two rivers; for at any instant the enemy might attack us, and then +retreat would have become difficult indeed. But the Emperor had +forgotten to give the order, and no one dared do anything without +orders. Not a marshal of France would have dared to take it upon +himself to say that two bridges were better than one. To such a point +had the terrible discipline of Napoleon reduced those old captains! +They obeyed like machines, and disturbed themselves about nothing. +Such was their fear of displeasing their master. +</P> + +<P> +As I gazed at that bridge, which seemed endless, I thought, "Heaven +grant that they may let us cross now, for we have had enough of battles +and carnage! Once on the other side and we are on the road to France, +indeed, and I may again see Catharine, Aunt Grédel, and Father +Goulden!" So thinking, I grew sad; I gazed at the thousands of +artillerymen and baggage-guards swarming over the bridge, and saw the +tall bear-skin shakos of the Old Guard, who stood with shouldered arms +immovable on the hill of Lindenau on the other side of the river—and +as I thought they were fairly on their way to France, how I longed to +be in their place! Zébédé, through whose mind the same thoughts were +running, said: +</P> + +<P> +"Hey! Joseph; if we were only there!" +</P> + +<P> +But I felt bitterly, indeed, when, about seven o'clock, three wagons +came to distribute provisions and ammunition among us, and it became +evident that we were to become the rear-guard. In spite of my hunger, +I felt like throwing my bread against a wall. A few moments after, two +squadrons of Polish lancers appeared coming up the bank, and behind +them five or six generals, Poniatowski among the number. He was a man +of about fifty, tall, slight, and with a melancholy expression. He +passed without looking at us. General Fournier, who now commanded our +brigade, spurred from among his staff, and cried: +</P> + +<P> +"By file, left!" +</P> + +<P> +I never so felt my heart sink. I would have sold my life for two +farthings; but nevertheless, we had to move on, and turn our backs to +the bridge. +</P> + +<P> +We soon arrived at a place called Hinterthor—an old gate on the road +to Caunewitz. To the right and left stretched ancient ramparts, and +behind, rows of houses. We were posted in covered roads, near this +gate, which the sappers had strongly barricaded. Captain Vidal then +commanded the battalion, reduced to three hundred and twenty-five men. +A few worm-eaten palisades served us for intrenchments, and, on all the +roads before us, the enemy were advancing. This time they wore white +coats and flat caps, with a raised piece in front, on which we could +see the two-headed eagle of the <I>kreutzers</I>. Old Pinto, who recognized +them at once, cried: +</P> + +<P> +"Those fellows are the <I>kaiserliks</I>! We have beaten them fifty times +since 1793; but if the father of Marie Louise had a heart, they would +be with us now instead of against us." +</P> + +<P> +For some moments a cannonade had been going on at the other side of the +city, where Blücher was attacking the faubourg of Halle. +</P> + +<P> +Soon after, the firing stretched along to the right; it was Bernadotte +attacking the faubourg of Kohlgartenthor, and at the same time the +first shells of the Austrians fell in our covered ways; they followed +in file; many passing over Hinterthor, burst in the houses and the +streets of the faubourg. +</P> + +<P> +At nine o'clock the Austrians formed their columns of attack on the +Caunewitz road, and poured down on us from all sides. Nevertheless we +held our own until about ten o'clock, and then were forced back to the +old ramparts, through the breaches of which the Kaiserliks pursued us +under the cross-fire of the Fourteenth and Twenty-ninth of the line. +The poor Austrians were not inspired with the fury of the Prussians, +but nevertheless, showed a true courage; for, at half-past ten they had +won the ramparts, and although, from all the neighboring windows, we +kept up a deadly fire, we could not force them back. Six months before +it would have horrified me to think of men being thus slaughtered, but +now I was as insensible as any old soldier, and the death of one man or +of a hundred would not cost me a thought. +</P> + +<P> +Until this time all had gone well, but how were we to get out of the +houses? Unless we climbed on the roof, retreat was no longer possible. +This again was one of those terrible moments I shall never forget. All +at once the idea struck me that we should be caught like foxes which +they smoke in their holes. The enemy held every avenue. I went to a +window in the rear, and saw that it looked out on a yard, and that the +yard had no gate except in front. I thought it not unlikely that the +Austrians, in revenge for the loss we had inflicted upon them, might +put us to the point of the bayonet. It would have been natural enough. +Thinking thus, I ran back to a room, where a dozen of us yet remained, +and there I saw Sergeant Pinto leaning against the wall, his arms +hanging by his sides, and his face as white as paper. He had just +received a bullet in the breast, but the old man's warrior soul was +still strong within him, as he cried: +</P> + +<P> +"Defend yourselves, conscripts! Defend yourselves! Show the +Kaiserliks that a French soldier is yet worth four of them! ah the +villains!" +</P> + +<P> +We heard the sound of blows on the door below thundering like +cannon-shot. We still kept up our fire, but hopelessly, when we heard +the clatter of hoofs without. The firing ceased, and we saw through +the smoke four squadrons of lancers dashing like a troop of lions +through the midst of the Austrians. All yielded before them. The +Kaiserliks fled, but the long, blue lances, with their red pennons, +were swifter than they, and many a white coat was pierced from behind. +The lancers were Poles—the most terrible warriors I have ever seen, +and, to speak truth, our friends, and our brothers. They never turned +from us in our hour of need; they gave us the last drop of their blood. +And what have we done for their unhappy country? When I think of our +ingratitude, my heart bleeds. The Poles rescued us. Seeing them so +proud and brave, we rushed out, attacking the Austrians with the +bayonet, and driving them into the trenches. We were for the time +victorious, but it was time to beat a retreat, for the enemy were +already filling Leipzig; the gates of Halle and Grimma were forced, and +that of Peters-Thau delivered up by our friends the Badeners and our +other friends the Saxons. Soldiers, citizens, and students kept up a +fire from the windows, on our retiring troops. +</P> + +<P> +We had only time to re-form and take the road along the Pleisse; the +lancers awaited us there: we defiled behind them, and, as the Austrians +again pressed around us, they charged once more to drive them back. +What brave fellows and magnificent horsemen were those Poles! How +those who saw them charge—in such a moment—must admire them! +</P> + +<P> +The division, reduced from fifteen to eight thousand men, retired step +by step before fifty thousand foes, and not without often turning and +replying to the Austrian fire. +</P> + +<P> +We neared the bridge—with what joy, I need not say. But it was no +easy task to reach it, for infantry and horse crowded the whole width +of the avenue, and continued to come from all the neighboring roads, +until the crowd formed an impenetrable mass, which advanced slowly, +with groans and smothered cries, which might be heard at a distance of +half a mile, despite the rattling of musketry. Woe to those upon the +sides of the bridge! they were forced into the water and no one +stretched a hand to save them. In the middle, men and even horses were +carried along with the crowd; they had no need of making any exertion +of their own. But how were we to get there? The enemy were advancing +nearer and nearer every moment. It is true we had stationed a few +cannon so as to sweep the principal approaches, and some troops yet +remained in line to repulse their attacks, but they had guns to sweep +the bridge, and those who remained behind must receive their whole +fire. This accounted for the press on the bridge. +</P> + +<P> +At two or three hundred paces from the bridge, the idea of rushing +forward and throwing myself into the midst of the crowd, entered my +mind; but Captain Vidal, Lieutenant Bretonville, and other old officers +said: +</P> + +<P> +"Shoot down the first man that leaves the ranks!" +</P> + +<P> +It was horrible to be so near safety, and yet unable to escape. +</P> + +<P> +This was between eleven and twelve o'clock. The fusillade grew nearer +on the right and left, and a few bullets began to whistle over our +heads. From the side of Halle we saw the Prussians rush pellmell out +with our own soldiers. Terrible cries now arose from the bridge. +Cavalry, to make way for themselves, sabred the infantry, who replied +with the bayonet. It was a general <I>sauve qui peut</I>. At every +movement of the crowd, some one fell from the bridge, and, trying to +regain his place, dragged five or six with him into the water. +</P> + +<P> +In the midst of this horrible confusion, this pandemonium of shouts, +cries, groans, musket-shots, and sabre-strokes, a crash like a peal of +thunder was heard, and the first arch of the bridge rose upward into +the air with all upon it. +</P> + +<P> +Hundreds of wretches were torn to pieces, and hundreds of others were +crushed beneath the falling ruins. +</P> + +<P> +A sapper had blown up the arch! +</P> + +<P> +At this sight, the cry of treason rang from mouth to mouth. "We are +lost—betrayed!" was now the cry on all sides. The tumult was fearful. +Some, in the rage of despair, turned upon the enemy like wild beasts at +bay, thinking only of vengeance; others broke their arms, cursing +heaven and earth for their misfortunes. Mounted officers and generals +dashed into the river to cross it by swimming, and many soldiers +followed them without taking time to throw off their knapsacks. The +thought that the last hope of safety was gone, and nothing now remained +but to be massacred, made men mad. I had seen the Partha choked with +dead bodies the day before, but this scene was a thousand times more +horrible; drowning wretches dragging down those who happened to be near +them; shrieks and yells of rage, or for help; a broad river concealed +by a mass of heads and struggling arms. +</P> + +<P> +Captain Vidal, who, by his coolness and steady eye, had hitherto kept +us to our duty, even Captain Vidal now appeared discouraged. He thrust +his sabre into the scabbard, and cried, with a strange laugh: +</P> + +<P> +"The game is up! Let us be gone!" +</P> + +<P> +I touched his arm; he looked sadly and kindly at me. +</P> + +<P> +"What do you wish, my child?" he asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Captain," said I, "I was four months in the hospital at Leipzig: I +have bathed in the Elster, and I know a ford." +</P> + +<P> +"Where?" +</P> + +<P> +"Ten minutes' march above the bridge." +</P> + +<P> +He drew his sabre at once from its sheath, and shouted: +</P> + +<P> +"Follow me, my boys, and you, Bertha, lead." +</P> + +<P> +The entire battalion, which did not now number more than two hundred +men, followed; a hundred others, who saw us start confidently forward, +joined us without knowing where we were going. The Austrians were +already on the terrace of the avenue; farther down, gardens, separated +by hedges, stretched to the Elster. I recognized the road which Zimmer +and I had traversed so often in July, when the ground was covered with +flowers. The enemy fired on us, but we did not reply. I entered the +water first; Captain Vidal next, then the others, two abreast. It +reached our shoulders, for the river was swollen by the autumn rains; +but we crossed, notwithstanding, without the loss of a man. Nearly all +of us had our muskets when we reached the other bank, and we pressed +onward across the fields, and soon reached the little wooden bridge at +Schleissig, and thence turned to Lindenau. +</P> + +<P> +We marched silently, turning from time to time to gaze on the other +side of the Elster, where the battle still raged in the streets of +Leipzig. The furious shouts, and the deep boom of cannon still reached +our ears; and it was only when, about two o'clock, we overtook the long +column which stretched, till lost in the distance, on the road to +Erfurt, that the sounds of conflict were lost in the roll of wagons and +artillery trains. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap21"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XXI +</H3> + +<P> +Hitherto I have described the grandeur of war—battles glorious to +France, notwithstanding our mistakes and misfortunes. When we were +fighting all Europe alone, always one against two, and often one to +three; when we finally succumbed, not through the courage of our foes, +but borne down by treason, and the weight of numbers, we had no reason +to blush for our defeat, and the victors have little reason to exult in +it. It is not numbers that makes the glory of a people or an army—it +is virtue and bravery. This is what I think in all sincerity, and I +believe that right feeling, sensible men in every country will think +the same. +</P> + +<P> +But now I must relate the horrors of retreat, and this is the hardest +part of my task. It is said that confidence gives strength, and this +is especially true of the French. While they advanced in full hope of +victory, they were united; the will of their chiefs was their only law; +they knew that they could succeed only by strict observance of +discipline. But when driven back, no one had confidence save in +himself, and commands were forgotten. Then these men—once so brave +and so proud, who marched so gayly to the fight—scattered to right and +left; sometimes fleeing alone, sometimes in groups. Then those who, a +little while before, trembled at their approach, grew bold; they came +on, first timidly, but, meeting no resistance, became insolent. Then +they would swoop down and carry off three or four laggards at a time, +as I have seen crows in winter swoop upon a fallen horse, which they +did not dare approach while he could yet remain on his feet. +</P> + +<P> +I have seen miserable Cossacks—very beggars, with nothing but old rags +hanging around them; an old cap of tattered skin over their ears; +unshorn beards, covered with vermin; mounted on old worn-out horses, +without saddles, and with only a piece of rope by way of stirrups, an +old rusty pistol all their fire-arms, and a nail at the end of a pole +for a lance; I have seen those wretches, who resembled sallow and +decrepit Jews more than soldiers, stop ten, fifteen, twenty of our men, +and lead them off like sheep. +</P> + +<P> +And the tall, lank peasants, who, a few months before, trembled if we +only looked at them—I have seen them arrogantly repulse old +soldiers—cuirassiers, artillerymen, dragoons who had fought through +the Spanish war, men who could have crushed them with a blow of their +fist; I have seen these peasants insist that they had no bread to sell, +while the odor of the oven arose on all sides of us; that they had no +wine, no beer, when we heard glasses clinking to right and left. And +no one dared punish them; no one dared take what he wanted from the +wretches who laughed to see us in such straits, for each one was +retreating on his own account; we had no leaders, no discipline, and +they could easily out-number us. +</P> + +<P> +And to hunger, misery, weariness, and fever, the horrors of an +approaching winter were added. The rain never ceased falling from the +gray sky, and the winds pierced us to the bones. How could poor +beardless conscripts, mere shadows, fleshless and worn out, endure all +this? They perished by thousands; their bodies covered the roads. The +terrible <I>typhus</I> pursued us. Some said it was a plague, engendered by +the dead not being buried deep enough; others, that it was the +consequence of sufferings that required more than human strength to +bear. I know not how this may be, but the villages of Alsace and +Lorraine, to which we brought it, will long remember their sufferings; +of a hundred attacked by it, not more than ten or twelve, at the most, +recovered. +</P> + +<P> +At length—since I must continue this sad story—on the evening of the +nineteenth, we bivouacked at Lutzen, where our regiments re-formed as +best they might. The next day early, as we marched on Weissenfels, we +had to skirmish with the Westphalians, who followed us as far as the +village of Eglaystadt. The twenty-second we bivouacked on the glacis +at Erfurt, where we received new shoes and uniforms. Five or six +disbanded companies joined our battalion—nearly all conscripts. Our +new coats and shoes were much too large for us; but they were warm; we +felt like new men. +</P> + +<P> +We had to start again the twenty-second, and the following days passed +near Götha, Teitlobe, Eisenach and Salminster. The Cossacks +reconnoitred us from a distance. Our hussars would drive them off; but +they returned the moment pursuit was relaxed. Many of our men went +pillaging in the night, and were absent at roll-call, and the sentries +received orders to shoot all who attempted to leave their bivouacs. +</P> + +<P> +I had had the fever ever since we left Leipzig; it increased day by +day, and I became so weak that I could scarcely rise in the mornings to +follow the march. Zébédé looked sadly at me, and sometimes said: +</P> + +<P> +"Courage, Joseph! We will soon be at home!" +</P> + +<P> +These words reanimated me; I felt my face flush. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, yes!" I said; "we will soon be home; I must see home once more!" +</P> + +<P> +The tears forced themselves to my eyes. Zébédé carried knapsack when I +was tired, and continued: +</P> + +<P> +"Lean on my arm. We are getting nearer every day, now, Joseph. A few +dozen leagues are nothing." +</P> + +<P> +My heart beat more bravely, but my strength was gone. I could no +longer carry my musket; it was heavy as lead. I could not eat; my +knees trembled beneath me; still I did not despair, but kept murmuring +to myself: "This is nothing. When you see the clock-tower of +Phalsbourg your fever will leave you. You will have good air, and +Catharine will nurse you. All will yet be well!" +</P> + +<P> +Others, no worse than I, fell by the roadside, but still I toiled on; +when near Folde, we learned that fifty thousand Bavarians were posted +in the forests through which we were to pass, for the purpose of +cutting off our retreat. This was my finishing stroke, for I knew I +could no longer load, fire, or defend myself with the bayonet. I felt +that all my sufferings to get so far toward home were useless. +Nevertheless, I made an effort, when we were ordered to march, and +tried to rise. +</P> + +<P> +"Come, come, Joseph!" said Zébédé; "courage!" +</P> + +<P> +But I could not move, and lay sobbing like a child. +</P> + +<P> +"Come, stand up!" he said. +</P> + +<P> +"I cannot. O God! I cannot!" +</P> + +<P> +I clutched his arm. Tears streamed down his face. He tried to lift +me, but he was too weak; I held fast to him, crying: +</P> + +<P> +"Zébédé, do not abandon me!" +</P> + +<P> +Captain Tidal approached, and gazed sadly on me. +</P> + +<P> +"Cheer up, my lad," said he; "the ambulances will be along in half an +hour." +</P> + +<P> +But I knew what that meant, and I drew Zébédé closer to me. He +embraced me, and I whispered in his ear: +</P> + +<P> +"Kiss Catharine for me—promise! Tell her that I died thinking of her, +and bear her my last farewell!" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, yes!" he sobbed. "My poor Joseph!" +</P> + +<P> +I could cling to him no longer. He placed me on the ground, and ran +away without turning his head. The column departed, and I gazed at it +as one who sees his last hope fading from his eyes. The last of the +battalion disappeared over the ridge of a hill. I closed my eyes. An +hour passed, or perhaps a longer time, when the boom of cannon startled +me, and I saw a division of the guard pass at a quick step with +artillery and wagons. Seeing some sick in the wagons, I cried, +wistfully: +</P> + +<P> +"Take me! Take me!" +</P> + +<P> +But no one listened; still they kept on, while the thunder of artillery +grew louder and louder. More than ten thousand men, cavalry and +infantry, passed me, but I had no longer strength to call out to them. +</P> + +<P> +At last the long line ended; I saw knapsacks and shakos disappear +behind the hill, and I lay down to sleep forever, when once more I was +aroused by the rolling of five or six pieces of artillery along the +road. The cannoneers sat sabre in hand, and behind came the caissons. +I hoped no more from these than from the others, when suddenly I +perceived a tall, lean, red-bearded veteran mounted beside one of the +pieces, and bearing the cross upon his breast. It was my old friend +Zimmer, my old comrade of Leipzig. He was passing without seeing me, +when I cried, with all the strength that remained to me: +</P> + +<P> +"Christian! Christian!" +</P> + +<P> +He heard me in spite of the noise of the guns; stopped, and turned +round. +</P> + +<P> +"Christian!" I cried, "take pity on me!" +</P> + +<P> +He saw me lying at the foot of a tree, and came to me with a pale face +and staring eyes: +</P> + +<P> +"What! Is it you, my poor Joseph?" cried he, springing from his horse. +</P> + +<P> +He lifted me in his arms as if I were an infant, and shouted to the men +who were driving the last wagon: +</P> + +<P> +"Halt!" +</P> + +<A NAME="img-278"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-278.jpg" ALT=""Halt! Stop!"" BORDER="2" WIDTH="463" HEIGHT="690"> +<H4 CLASS="h4center" STYLE="width: 463px"> +"Halt! Stop!" +</H4> +</CENTER> + +<P> +Then embracing me, he placed me in it, my head upon a knapsack. I saw +too that he wrapped a great cavalry cloak around my feet, as he cried: +</P> + +<P> +"Forward! Forward! It is growing warm yonder!" +</P> + +<P> +I remember no more, but I have the faint impression of hearing the +sound of heavy guns and rattle of musketry, mingled with shouts and +commands. Branches of tall pines seemed to pass between me and the sky +through the night; but all this might have been a dream. But that day, +behind Solmunster, in the woods of Hanau, we had a battle with the +Bavarians, and routed them. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap22"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XXII +</H3> + +<P> +On the fifteenth of January, 1814, two months and a half after the +battle of Hanau, I awoke in a good bed, and at the end of a little, +well-warmed room; and gazing at the rafters over my head, then at the +little windows, where the frost had spread its silver sheen, I +exclaimed: "It is winter!" At the same time I heard the crash of +artillery and the crackling of a fire, and turning over on my bed in a +few moments, I saw seated at its side a pale young woman, with her arms +folded, and I recognized—Catharine! I recognized, too, the room where +I had spent so many happy Sundays before going to the wars. But the +thunder of the cannon made me think I was dreaming. I gazed for a long +while at Catharine, who seemed more beautiful than ever, and the +question rose, "Where is Aunt Grédel? am I at home once more? God +grant that this be not a dream!" +</P> + +<P> +At last I took courage and called softly: +</P> + +<P> +"Catharine!" And she, turning her head cried: +</P> + +<P> +"Joseph! Do you know me?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," I replied, holding out my hand. +</P> + +<P> +She approached, trembling and sobbing, when again and again the cannon +thundered. +</P> + +<P> +"What are those shots I hear?" I cried. +</P> + +<P> +"The guns of Phalsbourg," she answered. "The city is besieged." +</P> + +<P> +"Phalsbourg besieged! The enemy in France!" +</P> + +<P> +I could speak no more. Thus had so much suffering, so many tears, so +many thousands of lives gone for nothing, ay, worse than nothing, for +the foe was at our homes. For an hour I could think of nothing else; +and now, old and gray-haired as I am, the thought fills me with +bitterness. Yes, we old men have seen the German, the Russian, the +Swede, the Spaniard, the Englishman, masters of France, garrisoning our +cities, taking whatever suited them from our fortresses, insulting our +soldiers, changing our flag, and dividing among themselves, not only +our conquests since 1804, but even those of the Republic. These were +the fruits of ten years of glory! +</P> + +<P> +But let us not speak of these things, the future will pass upon them. +They will tell us that after Lutzen and Bautzen, the enemy offered to +leave us Belgium, part of Holland, all the left bank of the Rhine as +far as Bâle, with Savoy and the kingdom of Italy; and that the Emperor +refused to accept these conditions, brilliant as they were, because he +placed the satisfaction of his own pride before the happiness of France! +</P> + +<P> +But to return to my story. For two weeks after the battle of Hanau, +thousands of wagons, filled with wounded, crowded the road from +Strasbourg to Nancy, and passed through Phalsbourg. +</P> + +<P> +They stretched in one long line through all Alsace to Lorraine. +</P> + +<P> +Not one in the sad <I>cortége</I> escaped the eyes of Aunt Grédel and +Catharine. What their thoughts were, I need not say. More than twelve +hundred wagons had passed;—I was in none of them. Thousands of +fathers and mothers sought among them for their children. How many +returned without them! +</P> + +<P> +The third day Catharine found me among a heap of other wretches, in +basket wagons from Mayence, with sunken cheeks and glaring eyes—dying +of hunger. She knew me at once, but Aunt Grédel gazed long before she +cried: +</P> + +<P> +"Yes! it is he! It is Joseph!" +</P> + +<P> +She took me home, and watched over me night and day. I wanted only +water, for which I constantly shrieked. No one in the village believed +that I would ever recover, but the happiness of breathing my native air +and of once more seeing those I loved, saved me. +</P> + +<P> +It was about six months after, on the 15th of July, 1814, that +Catharine and I were married; Monsieur Goulden, who loved us as his own +children, gave me half his business, and we lived together as happy as +birds. +</P> + +<P> +Then the wars were ended; the allies gradually returned to their homes; +the Emperor went to Elba, and King Louis XVIII. gave us a reasonable +amount of liberty. Once more the sweet days of youth returned—the +days of love, of labor, and of peace. The future was once more full of +hope—of hope that every one, by good conduct and economy, would at +some time attain a position in the world, win the esteem of good men, +and raise his family without fear of being carried off by the +conscription seven or eight years after. +</P> + +<P> +Monsieur Goulden, who was not too well satisfied at seeing the old +kings and nobility return, thought, notwithstanding, that they had +suffered enough in foreign lands to understand that they were not the +only people in the world, and to respect our rights; he thought, too, +that the Emperor Napoleon would have the good sense to remain +quiet—but he was mistaken. The Bourbons returned with their old +notions, and the Emperor only awaited the moment of vengeance. +</P> + +<P> +All this was to bring more miseries upon us, which I would willingly +relate, if this story did not seem already long enough. But here let +us rest. If people of sense tell me that I have done well in relating +my campaign of 1813—that my story may show youth the vanity of +military glory, and prove that no man can gain happiness save by peace, +liberty, and labor—then I will take up my pen once more, and give you +the story of Waterloo! +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR><BR> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Conscript, by +Émile Erckmann and Alexandre Chatrian + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CONSCRIPT *** + +***** This file should be named 31288-h.htm or 31288-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/1/2/8/31288/ + +Produced by Al Haines + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Conscript + A Story of the French war of 1813 + +Author: Emile Erckmann + Alexandre Chatrian + +Release Date: February 15, 2010 [EBook #31288] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CONSCRIPT *** + + + + +Produced by Al Haines + + + + + + + + + +[Frontispiece: War and Glory] + + + + +HISTORICAL ROMANCES OF FRANCE + + + +THE CONSCRIPT + +A STORY OF THE FRENCH WAR OF 1813 + + + +TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH OF + +ERCKMANN-CHATRIAN + + + +ILLUSTRATED + + + +CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS + +NEW YORK :::::::::::::::::::::: 1911 + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + +_War and glory_ . . . . . . . . . . _Frontispiece_ + +_The dragoon fell heavily_ + +"_Close up the ranks!_" + +_Everything gave way before him_ + +_In the river the dead were floating by in files_ + +"_Halt! Stop!_" + + + + +INTRODUCTORY NOTE + +Instead of following "Madame Therese" with stories celebrating the +victories of Napoleon and thus appealing to their compatriots' love of +glory and military illusions, MM. Erckmann-Chatrian take up next the +tragic and far more significant story of 1812-13. With "The Conscript" +begins their long, sustained, and eloquent sermon against war and +war-wagers--the exordium, so to say, of their arraignment of Napoleon +for wanton and insatiate love of conquest. "The Conscript" is +certainly one of the most impressive statements of the darker side of +the national pursuit of military glory that have ever been made. The +first part of the book is taken up with a vivid and pathetic account of +the passage of the _grande armee_ through Alsace on its way to Moscow +and the Beresina, of the anxious waiting for news of the battles that +succeeded, of the first suspicions of disaster and their overwhelming +confirmation, of the final rout and awful straggling retreat and return +of the great expedition, and its demoralized and harassed entry within +the national frontiers once more. The second and major portion +narrates the rude surprise of the continuation of warfare and the still +more fatal campaign which opened so dubiously with Lutzen and Bautzen, +and culminated so disastrously in Leipsic and the capitulation of +Paris. Poor Joseph Bertha, who tells the affecting and exciting story, +is snatched away from his betrothed and his peaceful trade by the +conscription, and his individual experiences in the campaign are as +interesting, from the point of view of romance, as their representative +nature and his shrewd and simple reflections upon them are historically +and philanthropically suggestive. Certainly, war, in the minutiae of +its reality, has never been more graphically painted than in "The +Conscript of 1813." + + + + +THE STORY OF A CONSCRIPT + + +I + +Those who have not seen the glory of the Emperor Napoleon, during the +years 1810, 1811, and 1812, can never conceive what a pitch of power +one man may reach. + +When he passed through Champagne, or Lorraine, or Alsace, people +gathering the harvest or the vintage would leave everything to run and +see him; women, children, and old men would come a distance of eight or +ten leagues to line his route, and cheer and cry, "_Vive l'Empereur! +Vive l'Empereur!_" One would think that he was a god, that mankind +owed its life to him, and that, if he died, the world would crumble and +be no more. A few old Republicans would shake their heads and mutter +over their wine that the Emperor might yet fall, but they passed for +fools. Such an event appeared contrary to nature, and no one even gave +it a thought. + +I was in my apprenticeship since 1804, with an old watchmaker, Melchior +Goulden, at Phalsbourg. As I seemed weak and was a little lame, my +mother wished me to learn an easier trade than those of our village, +for at Dagsberg there were only wood-cutters and charcoal-burners. +Monsieur Goulden liked me very much. We lived on the first story of a +large house opposite the "Red Ox" inn, and near the French gate. + +That was the place to see princes, ambassadors, and generals come and +go, some on horseback and some in carriages drawn by two or four +horses; there they passed in embroidered uniforms, with waving plumes +and decorations from every country under the sun. And in the highway +what couriers, what baggage-wagons, what powder-trains, cannon, +caissons, cavalry, and infantry did we see! Those were stirring times! + +In five or six years the innkeeper, George, had made a fortune. He had +fields, orchards, houses, and money in abundance; for all these people, +coming from Germany, Switzerland, Russia, Poland, or elsewhere, cared +little for a few handfuls of gold scattered upon their road; they were +all nobles, who took a pride in showing their prodigality. + +From morning until night, and even during the night, the "Red Ox" kept +its tables in readiness. Through the long windows on the first story +nothing was to be seen but great white table-cloths, glittering with +silver and covered with game, fish, and other rare viands, around which +the travellers sat side by side. In the yard behind, horses neighed, +postilions shouted, maid-servants laughed, coaches rattled. Ah! the +hotel of the "Red Ox" will never see such prosperous times again. + +Sometimes, too, people of the city stopped there, who in other times +were known to gather sticks in the forest or to work on the highway. +But now they were commandants, colonels, generals, and had won their +grades by fighting in every land on earth. Old Melchior, with his +black silk cap pulled over his ears, his weak eyelids, his nose pinched +between great horn spectacles, and his lips tightly pressed together, +could not sometimes avoid putting aside his magnifying-glass and punch +upon the workbench, and throwing a glance toward the inn, especially +when the cracking of the whips of the postilions, with their heavy +boots, little jackets, and perukes of twisted hemp, awoke the echoes of +the ramparts and announced a new arrival. Then he became all +attention, and from time to time would exclaim: + +"Hold! It is the son of Jacob, the slater," or of "the old scold, Mary +Ann," or of "the cooper, Frantz Sepel! He has made his way in the +world; there he is, colonel and baron of the empire into the bargain. +Why don't he stop at the house of his father, who lives yonder in the +_Rue des Capucins_?" + +But when he saw them shaking hands right and left in the street with +those who recognized them, his tone changed; he wiped his eyes with his +great spotted handkerchief, and murmured: + +"How pleased poor old Annette will be! Good! good! _He_ is not proud; +he is a man. God preserve him from cannon-balls!" + +Others passed as if ashamed to recognize their birth-place; others went +gayly to see their sisters or cousins, and everybody spoke of them. +One would imagine that all Phalsbourg wore their crosses and their +epaulettes; while the arrogant were despised even more than when they +swept the roads. + +Nearly every month _Te Deums_ were chanted, and the cannon at the +arsenal fired their salutes of twenty-one rounds for some new victory, +making one's heart flutter. During the week following every family was +uneasy; poor mothers especially waited for letters, and the first that +came all the city knew of; "such an one had received a letter from +Jacques or Claude," and all ran to see if it spoke of their Joseph or +their Jean-Baptiste. I do not speak of promotions or the official +reports of deaths; as for the first, every one knew that the killed +must be replaced; and as for the reports of deaths, parents awaited +them weeping, for they did not come immediately; sometimes indeed they +never came, and the poor father and mother hoped on, saying, "Perhaps +our boy is a prisoner. When they make peace he will return. How many +have returned whom we thought dead!" + +But they never made peace. When one war was finished, another was +begun. We always needed something, either from Russia or from Spain, +or some other country. The Emperor was never satisfied. + +Often when regiments passed through the city, with their great coats +pulled back, their knapsacks on their backs, their great gaiters +reaching to the knee, and muskets carried at will; often when they +passed covered with mud or white with dust, would Father Melchior, +after gazing upon them, ask me dreamily: + +"How many, Joseph, think you we have seen pass since 1804?" + +"I cannot say, Monsieur Goulden," I would reply, "at least four or five +hundred thousand." + +"Yes, at least!" he said, "and how many have returned?" + +Then I understood his meaning, and answered: + +"Perhaps they returned by Mayence or some other route. It cannot be +possible otherwise!" + +But he only shook his head, and said: + +"Those whom you have not seen return are dead, as hundreds and hundreds +of thousands more will die, if the good God does not take pity upon us, +for the Emperor loves only war. He has already spilt more blood to +give his brothers crowns than our great Revolution cost to win the +rights of man." + +Then we set about our work again; but the reflections of Monsieur +Goulden gave me some terrible subjects for thought. + +It was true that I was a little lame in the left leg; but how many +others with defects of body had received their orders to march +notwithstanding! + +These ideas kept running through my head, and when I thought long over +them, I grew very melancholy. They seemed terrible to me, not only +because I had no love for war, but because I was going to marry +Catharine of Quatre-Vents. We had been in some sort reared together. +Nowhere could be found a girl so fresh and laughing. She was +fair-haired, with beautiful blue eyes, rosy cheeks, and teeth as white +as milk. She was approaching eighteen; I was nineteen, and Aunt +Margredel seemed pleased to see me coming early every Sunday morning to +breakfast and dine with them. + +Catharine and I often went into the orchard behind the house; there we +bit the same apples and the same pears; we were the happiest creatures +in the world. It was I who took her to high mass and vespers; and on +holidays she never left my side, and refused to dance with the other +youths of the village. Everybody knew that we would some day be +married; but, if I should be so unfortunate as to be drawn in the +conscription, there was an end of matters. I wished that I was a +thousand times more lame; for at the time of which I speak they had +first taken the unmarried men, then the married men who had no +children, then those with one child; and I constantly asked myself, +"Are lame fellows of more consequence than fathers of families? Could +they not put me in the cavalry?" The idea made me so unhappy that I +already thought of fleeing. + +But in 1812, at the beginning of the Russian war, my fear increased. +From February until the end of May, every day we saw pass regiments +after regiments--dragoons, cuirassiers, carbineers, hussars, lancers of +all colors, artillery, caissons, ambulances, wagons, provisions, +rolling on forever, like a river which runs on and on, and of which one +can never see the end. + +I still remember that this began with soldiers driving large wagons +drawn by oxen. These oxen were in the place of horses, and were to be +used for food later on, when they should have used up their provisions. +Everybody said, "What a fine idea! When the soldiers can no longer +feed the oxen, the oxen will feed the soldiers." Unhappily those who +said this did not know that the oxen could only make seven or eight +leagues a day, and that for every eight days of marching, they must +have at least one day's rest; so that indeed, the poor animals' hoofs +were already dry and worn out, their lips drooping, their eyes standing +out of their heads, and little but skin and bone left of them. For +three weeks they kept passing in this way, all torn with thrusts of the +bayonet. Meat became cheap, for they killed many of the oxen; but few +wanted their flesh, the diseased meat being unhealthy. They never went +more than twenty leagues beyond the Rhine. + +After that, we saw more lancers, sabres, and helmets file past. All +flowed through the French gate, crossed the Place d'Armes, and streamed +out at the German gate. + +At last, on the 10th of May, in the year 1812, in the early morning, +the guns of the arsenal announced the coming of the master of all. I +was yet sleeping when the first shot shook the little panes of my +window till they rattled like a drum, and Monsieur Goulden, with a +lighted candle, opened my door, saying, "Get up, he is here!" + +We opened the window. Through the night I saw a hundred dragoons, of +whom many bore torches, enter at a gallop under the French gate; they +shook the earth as they passed; their lights glanced along the +house-fronts like dancing flames, and from every window we heard +ceaseless shouts of "_Vive l'Empereur!_" + +I was gazing at the carriage, when a horse crashed against the post to +which the butcher Klein was accustomed to fasten his cattle. The +dragoon fell heavily, his helmet rolled in the gutter, and immediately +a head leaned out of the carriage to see what had happened--a large +head, pale and fat, with a tuft of hair on the forehead: it was +Napoleon; he held his hand up as if about taking a pinch of snuff, and +said a few words roughly. The officer galloping by the side of the +coach bent down to reply; and his master took his snuff and turned the +corner, while the shouts redoubled and the cannons roared louder than +ever. + +[Illustration: The dragoon fell heavily.] + +This was all that I saw. + +The Emperor did not stop at Phalsbourg, and, when he was on the road to +Saverne, the guns fired their last shot, and silence reigned once more. +The guards at the French gate raised the drawbridge, and the old +watchmaker said: + +"You have seen him?" + +"I have, Monsieur Goulden." + +"Well," he continued, "that man holds all our lives in his hand; he +need but breathe upon us and we are gone. Let us bless Heaven that he +is not evil-minded; for if he were, the world would see again the +horrors of the days of the barbarian kings and the Turks." + +He seemed lost in thought, but in a moment he added: + +"You can go to bed again. The clock is striking three." + +He returned to his room, and I to my bed. The deep silence without +seemed strange after such a tumult, and until daybreak I never ceased +dreaming of the Emperor. I dreamed, too, of the dragoon, and wanted to +know if he were killed. The next day we learned that he was carried to +the hospital and would recover. + +From that day until the month of September they often sang the _Te +Deum_, and fired twenty-one guns for new victories. It was nearly +always in the morning, and Monsieur Goulden cried: + +"Eh, Joseph! Another battle won! Fifty thousand men lost! +Twenty-five standards, a hundred guns won. All goes well, all goes +well. It only remains now to order a new levy to replace the dead!" + +He pushed open my door, and I saw him, bald, in his shirt-sleeves, with +his neck bare, washing his face in the wash-bowl. + +"Do you think, Monsieur Goulden," I asked, in great trouble, "that they +will also take the lame?" + +"No, no," he said kindly; "fear nothing, my child, you could not serve. +We will fix that. Only work well, and never mind the rest." + +He saw my anxiety, and it pained him. I never met a better man. Then +he dressed himself to go to wind up the city clocks--those of Monsieur +the Commandant of the place, of Monsieur the Mayor, and other notable +personages. I remained at home. Monsieur Goulden did not return until +after the _Te Deum_. He took off his great brown coat, put his peruke +back in its box, and again pulling his silk cap over his ears, said: + +"The army is at Wilna or at Smolensk, as I learn from Monsieur the +Commandant. God grant that we may succeed this time and make peace, +and the sooner the better, for war is a terrible thing." + +I thought, too, that, if we had peace, so many men would not be needed, +and that I could marry Catharine. Any one can imagine the wishes I +formed for the Emperor's glory. + + + + +II + +It was on the 15th of September, 1812, that the news came of the great +victory of the Moskowa. Every one was full of joy, and all cried, "Now +we will have peace! now the war is ended!" + +Some discontented folks might say that China yet remained to be +conquered; such mar-joys are always to be found. + +A week after, we learned that our forces were in Moscow, the largest +and richest city in Russia, and then everybody figured to himself the +booty we would capture, and the reduction it would make in the taxes. +But soon came the rumor that the Russians had set fire to their +capital, and that it was necessary to retreat on Poland or to die of +hunger. Nothing else was spoken of in the inns, the breweries, or the +market; no one could meet his neighbor without saying, "Well, well, +things go badly; the retreat has commenced." + +People grew pale, and hundreds of peasants waited morning and night at +the post-office, but no letters came now. I passed and repassed +through the crowd without paying much attention to it, for I had seen +so much of the same thing. And besides, I had a thought in my mind +which gladdened my heart, and made everything seem rosy to me. + +You must know that for six months past I had wished to make Catharine a +magnificent present for her birthday, which fell on the 18th of +December. Among the watches which hung in Monsieur Goulden's window +was one little one, of the prettiest kind, with a silver case full of +little circles, which made it shine like a star. Around the face, +under the glass, was a thread of copper, and on the face were painted +two lovers, the youth evidently declaring his love, and giving to his +sweetheart a large bouquet of roses, while she modestly lowered her +eyes and held out her hand. + +The first time I saw the watch, I said to myself: "You will not let +that escape; that watch is for Catharine, and, although you must work +every day till midnight for it, she must have it." Monsieur Goulden, +after seven in the evening, allowed me work on my own account. He had +old watches to clean and regulate; and as this work was often very +troublesome, old Father Melchior paid me reasonably for it. But the +little watch was thirty-five francs, and one can imagine how many hours +at night I would have to work for it. I am sure that if Monsieur +Goulden knew that I wanted it he would have given it me for a present, +but I would not have let him take a farthing less for it; I would have +regarded doing so something shameful. I kept saying: "You must earn +it; no one else must have any claim upon it." Only for fear somebody +else might take a fancy to buy it, I put it aside in a box, telling +Father Melchior that I knew a purchaser. + +Under these circumstances, every one can readily understand how it was +that all these stories of war went in at one ear and out at the other +with me. While I worked I imagined Catharine's joy, and for five +months that was all I had before my eyes. I thought how pleased she +would look, and asked myself, "What will she say?" Sometimes I +imagined she would cry out, "Oh, Joseph! what are you thinking of? It +is much too beautiful for me. No, no; I cannot take so fine a watch +from you!" Then I thought I would force it upon her; I would slip it +into her apron-pocket, saying, "Come, come, Catharine! Do you wish to +give me pain?" I could see how she wanted it, and that she spoke so +only to seem to refuse it. Then I imagined her blushing, with her +hands raised, saying, "Joseph, now I know indeed that you love me!" +And she would embrace me with tears in her eyes. I felt very happy. +Aunt Gredel approved of all. In a word, a thousand such scenes passed +through my mind, and when I retired at night I thought: "There is no +one as happy as you, Joseph. See what a present you can make Catharine +by your toil; and she surely is preparing something for your birthday, +for she thinks only of you; you are both very happy, and, when you are +married, all will go well." + +While I was thus working on, thinking only of happiness, the winter +began, earlier than usual, toward the commencement of November. It did +not begin with snow, but with dry, cold weather and heavy frosts. In a +few days all the leaves had fallen and the earth was hard as ice and +all covered with hoar-frost; tiles, pavement, and window-panes +glittered with it. Fires had to be made that winter to keep the cold +from coming in at the windows, and, when the doors were opened for a +moment, the heat seemed to disappear at once. The wood crackled in the +stoves and burnt away like straw in the fierce draught of the chimneys. + +Every morning I hastened to wash the panes of the shop-window with warm +water, and I scarcely closed it when a frosty sheen covered it. +Without, people ran puffing with their coat-collars over their ears and +their hands in their pockets. No one stood still, and when doors +opened, they soon closed. + +I don't know what became of the sparrows, whether they were dead or +living, but not one twittered in the chimneys, and save the reveille +and retreat sounded in the barracks, no noise broke the silence. + +Often when the fire crackled merrily, did Monsieur Goulden stop his +work, and, gazing on the frost-covered panes, exclaim: + +"Our poor soldiers! our poor soldiers!" + +He said this so mournfully that I felt a choking in my throat as I +replied: + +"But, Monsieur Goulden, they ought now to be in Poland in good +barracks; for to suppose that human beings could endure a cold like +this--it is impossible." + +"Such a cold as this," he said; "yes, here it is cold, very cold from +the winds from the mountains; but what is this frost to that of the +north, of Russia and of Poland? God grant that they started early +enough. My God! my God! the leaders of men have a heavy weight to +bear." + +Then he would be silent, and for hours I would think of what he had +said to me; I pictured to myself our soldiers on the march, running to +keep themselves warm. But the thought of Catharine always came back to +me, and I have often thought since that when one is happy, the misery +of others affects him but little, especially in youth, when the +passions are strongest, and when we have had little knowledge of great +griefs. + +After the frosts so much snow fell that the couriers were stopped on +the road toward Quatre-Vents. I feared that I could not go to see +Catharine on her fete-day; but two companies of infantry set out with +pick-axes, and dug through the frozen snow a way for carriages, and +that road remained open until the beginning of April, 1813. + +Nevertheless, Catharine's birthday approached day by day, and my +happiness increased in proportion. I had already the thirty-five +francs, but I did not know how to tell Monsieur Goulden that I wished +to buy the watch; I wanted to keep the whole matter secret; and I did +not at all like to talk about it. + +At length, on the eve of the eventful day, between six and seven in the +evening, while we were working in silence, the lamp between us, +suddenly I took my resolution, and said: + +"You know, Monsieur Goulden, that I spoke to you of a purchaser for the +little silver watch." + +"Yes, Joseph," said he, without raising his head, "but he has not come +yet." + +"It is I who am the purchaser, Monsieur Goulden." + +Then he looked up in astonishment. I took out the thirty-five francs +and laid them on the work-bench. He stared at me. + +"But," he said, "it is not such a watch as that you want, Joseph; you +want one that will fill your pocket and mark the seconds. Those little +watches are only for women." + +I knew not what to say. + +Monsieur Goulden, after meditating a few moments, began to smile. + +"Ah!" he exclaimed; "good! good! I understand now; to-morrow is +Catharine's birthday. Now I know why you worked day and night. Hold! +take back this money; I do not want it." + +I was all confusion. + +"Monsieur Goulden, I thank you," I replied; "but this watch is for +Catharine, and I wish to have earned it. You will pain me if you +refuse the money; I would as lief not take the watch." + +He said nothing more, but took the thirty-five francs; then he opened +his drawer, and chose a pretty steel chain, with two little keys of +silver-gilt, which he fastened to the watch. Then he put all together +in a box with a rose-colored favor. He did all this slowly, as if +affected; then he gave me the box. + +"It is a pretty present, Joseph," said he. "Catharine ought to think +herself happy in having such a lover as you. She is a good girl. Now +we can take our supper. Set the table." + +The table was arranged, and then Monsieur Goulden took from a closet a +bottle of his Metz wine, which he kept for great occasions, and we +supped like old friends, rather than as master and apprentice; all the +evening he never stopped speaking of the merry days of his youth; +telling me how he once had a sweetheart, but that, in 1792, he left +home in the _levee en masse_ at the time of the Prussian invasion, and +that on his return to Fenetrange, he found her married--a very natural +thing, since he had never mustered courage enough to declare his love. +However, this did not prevent his remaining faithful to the tender +remembrance, and when he spoke of it he seemed sad indeed. I recounted +all this in imagination to Catharine, and it was not until the stroke +of ten, at the passage of the rounds, which relieved the sentries on +post every twenty minutes on account of the great cold, that we put two +good logs on the fire, and at length went to bed. + + + + +III + +The next day, the 18th of December, I arose about six in the morning. +It was terribly cold; my little window was covered with a sheet of +frost. + +I had taken care the night before to lay out on the back of a chair my +sky-blue coat, my trousers, my goat-skin vest, and my fine black silk +cravat. Everything was ready; my well-polished shoes lay at the foot +of the bed; I had only to dress myself; but the cold I felt upon my +face, the sight of those window-panes, and the deep silence without, +made me shiver in anticipation. If it had not been Catharine's +birthday, I would have remained in bed until midday; but suddenly that +recollection made me jump out of bed, and rush to the great delf stove, +where some embers of the preceding night almost always remained among +the cinders. I found two or three, and hastened to collect and put +them under some split wood and two large logs, after which I ran back +to my bed. + +Monsieur Goulden, under the huge curtains, with the coverings pulled up +to his nose and his cotton night-cap over his eyes, woke up, and cried +out: + +"Joseph, we have not had such cold for forty years. I never felt it +so. What a winter we shall have!" + +I did not answer, but looked out to see if the fire was lighting; the +embers burnt well; I heard the chimney draw, and at once all blazed up. +The sound of the flames was merry enough, but it required a good +half-hour to feel the air any warmer. + +At last I arose and dressed myself. Monsieur Goulden kept on chatting, +but I thought only of Catharine, and when at length, toward eight +o'clock, I started out, he exclaimed: + +"Joseph, what are you thinking of? Are you going to Quatre-Vents in +that little coat? You would be dead before you had got half way. Go +into my closet, and take my great cloak, and the mittens, and the +double-soled shoes lined with flannel." + +I was so smart in my fine clothes that I reflected whether it would be +better to follow his advice, and he, seeing my hesitation, said: + +"Listen! a man was found frozen yesterday on the way to Wecham. Doctor +Steinbrenner said that he sounded like a piece of dry wood when they +tapped upon him. He was a soldier, and had left the village between +six and seven o'clock, and at eight they found him; so that the frost +did not take long to do its work. If you want your nose and ears +frozen, you have only to go out as you are." + +I knew then, that he was right; so I put on the thick shoes, and passed +the cord of the mittens over my shoulders, and put the cloak over all. +Thus accoutred, I sallied forth, after thanking Monsieur Goulden, who +warned me not to stay too late, for the cold increased toward night, +and great numbers of wolves were crossing the Rhine on the ice. + +I had not gone as far as the church when I turned up the fox-skin +collar of the cloak to shield my ears. The cold was so keen that it +seemed as though the air were filled with needles, and one's body +shrank involuntarily from head to foot. + +Under the German gate, I saw the soldier on guard, in his great gray +mantle, standing back in his box like a saint in his niche; he had his +sleeve wrapped about his musket where he held it, to keep his fingers +from the iron, and two long icicles hung from his mustaches. No one +was on the bridge, not even the toll-gatherer, but a little farther on, +I saw three carts in the middle of the road with their canvas-tops all +covered and glistening with frost; they were unharnessed and abandoned. +Everything in the distance seemed dead; all living things had hidden +themselves from the cold; and I could hear nothing but the snow +crunching under my feet. Running along the cemetery, where the crosses +and gravestones glistened in the snow, I said to myself: "Those who +sleep there are no longer cold!" I drew my cloak over my breast, and +hid my nose in the fur collar, thanking Monsieur Goulden for his lucky +thought. I also thrust my hands into the muffler to the elbows, and +ran along in the deep trench, extending farther than the eye could +reach, that the soldiers had made from the town as far as Quatre-Vents. +On each side were walls of ice. In some places swept by the wind, I +could see the oak forest and the bluish mountain, both seeming much +nearer than they were, on account of the clearness of the air. Not a +dog barked in a farm-yard; it was too cold even for that. + +But in spite of all this the thought of Catharine warmed my heart, and +soon I descried the first houses of Quatre-Vents. The chimneys and the +thatched roofs, to the right and left of the road, were scarcely higher +than the mountains of snow, and the villagers had dug trenches along +the walls, so that they could pass to each other's houses. But that +day every family kept around its hearth, and the little round +window-panes seemed painted red, from the great fires burning within. +Before each door was a truss of straw to keep the cold from entering +beneath it. + +At the fifth door to the right I stopped to take off my mittens; then I +opened and closed it very quickly. I was at the house of Gredel Bauer, +the widow of Matthias Bauer, and Catharine's mother. + +As I entered, and while Aunt Gredel, seated by the hearth, astonished +at my fox-skin collar, was yet turning her gray head, Catharine, in her +Sunday dress--a pretty striped petticoat, a kerchief with long fringe +folded across her bosom, a red apron fastened around her slender waist, +a pretty cap of blue silk with black velvet bands setting off her rosy +and white face, soft eyes, and rather short nose--Catharine, I say, +exclaimed: + +"It is Joseph!" + +And without waiting to look twice, she ran to greet me, saying: + +"I knew the cold would not keep you from coming." + +I was so happy that I could not speak. I took off my cloak, which I +hung upon a nail on the wall, with my mittens; I took off Monsieur +Goulden's great shoes, and turned pale with joy. + +I would have said something agreeable, but could not; suddenly I +exclaimed: + +"See here, Catharine; here is something for your birthday, but you must +give me a kiss before opening the box." + +She put up her pretty red cheek to me, and then ran to the table. Aunt +Gredel also came to see the present. Catharine untied the cord and +opened the box. I was behind them; my heart jumped, jumped,--I feared +that the watch was not pretty enough. But in an instant, Catharine, +clasping her hands, said in a low voice: + +"How beautiful! It is a watch!" + +"Yes," said Aunt Gredel; "it is beautiful! I never saw so fine a one. +One would think it was silver." + +"But it _is_ silver," returned Catharine, turning toward me inquiringly. + +Then I said: + +"Do you think, Aunt Gredel, that I would be capable of giving a gilt +watch to one whom I love better than my own life? If I could do such a +thing, I would despise myself more than the dirt of my shoes." + +Catharine, hearing this, threw her arms around my neck; and as we stood +thus, I thought: "this is the happiest day of my life." I could not +let her go. + +Aunt Gredel asked: + +"But what is this painted upon the face?" + +I could not speak to answer her; and only at last, when we were seated +beside each other, I took the watch and said: + +"That painting, Aunt Gredel, represents two lovers who love each other +more than they can tell: Joseph Bertha and Catharine Bauer; Joseph is +offering a bouquet of roses to his sweetheart, who is stretching out +her hand to take them." + +When Aunt Gredel had sufficiently admired the watch, she said: + +"Come until I kiss you, Joseph. I see very well that you must have +economized closely, and worked hard for this watch, and I think it is +very pretty, and that you are a good workman, and will do us no +discredit." + +I kissed Aunt Gredel's cheek, and from then until midday, I did not let +go Catharine's hand. We were as happy as could be looking at each +other. Aunt Gredel bustled about to prepare a large pancake with dried +prunes, and wine, and cinnamon, and other good things in it; but we +paid no attention to her, and it was only when she put on her red +jacket and black sabots, and called, "Come, my children; to table!" +that we saw the fine tablecloth, the great porringer, the pitcher of +wine, and the large round, golden pancake on a plate in the middle. +The sight rejoiced us not a little, and Catharine said: + +"Sit there, Joseph, opposite the window, that I may look at you. But +you must fix my watch, for I do not know where to put it." + +I passed the chain around her neck, and then, seating ourselves, we ate +gayly. Without, not a sound was heard; within, the fire crackled +merrily upon the hearth. It was very pleasant in the large kitchen, +and the gray cat, a little wild, gazed at us through the balusters of +the stairs without daring to come down. + +Catharine, after dinner, sang _Der liebe Gott_. She had a sweet, clear +voice, and it seemed to float to heaven. I sang low, merely to sustain +her. Aunt Gredel, who could never rest doing nothing, began spinning; +the hum of her wheel filled up the silences, and we all felt happy. +When one song was ended, we began another. At three o'clock, Aunt +Gredel served up the pancake, and as we ate it, laughing, like the +happiest of beings, she would exclaim: + +"Come, come; now, you are children in reality." + +She pretended to be angry, but we could see in her eyes that she was +happy from the bottom of her heart. This lasted until four o'clock, +when night began to come on apace; the darkness seemed to enter by the +little windows, and, knowing that we must soon part, we sat sadly +around the hearth on which the red flames were dancing. Catharine +pressed my hand. I would almost have given my life to remain longer. +Another half-hour passed, when Aunt Gredel cried: + +"Listen, Joseph! It is time for you to go; the moon does not rise till +after midnight, and it will soon be dark as a kiln outside, and an +accident happens so easily in these great frosts." + +These words seemed to fall like a bolt of ice, and I felt Catharine's +clasp tighten on my hand. But Aunt Gredel was right. + +"Come," said she, rising and taking down the cloak from the wall; "you +will come again Sunday." + +I had to put on the heavy shoes, the mittens, and the cloak of Monsieur +Goulden, and would have wished that I were a hundred years doing so, +but, unfortunately, Aunt Gredel assisted me. When I had the great +collar drawn up to my ears, she said: + +"Now, kiss us good-by, Joseph." + +I kissed her first, then Catharine, who did not say a word. After that +I opened the door and the terrible cold, entering, admonished me not to +wait. + +"Hasten, Joseph," said my aunt. + +"Good-night, Joseph, good-night!" cried Catharine, "and do not forget +to come Sunday." + +I turned round to wave my hand; and then I ran on without raising my +head, for the cold was so intense that it brought tears to my eyes even +behind the great collar. + +I ran on thus some twenty minutes, scarcely daring to breathe, when a +drunken voice called out: + +"Who goes there?" + +I looked through the dim night, and saw, fifty paces before me, +Pinacle, the pedler, with his huge basket, his otter-skin cap, woollen +gloves, and iron-pointed staff. The lantern hanging from the strap of +his basket lit up his debauched face, his chin bristling with yellow +beard, and his great nose shaped like an extinguisher. He glared with +his little eyes like a wolf, and repeated, "Who goes there?" + +This Pinacle was the greatest rogue in the country. He had the year +before a difficulty with Monsieur Goulden, who demanded of him the +price of a watch which he undertook to deliver to Monsieur Anstett, the +curate of Homert, and the money for which he put into his pocket, +saying he paid it to me. But although the villain made oath before the +justice of the peace, Monsieur Goulden knew the contrary, for on the +day in question neither he nor I had left the house. Besides, Pinacle +wanted to dance with Catharine at a festival at Quatre-Vents, and she +refused because she knew the story of the watch, and was, besides, +unwilling to leave me. + +The sight, then, of this rogue with his iron-shod stick in the middle +of the road did not tend to rejoice my heart. Happily a little path +which wound around the cemetery was at my left, and, without replying, +I dashed through it although the snow reached my waist. + +Then he, guessing who I was, cried furiously: + +"Aha! it is the little lame fellow! Halt! halt! I want to bid you +good-evening. You came from Catharine's, you watch-stealer." + +But I sprang like a hare through the heaps of snow; he at first tried +to follow me, but his pack hindered him, and, when I gained the ground +again, he put his hands around his mouth, and shrieked: + +"Never mind, cripple, never mind! Your reckoning is coming all the +same; the conscription is coming--the grand conscription of the +one-eyed, the lame, and the hunch-backed. You will have to go, and you +will find a place under ground like the others." + +He continued his way, laughing like the sot he was, and I, scarcely +able to breathe, kept on, thanking Heaven that the little alley was so +near; for Pinacle, who was known always to draw his knife in a fight, +might have done me an ill turn. + +In spite of my exertion, my feet, even in the thick shoes, were +intensely cold, and I again began running. + +That night the water froze in the cisterns of Phalsbourg and the wines +in the cellars--things that had not happened before for sixty years. + +On the bridge and under the German gate the silence seemed yet deeper +than in the morning, and the night made it seem terrible. A few stars +shone between the masses of white cloud that hung over the city. All +along the street I met not a soul, and when I reached home, after +shutting the door of our lower passage, it seemed warm to me, although +the little stream that ran from the yard along the wall was frozen. I +stopped a moment to take breath; then I ascended in the dark, my hand +on the baluster. + +When I opened the door of my room, the cheerful warmth of the stove was +grateful indeed. Monsieur Goulden was seated in his arm-chair before +the fire, his cap of black silk pulled over his ears, and his hands +resting upon his knees. + +"Is that you, Joseph?" he asked without turning round. + +"It is," I answered. "How pleasant it is here, and how cold out of +doors! We never had such a winter." + +"No," he said gravely. "It is a winter that will long be remembered." + +I went into the closet and hung the cloak and mittens in their places, +and was about relating my adventure with Pinacle, when he resumed: + +"You had a pleasant day of it, Joseph." + +"I have had, indeed. Aunt Gredel and Catharine wished me to make you +their compliments." + +"Very good, very good," said he; "the young are right to amuse +themselves, for when they grow old, and suffer, and see so much of +injustice, selfishness, and misfortune, everything is spoiled in +advance." + +He spoke as if talking to himself, gazing at the fire. I had never +seen him so sad, and I asked: + +"Are you not well, Monsieur Goulden?" + +But he, without replying, murmured: + +"Yes, yes; this is to be a great military nation; this is glory!" + +He shook his head and bent over gloomily, his heavy gray brows +contracted in a frown. + +I knew not what to think of all this, when raising his head again, he +said: + +"At this moment, Joseph, there are four hundred thousand families +weeping in France; the grand army has perished in the snows of Russia; +all those stout young men whom for two months we saw passing our gates +are buried beneath them. The news came this afternoon. Oh! it is +horrible! horrible!" + +I was silent. Now I saw clearly that we must have another +conscription, as after all campaigns, and this time the lame would most +probably be called. I grew pale, and Pinacle's prophecy made my hair +stand on end. + +"Go to bed, Joseph; rest easy," said Monsieur Goulden. "I am not +sleepy; I will stay here; all this upsets me. Did you remark anything +in the city?" + +"No, Monsieur Goulden." + +I went to my room and to bed. For a long time I could not close my +eyes, thinking of the conscription, of Catharine, and of so many +thousands of men buried in the snow, and then I plotted flight to +Switzerland. + +About three o'clock Monsieur Goulden retired, and a few minutes after, +through God's grace, I fell asleep. + + + + +IV + +When I arose in the morning, about seven, I went to Monsieur Goulden's +room to begin work, but he was still in bed, looking weary and sick. + +"Joseph," said he, "I am not well. This horrible news has made me ill, +and I have not slept at all." + +"Shall I not make you some tea?" I asked. + +"No, my child, that is not worth while. I will get up by and by. But +this is the day to regulate the city clocks; I cannot go; for to see so +many good people--people I have known for thirty years--in misery, +would kill me. Listen, Joseph: take those keys hanging behind the door +and go. I will try to sleep a little. If I could sleep an hour or +two, it would do me good." + +"Very well, Monsieur Goulden," I replied; "I will go at once." + +After putting more wood in the stove, I took the cloak and mittens, +drew Monsieur Goulden's bed-curtains, and went out, the bunch of keys +in my pocket. The illness of Father Melchior grieved me very much for +a while, but a thought came to console me, and I said to myself: "You +can climb up the city clock-tower, and see the house of Catharine and +Aunt Gredel." Thinking thus, I arrived at the house of Brainstein, the +bell-ringer, who lived at the corner of the little place, in an old, +tumble-down barrack. His two sons were weavers, and in their old home +the noise of the loom and the whistle of the shuttle was heard from +morning till night. The grandmother, old and blind, slept in an +armchair, on the back of which perched a magpie. Father Brainstein, +when he did not have to ring the bells for a christening, a funeral, or +a marriage, kept reading his almanac behind the small round panes of +his window. + +Beside their hut was a little box under the roof of the old hall, where +the cobbler Koniam worked, and farther on were the butchers' and +fruiterers' shops. + +I came then to Brainstein's, and the old man, when he saw me, rose up, +saying: + +"It is you, Monsieur Joseph." + +"Yes, Father Brainstein; I came in place of Monsieur Goulden, who is +not well." + +"Very good; it is all the same." + +He took up his staff and put on his woollen cap, driving away the cat +that was sleeping upon it; then he took the great key of the steeple +from a drawer, and we went out together, I glad to find myself again in +the open air, despite the cold; for their miserable room was gray with +vapor, and as hard to breathe in as a kettle; I could never understand +how people could live in such a way. + +At last we gained the street, and Father Brainstein said: + +"You have heard of the great Russian disaster, Monsieur Joseph?" + +"Yes, Father Brainstein; it is fearful!" + +"Ah!" said he, "there will be many a Mass said in the churches; every +one will weep and pray for their children, the more that they are dead +in a heathen land." + +"Certainly, certainly," I replied. + +We crossed the court, and in front of the tower-hall, opposite the +guard-house, many peasants and city people were already standing, +reading a placard. We went up the steps and entered the church, where +more than twenty women, young and old, were kneeling on the pavement, +in spite of the terrible cold. + +"Is it not as I said?" said Brainstein. "They are coming already to +pray, and half of them have been here since five o'clock." + +He opened the little door of the steeple leading to the organ, and we +began climbing up in the dark. Once in the organ-loft, we turned to +the left of the bellows, and went up to the bells. + +I was glad to see the blue sky and breathe the free air again, for the +bad odor of the bats which inhabited the tower almost suffocated me. +But how terrible the cold was in that cage, open to every wind, and how +dazzlingly the snow shone over twenty leagues of country! All the +little city of Phalsbourg, with its six bastions, three _demilunes_, +two advanced works, its barracks, magazines, bridges, _glacis_, +ramparts; its great parade-ground, and little, well-aligned houses, +were beneath me, as if drawn on white paper. I was not yet accustomed +to the height, and I held fast on the middle of the platform for fear I +might jump off, for I had read of people having their heads turned by +great heights. I did not dare go to the clock, and, if Brainstein had +not set me the example, I would have remained there, pressed against +the beam from which the bells hung; but he said: + +"Come, Monsieur Joseph, and see if it is right." + +Then I took out Monsieur Goulden's large watch which marked seconds, +and I saw that the clock was considerably slow. Brainstein helped me +to wind it up, and we regulated it. + +"The clock is always slow in winter," said he, "because of the iron +working." + +After becoming somewhat accustomed to the elevation, I began to look +around. There were the Oakwood barracks, the upper barracks, +Bigelberg, and lastly, opposite me, Quatre-Vents, and the house of Aunt +Gredel, from the chimney of which a thread of blue smoke rose toward +the sky. And I saw the kitchen, and imagined Catharine, in sabots, and +woollen skirt, spinning at the corner of the hearth and thinking of me. +I no longer felt the cold; I could not take my eyes from their cottage. + +Father Brainstein, who did not know what I was looking at, said: + +"Yes, yes, Monsieur Joseph: now all the roads are covered with people +in spite of the snow. The news has already spread, and every one wants +to know the extent of his loss." + +He was right; every road and path was covered with people coming to the +city; and looking in the court, I saw the crowd increasing every moment +before the guard-house, the town-house, and the postoffice. A deep +murmur arose from the mass. + +At length, after a last, long look at Catharine's house, I had to +descend, and we went down the dark, winding stairs, as if descending +into a well. Once in the organ-loft, we saw that the crowd had greatly +increased in the church; all the mothers, the sisters, the old +grandmothers, the rich, and the poor, were kneeling on the benches in +the midst of the deepest silence; they prayed for the absent, offering +all only to see them once again. + +At first I did not realize all this; but suddenly the thought that, if +I had gone the year before, Catharine would be there, praying and +asking me of God, fell like a bolt on my heart, and I felt all my body +tremble. + +"Let us go! let us go!" I exclaimed, "this is terrible." + +"What is?" he asked. + +"War." + +We descended the stairs under the great gate, and I went across the +court to the house of Monsieur the Commandant Meunier, while Brainstein +took the way to his house. + +At the corner of the Hotel de Ville, I saw a sight which I shall +remember all my life. There, around a placard, were more than five +hundred people, men and women crowded against each other, all pale, and +with necks outstretched, gazing at it as at some horrible apparition. +They could not read it, and from time to time one would say in German +or French: + +"But they are not all dead! Some will return." + +Others cried out: + +"Let us see it! let us get near it." + +A poor old woman in the rear lifted up her hands, and cried: + +"Christopher! my poor Christopher!" + +Others, angry at her clamor, called out: + +"Keep that old woman quiet." + +Each one thought only of himself. + +Behind, the crowd continued to pour through the German gate. + +At length, Harmantier, the _sergent-de-ville_, came out of the +guard-house, and stood at the top of the steps, with another placard +like the first; a few soldiers followed him. Then a rush was made +toward him, but the soldiers kept off the crowd, and old Harmantier +began to read the placard, which he called the twenty-ninth bulletin, +and in which the Emperor informed them that during the retreat the +horses perished every night by thousands. He said nothing of the men! + +The _sergent-de-ville_ read slowly; not a breath was heard in the +crowd; even the old woman, who did not understand French, listened like +the others. The buzz of a fly could have been heard. But when he came +to this passage, "Our cavalry was dismounted to such an extent that we +were forced to bring together the officers who yet owned horses to form +four companies of one hundred and fifty men each. Generals rated as +captains, and colonels as under-officers"--when he read this passage, +which told more of the misery of the grand army than all the rest, +cries and groans arose on all sides; two or three women fell and were +carried away. + +It is true that the bulletin added, "The health of his majesty was +never better," and that was a great consolation. Unfortunately it +could not restore life to three hundred thousand men buried in the +snow; and so the people went away very sad. Others came by dozens who +had not heard the news read, and from time to time Harmantier came out +to read the bulletin. + +This lasted until night; still the same scene over and over again. + +I ran from the place; I wanted to know nothing about it. + +I went to Monsieur the Commandant's. Entering a parlor, I saw him at +breakfast. He was an old man, but hale, with a red face and good +appetite. + +"Ah! it is you!" said he, "Monsieur Goulden is not coming, then?" + +"No, Monsieur the Commandant, the bad news has made him ill." + +"Ah! I understand," he said, emptying his glass; "yes, it is +unfortunate." + +And while I was regulating the clock, he added: + +"Well! tell Monsieur Goulden that we will have our revenge. We cannot +always have the upper hand. For fifteen years we have kept the drums +beating over them, and it is only right to let them have this little +morsel of consolation. And then our honor is safe; we were not beaten +fighting; without the cold and the snow, those poor Cossacks would have +had a hard time of it. But patience; the skeletons of our regiments +will soon be filled, and then let them beware." + +I wound up the clock; he rose and came to look at it, for he was a +great amateur in clock-making. He pinched my ear in a merry mood; and +then, as I was going away, he cried as he buttoned up his overcoat, +which he had opened before beginning breakfast: + +"Tell Father Goulden to rest easy; the dance will begin again in the +spring; the Kalmucks will not always have winter fighting for them. +Tell him that." + +"Yes, Monsieur the Commandant," I answered, shutting the door. + +His burly figure and air of good humor comforted me a little; but in +all the other houses I went to, at the Horwiches, the Frantz-Tonis, the +Durlaches, everywhere I heard only lamentations. The women especially +were in misery; the men said nothing, but walked about with heads +hanging down, and without even looking to see what I was doing. + +Toward ten o'clock there only remained two persons for me to see: +Monsieur de la Vablerie-Chamberlan, one of the ancient nobility, who +lived at the end of the main street, with Madame Chamberlan-d'Ecof and +Mademoiselle Jeanne, their daughter. They were _emigres_, and had +returned about three or four years before. They saw no one in the +city, and only three or four old priests in the environs. Monsieur de +la Vablerie-Chamberlan loved only the chase. He had six dogs at the +end of the yard, and a two-horse carriage; Father Robert, of the Rue +des Capucins, served them as coachman, groom, footman, and huntsman. +Monsieur de la Vablerie-Chamberlan always wore a hunting vest, a +leathern cap, and boots and spurs. All the town called him the hunter, +but they said nothing of Madame nor of Mademoiselle de Chamberlan. + +I was very sad when I pushed open the heavy door, which closed with a +pulley whose creaking echoed through the vestibule. What was then my +surprise to hear, in the midst of general mourning, the tones of a song +and harpsichord! Monsieur de la Vablerie was singing, and Mademoiselle +Jeanne accompanying him. I knew not, in those days, that the +misfortune of one was often the joy of others, and I said to myself +with my hand on the latch: "They have not heard the news from Russia." + +But while I stood thus, the door of the kitchen opened, and +Mademoiselle Louise, their servant, putting out her head, asked: + +"Who is there?" + +"It is I, Mademoiselle Louise." + +"Ah! it is you, Monsieur Joseph. Come this way." + +They had their clock in a large parlor which they rarely entered; the +high windows, with blinds, remained closed; but there was light enough +for what I had to do. I passed then through the kitchen and regulated +the antique clock, which was a magnificent piece of work of white +marble. Mademoiselle Louise looked on. + +"You have company, Mademoiselle Louise?" said I. + +"No, but monsieur ordered me to let no one in." + +"You are very cheerful here." + +"Ah! yes," she said; "and it is for the first time in years; I don't +know what is the matter." + +My work done, I left the house, meditating on these occurrences, which +seemed to me strange. The idea never entered my mind that they were +rejoicing at our defeat. + +Then I turned the corner of the street to go to Father Feral's, who was +called the "Standard-bearer," because, at the age of forty-five, he, a +blacksmith, and for many years the father of a family, had carried the +colors of the volunteers of Phalsbourg in '92, and only returned after +the Zurich campaign. He had his three sons in the army of Russia, +Jean, Louis, and George Feral. George was commandant of dragoons; the +two others, officers of infantry. + +I imagined the grief of Father Feral while I was going, but it was +nothing to what I saw when I entered his room. The poor old man, blind +and bald, was sitting in an arm-chair behind the stove, his head bowed +upon his breast, and his sightless eyes open, and staring as if he saw +his three sons stretched at his feet. He did not speak, but great +drops of sweat rolled down his forehead on his long, thin cheeks, while +his face was pale as that of a corpse. Four or five of his old +comrades of the times of the Republic--Father Desmarets, Father Nivoi, +old Paradis, and tall old Froissard--had come to console him. They sat +around him in silence, smoking their pipes, and looking as if they +themselves needed comfort. + +From time to time one or the other would say: "Come, come, Feral! are +we no longer veterans of the army of the Sambre-and-Meuse?" + +Or, + +"Courage, Standard-bearer: courage! Did we not carry the battery at +Fleurus?" + +Or some other similar remark. + +But he did not reply; every minute he sighed, his aged, hollow cheeks +swelled; then he leaned over, and the old friends made signs to each +other, shaking their heads, as if to say: + +"This looks bad." + +I hastened to regulate the clock and depart, for to see the poor old +man in such a plight made my heart bleed. + +When I arrived at home, I found Monsieur Goulden at his work-bench. + +"You are returned, Joseph," said he. "Well?" + +"Well, Monsieur Goulden, you had reason to stay away; it is terrible." + +And I told him all in detail. + +"Yes; I knew it all," said he, sadly, "but our misfortunes are only +beginning; these Prussians and Austrians and Russians and +Spaniards--all the nations we have been beating since eighteen hundred +and four, are now taking advantage of our ill luck to fall upon us. We +gave them kings and queens they did not know from Adam nor Eve, and +whom they did not want, it seems, and now they are going to bring back +the old ones with all their trains of nobles, and after pouring out our +blood for the Emperor's brothers, we are about losing all we gained by +the Revolution. Instead of being first among the first we will be last +among the last. While you were away I was thinking of all this; it is +unavoidable--We relied upon soldiers alone, and now that we have no +more, we are nothing." + +He arose. I set the table, and, whilst we were dining in silence, the +bells of the steeples began to ring. + +"Some one is dead in the city," said Monsieur Goulden. + +"Indeed? I did not hear of it." + +Ten minutes after, the Rabbi Rose came in to have a glass put in his +watch. + +"Who is dead?" asked Monsieur Goulden. + +"Poor old Standard-bearer." + +"What! Father Feral?" + +"Yes, near an hour ago. Father Desmarets and several others tried to +comfort him; at last he asked them to read to him the last letter of +his son George, the commandant of dragoons, in which he says that next +spring he hoped to embrace his father with a colonel's epaulettes. As +the old man heard this, he tried to rise, but fell back with his head +upon his knees. That letter had broken his heart." + +Monsieur Goulden made no remark on the news. + +"Here is your watch, Monsieur Rose," said he, handing it back to the +rabbi; "it is twelve sous." + +Monsieur Rose departed, and we finished our dinner in silence. + + + + +V + +A few days after, the gazette announced that the Emperor was in Paris, +and that the King of Rome and the Empress Marie-Louise were about to be +crowned. Monsieur the Mayor, his coadjutor and the municipal +councillors now spoke only of the rights of the throne, and Professor +Burguet, the elder, wrote a speech on the subject which Baron +Parmentier read. But all this produced but little effect on the +people, because every one was afraid of being carried off by the +conscription, and knew that many more soldiers were needed; all were in +trouble, and I grew thinner day by day. In vain would Monsieur Goulden +say: "Fear nothing, Joseph; you cannot march. Consider, my child, that +any one as lame as you would give out at the end of the first mile." + +But all this did not lessen my uneasiness. + +Monsieur Goulden, often, too, when we were alone at work, would say to +me: + +"If those who are now masters, and who tell us that God placed them +here on earth to make us happy, would foresee at the beginning of a +campaign the poor old men, the hapless mothers, whose very hearts they +have torn away to satisfy their pride--if they could see the tears and +hear the groans of these poor people when they are coldly told 'Your +son is dead; you will see him no more; he perished, crushed by horses' +hoofs, or torn to pieces by a cannon-ball, or died mayhap afar off in a +hospital, after having his arm or leg cut off,--burning with fever, +without one kind word to console him, but calling for his parents as +when he was an infant,'--if, I say, these haughty ones of earth could +thus see the tears of those mothers, I do not believe that one among +them would be barbarous enough to continue the war. But they think +nothing of this; they think other folks do not love their children as +they love theirs; they think people are no more than beasts. They are +wrong; all their great genius, their lofty notions of glory, are as +nothing, for there is only one thing for which a people should fly to +arms--men, women, children--old and young. It is when their liberty is +assailed as ours was in '92--then all should die or conquer together; +he who remains behind is a coward, who would have others fight for +him;--the victory then is not for a few, but for all;--then sons and +fathers are defending their families; if they are killed, it is a +misfortune, to be sure, but they die for their rights. Such a man, +Joseph, is the only just one, the one of which no one can complain; all +others are shameful, and the glory they bring is not glory fit for a +man, but only for a wild beast." + +On the eighth of January, a huge placard was posted on the town-hall, +stating that the Emperor would levy, after a _senatus-consultus_, as +they said in those days, in the first place, one hundred and fifty +thousand conscripts of 1813; then one hundred _cohortes_ of the first +call of 1812 who thought they had already escaped; then one hundred +thousand conscripts of from 1809 to 1812, and so on to the end; so that +every loop-hole was closed, and we would have a larger army than before +the Russian expedition. + +When Father Fouze, the glazier, came to us with this news, one morning, +I almost fell, through faintness, for I thought: + +"Now they will take all, even fathers of families. I am lost!" + +Monsieur Goulden poured some water on my neck; my arms hung useless by +my side; I was pale as a corpse. + +But I was not the only one upon whom the placard had such an effect: +that year many young men refused to go; some broke their teeth off, so +as not to be able to tear the cartridge; others blew off their thumbs +with pistols, so as not to be able to hold a musket; others, again, +fled to the woods; they proclaimed them "refractories," but they had +not _gendarmes_ enough to capture them. + +The mothers of families took courage to revolt after a manner, and to +encourage their sons not to obey the _gendarmes_. They aided them in +every way; they cried out against the Emperor, and the clergy of all +denominations sustained them in so doing. The cup was at last full! + +The very day of the proclamation I went to Quatre-Vents; but it was not +now in the joy of my heart; it was as the most miserable of unhappy +wretches, about to be bereft of love and life. I could scarcely walk, +and when I reached there I did not know how to announce the evil +tidings; but I saw at a glance that they knew all, for Catharine was +weeping bitterly, and Aunt Gredel was pale with indignation. + +We embraced in silence, and the first words Aunt Gredel said to me, as +in her anger she pushed her gray hair behind her ears, were: + +"You shall not go! What have we to do with wars? The priest himself +told us it was at last too much, and that we ought to have peace! You +shall not go! Do not cry, Catharine; I say he shall not go!" + +She was fairly green with anger, and rattled her kettles noisily +together, saying: + +"This carnage has lasted long enough. Our two poor cousins, Kasper and +Yokel, are already going to lose their lives in Spain for this Emperor, +and now he comes to ask us for the younger ones. He is not satisfied +to have slain three hundred thousand in Russia. Instead of thinking of +peace, like a man of sense, he thinks only of massacring the few who +remain. We will see! We will see!" + +"In the name of Heaven! Aunt Gredel, be quiet; speak lower," said I, +looking at the window. "If they hear you, we are lost." + +"I speak for them to hear me," she replied. "Your Napoleon does not +frighten me. He commenced by closing our mouths, so that he might do +as he pleased; but the end approaches. Four young women are losing +their husbands in our village alone, and ten poor young men are forced +to abandon everything, despite father, mother, religion, justice, God! +Is not this horrible?" + +I tried to answer, but she kept on: + +"Hold, Joseph," said she; "be silent; your Emperor has no heart--he +will end miserably yet. God showed his finger this winter; He saw that +we feared a man more than we feared Him; that mothers--like those whose +babes Herod slew--dared no longer cling to their own flesh when that +man demanded them for massacre; and so the cold came and our army +perished; and now those who are leaving us are the same as already +dead. God is weary of all this! You shall not go!" cried she +obstinately; "I shall not let you go; you shall fly to the woods with +Jean Kraft, Louis Beme, and all our bravest fellows; you shall go to +the mountains--to Switzerland, and Catharine and I will go with you and +remain until this destruction of men is ended." + +Then Aunt Gredel became silent. Instead of giving us an ordinary +dinner, she gave us a better one than on Catharine's birthday, and +said, with the air of one who has taken a resolution: + +"Eat, my children, and fear not; there will soon be a change!" + +I returned about four in the evening to Phalsbourg, somewhat calmer +than when I set out. But as I went up the Rue de la Munitionnaire, I +heard at the corner of the college the drum of the _sergent-de-ville_, +Harmantier, and I saw a throng gathered around him. I ran to hear what +was going on, and I arrived just as he began reading a proclamation. + +Harmantier read that, by the _senatus-consultus_ of the 3d, the drawing +for the conscription would take place on the 15th. + +It was already the 8th, and only seven days remained. This upset me +completely. + +The crowd dispersed in the deepest silence. I went home sad enough, +and said to Monsieur Goulden: + +"The drawing takes place next Thursday." + +"Ah!" he exclaimed, "they are losing no time, things are pressing." + +It is easy to imagine my grief that day and the days following. I +could scarcely stand; I constantly saw myself on the point of leaving +home. I saw myself flying to the woods, the _gendarmes_ at my heels, +crying, "Halt! halt!" Then I thought of the misery of Catharine, of +Aunt Gredel, of Monsieur Goulden. Then I imagined myself marching in +the ranks with a number of other wretches, to whom they were crying +out, "Forward! charge bayonets!" while whole files were being swept +away. I heard bullets whistle and shells shriek; in a word, I was in a +pitiable state. + +"Be calm, Joseph," said Monsieur Goulden; "do not torment yourself +thus. I think that of all who may be drawn there are probably not ten +who can give as good reasons as you for staying at home. The surgeon +must be blind to receive you. Besides, I will see Monsieur the +Commandant. Calm yourself." + +But these kind words could not reassure me. + +Thus I passed an entire week almost in a trance, and when the day of +the drawing arrived, Thursday morning, I was so pale, so sick-looking +that the parents of conscripts envied, so to speak, my appearance for +their sons. "That fellow," they said, "has a chance; he would drop the +first mile. Some people are born under a lucky star!" + + + + +VI + +The town-house of Phalsbourg, that Thursday morning, January 15, 1813, +during the drawing of the conscription, was a sight to be seen. To-day +it is bad enough to be drawn, to be forced to leave parents, friends, +home, one's cattle and one's fields, to go and learn--God knows +where--"_One! two!_ one! two! halt! eyes left! eyes right! front! +carry arms!" etc., etc. Yes, this is all bad enough, but there is a +chance of returning. One can say, with something like confidence: "In +seven years I shall see my old nest again, and my parents, and perhaps +my sweetheart. I shall have seen the world, and will perhaps have some +title to be appointed forester or gendarme." This is a comfort for +reasonable people. But _then_, if you had the ill-luck to lose in the +lottery, there was an end of you; often not one in a hundred returned. +The idea that you were only going for a time never entered your head. + +The enrolled of Harberg, of Garbourg, and of Quatre-Vents were to draw +first; then those of the city, and lastly those of Wechem and +Mittelbronn. + +I was up early in the morning, and with my elbows on the work-bench I +watched the people pass by; young men in blouses, poor old men in +cotton caps and short vests; old women in jackets and woollen skirts, +bent almost double, with a staff or umbrella under their arms. They +arrived by families. Monsieur the Sub-Prefect of Sarrebourg, with his +silver collar, and his secretary, had stopped the day before at the +"Red Ox," and they were also looking out of the window. Toward eight +o'clock, Monsieur Goulden began work, after breakfasting. I ate +nothing, but stared and stared until Monsieur the Mayor Parmentier and +his co-adjutor, came for Monsieur the Sub-Prefect. + +The drawing began at nine, and soon we heard the clarionet of +Pfifer-Karl and the violin of big Andres resounding through the +streets. They were playing the "March of the Swedes," an air to which +thousands of poor wretches had left old Alsace for ever. The +conscripts danced, linked arms, shouted until their voices seemed to +pierce the clouds, stamped on the ground, waved their hats, trying to +seem joyful while death was at their hearts. Well, it was the fashion; +and big Andres, withered, stiff, and yellow as boxwood, and his short +chubby comrade, with cheeks extended to their utmost tension, seemed +like people who would lead you to the church-yard all the while +chatting indifferently. + +That music, those cries, sent a shudder through my heart. + +I had just put on my swallow-tailed coat and my beaver hat, to go out, +when Aunt Gredel and Catharine entered, saying: + +"Good-morning, Monsieur Goulden. We have come for the conscription." + +Then I saw how Catharine had been crying. Her eyes were red, and she +threw her arms around my neck, while her mother turned to me. + +Monsieur Goulden said: + +"It will soon be the turn of the young men of the town." + +"Yes, Monsieur Goulden," answered Catharine in a choking voice; "they +have finished Harberg." + +"Then it is time for you to go, Joseph," said he; "but do not grieve; +do not be frightened. These drawings, you know, are only a matter of +form. For a long while past none can escape; for if they escape one +drawing, they are caught a year or two after. All the numbers are bad. +When the council of exemption meets, we will see what is best to be +done. To-day it is merely a sort of satisfaction they give the people +to draw in the lottery; but every one loses." + +"No matter," said Aunt Gredel; "Joseph will win." + +"Yes, yes," replied Monsieur Goulden, smiling, "he cannot fail." + +Then I sallied forth with Catharine and Aunt Gredel, and we went to the +town square, where the crowd was. In all the shops, dozens of +conscripts, purchasing ribbons, thronged around the counters, weeping +and singing as if possessed. Others in the inns embraced, sobbing; but +still they sang. Two or three musicians of the neighborhood--the Gipsy +Walteufel, Rosselkasten, and George Adam--had arrived, and their pieces +thundered in terrible and heart-rending strains. + +Catharine squeezed my arm. Aunt Gredel followed. + +Opposite the guard-house I saw the pedler Pinacle afar off, his pack +opened on a little table, and beside it a long pole decked with ribbons +which he was selling to the conscripts. + +I hastened to pass by him, when he cried: + +"Ha! Cripple! Halt! Come here; I have a ribbon for you; you must +have a magnificent one--one to draw a prize by." + +He waved a long black ribbon above his head, and I grew pale despite +myself. But as we ascended the steps of the town-house, a conscript +was just descending; it was Klipfel, the smith of the French gate; he +had drawn number eight, and shouted: + +"The black for me, Pinacle! Bring it here, whatever may happen." + +His face was gloomy, but he laughed. His little brother Jean was +crying behind him, and said: + +"No, no, Jacob! not the black!" + +But Pinacle fastened the ribbon to the smith's hat, while the latter +said: + +"That is what we want now. We are all dead, and should wear our own +mourning." + +And he cried savagely: + +"_Vive l'Empereur!_" + +I was better satisfied to see the black ribbon on his hat than on mine, +and I slipped quickly through the crowd to avoid Pinacle. + +We had great difficulty in getting into the townhouse and in climbing +the old oak stairs, where people were going up and down in swarms. In +the great hall above, the gendarme Kelz walked about maintaining order +as well as he could, and in the council-chamber at the side, where +there was a painting of Justice with her eyes blindfolded, we heard +them calling off the numbers. From time to time a conscript came out +with flushed face, fastening his number to his cap and passing with +bowed head through the crowd, like a furious bull who cannot see +clearly and who would seem to wish to break his horns against the +walls. Others, on the contrary, passed as pale as death. The windows +of the town-house were open, and without we heard six or seven pieces +playing together. It was horrible. + +I pressed Catharine's hand, and we passed slowly through the crowd to +the hall where Monsieur the Sub-Prefect, the Mayors, and the +Secretaries were seated on their tribune, calling the numbers aloud, as +if pronouncing sentence of death in a court of justice, for all these +numbers were really sentences of death. + +We waited a long while. + +It seemed as if there was no longer a drop of blood in my veins, when +at last my name was called. + +I stepped up, seeing and hearing nothing; I put my hand in the box and +drew a number. + +Monsieur the Sub-Prefect cried out: + +"Number seventeen." + +Then I left without speaking, Catharine and her mother behind me. We +went out into the square, and, the air reviving me, I remembered that I +had drawn number seventeen. + +Aunt Gredel seemed confounded. + +"And I put something into your pocket, too," said she; "but that rascal +of a Pinacle gave you ill-luck." + +At the same time she drew from my coat-pocket the end of a cord. Great +drops of sweat rolled down my forehead; Catharine was white as marble, +and so we went back to Monsieur Goulden's. + +"What number did you draw, Joseph?" he asked, as soon as he saw us. + +"Seventeen," replied Aunt Gredel, sitting down with her hands upon her +knees. + +Monsieur Goulden seemed troubled for a moment, but he said instantly: + +"One is as good as another. All will go; the skeletons must be filled. +But it don't matter for Joseph. I will go and see Monsieur the Mayor +and Monsieur the Commandant. It will be telling no lie to say that +Joseph is lame; all the town knows that; but among so many they may +overlook him. That is why I go, so rest easy; do not be anxious." + +These words of good Monsieur Goulden reassured Aunt Gredel and +Catharine, who returned to Quatre-Vents full of hope; but they did not +affect me, for from that moment I had not a moment of rest day or night. + +The Emperor had a good custom: he did not allow the conscripts to +languish at home. Soon as the drawing was complete, the council of +revision met, and a few days after came the orders of march. He did +not do like those tooth-pullers who first show you their pincers and +hooks and gaze for an hour into your mouth, so that you feel half dead +before they make up their minds to begin work: he proceeded without +loss of time. + +A week after the drawing, the council of revision sat at the town-hall, +with all the mayors and a few notables of the country to give advice in +case of need. + +The day before Monsieur Goulden had put on his brown great-coat and his +best wig to go to wind up Monsieur the Mayor's clock and that of the +Commandant. He returned laughing and said: + +"All goes well, Joseph. Monsieur the Mayor and Monsieur the Commandant +know that you are lame; that is easy enough to be seen. They replied +at once, Eh, Monsieur Goulden, the young man is lame; why speak of him? +Do not be uneasy; we do not want the infirm; we want soldiers." + +These words poured balm on my wounds, and that night I slept like one +of the blessed. But the next day fear again assailed me; I remembered +suddenly how many men full of defects had gone all the same, and how +many others invented defects to deceive the council; for instance, +swallowing injurious substances to make them pale; tying up their legs +to give themselves swollen veins; or playing deaf, blind, or foolish. +Thinking over all these things, I trembled at not being lame enough, +and determined that I would appear sufficiently forlorn. I had heard +that vinegar would make one sick, and without telling Monsieur Goulden, +in my fear I swallowed all the vinegar in his bottle. Then I dressed +myself, thinking that I looked like a dead man, for the vinegar was +very strong; but when I entered Monsieur Goulden's room, he cried out: + +"Joseph, what is the matter with you? You are as red as a cock's comb." + +And, looking at myself in the mirror, I saw that my face was red to my +ears, and to the tip of my nose. I was frightened, but instead of +growing pale I became redder yet, and I cried out in my distress: + +"'Now I am lost indeed! I will seem like a man without a single +defect, and full of health. The vinegar is rushing to my head." + +"What vinegar?" asked Monsieur Goulden. + +"That in your bottle. I drank it to make myself pale, as they say +Mademoiselle Sclapp, the organist does. O heavens! what a fool I was." + +"That does not prevent your being lame," said Monsieur Goulden; "but +you tried to deceive the council, which was dishonest. But it is +half-past nine, and Werner is come to tell me you must be there at ten +o'clock. So, hurry." + +I had to go in that state; the heat of the vinegar seemed bursting from +my cheeks, and when I met Catharine and her mother, who were waiting +for me at the town-house, they scarcely knew me. + +"How happy and satisfied you look!" said Aunt Gredel. + +I would have fainted on hearing this if the vinegar had not sustained +me in spite of myself. I went upstairs in terrible agony, without +being able to move my tongue to reply, so great was the horror I felt +at my folly. + +Upstairs, more than twenty-five conscripts who pretended to be infirm, +had been examined and received, while twenty-five others, on a bench +along the wall, sat with drooping heads awaiting their turn. + +The old gendarme, Kelz, with his huge cocked hat, was walking about, +and as soon as he saw me, exclaimed: + +"At last! At last! Here is one, at all events, who will not be sorry +to go; the love of glory is shining in his eyes. Very good, Joseph; I +predict that at the end of the campaign you will be corporal." + +"But I am lame," I cried, angrily. + +"Lame!" repeated Kelz, winking and smiling, "lame! No matter. With +such health as yours you can always hold your own." + +He had scarcely ceased speaking when the door of the hall of the +Council of Revision opened, and the other gendarme, Werner, putting out +his head, called me by name, "Joseph Bertha." + +I entered, limping as much as I could, and Werner shut the door. The +mayors of the canton were seated in a semicircle, Monsieur the +Sub-Prefect and the Mayor of Phalsbourg in the middle, in arm-chairs, +and the Secretary Freylig at his table. A Harberg conscript was +dressing himself, the gendarme Descarmes helping him put on his +suspenders. This conscript, with a mass of brown hair falling over his +eyes, his neck bare, and his mouth open as he caught his breath, seemed +like a man going to be hanged. Two surgeons--the Surgeon-in-Chief of +the Hospital, with another in uniform--were conversing in the middle of +the hall. They turned to me saying, "Undress yourself." + +I did so, even to my shirt. The others looked on. + +Monsieur the Sub-Prefect observed: + +"There is a young man full of health." + +These words angered me, but I nevertheless replied respectfully: + +"I am lame, Monsieur the Sub-Prefect." + +The surgeon examined me, and the one from the hospital, to whom +Monsieur the Commandant had doubtless spoken of me, said: + +"The left leg is a little short." + +"Bah!" said the other; "it is sound." + +Then placing his hand upon my chest he said, "The conformation is good. +Cough." + +I coughed as feebly as I could; but he found me all right, and said +again: + +"Look at his color. How good his blood must be!" + +Then I, seeing that they would pass me if I remained silent, replied: + +"I have been drinking vinegar." + +"Ah!" said he; "that proves you have a good stomach; you like vinegar." + +"But I am lame!" I cried in my distress. + +"Bah! don't grieve at that," he answered; "your leg is sound. I'll +answer for it." + +"But that," said Monsieur the Mayor, "does not prevent his being lame +from birth; all Phalsbourg knows that." + +"The leg is too short," said the surgeon from the hospital; "it is +doubtless a case for exemption." + +"Yes," said the Mayor; "I am sure that this young man could not endure +a long march; he would drop on the road the second mile." + +The first surgeon said nothing more. + +I thought myself saved, when Monsieur the Sub-Prefect asked: + +"You are really Joseph Bertha?" + +"Yes, Monsieur the Sub-Prefect," I answered. + +"Well, gentlemen," said he, taking a letter out of his portfolio, +"listen." + +He began to read the letter, which stated that, six months before, I +had bet that I could go to Laverne and back quicker than Pinacle; that +we had run the race, and I had won. + +It was unhappily too true. The villain Pinacle had always taunted me +with being a cripple, and in my anger I laid the wager. Every one knew +of it. I could not deny it. + +While I stood utterly confounded, the first surgeon said: + +"That settles the question. Dress yourself." And turning to the +secretary, he cried, "Good for service." + +I took up my coat in despair. + +Werner called another. I no longer saw anything. Some one helped me +to get my arms in my coat-sleeves. Then I found myself upon the +stairs, and while Catharine asked me what had poised, I sobbed aloud +and would have fallen from top to bottom if Aunt Gredel had not +supported me. + +We went out by the rear-way and crossed the little court. I wept like +a child, and Catharine did too. Out in the hall, in the shadow, we +stopped to embrace each other. + +Aunt Gredel cried out: + +"Oh the robbers! They are taking the lame and the sick. It is all the +same to them; next they will take us." + +A crowd began collecting, and Sepel the butcher, who was cutting meat +in the stall, said: + +"Mother Gredel, in the name of Heaven keep quiet. They will put you in +prison." + +"Well, let them put me there!" she cried, "let them murder me. I say +that men are fools to allow such outrages!" + +But the _sergent-de-ville_ was coming up, and we went on together +weeping. We turned the corner of Cafe Hemmerle, and went into our own +house. People looked at us from the windows and said, "There is +another one who is going." + +Monsieur Goulden knowing that Aunt Gredel and Catharine would come to +dine with us the day of the revision, had had a stuffed goose and two +bottles of good Alsace wine sent from the "Golden Sheep." He was sure +that I would be exempted at once. What was his surprise, then, to see +us enter together in such distress. + +"What is the matter?" said he, raising his silk cap over his bald +forehead, and staring at us with eyes wide open. + +I had not strength enough to answer. I threw myself into the arm-chair +and burst into tears. Catharine sat down beside me, and our sobs +redoubled. + +Aunt Gredel said: + +"The robbers have taken him." + +"It is not possible!" exclaimed Monsieur Goulden, letting fall his arms +by his side. + +"It shows their villainy," replied my aunt, and growing more and more +excited, she cried, "Will a revolution never come again? Shall those +wretches always be our masters?" + +"Calm yourself, Mother Gredel," said Monsieur Goulden. "In the name of +Heaven don't cry so loud. Joseph, tell me how it happened. They are +surely mistaken; it cannot be otherwise. Did Monsieur the Mayor and +the hospital surgeon say nothing?" + +I told the history of the letter between my sobs, and Aunt Gredel, who +until then knew nothing of it, again shrieked with her hands clinched. + +"O the scoundrel! God grant that he may cross my threshold again. I +will cleave his head with my hatchet." + +Monsieur Goulden was astounded. + +"And you did not say that it was false. Then the story was true?"' + +And as I bowed my head without replying he clasped his hands, saying: + +"O youth! youth! it thinks of nothing. What folly! what folly!" + +He walked around the room; then sat down to wipe his spectacles, and +Aunt Gredel exclaimed: + +"Yes, but they shall not have him yet! Their wickedness shall yet go +for nothing. This very evening Joseph shall be in the mountains on the +way to Switzerland." + +Monsieur Goulden hearing this, looked grave; he bent his brows, and +replied in a few moments: "It is a misfortune, a great misfortune, for +Joseph is really lame. They will yet find it out, for he cannot march +two days without falling behind and becoming sick. But you are wrong, +Mother Gredel, to speak as you do and give him bad advice." + +"Bad advice!" she cried. "Then you are for having people massacred +too!" + +"No," he answered; "I do not love wars, especially where a hundred +thousand men lose their lives for the glory of one. But wars of that +kind are ended. It is not now for glory and to win new kingdoms that +soldiers are levied, but to defend our country, which had been put in +danger by tyranny and ambition. We would gladly have peace now. +Unhappily, the Russians are advancing; the Prussians are joining them: +and our friends, the Austrians, only await a good opportunity to fall +upon our rear. If we do not go to meet them, they will come to our +homes; for we are about to have Europe on our hands as we had in '93. +It is now a different matter from our wars in Spain, in Russia, and in +Germany; and I, old as I am, Mother Gredel, if the danger continues to +increase and the veterans of the republic are needed, I would be +ashamed to go and make clocks in Switzerland while others were pouring +out their blood to defend my country. Besides, remember this well, +that deserters are despised everywhere; after having committed such an +act, they have no kindred or home anywhere. They have neither father, +mother, church nor country. They are incapable of fulfilling the first +duty of man--to love and sustain their country, even though she be in +the wrong." + +He said no more at the moment, but sat gravely down. + +"Let us eat," he exclaimed, after some minutes of silence. "It is +striking twelve o'clock. Mother Gredel and Catharine, seat yourselves +there." + +They sat down, and we began dinner. I thought of the words of Monsieur +Goulden, which seemed right to me. Aunt Gredel compressed her lips, +and from time to time gazed at me as if to read my thoughts. At length +she said: + +"I despise a country where they take fathers of families after carrying +off the sons. If I were in Joseph's place, I would fly at once." + +"Listen, Aunt Gredel," I replied; "you know that I love nothing so much +as peace and quiet, but I would not, nevertheless, run away like a +coward to another country. But, notwithstanding, I will do as +Catharine says; if she wishes me to go to Switzerland, I will go." + +Then Catharine, lowering her head to hide her tears, said in a low +voice: + +"I would not have them call you a deserter." + +"Well, then, I will do like the others," I cried; "and as those of +Phalsbourg and Dagsberg are going to the wars, I will go." + +Monsieur Goulden made no remark. + +"Every one is free to do as he pleases," said he, after a while; "but I +am glad that Joseph thinks as I do." + +Then there was silence, and toward two o'clock Aunt Gredel arose and +took her basket. She seemed utterly cast down, and said: + +"Joseph, you will not listen to me, but no matter. With God's grace, +all will yet be well. You will return if He wills it, and Catharine +will wait for you." + +Catharine wept again, and I more than she; so that Monsieur Goulden +himself could not help shedding tears. + +At length Catharine and her mother descended the stairs, and Aunt +Gredel called out from the bottom: + +"Try to come and see us once or twice again, Joseph." + +"Yes, yes," I answered, shutting the door. + +I could no longer stand. Never had I been so miserable, and even now, +when I think of it, my heart chills. + + + + +VII + +From that day I could think of nothing but my misfortune. I tried to +work, but my thoughts were far away, and Monsieur Goulden said: + +"Joseph, stop working. Make the most of the little time you can remain +among us; go to see Catharine and Mother Gredel. I still think they +will exempt you, but who can tell? They need men so much that it may +be a long time coming." + +I went every morning then to Quatre-Vents, and passed my days with +Catharine. We were very sorrowful, but very glad to see each other. +We loved one another even more than before, if that were possible. +Catharine sometimes tried to sing as in the good old times; but +suddenly she would burst into tears. Then we wept together, and Aunt +Gredel would rail at the wars which brought misery to every one. She +said that the Council of Revision deserved to be hung; that they were +all robbers, banded together to poison our lives. It solaced us a +little to hear her talk thus, and we thought she was right. + +I returned to the city about eight or nine o'clock in the evening, when +they closed the gates, and as I passed, I saw the small inns full of +conscripts and old returned soldiers drinking together. The conscripts +always paid; the others, with dirty police caps cocked over their ears, +red noses, and horse-hair stocks in place of shirt-collars, twisted +their mustaches and related with majestic air their battles, their +marches, and their duels. One can imagine nothing viler than those +holes, full of smoke, cob-webs hanging on the black beams, those old +sworders and young men drinking, shouting, and beating the tables like +crazy people; and behind, in the shadow, old Annette Schnaps or Marie +Hering--her old wig stuck back on her head, her comb with only three +teeth remaining, crosswise, in it--gazing on the scene, or emptying a +mug to the health of the braves. + +It was sad to see the sons of peasants, honest and laborious fellows, +leading such an existence; but no one thought of working, and any one +of them would have given his life for two farthings. Worn out with +shouting, drinking, and internal grief, they ended by falling asleep +over the table, while the old fellows emptied their cups, singing: + + "'Tis glory calls us on!" + + +I saw these things, and I blessed heaven for having given me, in my +wretchedness, kind hearts to keep up my courage, and prevent my falling +into such hands. + +This state of affairs lasted until the twenty-fifth of January. For +some days a great number of Italian conscripts--Piedmontese and +Genoese--had been arriving in the city; some stout and fat as Savoyards +fed upon chestnuts--their cocked hats on their curly heads; their +linsey-woolsey pantaloons dyed a dark green, and their short vests also +of wool, but brick-red, fastened around their waists by a leather belt. +They wore enormous shoes, and ate their cheese seated along the old +market-place. Others were dried up, lean, brown, shivering in their +long cassocks, seeing nothing but snow upon the roofs and gazing with +their large, black, mournful eyes upon the women who passed. They were +exercised every day in marching, and were going to fill up the skeleton +of the Sixth regiment of the line at Mayence, and were then resting for +a while in the infantry barracks. + +The captain of the recruits, who was named Vidal, lodged over our room. +He was a square-built, solid, very strong-looking man, and was, too, +very kind and civil. He came to us to have his watch repaired, and +when he learned that I was a conscript and was afraid I should never +return, he encouraged me, saying that it was all habit; that at the end +of five or six months one fights and marches as he eats his dinner; and +that many so accustom themselves to shooting at people that they +consider themselves unhappy when they are deprived of that amusement. + +But his mode of reasoning was not to my taste; the more so as I saw +five or six large grains of powder on one of his cheeks, which had +entered deeply, and as he explained to me that they came from a shot +which a Russian fired almost under his nose, such a life disgusted me +more and more, and as several days had already passed without news, I +began to think they had forgotten me, as they did Jacob, of Chevre Hof, +of whose extraordinary luck every one yet talks. Aunt Gredel herself +said to me every time I went there, "Well, well! they will let us alone +after all!" When, on the morning of the twenty-fifth of January, as I +was about starting for Quatre-Vents, Monsieur Goulden, who was working +at his bench with a thoughtful air, turned to me with tears in his eyes +and said: + +"Listen, Joseph! I wanted to let you have one night more of quiet +sleep; but you must know now, my child, that yesterday evening the +brigadier of the _gendarmes_ brought me your marching orders. You go +with the Piedmontese and Genoese and five or six young men of the +city--young Klipfel, young Loerig, Jean Leger, and Gaspard Zebede. You +go to Mayence." + +I felt my knees give way as he spoke, and I sat down unable to speak. +Monsieur Goulden took my marching orders, beautifully written, out of a +drawer, and began to read them slowly. All that I remember is that +Joseph Bertha, native of Dabo, Canton of Phalsbourg, Arrondissement of +Sarrebourg, was incorporated in the Sixth regiment of the line, and +that he was to join his corps the twenty-ninth of January at Mayence. + +This letter produced as bad an effect on me as if I had known nothing +of it before. It seemed something new, and I grew angry. + +Monsieur Goulden, after a moment's silence, added: + +"The Italians start to-day at eleven." + +Then, as if awakening from a horrible dream, I cried: + +"But shall I not see Catharine again?" + +"Yes, Joseph, yes," said he, in a trembling voice. "I notified Mother +Gredel and Catharine, and thus, my boy, they will come, and you can +embrace them before leaving." + +I saw his grief, and it made me sadder yet, so that I had a hard +struggle to keep myself from bursting into tears. + +He continued after a pause: + +"You need not be anxious about anything, Joseph. I have prepared all +beforehand; and when you return, if it please God to keep me so long in +this world, you will find me always the same. I am beginning to grow +old, and my greatest happiness would be to keep you for a son, for I +found you good-hearted and honest. I would have given you what I +possess, and we would have been happy together. Catharine and you +would have been my children. But since it is otherwise, let us be +resigned. It is only for a little while. You will be sent back, I am +sure. They will soon see that you cannot make long marches." + +While he spoke, I sat silently sobbing, my face buried in my hands. + +At last he arose and took from a closet a soldier's knapsack of +cowskin, which he placed upon the table. I looked at him, thinking of +nothing but the pain of parting. + +"Here is your knapsack," he added; "and I have put in it all that you +require; two linen shirts, two flannel waistcoats, and all the rest. +You will receive at Mayence two soldier's shirts,--all that you will +need; but I have made for you some shoes, for nothing is worse than +those given the soldiers, which are almost always of horse-hide and +chafe the feet fearfully. You are none too strong in your leg, my poor +boy. Well, well, that is all." + +He placed the knapsack upon the table and sat down. + +Without, we heard the Italians making ready to depart. Above us +Captain Vidal was giving his orders. He had his horse at the barracks +of the gendarmerie, and was telling his orderly to see that he was well +rubbed and had received his hay. + +All this bustle and movement produced a strange effect upon me, and I +could not yet realize that I must quit the city. As I was thus in the +greatest distress, the door opened and Catharine entered weeping, while +Mother Gredel cried out: + +"I told you you should have fled to Switzerland; that these rogues +would finish by carrying you off. I told you so, and you would not +believe me." + +"Mother Gredel," replied Monsieur Goulden, "to go to do his duty is not +so great an evil as to be despised by honest people. Instead of all +these cries and reproaches, which serve no good purpose, you would do +better to comfort and encourage Joseph." + +"Ah!" said she; "I do not reproach him, although this is terrible." + +Catharine did not leave me; she sat by me and we embraced each other, +and she said, pressing my arm: + +"You will return?" + +"Yes, yes," said I, in a low voice. "And you--you will always think of +me; you will not love another?" + +She answered, sobbing: + +"No, no! I will never love any but you." + +This lasted a quarter of an hour, when the door opened and Captain +Vidal entered, his cloak rolled like a hunting-horn over his shoulder. + +"Well," said he, "well; how goes our young man?" + +"Here he is," answered Monsieur Goulden. + +"Ah!" remarked the captain; "you are making yourself miserable. It is +natural. I remember when I departed for the army. We have all a home." + +Then, raising his voice, he said: + +"Come, come, young man, courage! We are no longer children." + +He looked at Catharine. + +"I see all," said he to Monsieur Goulden. "I can understand why he +does not want to go." + +The drums beat in the street and he added: + +"We have yet twenty minutes before starting," and, throwing a glance at +me, "Do not fail to be at the first call, young man," said he, pressing +Monsieur Goulden's hand. + +He went out, and we heard his horse pawing at the door. + +The morning was overcast, and grief overwhelmed me. I could not leave +Catharine. + +Suddenly the roll beat. The drums were all collected in the square. +Monsieur Goulden, taking the knapsack by its straps, said in a grave +voice: + +"Joseph, now the last embrace: it is time to go." + +I stood up, pale as ashes. He fastened the knapsack to my shoulders. +Catharine sat sobbing, her face covered with her apron. Aunt Gredel +looked on with lips compressed. + +The roll continued for a time, then suddenly ceased. + +"The call is about commencing," said Monsieur Goulden, embracing me. +Then the fountains of his heart burst forth; tears sprang to his eyes; +and calling me his child, his son, he whispered, "Courage!" + +Aunt Gredel seated herself again, and as I bent toward her, taking my +head between her hands, she sobbed: + +"I always loved you, Joseph; ever since you were a baby. You never +gave me cause of grief--and now you must go. O God! O God!" + +I wept no longer. + +When Aunt Gredel released me, I looked a moment at Catharine, who stood +motionless. I rushed to her and threw myself on her neck. She still +kept her seat. Then I turned quickly to go, when she cried, in +heart-breaking tones: + +"O Joseph! Joseph!" + +I looked back. We threw ourselves into each other's arms, and for some +minutes remained so, sobbing. Her strength seemed to leave her, and I +placed her in the arm-chair, and rushed out of the house. + +I was already on the square, in the midst of the Italians and of a +crowd of people crying for their sons or brothers. I saw nothing; I +heard nothing. + +When the roll of the drums began again, I looked around, and saw that I +was between Klipfel and Furst, all three with our knapsacks on our +backs. Their parents stood before us, weeping as if at their funeral. +To the right, near the town-hall, Captain Vidal, on his little gray +horse, was conversing with two infantry officers. The sergeants called +the roll, and we answered. They called Zebede, Furst, Klipfel, Bertha; +we answered like the others. Then the captain gave the word, "March!" +and we went, two abreast, toward the French gate. + +At the corner of Spitz's bakery, an old woman cried, in a choking +voice, from a window: + +"Kasper! Kasper!" + +It was Zebede's grandmother. His lips trembled. He waved his hand +without replying, and passed on with downcast face. + +I shuddered at the thought of passing my home. As we neared it, my +knees trembled, and I heard some one call at the window; but I turned +my head toward the "Red Ox," and the rattle of the drums drowned the +voices. + +The children ran after us, shouting: + +"There goes Joseph! there goes Klipfel!" + +Under the French gate, the men on guard, drawn up in line on each side, +gazed on us as we passed at shoulder arms. We passed the outposts, and +the drum ceased playing as we turned to the right. Nothing was heard +but the plash of footsteps in the mud, for the snow was melting. + +We had passed the farm-house of Gerberhoff, and were going to the great +bridge, when I heard some one call me. It was the captain, who cried +from his horse: + +"Very well done, young man; I am satisfied with you." + +Hearing this, I could not help again bursting into tears, and the big +Furst, too, wept, as we marched along; the others, pale as marble, said +nothing. At the bridge, Zebede took out his pipe to smoke. In front +of us, the Italians talked and laughed among themselves; their three +weeks of service had accustomed them to this life. + +Once on the way to Metting, more than a league from the city, as we +began to descend, Klipfel touched me on the shoulder, and whispered: + +"Look yonder." + +I looked, and saw Phalsbourg far beneath us; the barracks, the +magazines, the steeple whence I had seen Catharine's home six weeks +before, with old Brainstein--all were in the gray distance, with the +woods all around. I would have stopped a few moments, but the squad +marched on, and I had to keep pace with them. We entered Metting. + + + + +VIII + +That same day we went as far as Bitche; the next, to Hornbach; then to +Kaiserslautern. It began to snow again. + +How often during that long march did I sigh for the thick cloak of +Monsieur Goulden, and his double-soled shoes. + +We passed through innumerable villages, sometimes on the mountains, +sometimes in the plains. As we entered each little town, the drums +began to beat, and we marched with heads erect, marking the step, +trying to assume the mien of old soldiers. The people looked out of +their little windows, or came to the doors, saying, "There go the +conscripts!" + +At night we halted, glad to rest our weary feet--I, especially. I +cannot say that my leg hurt me, but my feet! I had never undergone +such fatigue. With our billet for lodging we had the right to a corner +of the fire, but our hosts also gave us a place at the table. We had +nearly always buttermilk and potatoes, and often fresh cheese or a dish +of sauerkraut. The children came to look at us, and the old women +asked us from what place we came, and what our business was before we +left home. The young girls looked sorrowfully at us, thinking of their +sweethearts, who had gone five, six, or seven months before. Then they +would take us to their son's bed. With what pleasure I stretched out +my tired limbs! How I wished to sleep all our twelve hours' halt! But +early in the morning, at daybreak, the rattling of the drums awoke me. +I gazed at the brown rafters of the ceiling, the window-panes covered +with frost, and asked myself where I was. Then my heart would grow +cold, as I thought that I was at Bitche--at Kaiserslautern--that I was +a conscript; and I had to dress fast as I could, catch up my knapsack, +and answer the roll-call. + +"A good journey to you!" said the hostess, awakened so early in the +morning. + +"Thank you," replied the conscript. + +And we marched on. + +Yes! a good journey to you! They will not see you again, poor wretch! +How many others have followed the same road! + +I will never forget how at Kaiserslautern, the second day of our march, +having unstrapped my knapsack to take out a white shirt, I discovered, +beneath, a little pocket, and opening it I found fifty-four francs in +six-livre pieces. On the paper wrapped around them were these words, +written by Monsieur Goulden: + +"While you are at the wars, be always good and honest. Think of your +friends and of those for whom you would be willing to sacrifice your +life, and treat the enemy with humanity that they may so treat our +soldiers. May Heaven guide you, and protect you in your dangers! You +will find some money enclosed; for it is a good thing, when far from +home and all who love you, to have a little of it. Write to us as +often as you can. I embrace you, my child, and press you to my heart." + +As I read this, the tears forced themselves to my eyes, and I thought, +"Thou are not wholly abandoned, Joseph: fond hearts are yearning toward +you. Never forget their kind counsels." + +At last, on the fifth day, about ten o'clock in the evening, we entered +Mayence. As long as I live I will remember it. It was terribly cold. +We had begun our march at early dawn, and long before reaching the +city, had passed through villages filled with soldiers--cavalry, +infantry, dragoons in their short jackets--some digging holes in the +ice to get water for their horses, others dragging bundles of forage to +the doors of the stables; powder-wagons, carts full of cannon-balls, +all white with frost, stood on every side; couriers, detachments of +artillery, pontoon-trains, were coming and going over the white ground; +and no more attention was paid to us than if we were not in existence. + +Captain Vidal, to warm himself, had dismounted and marched with us on +foot. The officers and sergeants hastened us on. Five or six Italians +had fallen behind and remained in the villages, no longer able to +advance. My feet wore sore and burning, and at the last halt I could +scarcely rise to resume the march. The others from Phalsbourg, +however, kept bravely on. + +Night had fallen; the sky sparkled with stars. Every one gazed +forward, and said to his comrade, "We are nearing it! we are nearing +it!" for along the horizon a dark line of seeming cloud, glittering +here and there with flashing points, told that a great city lay before +us. + +At last we entered the advanced works, and passed through the zigzag +earthen bastions. Then we dressed our ranks and marked the step, as we +usually did when approaching a town. At the corner of a sort of +demilune we saw the frozen fosse of the city, and the brick ramparts +towering above, and opposite us an old, dark gate, with the drawbridge +raised. Above stood a sentinel, who, with his musket raised, cried out: + +"Who goes there?" + +The captain, going forward alone, replied: + +"France!" + +"What regiment?" + +"Recruits for the Sixth of the Line." + +A silence ensued. Then the drawbridge was lowered, and the guard +turned out and examined us, one of them carrying a great torch. +Captain Vidal, a few paces in advance of us, spoke to the commandant of +the post, who called out at length: + +"Pass when you please." + +Our drums began to beat, but the captain ordered them to cease, and we +crossed a long bridge and passed through a second gate like the first. +Then we were in the streets of the city, which were paved with smooth +round stones. Every one tried his best to march steadily; for, +although it was night, all the inns and shops along the way were opened +and their large windows were shining, and hundreds of people were +passing to and fro as if it were broad day. + +We turned five or six corners and soon arrived in a little open place +before a high barrack, where we were ordered to halt. + +There was a shed at the corner of the barrack, and in it a _cantiniere_ +seated behind a small table, under a great tri-colored umbrella from +which hung two lanterns. + +Several officers came up as soon as we halted: they were the Commandant +Gemeau and some others whom I have since known. They pressed our +captain's hand laughing, then looked at us and ordered the roll to be +called. After that, we each received a ration of bread and a billet +for lodging. We were told that roll-call would take place the next +morning at eight o'clock for the distribution of arms, and then, we +were ordered to break ranks, while the officers turned up a street to +the left and went into a great coffee-house, the entrance of which was +approached by a flight of fifteen steps. + +But we, with our billets for lodging--what were we to do with them in +the middle of such a city, and, above all, the Italians, who did not +know a word either of German or French? + +My first idea was to see the _cantiniere_ under her umbrella. She was +an old Alsatian, round and chubby, and, when I asked for the +_Capougner-Strasse_, she replied: + +"What will you pay for?" + +I was obliged to take a glass of brandy with her; then she said: + +"Look just opposite there; if you turn the first corner to the right, +you will find the _Capougner-Strasse_. Good-evening, conscript." + +She laughed. + +Big Furst and Zebede were also billeted in the _Capougner-Strasse_, and +we set out, glad enough to be able to limp together through the strange +city. + +Furst found his house first, but it was shut; and while he was knocking +at the door, I found mine, which had a light in two windows. I pushed +at the door, it opened, and I entered a dark alley, whence came a smell +of fresh bread, which was very welcome. Zebede had to go farther on. + +I called out in the alley: + +"Is any one here?" + +Just then an old woman appeared with a candle at the top of a wooden +staircase. + +"What do you want?" she asked. + +I told her that I was billeted at her house. She came downstairs, and, +looking at my billet, told me in German to follow her. + +I ascended the stairs. Passing an open door, I saw two men naked to +the waist at work before an oven. I was, then, at a baker's, and her +having so much work accounted for the old woman being up so late. She +wore a cap with black ribbons, a large blue apron, and her arms were +bare to the elbows; she, too, had been working, and seemed very +sorrowful. She led me into a good-sized room with a porcelain stove +and a bed at the farther end. + +"You come late," she said. + +"We were marching all day," I replied, "and I am fainting with hunger +and weariness." + +She looked at me and I heard her say: + +"Poor child! poor child! Well, take off your shoes and put on these +sabots." + +Then she made me sit before the stove, and asked: + +"Are your feet sore?" + +"Yes, they have been so for three days." + +She put the candle upon the table and went out. I took off my coat and +shoes. My feet were blistered and bleeding, and pained me horribly, +and I felt for the moment as if it would almost be better to die at +once than continue in such suffering. + +This thought had more than once arisen to my mind in the march, but +now, before that good fire, I felt so worn, so miserable, that I would +gladly have lain myself down to sleep forever, notwithstanding +Catharine, Aunt Gredel, and all who loved me. Truly, I needed God's +assistance. + +While these thoughts were running through my head, the door opened, and +a tall, stout man, gray-haired, but yet strong and healthy, entered. +He was one of those I had seen at work below, and held in his hands a +bottle of wine and two glasses. + +"Good-evening!" said he, gravely and kindly. + +I looked up. The old woman was behind him. She was carrying a little +wooden tub, which she placed on the floor near my chair. + +"Take a foot-bath," said she; "it will do you good." + +This kindness on the part of a stranger affected me more than I cared +to show, and I thought: "There are kind people in the world." I took +off my stockings; my feet were bleeding, and the good old dame +repeated, as she gazed at them: + +"Poor child! poor child!" + +The man asked me whence I came. I told him from Phalsbourg in +Lorraine. Then he told his wife to bring some bread, adding that, +after we had taken a glass of wine together, he would leave me to the +repose I needed so much. + +He pushed the table before me, as I sat with my feet in the bath, and +we each drained a glass of good white wine. The old woman returned +with some hot bread, over which she had spread fresh, half-melted +butter. Then I knew how hungry I was. I was almost ill. The good +people saw my eagerness for food; for the woman said: + +"Before eating, my child, you must take your feet out of the bath." + +She knelt down and dried my feet with her apron before I knew what she +was about to do. I cried: + +"Good Heavens! madame; you treat me as if I were your son." + +She replied, after a moment's mournful silence: + +"We have a son in the army." + +Her voice trembled as she spoke, and my heart bled within me. I +thought of Catharine and Aunt Gredel, and could not speak again. I ate +and drank with a pleasure I never before felt in doing so. The two old +people sat gazing kindly on me, and, when I had finished, the man said: + +"Yes, we have a son in the army; he went to Russia last year, and we +have not since heard from him. These wars are terrible!" + +He spoke dreamily, as if to himself, all the while walking up and down +the room, his hands crossed behind his back. My eyes began to close +when he said suddenly: + +"Come, wife. Good-night, conscript." + +They went out together, she carrying the tub. + +"God reward you," I cried, "and bring your son safe home!" + +In a minute I was undressed, and, sinking on the bed, I was almost +immediately buried in a deep sleep. + + + + +IX + +The next morning I awoke at about seven o'clock. A trumpet was +sounding the recall at the corner of the street; horses, wagons, and +men and women on foot were hurrying past the house. My feet were yet +somewhat sore, but nothing to what they had been; and when I had +dressed, I felt like a new man, and thought to myself: + +"Joseph, if this continues, you will soon be a soldier. It is only the +first step that costs." + +I dressed in this cheerful mood. The baker's wife had put my shoes to +dry before the fire, after filling them with hot ashes to keep them +from growing hard. They were well greased and shining. + +Then I buckled on my knapsack, and hurried out, without having time to +thank those good people--a duty I intended to fulfil after roll-call. +At the end of the street--on the square--many of our Italians were +already waiting, shivering around the fountain. Furst, Klipfel, and +Zebede arrived a moment after. + +Cannon and their caissons covered one entire side of the square. +Horses were being brought to water, led by hussars and dragoons. +Opposite us were cavalry barracks, high as the church at Phalsbourg, +while around the other three sides rose old houses with sculptured +gables, like those at Saverne, but much larger. I had never seen +anything like all this, and while I stood gazing around, the drums +began to beat, and each man took his place in the ranks, and we were +informed, first in Italian and then in French, that we were about to +receive our arms, and each one was ordered to stand forth as his name +was called. + +The wagons containing the arms now came up, and the call began. Each +received a cartouche-box, a sabre, a bayonet, and a musket. We put +them on as well as we could, over our blouses, coats or great-coats, +and we looked, with our hats, our caps, and our arms, like a veritable +band of banditti. My musket was so long and heavy that I could +scarcely carry it; and the Sergeant Pinto showed me how to buckle on +the cartouche-box. He was a fine fellow, Pinto. + +So many belts crossing my chest made me feel as if I could scarcely +breathe, and I saw at once that my miseries had not yet ended. + +After the arms, an ammunition-wagon advanced, and they distributed +fifty rounds of cartridges to each man. This was no pleasant augury. +Then, instead of ordering us to break ranks and return to our lodgings, +Captain Vidal drew his sabre and shouted: + +"By file right--march!" + +The drums began to beat. I was grieved at not being able to thank my +hosts for their kindness, and thought that they would consider me +ungrateful. But that did not prevent my following the line of march. + +We passed through a long winding street, and soon found ourselves +without the glacis, and near the frozen Rhine. Across the river high +hills appeared, and on the hills, old, gray, ruined castles, like those +of Haut-Bas and Geroldseck in the Vosges. + +The battalion descended to the river-bank, and crossed upon the ice. +The scene was magnificent--dazzling. We were not alone on the ice; +five or six hundred paces before us there was a train of powder wagons +guarded by artillerymen on the way to Frankfort. Crossing the river we +continued our march for five hours through the mountains. Sometimes we +discovered villages in the defiles; and Zebede, who was next to me, +said: + +"As we had to leave home, I would rather go as a soldier than +otherwise. At least we shall see something new every day, and, if we +are lucky enough ever to return, how much we will have to talk of!" + +"Yes," said I; "but I would like better to have less to talk about, and +to live quietly, toiling on my own account and not on account of +others, who remain safe at home while we climb about here on the ice." + +"You do not care for glory," said he; "and yet glory is something." + +And I answered him: + +"Glory is not for such as we, Zebede; it is for others who live well, +eat well, and sleep well. They have dancings and rejoicings, as we see +by the gazettes, and glory too in the bargain, when we have won it by +dint of sweat, fasting and broken bones. But poor wretches like us, +forced away from home, when at last they return, after losing their +habits of labor and industry, and, mayhap a limb, get but little of +your glory. Many a one, among their old friends--no better men than +they--who were not, perhaps so good workmen, have made money during the +conscript's seven years of war, have opened a shop, married their +sweethearts, had pretty children, are men of position--city +councillors--notables. And when the others, who have returned from +seeking glory by killing their fellow-men, pass by with their chevrons +on their arms, those old friends turn a cold shoulder upon them, and if +the soldier has a red nose through drinking brandy which was necessary +to keep his blood warm in the rain, the snow, the forced march, while +they were drinking good wine, they say--'There goes a drunkard!' and +the poor conscript, who only asked to be let stay at home and work, +becomes a sort of beggar. This is what I think about the matter, +Zebede; I cannot see the justice of all this, and I would rather have +these friends of glory go fight themselves, and leave us to remain in +peace at home." + +"Well," he replied, "I think much as you do, but, as we are forced to +fight, it is as well to say that we are fighting for glory. If we go +about looking miserable, people will laugh at us." + +Conversing thus, we reached a large river, which, the sergeant told us, +was the Main, and near it, upon our road, was a little village. We did +not know the name of the village, but there we halted. + +We entered the houses, and those who could bought some brandy, wine, +and bread. Those who had no money crunched their ration of biscuits, +and gazed wistfully at their more fortunate comrades. + +About five in the evening we arrived at Frankfort, which is a city yet +older than Mayence, and full of Jews. They took us to a place called +Saxenhausen, where the Tenth Hussars and the Baden Chasseurs were in +barracks,--old buildings which were formerly a hospital, as I was told +and believe, for within there was a large yard, with arches under the +walls; beneath these arches the horses were stabled, and in the rooms +above, the men. + +We arrived at this place after passing through innumerable little +streets, so narrow that we could scarcely see the stars between the +chimneys. Captain Florentin, and the two lieutenants, Clavel and +Bretonville, were awaiting us. After roll-call our sergeants led us by +detachments to the rooms above the Chasseurs. They were great halls +with little windows, and between the windows were the beds. + +Sergeant Pinto hung his lantern to the pillar in the middle; each man +placed his piece in the rack, and then took off his knapsack, his +blouse and his shoes, without speaking. Zebede was my bed-fellow. God +knows we were sleepy enough. Twenty minutes after, we were buried in +slumber. + + + + +X + +At Frankfort I learned to understand military life. Up to that time I +had been but a simple conscript, then I became a soldier. I do not +speak merely of drill,--the way of turning the head right or left, +measuring the steps, lifting the hand to the height of the first or +second band to load, aiming, recovering arms at the word of +command--that is only an affair of a month or two, if a man really +desires to learn; but I speak of discipline--of remembering that the +corporal is always in the right when he speaks to a private soldier, +the sergeant when he speaks to the corporal, the sergeant-major when +speaking to the sergeant, the second lieutenant when he orders the +sergeant-major, and so on to the Marshal of France--even if the +superior asserts that two and two make five, or that the moon shines at +midday. + +This is very difficult to learn; but there is one thing that assists +you immensely, and that is a sort of placard hung up in every room in +the barracks, and which is from time to time read to you. This placard +presupposes everything that a soldier might wish to do, as, for +instance, to return home, to refuse to serve, to resist his officer, +and always ends by speaking of death, or at least five years with a +ball and chain. + +The day after our arrival at Frankfort I wrote to Monsieur Goulden, to +Catharine, and to Aunt Gredel. You may imagine how sadly. It seemed +to me, in addressing them, that I was yet at home. I told them of the +hardships I had undergone, of the good luck that had happened to me at +Mayence, and the courage it required not to drop behind in the march. +I told them that I was in good health, for which I thanked God, and +that I was even stronger than before I left home, and sent them a +thousand remembrances. Our Phalsbourg conscripts, who saw me writing, +made me add a few words for each of their families. I wrote also to +Mayence, to the good couple of the _Capougner-Strasse_, who had been so +kind to me, telling them how I was forced to march without being able +to thank them, and asking their forgiveness for so doing. + +That day, in the afternoon, we received our uniforms. Dozens of Jews +made their appearance and bought our old clothes. I kept only my shoes +and stockings. The Italians had great difficulty in making these +respectable merchants comprehend their wishes, but the Genoese were as +cunning as the Jews, and their bargainings lasted until night. Our +corporals received more than one glass of wine; it was policy to make +friends of them, for morning and evening they taught us the drill in +the snow-covered yard. The _cantiniere_ Christine was always at her +post with a warming-pan under her feet. She took young men of good +family into special favor, and the young men of good family were all +those who spent their money freely. Poor fools! How many of them +parted with their last _sou_ in return for her miserable flattery! +When that was gone they were mere beggars; but vanity rules all, from +the conscripts to the generals. + +All this time recruits were constantly arriving from France, and +ambulances full of wounded from Poland. What a sight was that before +the hospital Saint Esprit on the other side of the river! It was a +procession without an end. All these poor wretches were frost-bitten; +some had their noses, some their ears frozen, others an arm, others a +leg! They were laid in the snow to prevent them from dropping to +pieces. Others got out of the carts clinging and holding on, and +looked at you like wild beasts, their eyes sunk in their heads, their +hair bristling up: the gypsies who sleep in nooks in the woods would +have had pity on them; and yet these were the best off, because they +escaped from the carnage, while thousands of their comrades had +perished in the snow, or on the battle-field. Klipfel, Zebede, Furst, +and I often went to see these poor wretches, and never did we see men +so miserably clad. Some wore jackets which once belonged to Cossacks, +crushed shakos, women's dresses, and many had only handkerchiefs wound +round their feet in lieu of shoes and stockings. They gave us a +history of the retreat from Moscow, and then we knew that the +twenty-ninth bulletin told only truth. + +These stories enraged our men against the Russians. Many said, "If the +war would only begin again, they would have a hard job of it then: it +is not over! it is not over!" I was at times almost overcome with +wrath after hearing some tale of horror; and sometimes I thought to +myself, "Joseph, are you not losing your wits? These Russians are +defending their families, their homes, all that man holds most dear. +We hate them for defending themselves; we would have despised them had +they not done so." + +But about this time an extraordinary event occurred. + +You must know that my comrade, Zebede, was the son of the gravedigger +of Phalsbourg, and sometimes between ourselves we called him +"Gravedigger." This he took in good part from us; but one evening +after drill, as he was crossing the yard, a hussar cried out: + +"Halloo, Gravedigger! help me to drag in these bundles of straw." + +Zebede, turning about, replied: + +"My name is not Gravedigger, and you can drag in your own straw. Do +you take me for a fool?" + +Then the other cried in a still louder tone: + +"Conscript, you had better come, or beware!" + +Zebede, with his great hooked nose, his gray eyes and thin lips, never +bore too good a character for mildness. He went up to the hussar and +asked: + +"What is that you say?" + +"I tell you to take up those bundles of straw, and quickly, too. Do +you hear, conscript?" + +He was quite an old man, with mustaches and red, bushy whiskers. +Zebede seized one of the latter, but received two blows in the face. +Nevertheless, a fist-full of the whisker remained in his grasp, and, as +the dispute had attracted a crowd to the spot, the hussar shook his +finger, saying: + +"You will hear from me to-morrow, conscript." + +"Very good," returned Zebede; "we shall see. You will probably hear +from me too, veteran." + +He came immediately after to tell me all this, and I, knowing that he +had never handled a weapon more warlike than a pickaxe, could not help +trembling for him. + +"Listen, Zebede," I said; "all that there now remains for you to do, +since you do not want to desert, is to ask pardon of this old fellow; +for those veterans all know some fearful tricks of fence which they +have brought from Egypt or Spain, or somewhere else. If you wish, I +will lend you a crown to pay for a bottle of wine to make up the +quarrel." + +But he, knitting his brows, would hear none of this. + +"Rather than beg his pardon," said he, "I would go and hang myself. I +laugh him and his comrades to scorn. If he has tricks of fence, I have +a long arm, that will drive my sabre through his bones as easily as his +will penetrate my flesh." + +The thought of the blows made him insensible to reason; and soon Chazy, +the _maitre d'armes_, Corporal Fleury, Furst, and Leger came in. They +all said that Zebede was in the right, and the _maitre d'armes_ added +that blood alone could wash out the stain of a blow; that the honor of +the recruits required Zebede to fight. + +Zebede answered proudly that the men of Phalsbourg had never feared the +sight of a little blood, and that he was ready. Then the _maitre +d'armes_ went to see our Captain, Florentin, who was one of the most +magnificent men imaginable--tall, well-formed, broad-shouldered, with +regular features, and the Cross, which the Emperor had himself given +him at Eylau. The captain even went further than the _maitre d'armes_; +he thought it would set the conscripts a good example, and that if +Zebede refused to fight he would be unworthy to remain in the Third +Battalion of the Sixth of the Line. + +All that night I could not close my eyes. I heard the deep breathing +of my poor comrade as he slept, and I thought: "Poor Zebede! another +day, and you will breathe no more." I shuddered to think how near I +was to a man so near death. At last, as day broke, I fell asleep, when +suddenly I felt a cold blast of wind strike me. I opened my eyes, and +there I saw the old hussar. He had lifted up the coverlet of our bed, +and said as I awoke: + +"Up, sluggard! I will show you what manner of man you struck." + +Zebede rose tranquilly, saying: + +"I was asleep, veteran; I was asleep." + +The other, hearing himself thus mockingly called "veteran," would have +fallen upon my comrade in his bed; but two tall fellows who served him +as seconds held him back, and, besides, the Phalsbourg men were there. + +"Quick, quick! Hurry!" cried the old hussar. + +But Zebede dressed himself calmly, without any haste. After a moment's +silence, he said: + +"Have we permission to go outside our quarters, old fellows?" + +"There is room enough for us in the yard," replied one of the hussars. + +Zebede put on his great-coat, and, turning to me, said: + +"Joseph and you, Klipfel, I choose for my seconds." + +But I shook my head. + +"Well, then, Furst," said he. + +The whole party descended the stairs together. I thought Zebede was +lost, and thought it hard, that not only must the Russians seek our +lives, but that we must seek each other's. + +All the men in the room crowded to the windows. I alone remained +behind upon my bed. At the end of five minutes the clash of sabres +made my heart almost cease to beat; the blood seemed no longer to flow +through my veins. + +But this did not last long; for suddenly Klipfel exclaimed, "Touched!" + +Then I made my way--I know not how--to a window, and, looking over the +heads of the others, saw the old hussar leaning against the wall, and +Zebede rising, his sabre all dripping with blood. He had fallen upon +his knees during the fight, and, while the old man's sword pierced the +air just above his shoulder, he plunged his blade into the hussar's +breast. If he had not slipped, he himself would have been run through +and through. + +The hussar sank at the foot of the wall. His seconds lifted him in +their arms, while Zebede pale as a corpse, gazed at his bloody sabre, +and Klipfel handed him his cloak. Almost immediately the reveille was +sounded, and we went off to morning call. + +These events happened on the eighteenth of February. The same day we +received orders to pack our knapsacks, and left Frankfort for +Seligenstadt, where we remained until the eighth of March, by which +time all the recruits were well instructed in the use of the musket and +the school of the platoon. From Seligenstadt we went to Schweinheim, +and on the twenty-fourth of March, 1813, joined the division at +Aschaffenbourg, where Marshal Ney passed us in review. + +The captain of the company was named Florentin; the lieutenant, +Bretonville; the commandant of the battalion, Gemeau; the captain, +Vidal; the colonel, Zapfel; the general of brigade, Ladoucette; and the +general of division, Souham. These are things that every soldier +should know. + + + + +XI + +The melting of the snows began about the middle of March. I remember +that during the great review of Aschaffenbourg, on a large open space +whence one saw the Main as far as eye could reach, the rain never +ceased to fall from ten o'clock in the morning till three o'clock in +the afternoon. We had on our left a castle, from the windows of which +people looked out quite at their ease, while the water ran into our +shoes. On the right the river rushed, foaming, seen dimly as if +through a mist. Every moment, to keep us brightened up, the order rang +out: + +"Carry arms! Shoulder arms!" + +The Marshal advanced slowly, surrounded by his staff. What consoled +Zebede was, that we were about to see "the bravest of the brave." I +thought "If I could only get a place at the corner of a good fire, I +would gladly forego that pleasure." + +At last he arrived in front of us, and I can yet see him, his chapeau +dripping with rain, his blue coat covered with embroidery and +decorations, and his great boots. He was a handsome, florid man, with +a short nose and sparkling eyes. He did not seem at all haughty; for, +as he passed our company, who presented arms, he turned suddenly in his +saddle and said: + +"Hold! It is Florentin!" + +Then the captain stood erect, not knowing what to reply. It seemed +that the Marshal and he had been common soldiers together in the time +of the Republic. The captain at last answered: + +"Yes, Marshal; it is Sebastian Florentin." + +"Faith, Florentin," said the Marshal, stretching him arm toward Russia, +"I am glad to see you again. I thought we had left you there." + +All our company felt honored, and Zebede said: "That is what I call a +man. I would spill my blood for him." + +I could not see why Zebede should wish to spill his blood because the +Marshal had spoken a few words to an old comrade. + +That's all I remember of Aschaffenbourg. + +In the evening we went in again to eat our soup at Schweinheim, a place +rich in wines, hemp, and corn, where almost everybody looked at us with +unfriendly eyes. + +We lodged by threes or fours in the houses, like so many bailiff's men, +and had meat every day, either beef, mutton, or bacon. + +Our bread was very good, as was also our wine. But many of our men +pretended to find fault with everything, thinking thus to pass for +people of consequence. They were mistaken; for more than once I heard +the citizens say in German: + +"Those fellows, in their own country, were only beggars. If they +returned to France, they would find nothing but potatoes to live upon." + +And the citizens were quite right; and I always found that people so +difficult to please abroad were but poor wretches at home. For my +part, I was well content to meet such good fare. Two conscripts from +St.-Die were with me at the village-postmaster's: his horses had almost +all been taken for our cavalry. This could not have put him into a +good humor; but he said nothing, and smoked his pipe behind the stove +from morning till night. His wife was a tall, strong woman, and his +two daughters were very pretty; they were afraid of us, and ran away +when we returned from drill, or from mounting guard at the end of the +village. + +On the evening of the fourth day, as we were finishing our supper, an +old man in a great-coat came in. His hair was white, and his mien and +appearance neat and respectable. He saluted us, and then said to the +master of the house, in German: + +"These are recruits?" + +"Yes, Monsieur Stenger," replied the other, "we will never be rid of +them. If I could poison them all, it would be a good deed." + +I turned quietly, and said: + +"I understand German: do not speak in such a manner." + +The postmaster's pipe fell from his hand. + +"You are very imprudent in your speech, Monsieur Kalkreuth," said the +old man; "if others beside this young man had understood you, you know +what would happen." + +"It is only my way of talking," replied the postmaster. "What can you +expect? When everything is taken from you--when you are robbed, year +after year--it is but natural that you should at last speak bitterly." + +The old man, who was none other than the pastor of Schweinheim, then +said to me: + +"Monsieur, your manner of acting is that of an honest man; believe me +that Monsieur Kalkreuth is incapable of such a deed--of doing evil even +to our enemies." + +"I do believe it, sir," I replied, "or I should not eat so heartily of +these sausages." + +The postmaster, hearing these words, began to laugh, and, in the excess +of his joy, cried: + +"I would never have thought that a Frenchman could have made me laugh." + +My two comrades were ordered for guard duty; they went, but I alone +remained. Then the postmaster went after a bottle of old wine, and +seated himself at the table to drink with me, which I gladly agreed to. +From that day until our departure, these people had every confidence in +me. Every evening we chatted at the corner of the fire; the pastor +came, and even the young girls would come downstairs to listen. They +were of fair and light complexion, with blue eyes; one was perhaps +eighteen, the other twenty; I thought I saw in them a resemblance to +Catharine, and this made my heart beat. + +They knew that I had a sweetheart at home, because I could not help +telling them so, and this made them pity me. + +The postmaster complained bitterly of the French, the pastor said they +were a vain, immoral nation, and that on that account all Germany would +soon rise against us; that they were weary of the evil doings of our +soldiers and the cupidity of our generals, and had formed the +_Tugend-Bund_[1] to oppose us. + + +[1] League of virtue. + + +"At first," said he, "you talked to us of liberty: we liked to hear +that, and our good wishes were rather for your armies than those of the +King of Prussia and Emperor of Austria; you made war upon our soldiers +and not upon us; you upheld ideas which every one thought great and +just, and so you did not quarrel with peoples but only with their +masters. To-day it is very different; all Germany is flying to arms; +all her youth are rising, and it is we who talk of Liberty, of Virtue +and of Justice to France. He who has them on his side is ever the +stronger, because he has against him only the evil-minded of all +nations, and has with him youth, courage, great ideas,--everything +which lifts the soul above thoughts of self, and which urges man to +sacrifice his life without regret. You have long had all this, but you +wanted it no longer. Long ago, I well remember, your generals fought +for Liberty, slept on straw, in barns, like simple soldiers; they were +men of might and terror; now they must have their sofas; they are more +noble than our nobles and richer than our bankers. So it comes to pass +that war, once so grand--once an art, a sacrifice--once devotion to +one's country--has become a trade, for sale at more than one market. +It is, to be sure, very noble yet, since epaulettes are yet worn, but +there is a difference between fighting for immortal ideas and fighting +merely to enrich one's self. + +"It is now our turn to talk of Liberty and Country; and this is the +reason why I think this war will be a sorrowful one for you. All +thinking men, from simple students to professors of theology, are +rising against you in arms. You have the greatest general of the world +at your head, but we have eternal justice. You believe you have the +Saxons, the Bavarians, the Badeners and the Hessians on your side; +undeceive yourselves; the children of old Germany well know that the +greatest crime, the greatest shame, is to fight against our brothers. +Let kings make alliances; the people are against you in spite of them; +they are defending their lives, their Fatherland--all that God makes us +love and that we cannot betray without crime. All are ready to assail +you; the Austrians would massacre you if they could, notwithstanding +the marriage of Marie Louise with your Emperor; men begin to see that +the interests of Kings are not the interests of all mankind, and that +the greatest genius cannot change the nature of things." + +Thus would the pastor discourse gravely; but I did not then fully +understand what he meant, and I thought, "Words are only words; and +bullets are bullets. If we only encounter students and professors of +theology, all will go well, and discipline will keep the Hessians and +Bavarians and Saxons from turning against us, as it forces us Frenchmen +to fight, little as we may like it. Does not the soldier obey the +corporal, the corporal the sergeant, and so on to the marshal, who does +what the King wishes? One can see very well that this pastor never +served in a regiment, for if he did he would know that ideas are +nothing and orders everything; but I do not care to contradict him, for +then the postmaster would bring me no more wine after supper. Let them +think as they please. All that I hope is that we shall have only +theologians to fight." + +While we used to chat thus, suddenly, on the morning of the +twenty-seventh of March, the order for our departure came. The +battalion rested that night at Lauterbach, the next at Neukirchen, and +we did nothing but march, march, march. Those who did not grow +accustomed to carrying the knapsack could not complain of want of +practice. How we travelled! I no longer sweated under my fifty +cartridges in my cartouche-box, my knapsack on my back and my musket on +my shoulder, and I do not know if I limped. + +We were not the only ones in motion; all were marching; everywhere we +met regiments on the road, detachments of cavalry, long lines of +cannon, ammunition trains--all advancing toward Erfurt, as after a +heavy rain thousands of streams, by thousands of channels, seek the +river. + +Our sergeants keep repeating, "We are nearing them! there will be hot +work soon;" and we thought, "So much the better!" that those beggarly +Prussians and Russians had drawn their fate upon themselves. If they +had remained quiet we would have been yet in France. + +These thoughts embittered us all toward the enemy, and as we met +everywhere people who seemed to rejoice alone in fighting, Klipfel and +Zebede talked only of the pleasure it would give them to meet the +Prussians; and I, not to seem less courageous than they, adopted the +same strain. + +On the eighth of April, the battalion entered Erfurt, and I will never +forget how, when we broke ranks before the barracks, a package of +letters was handed to the sergeant of the company. Among the number +was one for me, and I recognized Catharine's writing at once. This +affected me so that it made my knees tremble. Zebede took my musket, +telling me to read it, for he, too, was glad to hear from home. + +I put it in my pocket, and all our Phalsbourg men followed me to hear +it, but I only commenced when I was quietly seated on my bed in the +barracks, while they crowded around. Tears rolled down my cheeks as +she told me how she remembered and prayed for the far-off conscript. + +My comrades, as I read, exclaimed: + +"And we are sure that there are some at home to pray for us, too." + +One spoke of his mother, another of his sisters, and another of his +sweetheart. + +At the end of the letter, Monsieur Goulden added a few words, telling +me that all our friends were well, and that I should take courage, for +our troubles could not last forever. He charged me to be sure to tell +my comrades that their friends thought of them and complained of not +having received a word from them. + +This letter was a consolation to us all. We knew that before many days +passed we must be on the field of battle, and it seemed a last farewell +from home for at least half of us. Many were never to hear again from +their parents, friends, or those who loved them in this world. + + + + +XII + +But, as Sergeant Pinto said, all we had yet seen was but the prelude to +the ball; the dance was now about to commence. + +Meanwhile we did duty at the citadel with a battalion of the +Twenty-seventh, and from the top of the ramparts we saw all the +environs covered with troops, some bivouacking, others quartered in the +villages. + +The sergeant had formed a particular friendship for me, and on the +eighteenth, on relieving guard at Warthau gate, he said: + +"Fusilier Bertha, the Emperor has arrived." + +I had yet heard nothing of this, and replied, respectfully: + +"I have just had a little glass with the sapper Merlin, sergeant, who +was on duty last night at the general's quarters, and he said nothing +of it." + +Then he, closing his eye, said, with a peculiar expression: + +"Everything is moving; I feel his presence in the air. You do not yet +understand this, conscript, but he is here; everything says so. Before +he came, we were lame, crippled; only a wing of the army seemed able to +move at once. But now, look there, see those couriers galloping over +the road; all is life. The dance is beginning: the dance is beginning! +Kaiserliks and the Cossacks do not need spectacles to see that he is +with us; they will feel him presently." + +And the sergeant's laugh rang hoarsely from beneath his long mustaches. +I had a presentiment that great misfortunes might be coming upon me, +yet I was forced to put a good face upon it. But the sergeant was +right, for that very day, about three in the afternoon, all the troops +stationed around the city were in motion, and at five we were put under +arms. The Marshal Prince of Moskowa entered the town surrounded by the +officers and generals who composed his staff, and, almost immediately +after, the gray-haired Souham followed and passed us in review upon the +square. Then he spoke in a loud, clear voice so that every one could +hear: + +"Soldiers!" said he, "you will form part of the advance-guard of the +Third corps. Try to remember that you are Frenchmen. _Vive +l'Empereur!_" + +All shouted "_Vive l'Empereur!_" till the echoes rang again, while the +general departed with Colonel Zapfel. + +That night we were relieved by the Hessians, and left Erfurt with the +Tenth hussars and a regiment of chasseurs. At six or seven in the +morning we were before the city of Weimar, and saw the sun rising on +its gardens, its churches, and its houses, as well as on an old castle +to the right. Here we bivouacked, and the hussars went forward to +reconnoitre the town. About nine, while we were breakfasting, suddenly +we heard the rattle of musketry and carbines. Our hussars had +encountered the Prussian hussars in the streets, and they were firing +on each other. But it was so far off that we saw nothing of the combat. + +At the end of an hour the hussars returned, having lost two men. Thus +began the campaign. + +We remained five days in our camp, while the whole Third corps were +coming up. As we were the advance-guard, we started again by way of +Suiza and Warthau. Then we saw the enemy; Cossacks who kept ever +beyond the range of our guns, and the farther they retired the greater +grew our courage. + +But it annoyed me to hear Zebede constantly exclaiming in a tone of +ill-humor: + +"Will they never stop; never make a stand!" + +I thought that if they kept retreating we could ask nothing better. We +would gain all we wanted without loss of life or suffering. + +But at last they halted on the farther side of the broad and deep +river, and I saw a great number posted near the bank to cut us to +pieces if we should cross unsupported. + +It was the twenty-ninth of April, and growing late. Never did I see a +more glorious sunset. On the opposite side of the river stretched a +wide plain as far as the eye could reach, and on this, sharply outlined +against the glowing sky, stood horsemen, with their shakos drooping +forward, their green jackets, little cartridge-boxes slung under the +arm, and their sky-blue trousers; behind them glittered thousands of +lances, and Sergeant Pinto recognized them as the Russian cavalry and +Cossacks. He knew the river, too, which, he said, was the Saale. + +We went as near as we could to the water to exchange shots with the +horsemen, but they retired and at last disappeared entirely under the +blood-red sky. We made our bivouac along the river, and posted our +sentries. On our left was a large village; a detachment was sent to it +to purchase meat; for since the arrival of the Emperor we had orders to +pay for everything. + +During the night other regiments of the division came up; they, too, +bivouacked along the bank, and their long lines of fires, reflected in +the ever-moving waters, glared grandly through the darkness. + +No one felt inclined to sleep. Zebede, Klipfel, Furst, and I messed +together, and we chatted as we lay around our fire: + +"To-morrow we will have it hot enough, if we attempt to cross the +river! Our friends in Phalsbourg, over their warm suppers, scarcely +think of us lying here, with nothing but a piece of cow-beef to eat, a +river flowing beside us, the damp earth beneath, and only the sky for a +roof, without speaking of the sabre-cuts and bayonet-thrusts our +friends yonder have in store for us." + +"Bah!" said Klipfel; "this is life. I would not pass my days +otherwise. To enjoy life we must be well to-day, sick to-morrow; then +we appreciate the pleasure of the change from pain to ease. As for +shots and sabre-strokes, with God's aid, we will give as good as we +take!" + +"Yes," said Zebede, lighting his pipe, "when I lose my place in the +ranks, it will not be for the want of striking hard at the Russians!" + +So we lay wakeful for two or three hours. Leger lay stretched out in +his great-coat, his feet to the fire, asleep, when the sentinel cried: + +"Who goes there?" + +"France!" + +"What regiment?" + +"Sixth of the Line." + +It was Marshal Ney and General Brenier, with engineer and artillery +officers, and guns. The Marshal replied "Sixth of the Line," because +he knew beforehand that we were there, and this little fact rejoiced us +and made us feel very proud. We saw him pass on horseback with General +Souham and five or six other officers of high grade, and although it +was night we could see them distinctly, for the sky was covered with +stars and the moon shone bright; it was almost as light as day. + +They stopped at a bend of the river and posted six guns, and +immediately after a pontoon train arrived with oak planks and all +things necessary for throwing two bridges across. Our hussars scoured +the banks collecting boats, and the artillerymen stood at their pieces +to sweep down any who might try to hinder the work. For a long while +we watched their labor, while again and again we heard the sentry's +"_Qui vive!_" It was the regiments of the Third corps arriving. + +At daybreak I fell asleep, and Klipfel had to shake me to arouse me. +On every side they were beating the reveille; the bridges were +finished, and we were going to cross the Saale. + +A heavy dew had fallen, and each man hastened to wipe his musket, to +roll up his great-coat and buckle it on his knapsack. One assisted the +other, and we were soon in the ranks. It might have been four o'clock +in the morning, and everything seemed gray in the mist that arose from +the river. Already two battalions were crossing on the bridges, the +officers and colors in the centre. Then the artillery and caissons +crossed. + +Captain Florentin had just ordered us to renew our primings, when +General Souham, General Chemineau, Colonel Zapfel, and our commandant +arrived. The battalion began its march. I looked forward expecting to +see the Russians coming on at a gallop, but nothing stirred. + +As each regiment reached the farther bank it formed a square with +ordered arms. At five o'clock the entire division had passed. The sun +dispersed the mist, and we saw, about three-fourths of a league to our +right, an old city with its pointed roofs, slated clock-tower, +surmounted by a cross, and, farther away, a castle; it was Weissenfels. + +Between us and the city was a deep valley. Marshal Ney, who had just +come up, wished to reconnoitre this before advancing into it. Two +companies of the Twenty-seventh were deployed as skirmishers and the +squares moved onward in common time, with the officers, sappers, and +drums in the centre, the cannon in the intervals and the caissons in +the rear. + +We all mistrusted this valley--the more so since we had seen, the +evening before, a mass of cavalry, which could not have retired beyond +the great plain that lay before us. Notwithstanding our distrust, it +made us feel very proud and brave to see ourselves drawn up in our long +ranks--our muskets loaded, the colors advanced, the generals in the +rear full of confidence--to see our masses thus moving onward without +hurry, but calmly marking the step; yes, it was enough to make our +hearts beat high with pride and hope! And I said to myself: "Perhaps +at sight of us the enemy will fly, which will be the best for them and +for us." + +I was in the second rank, behind Zebede, and from time to time I +glanced at the other square, which was moving on the same line with us, +in the centre of which I saw the Marshal and his staff, all trying to +catch a glimpse of what was going on ahead. + +The skirmishers had by this time reached the ravine, which was bordered +with brambles and hedges. I had already seen a movement on its farther +side, like the motion of a cornfield in the wind, and the thought +struck me that the Russians, with their lances and sabres, were there, +although I could scarcely believe it. But when our skirmishers reached +the hedges, the fusillade began, and I saw clearly the glitter of their +lances. At the same instant a flash like lightning gleamed in front of +us, followed by a fierce report. The Russians had their cannon with +them; they had opened on us. I know not what noise made me turn my +head, and there I saw an empty space in the ranks to my left. + +At the same time Colonel Zapfel said quietly: + +"Close up the ranks!" + +And Captain Florentin repeated: + +"Close up the ranks!" + +[Illustration: "Close up the ranks!"] + +All this was done so quickly that I had no time for thought. But fifty +paces farther on another flash shone out; there was another murmur in +the ranks--as if a fierce wind was passing--and another vacant space, +this time to the right. + +And thus, after every shot from the Russians, the colonel said, "Close +up the ranks!" and I knew that each time he spoke there was a breach in +the living wall! It was no pleasant thing to think of, but still we +marched on toward the valley. At last I did not dare to think at all, +when General Chemineau, who had entered our square, cried in a terrible +voice: + +"Halt!" + +I looked forward, and saw a mass of Russians coming down upon us. + +"Front rank, kneel! Fix bayonets! Ready!" cried the general. + +As Zebede knelt, I was now, so to speak, in the front rank. On came +the line of horses, each rider bending over his saddle-bow, with sabre +flashing in his hand. Then again the general's voice was heard behind +us, calm, tranquil, giving orders as coolly as on parade: + +"Attention for the command of fire! Aim! Fire!" + +The four squares fired together; it seemed as if the skies were falling +in the crash. When the smoke lifted, we saw the Russians broken and +flying; but our artillery opened, and the cannon-balls sped faster than +they. + +"Charge!" shouted the general. + +Never in my life did such a wild joy possess me. On every side the cry +of _Vive l'Empereur!_ shook the air, and in my excitement I shouted +like the others. But we could not pursue them far, and soon we were +again moving calmly on. We thought the fight was ended; but when +within two or three hundred paces of the ravine, we heard the rush of +horses, and again the general cried: + +"Halt! Kneel! Fix bayonets!" + +On came the Russians from the valley like a whirlwind; the earth shook +beneath their weight; we heard no more orders, but each man knew that +he must fire into the mass, and the file-firing began, rattling like +the drums in a grand review. Those who have not seen a battle can form +but little idea of the excitement, the confusion, and yet the order of +such a moment. A few of the Russians neared us; we saw their forms +appear a moment through the smoke, and then saw them no more. In a few +moments more the ringing voice of General Chemineau arose, sounding +above the crash and rattle: + +"Cease firing!" + +We scarcely dared obey. Each one hastened to deliver a final shot; +then the smoke slowly lifted, and we saw a mass of cavalry ascending +the farther side of the ravine. + +The squares deployed at once into columns; the drums beat the charge; +our artillery still continued its fire; we rushed on, shouting: + +"Forward! forward! _Vive l'Empereur!_" + +We descended the ravine, over heaps of horses and Russians; some dead, +some writhing upon the earth, and we ascended the slope toward +Weissenfels at a quick step. The Cossacks and chasseurs bent forward +in their saddles, their cartridge-boxes dangling behind them, galloping +before us in full flight. The battle was won. + +But as we reached the gardens of the city, they posted their cannon, +which they had brought off with them, behind a sort of orchard, and +reopened upon us, a ball carrying away both the axe and head of the +sapper, Merlin. The corporal of sappers, Thome, had his arm fractured +by a piece of the axe, and they were compelled to amputate his arm at +Weissenfels. Then we started toward them on a run, for the sooner we +reached them the less time they would have for firing. + +We entered the city at three places, marching through hedges, gardens, +hop-fields, and climbing over walls. The marshals and generals +followed after. Our regiment entered by an avenue bordered with +poplars, which ran along the cemetery, and, as we debouched in the +public square another column came through the main street. + +There we halted, and the Marshal, without losing a moment, despatched +the Twenty-seventh to take a bridge and cut off the enemy's retreat. +During this time the rest of the division arrived, and was drawn up in +the square. The burgomaster and councillors of Weissenfels were +already on the steps of the town-hall to bid us welcome. + +When we were re-formed, the Marshal-Prince of Moskowa passed before the +front of our battalion and said joyfully: + +"Well done! I am satisfied with you! The Emperor will know of your +conduct!" + +He could not help laughing at the way we rushed on the guns. General +Souham cried: + +"Things go bravely on!" + +He replied: + +"Yes, yes; 'tis in the blood! 'tis in the blood." + +The battalion remained there until the next day. We were lodged with +the citizens, who were afraid of us and gave us all we asked. The +Twenty-seventh returned in the evening and was quartered in the old +chateau. We were very tired. After smoking two or three pipes +together, chatting about our glory, Zebede, Klipfel and I went together +to the shop of a joiner and slept on a heap of shavings, and remained +there until midnight, when they beat the reveille. We rose; the joiner +gave us some brandy, and we went out. The rain was falling in +torrents. That night the battalion went to bivouac before the village +of Clepen, two hours' march from Weissenfels. + +Other detachments came and rejoined us. The Emperor had arrived at +Weissenfels, and all the Third corps were to follow us. We talked only +of this all the day; but the day after, at five in the morning, we set +off again in the advance. + +Before us rolled a river called the Rippach. Instead of turning aside +to take the bridge, we forded it where we were. The water reached our +waists; and I thought, as I pulled my shoes out of the mud, "If any one +had told me this in the days when I was afraid of catching a cold in +the head at M. Goulden's, and when I changed my stockings twice a week, +I should never have believed it. Well, strange things happen to one in +this life." + +As we passed down the other bank of the river in the rushes, we +discovered a band of Cossacks observing us from the heights to the +left. They followed slowly, without daring to attack us, and so we +kept on until it was broad day, when suddenly a terrific fusillade and +the thunder of heavy guns made us turn our heads toward Clepen. The +commandant, on horseback, looked over the tops of the reeds. + +The sounds of conflict lasted a considerable time, and Sergeant Pinto +said: + +"The division is advancing; it is attacked." + +The Cossacks gazed, too, toward the fight, and at the end of an hour +disappeared. Then we saw the division advancing in column in the plain +to the right, driving before them the masses of Russian cavalry. + +"Forward!" cried the commandant. + +We ran, without knowing why, along the river bank, until we reached an +old bridge where the Rippach and Gruna met. Here we were to intercept +the enemy: but the Cossacks had discovered our design, and their whole +army fell back behind the Gruna, which they forded, and, the division +rejoining us, we learned that Marshal Bessieres had been killed by a +cannon-ball. + +We left the bridge to bivouac before the village of Gorschen. The +rumor that a great battle was approaching ran through the ranks, and +they said that all that had passed was only a trial to see how the +recruits would act under fire. One may imagine the reflections of a +thoughtful man under such circumstances, among such hare-brained +fellows as Furst, Zebede, and Klipfel, who seemed to rejoice at the +prospect, as if it could bring them aught else than bullet-wounds or +sabre-cuts. All night long I thought of Catharine, and prayed God to +preserve my life and my hands, which are so needful for poor people to +gain their bread. + + + + +XIII + +We lighted our fires on the hill before Gross Gorschen and a detachment +descended to the village and brought back five or six old cows to make +soup of. But we were so worn out that many would rather sleep than +eat. Other regiments arrived with cannon and munitions. About eleven +o'clock there were from ten to twelve thousand men there and two +thousand and more in the village--all Souham's division. The general +and his ordnance officers were quartered in an old mill to the left, +near a stream called Floss-Graben. The line of sentries were stretched +along the base of the hill a musket-shot off. At length I fell asleep, +but I awoke every hour, and behind us, toward the road leading from the +old bridge of Poserna to Lutzen and Leipzig, I heard the rolling of +wagons, of artillery and caissons, rising and falling through the +silence. + +Sergeant Pinto did not sleep; he sat smoking his pipe and drying his +feet at the fire. Every time one of us moved, he would try to talk and +say: + +"Well, conscript?" + +But they pretended not to hear him, and turned over, gaping, to sleep +again. + +The clock of Gross-Gorschen was striking six when I awoke. I was sore +and weary yet. Nevertheless, I sat up and tried to warm myself, for I +was very cold. The fires were smoking, and almost extinguished. +Nothing of them remained but the ashes and a few embers. The sergeant, +erect, was gazing over the vast plain where the sun shot a few long +lines of gold, and, seeing me awake, put a coal in his pipe and said: + +"Well, fusilier Bertha, we are now in the rearguard." + +I did not know what he meant. + +"That astonishes you," he continued; "but we have not stirred, while +the army has made a half-wheel. Yesterday it was before us in the +Rippach; now it is behind us, near Lutzen; and, instead of being in the +front we are in rear; so that now," said he, closing an eye and drawing +two long puffs of his pipe, "we are the last, instead of the foremost." + +"And what do we gain by it?" I asked. + +"We gain the honor of first reaching Leipzig, and falling on the +Prussians," he replied. "You will understand this by and by, +conscript." + +I stood up, and looked around. I saw before us a wide, marshy plain, +traversed by the Gruna-Bach and the Floss-Graben. A few hills arose +along these streams, and beyond ran a large river, which the sergeant +told me was the Elster. The morning mist hung over all. + +Turning around, I saw behind us in the valley the point of the +clock-tower of Gross-Gorschen, and farther on, to the right and left, +five or six little villages built in the hollows between the hills, for +it is a country of hills, and the villages of Kaya, Eisdorf, +Starsiedel, Rahna, Klein-Gorschen and Gross-Gorschen, which I knew +before, are between them, on the borders of little lakes, where +poplars, willows and aspens grow. Gross-Gorschen, where we bivouacked, +was farthest advanced in the plain, toward the Elster; Kaya was +farthest off, and behind it passed the high-road from Lutzen to +Leipzig. We saw no fires on the hills save those of our division; but +the entire corps occupied the villages scattered in our rear, and +head-quarters were at Kaya. + +At seven o'clock the drums and the trumpets of the artillery sounded +the reveille. We went down to the village, some to look for wood, +others for straw or hay. Ammunition-wagons came up, and bread and +cartridges were distributed. There we were to remain, to let the army +march by upon Leipzig; this was why Sergeant Pinto said we would be in +the rear-guard. + +Two _cantinieres_ arrived from the village; and, as I had yet a few +crowns remaining, I offered Klipfel and Zebede a glass of brandy each, +to counteract the effects of the fogs of the night. I also presumed to +offer one to Sergeant Pinto, who accepted it, saying that bread and +brandy warmed the heart. + +We felt quite happy, and no one suspected the horrors the day was to +bring forth. We thought the Russians and the Prussians were seeking us +behind the Gruna-Bach; but they knew well where we were. And suddenly, +about ten o'clock, General Souham, mounted, arrived with his officers. +I was sentry near the stacks of arms, and I think I can now see him, as +he rode to the top of the hill, with his gray hair and white-bordered +hat; and as he took out his field-glass, and, after an earnest gaze, +returned quickly, and ordered the drums to beat the recall. The +sentries at once fell into the ranks, and Zebede, who had the eyes of a +falcon, said: + +"I see yonder, near the Elster, masses of men forming and advancing in +good order, and others coming from the marshes by the three bridges. +We are lost if all those fall upon our rear!" + +"A battle is beginning," said Sergeant Pinto, shading his eyes with his +hands, "or I know nothing of war. Those beggarly Prussians and +Russians want to take us on the flank with their whole force, as we +defile on Leipzig, so as to cut us in two. It is well thought of on +their part. We are always teaching them the art of war." + +"But what will we do?" asked Klipfel. + +"Our part is simple," answered the sergeant. "We are here twelve to +fifteen thousand men, with old Souham, who never gave an enemy an inch. +We will stand here like a wall, one to six or seven, until the Emperor +is informed how matters stand, and sends us aid. There go the staff +officers now." + +It was true; five or six officers were galloping over the plain of +Lutzen toward Leipzig. They sped like the wind, and I prayed to God to +have them reach the Emperor in time to send the whole army to our +assistance; for there was something horrible in the certainty that we +were about to perish, and I would not wish my greatest enemy in such a +position as ours was then. + +Sergeant Pinto continued: + +"You will have a chance now, conscripts; and if any of you come out +alive, they will have something to boast of. Look at those blue lines +advancing, with their muskets on their shoulders, along Floss-Graben. +Each of those lines is a regiment. There are thirty of them. That +makes sixty thousand Prussians, without counting those lines of +horsemen, each of which is a squadron. Those advancing to their left, +near Rippach, glittering in the sun, are the dragoons and cuirassiers +of the Russian Imperial Guard. There are eighteen or twenty thousand +of them, and I first saw them at Austerlitz, where we fixed them +finely. Those masses of lances in the rear are Cossacks. We will have +a hundred thousand men on our hands in an hour. This is a fight to win +the cross in, and if one does not get it now he can never hope to do +so!" + +"Do you think so, sergeant?" said Zebede, whose ideas were never very +clear, and who already imagined he held the cross in his fingers, while +his eyes glittered with excitement. + +"It will be hand to hand," replied the sergeant; "and suppose that in +the _melee_, you see a colonel or a flag near you, spring on him or it; +never mind sabres or bayonets; seize them, and then your name goes on +the list." + +As he spoke, I remembered that the Mayor of Phalsbourg had received the +cross for having gone to meet the Empress Marie Louise in carriages +garlanded with flowers, singing old songs, and I thought his method +much preferable to that of Sergeant Pinto. + +But I had not time to think more, for the drama beat on all sides, and +each one ran to where the arms of his company were stacked and seized +his musket. Our officers formed us, great guns came at a gallop from +the village, and were posted on the brow of the hill a little to the +rear, so that the slope served them as a species of redoubt. Farther +away, in the villages of Rahna, of Kaya, and of Klein-Gorschen, all was +motion, but we were the first the Prussians would fall upon. + +The enemy halted about twice a cannon-shot off, and the cavalry swarmed +by hundreds up the hill to reconnoitre us. I was in utter despair as I +gazed on their immense masses swarming on both sides of the river, the +advanced lines of which were already beginning to form in columns, and +I said to myself, "This time, Joseph, all is over, all is lost; there +is no help for it; all you can do is to revenge yourself, defend +yourself, to fight pitilessly, and die." + +While these thoughts were passing through my head, General Chemineau +galloped along our front, crying: + +"Form square." + +The officers on the right, on the left, in advance, in the rear, took +up the word and it passed from right to left; four squares of four +battalions each were formed. I found myself in the third, on one of +the interior sides, a circumstance which in some degree reassured me; +for I thought that the Prussians, who were advancing in three columns, +would first attack those directly opposite them. But scarcely had the +thought struck me when a hail of cannon-shot from the guns which the +Prussians had massed on a hill to the left, swept through us just as at +Weissenfels; and that was not all. They had thirty pieces of artillery +playing upon us. One can imagine from this what gaps they made. The +balls shrieked sometimes over our heads, sometimes through the ranks, +and then again struck the earth, which they scattered over us. + +Our heavy guns replied to their fire with a vigor which kept us from +hearing one half the hissing and roaring of theirs, but could not +silence it, and the horrible cry of "Close up the ranks! Close up the +ranks!" was ever sounding in our ears. + +We were enveloped in smoke without having fired a shot, and I said to +myself, "if we stay here another quarter of an hour we shall all be +massacred without having a chance to defend ourselves," which seemed to +me fearful, when the head of the Prussian columns appeared between the +hills, moving forward with a deep, hoarse murmur, like the noise of an +inundation. Then the three first sides of our square, the second and +the third obliquing to the right and left fired. God only knows how +many Prussians fell. But instead of stopping they rushed on, shouting +like wolves, "_Vaterland! Vaterland!_" and we fired again into their +very bosoms. + +Then began the work of death in earnest. Bayonet-thrust, sabre-stroke, +blows from the butt-end of our pieces, crashed on all sides. They +tried to crush us by mere weight of numbers, and came on like furious +bulls. A battalion rushed upon us, thrusting with their bayonets; we +returned their blows without leaving the ranks, and they were swept +away almost to a man by two cannon which were in position fifty paces +in our rear. + +They were the last who tried to break our squares. They turned and +fled down the hill-side, and we were loading our guns to kill every man +of them, when their pieces again opened fire, and we heard a great +noise on our right. It was their cavalry charging under cover of their +fire. I could not see the fight, for it was at the other end of the +division, but their heavy guns swept us off by dozens as we stood +inactive. General Chemineau had his thigh broken; we could not hold +out much longer when the order was given to retreat, which we did with +a pleasure easily understood! + +We retired to Gross-Gorschen, pursued by the Prussians, both sides +maintaining a constant fire. The two thousand men in the village +checked the enemy while we ascended the opposite slope to gain +Klein-Gorschen. But the Prussian cavalry came on once more to cut off +our retreat and keep us under the fire of their artillery. Then my +blood boiled with anger, and I heard Zebede cry, "Let us fight our way +to the top rather than remain here!" + +To do this was fearfully dangerous, for their regiments of hussars and +chasseurs advanced in good order to charge. Still we kept retreating, +when a voice on the top of the ridge cried: "Halt!" and at the same +moment the hussars, who were already rushing down upon us, received a +terrific discharge of case and grape-shot, which swept them down by +hundreds. It was Girard's division, who had come to our assistance +from Ivlein-Gorschen and had placed sixteen pieces in position to open +upon them. The hussars fled faster than they came, and the six squares +of Girard's division united with ours at Klein-Gorschen, to check the +Prussian infantry, which still continued to advance, the three first +columns in front and three others, equally strong, supporting them. + +We had lost Gross-Gorschen, but now, between Ivlein-Gorschen and Rahna +the battle raged more fiercely than ever. + +I thought now of nothing but vengeance. I was wild with excitement and +wrath against those who sought to kill me. I felt a sort of hatred +against those Prussians whose shouts and insolent manner disgusted me. +I was, nevertheless, very glad to see Zebede near me yet, and as we +stood awaiting new attacks, with our arms resting on the ground, I +pressed his hand. + +"We have escaped narrowly enough," said he. "God grant the Emperor may +soon arrive, and with cannon, for they are twenty times stronger than +we." + +He no longer spoke of winning the cross. + +I looked around to see if the sergeant was with us yet, and saw him +calmly wiping his bayonet; not a feature showed any trace of +excitement--that encouraged me. I would have wished to know if Klipfel +and Furst were unhurt, but the command, "Carry arms!" made me think of +myself. + +The three first columns of the enemy had halted on the hill of +Gross-Gorschen to await their supports. The village in the valley +between us was on fire, the flames bursting from the thatched roofs and +the smoke rising to the sky, and to the left across the ploughed field +we saw a long line of cannon coming down to open upon us. + +It might have been mid-day when the six columns began their march and +deployed masses of hussars and cavalry on both sides of Gross-Gorschen. +Our artillery, placed behind the squares on the top of the ridge, +opened a terrible fire on the Prussian gunners, who replied all along +their line. + +Our drums began to beat in the squares to give warning that the enemy +were approaching, but their rattle was like the buzz of a fly in the +storm, while in the valley the Prussians shouted all together, +"_Vaterland! Vaterland!_" + +Their fire by battalion, as they climbed the hill, enveloped us in +smoke--as the wind blew toward us--and hindered us from seeing them. +Nevertheless, we began our file-firing. We heard and saw nothing but +the noise and smoke of battle for the next quarter of an hour, when +suddenly the Prussian hussars were in our square. I know not how it +happened, but there they were on their little horses, sabring us +without mercy. We fought with our bayonets; we shouted; they slashed, +and fired their pistols. The carnage was horrible. Zebede, Sergeant +Pinto, and some twenty of the company held together. I shall see all +my life long the pale-faced, long-mustached hussars, the straps of +their shakos tight under their jaws, whose horses reared and neighed as +they dashed over the heaps of dead and wounded. I remember the cries, +French and German in a horrid mixture, that arose; how they called us +"_Schweinpelz_" and how old Pinto never ceased to cry, "Strike bravely, +my boys; strike bravely!" + +I never knew how we escaped; we ran at random through the smoke, and +dashed through the midst of sabres and flying bullets. I only remember +that Zebede every moment cried out to me, "Come on! come on!" and that +at last we found ourselves on a hill-side behind a square which yet +held firm, with Sergeant Pinto and seven or eight others of the company. + +We were covered with blood, and looked like butchers. + +"Load!" cried the sergeant. + +Then I saw blood and hair on my bayonet, and I knew that in my fury I +must have given some terrible blows. In a moment old Pinto said, "The +regiment is totally routed; the beggarly Prussians have sabred half of +it; we shall find the remainder by and by. Now," he cried, "we must +keep the enemy out of the village. By file, left! March!" + +We descended a little stairway which led to one of the gardens of +Klein-Gorschen, and entering a house, the sergeant barricaded the door +leading to the fields with a heavy kitchen table; then he showed us the +door opening on the street, telling us, "Here is our way of retreat." +This done, we went to the floor above, and found a pretty large room, +with two windows looking out upon the village, and two upon the hill, +which was still covered with smoke and resounding with the crash of +musketry and artillery. At one end in an alcove was a broken bedstead, +and near it a cradle. The people of the house had no doubt fled at the +beginning of the battle, but a dog, with ears erect and flashing eyes, +glared at us from beneath the curtains. All this comes back to me like +a dream. + +The sergeant opened the window and fired at two or three Prussian +hussars who were already advancing down the street. Zebede and the +others standing behind him stood ready. I looked toward the hill to +see if the squares had yet remained unbroken, and I saw them retreating +in good order, firing as they went from all four sides on the masses of +cavalry which surrounded them completely. Through the smoke I could +perceive the colonel on horseback, sabre in hand, and by him the +colors, so torn by shot that they were mere rags hanging on the staff. + +Beyond, on the left, a column of the enemy were debouching from the +road and marching on Klein-Gorschen. This column evidently designed +cutting off our retreat on the village, but hundreds of disbanded +soldiers like us had arrived, and were pouring in from all sides, some +turning ever and anon to fire, others wounded, trying to crawl to some +place of shelter. They took possession of the houses, and, as the +column approached, musketry rattled upon them from all the windows. +This checked the enemy, and at the same moment the divisions of Brenier +and Marchand, which the Prince of Moskowa had despatched to our +assistance, began to deploy to the right. We heard afterward that +Marshal Ney had followed the Emperor in the direction of Leipzig and +came back on hearing the sound of cannon. + +The Prussians halted, and the firing ceased on both sides. Our squares +and columns began to climb the hills again, opposite Starsiedel, and +the defenders of the village rushed from the houses to join their +regiments. Ours had become mingled with two or three others; and, when +the reinforcing divisions halted before Kaya, we could scarcely find +our places. The roll was called, and of our company but forty-two men +remained; Furst and Leger were dead, but Zebede, Klipfel, and I were +unhurt. + +But, unluckily, the battle was not yet over, for the Prussians, flushed +with victory, were already making their dispositions to attack us at +Kaya; reinforcements were hurrying to them, and it seemed that, for so +great a general, the Emperor had made a gross blunder in stretching his +lines to Leipzig, and leaving us to be overpowered by an army of over a +hundred thousand men. + +As we were re-forming behind Brenier's division, eighteen thousand +veterans of the Prussian guard charged up the hill, carrying the shakos +of our killed on their bayonets in token of victory. Once more the +fight began, the mass of Russian cavalry, which we had seen glittering +in the sun in the morning, came down on our flank,--on the left, +between Klein-Gorschen and Starsiedel,--but the Sixth corps had arrived +in time to cover it, and stood the shock like a castle wall. Once more +shouts, groans, the clashing of sabre against bayonet, the crash of +musketry and thunder of cannon shook the sky, while the plain was +hidden in a cloud of smoke, through which we could see the glitter of +helmets, cuirasses, and thousands of lances. + +We were retiring, when something passed along our front like a flash of +lightning. It was Marshal Ney surrounded by his staff. I never saw +such a countenance; his eyes sparkled and his lips trembled with rage. +In a second's time he had dashed along the lines, and drew up in front +of our columns. The retreat stopped at once; he called us on, and, as +if led by a kind of fascination, we dashed on to meet the Prussians, +cheering like madmen as we went. But the Prussian line stood firm; +they fought hard to keep the victory they had won, and besides were +constantly receiving reinforcements, while we were worn out with five +hours' fighting. + +Our battalion was now in the second line, and the enemy's shot passed +over our heads; but a horrible din made my flesh creep; it was the +rattling of the grape-shot among the bayonets. + +In the midst of shouts, orders, and the whistling of bullets, we again +began to fall back over heaps of dead; our first division re-entered +Klein-Gorschen, and once more the fight was hand to hand. In the main +street of the village nothing was seen or heard but shots and blows, +and generals, mounted, fought sword in hand like private soldiers. + +This lasted some minutes; we in the ranks, said, "all is well, all is +well, now we are advancing;" but again they were reinforced, and we +were obliged to continue our retreat, and unhappily in such haste that +many did not stop until they reached Kaya. This village was on the +ridge and the last before reaching Lutzen. It is a long, narrow lane +of houses, separated from each other by little gardens, stables and +bee-hives. If the enemy forced us to Kaya, our army was cut in two. I +recalled the words of M. Goulden--"If unluckily the allies get the best +of us, they will revenge themselves on us in our own country for all we +have been doing to them the last ten years." The battle seemed +irretrievably lost, for Marshal Ney himself, in the centre of a square, +was retreating; and many soldiers, to get away from the _melee_, were +carrying off wounded officers on their muskets. Everything looked +gloomy, indeed. + +I entered Kaya on the right of the village, leaping over hedges, and +creeping under the fences which separated the gardens, and was turning +the corner of a street, when I saw some fifty officers on the brow of a +hill before me, and behind them masses of artillery galloping at full +speed along the Leipzig road. Then I saw the Emperor himself, a little +in advance of the others; he was seated, as if in an arm-chair, on his +white horse, and I could see him well, beneath the clear sky, +motionless and looking at the battle through his field-glass. + +My heart beat gladly; I cried "_Vive l'Empereur!_" with all my +strength, and rushed along the main street of Kaya. I was one of the +first to enter, and I saw the inhabitants of the village, men, women, +and children, hastening to the cellars for protection. + +Many to whom I have related the foregoing have sneered at me for +running so fast; but I can only reply that when Michel Ney retreated, +it was high time for Joseph Bertha to do so too. + +Klipfel, Zebede, Sergeant Pinto, and the others of the company had not +yet arrived when masses of black smoke arose above the roofs; shattered +tiles fell into the streets, and shot buried themselves an the walls, +or crashed through the beams with a horrible noise. + +At the same time, our soldiers rushed in through the lanes, over the +hedges and fences, turning from time to time to fire on the enemy. Men +of all arms were mingled, some without shakos or knapsacks, their +clothes torn and covered with blood; but they retreated furiously, and +were nearly all mere children, boys of fifteen or twenty; but courage +is inborn in the French people. + +The Prussians--led by old officers who shouted "_Forwaerts! +Forwaerts!_"--followed like packs of wolves, but we turned and opened +fire from the hedges, and fences, and houses. How many of them bit the +dust I know not, but others always supplied the places of those who +fell. Hundreds of balls whistled by our ears and flattened themselves +on the stone walls; the plaster was broken from the walls, and the +thatch hung from the rafters, and as I turned for the twentieth time to +fire, my musket dropped from my hand; I stooped to lift it, but I fell +too: I had received a shot in the left shoulder and the blood ran like +warm water down my breast. I tried to rise, but all that I could do +was to seat myself against the wall while the blood continued to run +down even to my thighs, and I shuddered at the thought that I was to +die there. + +Still the fight went on. + +Fearful that another bullet might reach me, I crawled to the corner of +a house, and fell into a little trench which brought water from the +street to the garden. My left arm was heavy as lead; my head swam; I +still heard the firing, but it seemed a dream, and I closed my eyes. + +When I again opened them, night was coming on, and the Prussians filled +the village. In the garden, before me, was an old general, with white +hair, on a tall brown horse. He shouted in a trumpet-like voice to +bring on the cannon, and officers hurried away with his orders. Near +him, standing on a little wall, two surgeons were bandaging his arm. +Behind, on the other side, was a little Russian officer, whose plume of +green feathers almost covered his hat. I saw all this at a glance--the +old man with his large nose and broad forehead, his quick glancing +eyes, and bold air; the others around him; the surgeon, a little bald +man with spectacles, and five or six hundred paces away, between two +houses, our soldiers re-forming. + +The firing had ceased, but between Klein-Gorschen and Kaya terrible +cries arose, and I could hear the heavy rumbling of artillery, neighing +of horses, cries and shouts of drivers, and cracking of whips. Without +knowing why, I dragged myself to the wall, and scarcely had I done so, +when two sixteen pounders, each drawn by six horses, turned the corner +of the street. The artillery-men beat the horses with all their +strength, and the wheels rolled over the heaps of dead and wounded as +if they were going over straw. Now I knew whence came the cries I had +heard, and my hair stood on end with horror. + +"Here!" cried the old man in German; "aim yonder, between those two +houses near the fountain." + +The two guns were turned at once; the old man, his left arm in a sling, +cantered up the street, and I heard him say, in short, quick tones, to +the young officer as he passed where I lay: + +"Tell the Emperor Alexander that I am at Kaya. The battle is won if I +am reinforced. Let them not discuss the matter, but send help at once. +Napoleon is coming, and in half an hour we will have him upon us with +his Guard. I will stand, let it cost what it may. But in God's name +do not lose a minute, and the victory is ours!" + +The young man set off at a gallop, and at the same moment a voice near +me whispered: + +"That old wretch is Bluecher. Ah, scoundrel! if I only had my gun!" + +Turning my head, I saw an old sergeant, withered and thin, with long +wrinkles in his cheeks, sitting against the door of the house, +supporting himself with his hands on the ground, as with a pair of +crutches, for a ball had passed through him from side to side. His +yellow eyes followed the Prussian general; his hooked nose seemed to +droop like the beak of an eagle over his thick mustache, and his look +was fierce and proud. + +"If I had my musket," he repeated, "I would show you whether the battle +is won." + +We were the only two living beings among heaps of dead. + +I thought that perhaps I should be buried in the morning with the +others, in the garden opposite us, and that I would never again see +Catharine; the tears ran down my cheeks, and I could not help murmuring: + +"Now all is indeed ended!" + +The sergeant gazed at me and, seeing that I was yet so young, said +kindly: + +"What is the matter with you, conscript?" + +"A ball in the shoulder, _mon sergeant_." + +"In the shoulder! That is better than one through the body. You will +get over it." + +And after a moment's thought he continued: + +"Fear nothing. You will see home again!" + +I thought that he pitied my youth and wished to console me; but my +chest seemed crushed, and I could not hope. + +The sergeant said no more, only from time to time he raised his head to +see if our columns were coming. He swore between his teeth and ended +by falling at length upon the ground, saying: + +"My business is done! But the villain has paid for it!" + +He gazed at the hedge opposite, where a Prussian grenadier was +stretched, cold and stiff, the old sergeant's bayonet yet in his body. + +It might then have been six in the evening. The enemy filled all the +houses, gardens, orchards, the main streets and the alleys. I was cold +and had dropped my head forward upon my knees, when the roll of +artillery called me again to my senses. The two pieces in the garden +and many others posted behind them threw their broad flashes through +the darkness, while Russians and Prussians crowded through the street. +But all this was as nothing in comparison to the fire of the French, +from the hill opposite the village, while the constant glare showed the +Young Guard coming on at the double-quick, generals and colonels on +horseback in the midst of the bayonets, waving their swords and +cheering them on, while the twenty-four guns the Emperor had sent to +support the movement thundered behind. The old wall against which I +leaned shook to its foundations. In the street the balls mowed down +the enemy like grass before the scythe. It was their turn to close up +the ranks. + +I also heard the enemy's artillery replying behind us, and I thought, +"Heaven grant that the French win the day; then their suffering wounded +will be taken care of, instead of these Prussians and Cossacks first +looking after their own, and leaving us all to perish." + +I paid no further attention to the sergeant, I only looked at the +Prussian gunners loading their guns, aiming and firing them, cursing +them all the time from the bottom of my heart, but all the time +listening to the inspiring shouts of "_Vive l'Empereur!_" ringing out +in the momentary silence between the reports of the guns. + +In about twenty minutes the Russians and Prussians were forced to fall +back; going in crowds by the narrow passage where we were; the shouts +of "_Vive l'Empereur!_" grew nearer and nearer. The cannoneers at the +pieces before me loaded and fired at their utmost speed, when three or +four grape-shots fell among them and broke the wheel of one of their +guns, besides killing two and wounding another of their men. I felt a +hand seize my arm. It was the old sergeant. His eyes were glazing in +death, but he laughed scornfully and savagely. The roof of our shelter +fell in; the walls bent, but we cared not, we only saw the defeat of +the enemy and heard the shouts of our men nearer and nearer, when the +old sergeant gasped in my ear: + +"Here he is!" + +He rose to his knees, supporting himself with one hand, while with the +other he waved his hat in the air, and cried in a ringing voice: + +"_Vive l'Empereur!_" + +Then he fell on his face to the earth and moved no more. + +And I, raising myself too from the ground, saw Napoleon, riding calmly +through the hail of shot---his hat pulled down over his large head--his +gray great-coat open, a broad red ribbon crossing his white vest--there +he rode, calm and imperturbable, his face lit up with the reflection +from the bayonets. None stood their ground before _him_; the Prussian +artillerymen abandoned their pieces and sprang over the garden-hedge, +despite the cries of their officers who sought to keep them back. + +[Illustration: Everything gave way before him.] + +All this I saw--it seems graved with fire on my memory, but from that +moment I can remember no more of the battle, for in that certainty of +victory I lost consciousness and fell like a corpse in the midst of +corpses. + + + + +XIV + +When sense returned it was night and all was silent around. Clouds +were scudding across the sky, and the moon shone down upon the +abandoned village, the broken guns, and the pale upturned faces of the +dead, as calmly as for ages she had looked on the flowing water, the +waving grass, and the rustling leaves which fall in autumn. Men are +but insects in the midst of creation; lives but drops in the ocean of +eternity, and none so truly feel their insignificance as the dying. + +I could not move from where I lay in the intensest pain. My right arm +alone could I stir, and raising myself with difficulty upon my elbow, I +saw the dead heaped along the street, their white faces shining like +snow in the moonlight. The mouths and eyes of some were wide open, +others lay on their faces, their knapsacks and cartridge-boxes on their +backs and their hands grasping their muskets. The sight thrilled me +with horror, and my teeth chattered. + +I would have cried for help, but my voice was no louder than that of a +sobbing child. But my feeble cry awoke others, and groans and shrieks +arose on all sides. The wounded thought succor was coming, and all who +could cried piteously. These cries lasted some time; then all was +silent, and I only heard a horse neigh painfully on the other side of +the hedge. The poor animal tried to rise, and I saw its head and long +neck appear; then it fell again to the earth. + +The effort I made reopened my wound, and again I felt the blood running +down my arm. I closed my eyes to die, and the scenes of my early +childhood, of my native village, the face of my poor mother as she sang +me to sleep, my little room, with its alcove, our old dog Pommer with +whom I used to play and roll over and over on the ground; my father as +he came home gayly in the evening, his axe on his shoulder, and took me +up in his strong arms to embrace me--all rose dreamily before me. + +How little those parents thought that they were rearing their boy to +die miserably far from friends, and home, and succor! How great would +have been their desolation--what maledictions would they have poured on +those who reduced him to such a state! Ah! if they were but there!--if +I could have asked their forgiveness for all the pain I had given them! +As these thoughts rushed over me the tears rolled down my cheeks; my +heart heaved: I sobbed like a child. + +Then Catharine, Aunt Gredel, and Monsieur Goulden passed before me. I +saw their grief and fear when the news of the battle came. Aunt Gredel +running to the post-office every day to learn something of me, and +Catharine prayerfully awaiting her return, while Monsieur Goulden read +in the gazette how the Third corps suffered more heavily than the +others, as he paced the room with drooping head and at last sat +dreamily at his work-bench. My heart was with them; it followed Aunt +Gredel to the post-office, and returned with her all sadly to the +village, and there it saw Catharine in her despairing grief. + +Then the postman Roedig seemed to arrive at Quatre-Vents. He opened +his leathern sack, and handed a large paper to Aunt Gredel, while +Catharine stood pale as death beside her. It was the official notice +of my death: I heard Catharine's heart-rending cries as she fell +swooning to the ground, and Aunt Gredel's maledictions, as, with her +gray hair streaming about her head, she cried that justice was no +longer to be found--that it were better that we had never been born, +since even God seemed to have abandoned us. Good Father Goulden came +to console them, but could only sob too: all wept together in their +desolation, crying: + +"Joseph! Poor, poor Joseph!" + +My heart seemed bursting. + +The thought came that thirty or forty thousand families in France, in +Russia, in Germany, were soon to receive the same news--news yet more +terrible, for many of the wretches stretched on the battle-field had +father and mother, and this was horrible to think of--it seemed as if a +wail from all human kind were rising from earth to heaven. + +Then I remembered those poor women of Phalsbourg, praying in the church +when we heard of the retreat from Russia, and I understood how their +hearts were torn. I thought that Catharine would soon go there, and +year after year she would pray--thinking of me. Yes--for I knew we had +loved each other from childhood, and that she could never forget me, +and tear after tear coursed down my cheeks. This confidence soothed me +in my grief--the certainty that she would preserve her love for me +until age whitened her hair; that I should be ever before her eyes, and +that she would never marry another. + +Toward morning a shower began to fall, and the monotonous dropping on +the roofs alone broke the silence. I thought of the good God, whose +power and mercy are limitless, and I hoped that He would pardon my sins +in consideration of my sufferings. + +The rain filled the little trench in which I had been lying. From time +to time a wall fell in the village, and the cattle, scared away by the +battle, began to resume confidence and return. I heard a goat bleat in +a neighboring stable. A great shepherd's dog wandered fearfully among +the heaps of dead. The horse, seeing him, neighed in terror--he took +him for a wolf--and the dog fled. + +I remember all these details, for, when we are dying, we see +everything, we hear everything, for we know that we are seeing and +hearing our last. + +But how my whole frame thrilled with joy when, at the corner of the +street, I thought I heard the sound of voices! How eagerly I listened! +And I raised myself upon my elbow, and called for help. It was yet +night; but the first gray streak of day was becoming visible in the +east, and afar off, through the falling rain, I saw a light in the +fields, now coming onward, now stopping. I saw dark forms bending +around it. They were only confused shadows. But others besides me saw +the light; for on all sides arose groans and plaintive cries, from +voices so feeble that they seemed like those of children calling their +mothers. + +What is this life to which we attach so great a price? This miserable +existence, so full of pain and suffering? Why do we so cling to it, +and fear more to lose it than aught else in the world? What is it that +is to come hereafter that makes us shudder at the mere thought of +death? Who knows? For ages and ages all have thought and thought on +the great question, but none have yet solved it. I, in my eagerness to +live, gazed on that light as the drowning man looks to the shore. I +could not take my eyes from it, and my heart thrilled with hope. I +tried again to shout, but my voice died on my lips. The pattering of +the rain on the ruined dwellings, and on the trees, and on the ground, +drowned all other sounds, and, although I kept repeating, "They hear +us! They are coming!" and although the lantern seemed to grow larger +and larger, after wandering for some time over the field, it slowly +disappeared behind a little hill. + +I fell once more senseless to the ground. + + + + +XV + +When I returned to myself, I looked around. I was in a long hall, with +posts all around. Some one gave me wine and water to drink, and it was +most grateful. I was in a bed, and beside me was an old gray-mustached +soldier, who, when he saw my eyes open, lifted up my head and held a +cup to my lips. + +"Well," said he cheerfully, "well! we are better." + +I could not help smiling as I thought that I was yet among the living. +My chest and arm were stiff with bandages; I felt as if a hot iron were +burning me there; but no matter, I lived! + +I gazed at the heavy rafters crossing the space above me; at the tiles +of the roof, through which the daylight entered in more than one spot; +I turned and looked to the other side, and saw that I was in one of +those vast sheds used by the brewers of the country as a shelter for +their casks and wagons. All around, on mattresses and heaps of straw, +numbers of wounded lay ranged; and in the middle, on a large +kitchen-table, a surgeon-major and his two aids, their shirt-sleeves +rolled up, were amputating the leg of a soldier, who was shrieking in +agony. Behind them was a mass of legs and arms. I turned away sick +and trembling. + +Five or six soldiers were walking about, giving bread and drink to the +wounded. + +But the man who impressed himself most on my memory was a surgeon with +sleeves rolled up, who cut and cut without paying the slightest +attention to what was going on around; he was a man with a large nose +and wrinkled cheeks, and every moment flew into a passion at his +assistants, who could not give him his knives, pincers, lint, or linen +fast enough, or who were not quick enough sponging up the blood. + +Things went on quickly, however, for in less than a quarter of an hour +he had cut off two legs. + +Without, against the posts, was a large wagon full of straw. + +They had just laid out on the table a Russian carbineer, six feet in +height at least; a ball had pierced his neck near the ear, and while +the surgeon was asking for his little knives, a cavalry surgeon passed +before the shed. He was short, stout, and badly pitted with the +small-pox, and held a portfolio under his arm. + +"Ha! Forel!" cried he, cheerfully. + +"It is Duchene," said our surgeon, turning around. "How many wounded?" + +"Seventeen to eighteen thousand." + +"Aha! Well, how goes it this morning?" + +"Passably--I am looking for a tavern." + +Our surgeon left the shed to chat with his comrade; they conversed +quietly, while the assistants sat down to drink a cup of wine, and the +Russian rolled his eyes despairingly. + +"See, Duchene; you have only to go down the street, opposite that well, +do you see?" + +"Very well indeed." + +"Just opposite you will see the canteen." + +"Very good; thank you; I am off." + +He started, and our surgeon called after him: + +"A good appetite to you, Duchene!" + +Then he returned to his Russian, whose neck he laid open. He worked +ill-humoredly, constantly scolding his aids. + +"Be quick!" he said, "be quick!" + +The Russian writhed and groaned, but he paid no attention to that, and +at last, throwing the bullet upon the ground, he bandaged up the wound, +and cried, "Carry him off!" + +They lifted the Russian from the table, and stretched him on a mattress +beside the others; then they laid his neighbor upon the table. + +I could not think that such horrors took place in the world; but I was +yet to see worse than this. + +At five or six beds from mine sat an old corporal with his leg bound +up. He closed one eye knowingly, and said to his neighbor, whose arm +had just been cut off: + +"Conscript, look at that heap! I will bet that you cannot recognize +your arm." + +The other, who had hitherto shown the greatest courage, looked, and +fell back senseless. + +Then the corporal began laughing, saying: + +"He has recognized it. It is the lower one, with the little blue +flower. It always produces that effect." + +He looked around self-approvingly, but no one laughed with him. + +Every moment the wounded called for water. + +"Drink! Drink!" + +When one began, all followed, and the old soldier had certainly +conceived a liking for me, for each time he passed, he presented the +cup. + +I did not remain in the shed more than an hour. A dozen ambulances +drew up before the door, and the peasants of the country round, in +their velvet jackets, and large black slouched hats, their whips on +their shoulders, held the horses by the reins. A picket of hussars +arrived soon after, and their officer dismounting, entered and said: + +"Excuse me, major, but here is an order to escort twelve wagons of +wounded as far as Lutzen. Is it here that we are to receive them?" + +"Yes, it is here," replied the surgeon. + +The peasants and the ambulance-drivers, after giving us a last draught +of wine, began carrying us to the wagons. As one was filled, it +departed, and another advanced. I was in the third, seated on the +straw, in the front row, beside a conscript of the Twenty-seventh, who +had lost his right hand; behind was another who had lost a leg; then +came one whose head was laid open, and another whose jaw was broken; so +was the wagon filled. + +They had given us our great-coats; but despite them and the sun, which +was shining brightly, we shivered with cold, and left only our noses +and forage-caps, or linen bandages on the splints visible. No one +spoke; each was too much occupied thinking of himself. + +At moments I was terribly cold; then flashes of heat would dart through +me, and flush me as in a fever; and indeed it was the beginning of the +fever. But as we left Kaya, I was yet well; I saw everything clearly, +and it was not until we neared Leipzig that I felt indeed sick. + +At last we were all placed in the wagons, and arranged according to our +condition--those able to sit up, in the first that set out, the others +stretched in the last, and we started. The hussars rode beside us, +smoking and chatting, paying no attention to us. + +In passing through Kaya, I saw all the horrors of war. The village was +but a mass of cinders; the roofs had fallen, and the walls alone +remained standing; the rafters were broken; we could see the remnants +of rooms, stairs, and doors heaped within. The poor villagers, women, +children, and old men, came and went with sorrowful faces. We could +see them going up and down in their houses, as if they were in cages in +the open air; and in one we saw a mirror and an evergreen branch, +showing where dwelt a young girl in time of peace. + +Ah! who could foresee that their happiness would so soon be destroyed, +not by the fury of the winds or the wrath of heaven, but by the rage of +man! + +Even the cattle and pigeons seemed seeking their lost homes among the +ruins; the oxen and the goats, scattered through the streets, lowed and +bleated plaintively. Fowls were roosting upon the trees, and +everywhere, everywhere we saw the traces of cannon-balls. + +At the last house an old man with flowing white hair, sat at the +threshold of what had been his cottage, with a child upon his knees, +glaring on us as we passed. "Did he see us?" I do not know. His +furrowed brow and stony eyes spoke of despair. How many years of +labor, of patient economy, of suffering, had he passed to make sure a +quiet old age! Now all was crushed, ruined; the child and he had no +longer a roof to cover their heads. + +And those great trenches--fully a mile of them--at which the country +people were working in such haste, to keep the plague from completing +the work war began! I saw them, too, from the top of the hill of Kaya, +and turned away my eyes, horror-stricken. Russians, French, Prussians, +were there heaped pell-mell, as if God had made them to love each other +before the invention of arms and uniforms, which divide them for the +profit of those who rule them. There they lay, side by side; and the +part of them which could not die knew no more of war, but cursed the +crimes that had for centuries kept them apart. + +But what was sadder yet, was the long line of ambulances--bearing the +agonized wounded--those of whom they speak so much in the bulletins to +make the loss seem less, and who die by thousands in the hospitals, far +from all they love; while at their homes cannon are firing, and +church-bells are ringing with joyous chimes--rejoicing that thousands +of men are slain! + +At length we reach Lutzen, but it was so full of wounded that we were +obliged to continue on to Leipzig. We saw in the streets only +half-dead wretches, stretched on straw along the walls of the houses. +It was more than an hour before we reached a church, where fifteen or +twenty of us who could no longer proceed were left. + +Our ambulance conductor and his men, after refreshing themselves at a +tavern at the street corner, remounted, and we continued our journey to +Leipzig. + +I saw and heard no more; my head swam; a murmuring filled my ears, I +thought trees were men, and an intolerable thirst burned my lips. + +For a long while past, many in the wagons had been shrieking, calling +upon their mothers, trying to rise and fling themselves upon the road. +I know not whether I did the same; but I awoke as from a horrible +dream, as two men seized me, each by a leg, placing their arms under my +body, and carried me through a dark square. The sky seemed covered +with stars, and innumerable lights shone from an immense edifice before +us. It was the hospital of the market-place at Leipzig. + +The two men who were carrying me ascended a spiral stairway which led +to an immense hall where beds were laid together in three lines, so +close that they touched each other. On one of these beds I was placed, +in the midst of oaths, cries for pity, and muttered complaints from +hundreds of fever-stricken wounded. The windows were open, and the +flames of the lanterns flickered in the gusts of wind. Surgeons, +assistants, and nurses with great aprons tied beneath their arms, came +and went, while the groans from the halls below, and the rolling of +ambulances, cracking of whips and neighing of horses without, seemed to +pierce my very brain. While they were undressing me, they handled me +roughly, and my wound pained me so horribly that I could not avoid +shrieking. A surgeon came up at once, and scolded them for not being +more careful. That is all I remember that night; for I became +delirious, and raved constantly of Catharine, Monsieur Goulden, and +Aunt Gredel, as my neighbor, an old artilleryman, whom my cries +prevented from sleeping, afterward told me. I awoke the next morning +at about eight o'clock, at the first roll of the drum, and saw the hall +better, and then learned that I had the bone of my left shoulder +broken. A dozen surgeons were around me; one of them, a stout, dark +man, whom they called Monsieur the Baron, was opening my bandages, +while an assistant at the foot of the bed held a basin of warm water. +The baron examined my wound; all the others bent forward to hear what +he might say. He spoke a few moments, but all that I could understand +was, that the ball had struck from below, breaking the bone and passing +out behind. I saw that he knew his business well, for the Prussians +had fired from below, over the garden wall, so that the ball must have +ranged upward. He washed the wound himself, and with a couple of turns +of his hand, replaced the bandage, so that my shoulder could not move, +and everything was in order. + +I felt much better. Ten minutes after a hospital steward put a shirt +on me without hurting me--such was his skill. + +The surgeon, passing to another bed, cried: + +"What! You here again, old fellow?" + +"Yes; it is I, Monsieur the Baron," replied the artilleryman, proud to +be recognized; "the first time was at Austerlitz, the second at Jena, +and then I received two thrusts of a lance at Smolensk." + +"Yes, yes," said the surgeon kindly; "and now what is the matter with +you?" + +"Three sabre-cuts on my left arm while I was defending my piece from +the Prussian hussars." + +The surgeon unwound the bandage, and asked, + +"Have you the cross?" + +"No, Monsieur the Baron." + +"What is your name?" + +"Christian Zimmer, of the Second horse artillery." + +"Very good!" + +He dressed the wounds, and went to the next, saying: + +"You will soon be well." + +He returned, chatting with the others, and went out after finishing his +round and giving some orders to the nurses. + +The old artilleryman's heart seemed overflowing with joy; and, as I +concluded from his name that he came from Alsace, I spoke to him in our +language, at which he was still more rejoiced. He was a tall +fellow--at least six feet in height, with round shoulders, a flat +forehead, large nose, light red mustaches, and was as hard as a rock, +but a good man for all that. His eyes twinkled when I spoke Alsatian +to him, and he pricked up his ears at once. If I asked him in our +tongue he was willing to give me everything he had, but he had only a +clasp of the hand, which cracked the bones in mine to give. He called +me _Josephel_, as they did at home, and said: + +"Josephel, be careful how you swallow the medicines they give you, only +take what you know. All that does not smell good is good for nothing. +If they would give us a bottle of _Rikevir_ every day we would soon be +well; but it is easier to spoil our digestion with a handful of vile +boiled herbs, than to bring us a little of the good white wine of +Alsace." + +When I told him I was afraid of dying of the fever, he looked angry +with his great gray eyes, and said: + +"Josephel, you are a fool. Do you think that such tall fellows as you +and I were born to die in a hospital? No, no; drive the idea from your +head." + +But he spoke in vain, for every morning the surgeons, making their +rounds, found seven or eight dead. Some died in fevers, some in deadly +chill; so that heat or cold might be the presage of death. + +Zimmer said that all this proceeded from the evil drugs which the +doctors invented. "Do you see that tall, thin fellow?" he asked. +"Well, that man can boast of having killed more men than a field-piece; +he is always primed, with his match lighted; and that little brown +fellow--I would send him instead of the Emperor to the Russians and +Prussians; he would kill more of them than a whole army corps." + +He would have made me laugh with his jokes if the litters had not been +constantly passing. + +At the end of three weeks my shoulder began to heal, and Zimmer's +wounds were also doing well. They gave us every morning some good +boiled beef which warmed our hearts, and in the evening a little beef +with half a glass of wine, the sight alone of which rejoiced us and +made the future look hopeful. + +About this time, too, they allowed us to walk in the large garden, full +of elms, behind the hospital. There were benches under the trees, and +we walked the paths like millionnaires in our gray great-coats and +forage-caps. The weather was magnificent; and we could see far along +the poplar bordered Partha. This river falls into the Elster, on the +left, forming a long blue line. On the same side stretches a forest of +beech trees, and in front are three or four great white roads, which +cross fields of wheat, barley and hay, and hop plantations; no sight +could be pleasanter, or richer, especially when the breeze falls upon +it and these harvests rise and fall in the sunlight like waves of the +sea. The increasing heat presaged a fine year and often, when looking +at the beautiful scenery around, I thought of Phalsbourg, and the tears +came to my eyes. + +"I would like to know what makes you cry so, Josephel," said Zimmer. +"Instead of catching a fever in the hospital, or losing a leg or arm, +like hundreds of others, here we are quietly seated in the shade; we +are well fed, and can smoke when we have any tobacco; and still you +cry. What more do you want, Josephel?" + +Then I told him of Catharine; of our walks at Quatre-Vents; of our +promises; of all my former life, which then seemed a dream. He +listened, smoking his pipe. + +"Yes, yes," said he; "all this is very sad. Before the conscription of +1798, I too was going to marry a girl of our village, who was named +Margredel, and whom I loved better than all the world beside. We had +promised to marry each other, and all through the campaign of Zurich, I +never passed a day without thinking of her. But when I first received +a furlough and reached home, what did I hear? Margredel had been three +months married to a shoemaker, named Passauf." + +"You may imagine my wrath, Josephel; I could not see clearly; I wanted +to demolish everything; and, as they told me that Passauf was at the +_Grand-Cerf_ brewery, thither I started, looking neither to the right +nor left. There I saw him drinking with three or four rogues. As I +rushed forward, he cried, 'There comes Christian Zimmer! How goes it, +Christian? Margredel sends you her compliments.' He winked his eye. +I seized a glass, which I hurled at his head, and broke to pieces, +saying, 'Give her that for my wedding present, you beggar!' The +others, seeing their friend thus maltreated, very naturally fell upon +me. I knocked two or three of them over with a jug, jumped on a table, +sprang through a window, and beat a retreat. + +"'It was time,' I thought. + +"But that was not all," he continued; "I had scarcely reached my +mother's when the gendarmerie arrived, and they arrested me. They put +me on a wagon and conducted me from brigade to brigade until we reached +my regiment, which was at Strasbourg. I remained six weeks at +Finckmatt, and would probably have received the ball and chain, if we +had not had to cross the Rhine to Hohenlinden. + +"The Commandant Courtaud himself said to me: + +"'You can boast of striking a hard blow, but if you happen again to +knock people over with jugs, it will not be well for you--I warn you. +Is that any way to fight, animal? Why do we wear sabres, if not to use +them and do our country honor?' + +"I had no reply to make. + +"From that day, Josephel, the thought of marriage never troubled me. +Don't talk to me of a soldier who has a wife to think of. Look at our +generals who are married, do they fight as they used to? No, they have +but one idea, and that is to increase their store and to profit by +their wealth by living well with their duchesses and little dukes at +home. My grandfather Yeri, the forester, always said that a good hound +should be lean, and I think the same of good generals and good +soldiers. The poor fellows are always in working order, but our +generals grow fat from their good dinners at home." + +So spoke my friend Zimmer in the honesty of his heart, and all this did +not lessen my sadness. + +As soon as I could sit up, I hastened to inform Monsieur Goulden, by +letter, that I was in the hospital of Halle, in one of the five +buildings of Leipzig, slightly wounded in the arm, but that he need +fear nothing for me, for I was growing better and better. I asked him +to show my letter to Catharine and Aunt Gredel to comfort them in the +midst of such fearful war. I told him, too, that my greatest happiness +would be to receive news from home and of the health of all whom I +loved. + +From that moment I had no rest; every morning I expected an answer, and +to see the postmaster distribute twenty or thirty letters in our ward, +without my receiving one, almost broke my heart; I hurried to the +garden and wept. There was a little dark corner where they threw +broken pottery--a place buried in shade, which pleased me much, because +no one ever came there--there I passed my time dreaming on an old +moss-covered bench. Evil thoughts crossed my brain--I almost believed +that Catharine could forget her promises, and I muttered to myself, +"Ah! if you had not been picked up at Kaya! All would then have been +ended! Why were you not abandoned? Better to have been, than to +suffer thus!" + +To such a pass did I finally arrive, that I no longer wished to +recover, when one morning the letter-carrier, among other names, called +that of Joseph Bertha. I lifted my hand without being able to speak, +and a large, square letter, covered with innumerable post-marks, was +handed me. I recognized Monsieur Goulden's handwriting, and turned +pale. + +"Well," said Zimmer, laughing, "it is come at last." + +I did not answer, but thrust the letter in my pocket, to read it at +leisure and alone. I went to the end of the garden and opened it. Two +or three apple-blossoms dropped upon the ground, with an order for +money, on which Monsieur Goulden had written a few words. But what +touched me most was the handwriting of Catharine, which I gazed at +without reading a word, while my heart beat as if about to burst +through my bosom. + +At last I grew a little calmer and read the letter slowly, stopping +from time to time to make sure that I made no mistake--that it was +indeed my dear Catharine who wrote, and that I was not in a dream. + +I have kept that letter, because it brought, so to speak, life back to +me. Here it is as I received it on the eighth day of June, 1813: + + +"MY DEAR JOSEPH:--I write you to tell you I yet love you alone, and +that, day by day, I love you more. + +"My greatest grief is to know that you are wounded, in a hospital, and +that I cannot take care of you. Since the conscripts departed, we have +not had a moment's peace of mind. My mother says I am silly to weep +night and day, but she weeps as much as I, and her wrath falls heavily +on Pinacle, who dared not come to the market-place, because she carried +a hammer in her basket. + +"But our greatest grief was when we heard that the battle had taken +place, and that thousands of men had fallen; mother ran every morning +to the post-office, while I could not move from the house. At last +your letter came, thank heaven! to cheer us. Now I am better, for I +can weep at my ease, thanking God that He has saved your life. + +"And when I think how happy we used to be, Joseph--when you came every +Sunday, and we sat side by side without stirring and thought of +nothing! Ah! we did not know how happy we were; we knew not what might +happen--but God's will be done. If you only recover! if we may only +hope to be once again as happy as we were! + +"Many people talk of peace, but the Emperor so loves war, that I fear +it is far off. + +"What pleases me most is to know that your wound is not dangerous, and +that you still love me. Ah! Joseph, I will love you forever--that is +all I can say. I can say it from the bottom of my heart; and I know my +mother loves you too! + +"Now, Monsieur Goulden wishes to say a few words to you, so I will +close. The weather is beautiful here, and the great apple-tree in the +garden is full of flowers; I have plucked a few, which I shall put in +this letter when M. Goulden has written. Perhaps with God's blessing +we shall yet eat together one of those large apples. Embrace me as I +embrace you, Joseph, Farewell! Farewell!" + + +As I finished reading this, Zimmer arrived, and in my joy, I said: + +"Sit down, Zimmer, and I will read you my sweetheart's letter. You +will see whether she is a Margredel." + +"Let me light my pipe first," he answered; and having done so, he +added: "Go on, Josephel, but I warn you that I am an old bird, and do +not believe all I hear; women are more cunning than we." + +Notwithstanding this bit of philosophy, I read Catharine's letter +slowly to him. When I had ended, he took it, and for a long time gazed +at it dreamily, and then handed it back, saying: + +"There! Josephel. She _is_ a good girl, and a sensible one, and will +never marry any one but you." + +"Do you really think so?" + +"Yes; you may rely upon her; she will never marry a Passauf. I would +rather distrust the Emperor than such a girl." + +I could have embraced Zimmer for these words; but I said: + +"I have received a bill for one hundred francs. Now for some white +wine of Alsace. Let us try to get out." + +"That is well thought of," said he, twisting his mustache and putting +his pipe in his pocket. "I do not like to mope in a garden when there +are taverns outside. We must get permission." + +We arose joyfully and went to the hospital, when, the letter-carrier, +coming out, stopped Zimmer, saying: + +"Are you Christian Zimmer, of the Second horse artillery?" + +"I have that honor, monsieur the carrier." + +"Well, here is something for you," said the other, handing him a little +package and a large letter. + +Zimmer was stupefied, never having received anything from home or from +anywhere else. He opened the packet--a box appeared--then the box--and +saw the cross of honor. He became pale; his eyes filled with tears, he +staggered against a balustrade, and then shouted "_Vive l'Empereur!_" +in such tones that the three halls rang and rang again. + +The carrier looked on smiling. + +"You are satisfied," said he. + +"Satisfied! I need but one thing more." + +"And what is that?" + +"Permission to go to the city." + +"You must ask Monsieur Tardieu, the surgeon-in-chief." + +He went away laughing, while we ascended arm-in-arm, to ask permission +of the surgeon-major, an old man, who had heard the "_Vive +l'Empereur!_" and demanded gravely: + +"What is the matter?" + +Zimmer showed his cross and replied: + +"Pardon, major; but I am more than usually merry." + +"I can easily believe you," said Monsieur Tardieu; "you want a pass to +the city?" + +"If you will be so good; for myself and my comrade, Joseph Bertha." + +The surgeon had examined my wound the day before. He took out his +portfolio and gave us passes. We left as proud as kings--Zimmer of his +cross, I, of my letter. + +Downstairs in the great vestibule the porter cried: + +"Hold on there! Where are you going?" + +Zimmer showed him our passes, and we sallied forth, glad to breathe the +free air, without, once more. A sentinel showed us the post-office, +where I was to receive my hundred francs. + +Then, more gravely, for our joy had sunk deeper in our hearts, we +reached the gate of Halle about two musket shots to the left, at the +end of a long avenue of lindens. Each faubourg is separated from the +old ramparts only by these avenues, and all around Leipzig passes +another very wide one, also bordered with lindens. The ramparts are +very old--such as we see at Saint Hippolyte, on the upper +Rhine,--crumbling, grass-grown walls; at least such they are if the +Germans have not repaired them since 1813. + + + + +XVI + +How much were we to learn that day! At the hospital no one troubled +himself about anything: when every morning you see fifty wounded come +in, and when every evening you see as many depart upon the bier, you +have the world before you in a narrow compass, and you think-- + +"After us comes the end of the universe!" + +But without, these ideas change. When I caught the first glimpse of +the street of Halle,--that old city with its shops, its gateways filled +with merchandise, its old peaked roofs, its heavy wagons laden with +bales, in a word, all its busy commercial life,--I was struck with +wonder; I had never seen anything like it, and I said to myself: + +"This is indeed a mercantile city, such as they talk of--full of +industrious people trying to make a living, or competence, or wealth; +where every one seeks to rise, not to the injury of others, but by +working--contriving night and day how to make his family prosperous; so +that all profit by inventions and discoveries. Here is the happiness +of peace in the midst of a fearful war!" + +But the poor wounded, wandering about with their arms in slings, or +perhaps dragging a leg after them as they limped on crutches, were sad +sights to see. + +I walked dreamily through the streets, led by Zimmer, who recognized +every corner, and kept repeating: + +"There--there is the church of Saint Nicholas; that large building is +the university: that on yonder is the _Hotel de Ville_." + +He seemed to remember every stone, having been there in 1807, before +the battle of Friedland, and continued: + +"We are the same here as if we were in Metz, or Strasbourg, or any +other city in France. The people wish us well. After the campaign of +1806, they used to do all they could for us. The citizens would take +three or four of us at a time to dinner with them. They even gave us +balls and called us the heroes of Jena. Go where we would they +everywhere received us as benefactors of the country. We named their +elector King of Saxony, and gave him a good slice of Poland." + +Suddenly he stopped before a little, low door and cried: + +"Hold! Here is the Golden Sheep Brewery. The front is on the other +street, but we can enter here. Come!" + +I followed him into a narrow, winding passage which led to an old +court, surrounded by rubble walls, with little moss-covered galleries +under the roof and a weathercock upon the peak, as in the Tanner's Lane +in Strasbourg. To the right was the brewery, and in a corner a great +wheel, turned by an enormous dog, which pumped the beer to every story +of the house. + +The clinking of glasses was heard coming from a room which opened on +the Rue de Tilly, and under the windows of this was a deep cellar +resounding with the cooper's hammer. The sweet smell of the new March +beer filled the air, and Zimmer, with a look of satisfaction, cried: + +"Yes, here I came six years ago with Ferre and stout Rousillon. How +glad I am to see it all again, Josephel! It was six years ago. Poor +Rousillon! he left his bones at Smolensk last year! and Ferre must now +be at home in his village near Toul, for he lost his left leg at +Wagram. How everything comes back as I think of it!" + +At the same time he pushed open the door, and we entered a lofty hall, +full of smoke. I saw, through the thick, gray atmosphere, a long row +of tables, surrounded by men drinking--the greater number in short +coats and little caps, the remainder in the Saxon uniform. The first +were students, young men of family who came to Leipzig to study law, +medicine, and all that can be learned by emptying glasses and leading a +jolly life, which they call _Fuchs-commerce_. They often fight among +themselves with a sort of blade rounded at the point and only its tip +sharpened, so that they slash their faces, as Zimmer told me, but life +is never endangered. This shows the good sense of these students, who +know very well that life is precious, and that one had better get five +or six slashes, or even more, than lose it. + +Zimmer laughed as he told me these things; his love of glory blinded +him; he said they might as well load cannon with roasted apples, as +fight with swords rounded at the point. + +But we entered the hall, and we saw the oldest of the students--a tall +withered-looking man with a red nose and long flaxen beard, stained +with beer--standing upon a table, reading the gazette aloud which hung +from his hand like an apron. He held the paper in one hand, and in the +other a long porcelain pipe. His comrades, with their long, light hair +falling upon their shoulders, were listening with the deepest interest; +and as we entered, they shouted, "_Vaterland! Vaterland!_" + +They touched glasses with the Saxon soldiers, while the tall student +bent over to take up his glass, and the round, fat brewer cried: + +"_Gesundheit! Gesundheit!_" + +Scarcely had we made half a dozen steps toward them, when they became +silent. + +"Come, come, comrades!" cried Zimmer, "don't disturb yourselves. Go on +reading. We do not object to hear the news." + +But they did not seem inclined to profit by our invitation, and the +reader descended from the table, folding up his paper, which he put in +his pocket. + +"We are done," said he, "we are done." + +"Yes; we are done," repeated the others, looking at each other with a +peculiar expression. + +Two or three of the German soldiers rose and left the room, as if to +take the air in the court. And the fat landlord said: + +"You do not perhaps know that the large hall is on the Rue de Tilly?" + +"Yes; we know it very well," replied Zimmer; "but I like this little +hall better. Here I used to come, long ago, with two old comrades, to +empty a few glasses in honor of Jena and Auerstadt. I know this room +of old." + +"Ah! as you please, as you please," returned the landlord. "Do you +wish some March beer?" + +"Yes; two glasses and the gazette." + +"Very good." + +The glasses were handed us, and Zimmer, who observed nothing, tried to +open a conversation with the students; but they excused themselves, +and, one after another, went out. I saw that they hated us, but dared +not show it. + +The gazette, which was from France, spoke of an armistice, after two +new victories at Bautzen and Wurtschen. This armistice commenced on +the sixth of June, and a conference was then being held at Prague, in +Bohemia, to arrange on terms of peace. All this naturally gave me +pleasure. I thought of again seeing home. But Zimmer, with his habit +of thinking aloud, filled the hall with his reflections, and +interrupted me at every line. + +"An armistice!" he cried. "Do we want an armistice. After having +beaten those Prussians and Russians at Lutzen, Bautzen and Wurtschen, +ought we not to annihilate them? Would they give us an armistice if +they had beaten us? There, Joseph, you see the Emperor's character--he +is too good. It is his only fault. He did the same thing after +Austerlitz, and he had to begin over again. I tell you, he is too +good; and if he were not so, we should have been masters of Europe." + +As he spoke, he looked around as if seeking assent; but the students +scowled, and no one replied. At last Zimmer rose. + +"Come, Joseph," said he; "I know nothing of politics, but I insist that +we should give no armistice to those beggars. When they are down we +should keep them there." + +After we had paid our reckoning, and were once more in the street, he +continued: + +"I do not know what was the matter with those people to-day. We must +have disturbed them in something." + +"It is very possible," I replied. "They certainly did not seem like +the good-natured folks you were speaking of." + +"No," said he. "Those young fellows are far beneath the old students I +have seen. _They_ passed--I might say--their lives at the brewery. +They drank twenty and sometimes thirty glasses a day; even I, Joseph, +had no chance with such fellows. Five or six of them whom they called +'seniors' had gray beards and a venerable appearance. We sang _Fanfan +la Tulipe_ and 'King Dagobert' together, which are not political songs, +you know. But these fellows are good for nothing." + +I knew afterward, that those students were members of the _Tugend-bund_. + +On returning to the hospital, after having had a good dinner and drank +a bottle of wine apiece in the inn of La Grappe in the Rue de Tilly, we +learned that we were to go, that same evening, to the barracks of +Rosenthal--a sort of depot for wounded, near Lutzen, where the roll was +called morning and evening, but where, at all other times, we were at +liberty to do as we pleased. Every three days, the surgeon made his +visit; as soon as one was well, he received his order to march to +rejoin his corps. + +One may imagine the condition of from twelve to fifteen hundred poor +wretches clothed in gray great-coats with leaden buttons, shakos shaped +like flower-pots, and shoes worn out by marches and +counter-marches--pale, weak, most of them without a sou, in a rich city +like Leipzig. We did not cut much of a figure among these students, +these good citizens and smiling young women, who, despite our glory, +looked on us as vagabonds. + +All the fine stories of my comrade only made me feel my situation more +bitterly. + +It is true that we were formerly well received, but in those days our +men did not always act honestly by those who treated them like +brothers, and now doors were slammed in our faces. We were reduced to +the necessity of contemplating squares, churches, and the outside of +sausage-shops, which are there very handsome, from morning till night. + +We tried every way of amusing ourselves; the idlers played at +_drogue_[1], the younger ones drank. We had also a game called "Cat +and Rat," which we played in front of the barracks. A stake was +planted in the ground, to which two cords were fastened; the rat held +one of these, and the cat the other. Their eyes were bandaged. The +cat was armed with a cudgel and tried to catch the rat, who kept out of +the way as much as he could, listening for the cat's approach--thus +they kept going around on tiptoe, and exhibiting their cunning to the +company. + + +[1] A game at cards, played among soldiers, in which the loser wears a +forked stick on his nose till he wins again. + + +Zimmer told me that in former times the good Germans came in crowds to +see this game, and you could hear them laugh half a league off when the +cat touched the rat with his club. But times were indeed changed; +every one passed by now without even turning their heads; we only lost +our labor when we tried to interest them in our favor. + +During the six weeks we remained at Rosenthal, Zimmer and I often +wandered through the city to kill time. We went by way of the faubourg +of Randstatt and pushed as far as Lindenau, on the road to Lutzen. +There were nothing but bridges, swamps and wooded islets as far as the +eye could reach. There we would eat an omelette with bacon at the +tavern of the Carp, and wash it down with a bottle of white wine. They +no longer gave us credit, as after Jena; I believe, on the contrary, +that the innkeeper would have made us pay double and triple, for the +honor of the German Fatherland, if my comrade had not known the price +of eggs and bacon and wine as well as any Saxon among them. + +In the evening, when the sun was setting behind the reeds of the Elster +and the Pleisse, we returned to the city accompanied by the mournful +notes of the frogs, which swarm in thousands in the marshes. + +Sometimes we would stop with folded arms at the railing of a bridge and +gaze at the old ramparts of Leipzig, its churches, its old ruins, and +its castle of Pleissenbourg, all glowing in the red twilight. The city +runs to a point where the Pleisse and the Partha branch off, and the +rivers meet above. It is in the shape of a fan, the faubourg of Halle +at the handle and the seven other faubourgs spreading off.[2] We gazed +too at the thousand arms of the Elster and the Pleisse, winding like +threads among islands already growing dark in the twilight, although +the waters glittered like gold. All this seemed very beautiful. + + +[2] On the English map the river is the Rotha, not the Partha (or +Parde), and at the point here alluded to it joins the _Elster_, not the +_Pleisse_, as stated previously.--_Translator's Note_. + + +But if we had known that we would one day be forced to cross these +rivers under the enemy's cannon, after having lost the most fearful and +the bloodiest of battles, and that entire regiments would disappear +beneath those waters, which then gladdened our eyes, I think that the +sight would have made us sad enough. + +At other times we would walk along the bank of the Pleisse as far as +Mark-Kleeberg. It was more than a league, and every field was covered +with harvests which they were hastening to garner. The people in their +great wagons seemed not to see us, and if we asked for information they +pretended not to understand us. Zimmer always grew angry. I held him +back, telling him that the beggarly wretches only sought a pretext for +falling upon us, and that we had, besides, orders to humor them. + +"Very good!" he said; "but if the war comes this way, let them look +out! We have overwhelmed them with benefits and this is how they +receive us!" + +But what shows better yet the ill-feeling of the people toward us was +what happened us the day after the conclusion of the armistice, when, +about eleven o'clock, we went together to bathe in the Elster. We had +already thrown off our clothes, and Zimmer seeing a peasant +approaching, cried: + +"Holloa, comrade! Is there any danger here?" + +"No. Go in boldly," replied the man. "It is a good place." + +Zimmer, mistrusting nothing, went some fifteen feet out. He was a good +swimmer, but his left arm was yet weak, and the strength of the current +carried him away so quickly that he could not even catch the branches +of the willows which hung over him; and were it not that he was carried +to a ford, where he gained a footing, he would have been swept between +two muddy islands, and certainly lost. + +The peasant stood to see the effect of his advice. I was very angry, +and dressed myself as quickly as I could, shaking my fist at him, but +he laughed, and ran, quicker than I could follow him, to the city. +Zimmer was wild with wrath, and wished to pursue him to Connewitz; but +how could we find him among three or four hundred houses, and if we did +find him, what could we do? + +Finally we went into the water where there was footing, and its +coolness calmed us. + +I remember how, as we returned to Leipzig, Zimmer talked of nothing but +vengeance. + +"The whole country is against us!" cried he; "the citizens look black +at us, the women turn their backs, the peasants try to drown us, and +the innkeepers refuse us credit, as if we had not conquered them three +or four times; and all this comes of our extraordinary goodness; we +should have declared that we were their masters! We have granted to +the Germans kings and princes; we have even made dukes, counts and +barons with the names of their villages; we have loaded them with +honors, and see their gratitude! + +"Instead of having ordered us to respect the people, we should be given +full power over them; then the thieves would change faces and treat us +well, as they did in 1806. Force is everything. In the first place, +conscripts are made by force, for if they were not forced to come, they +would all stay at home. Of the conscripts soldiers are made by +force--by discipline being taught them; with soldiers battles are +gained by force, and then people are forced to give you everything: +they prepare triumphal arches for you and call you heroes because they +are afraid of you; that is how it is! + +"But the Emperor is too good. If he were not so good I would not have +been in danger of drowning to-day;--the sight of my uniform would have +made that peasant tremble at the idea of telling me a lie." + +So spoke Zimmer, and all this yet remains in my memory. It happened +August 12, 1813. + +Returning to Leipzig, we saw joy painted on the countenances of the +inhabitants. It did not display itself openly; but the citizens, +meeting, would shake hands with an air of huge satisfaction, and the +general rejoicing glistened even in the eyes of servants and the +poorest workmen. + +Zimmer said: "These Germans seem to be merry about something, they all +look so good-natured." + +"Yes," I replied; "their good humor comes from the fine weather and +good harvest." + +It was true the weather was very fine, but when we reached the +barracks, we found some of our officers at the gate, talking eagerly +together, while those who were going by came up to listen, and then we +learned the cause of so much joy. The conference at Prague was broken +off, and Austria, too, was about to declare war against us, which gave +us two hundred thousand more men to take care of. I have learned since +that we then stood three hundred thousand men against five hundred and +twenty thousand, and that among our enemies were two old French +generals, Moreau and Bernadotte. Every one can read that in books, but +we did not yet know it, and we were sure of victory, for we had never +lost a battle. The ill-feeling of the people did not trouble us: in +time of war peasants and citizens are in a manner reckoned as nothing; +they are only asked for money and provisions, which they always give, +for they know that if they made the least resistance they would be +stripped to the last farthing. + +The day after we got this important news there was a general +inspection, and twelve hundred of the wounded of Lutzen were ordered to +rejoin their corps. They went by companies with arms and baggage, some +following the road to Altenbourg, which runs along the Elster, and some +the road to Wurtzen, farther to the left. + +Zimmer was of the number, having himself asked leave to go. I went +with him just beyond the gate, and there we embraced with emotion. I +stayed behind, as my arm was still weak. + +We were now not more than five or six hundred, among whom were a number +of masters of arms, of teachers of dancing and French elegance--fellows +to be found at all depots of wounded. I did not care to become +acquainted with them, and my only consolation was in thinking of +Catharine, and sometimes of my old comrades Klipfel and Zebede, of whom +I received no tidings. + +It was a sad enough life; the people looked upon us with an evil eye; +they dared say nothing, knowing that the French army was only four +days' march away, and Bluecher and Schwartzenberg much farther. +Otherwise, how soon they would have fallen upon us! + +One evening the rumor prevailed that we had just won a great victory at +Dresden. There was general consternation; the inhabitants remained +shut up in their houses. I went to read the newspaper at the "Bunch of +Grapes," in the Rue de Tilly. The French papers were there always on +the table; no one opened them but me. + +But the following week, at the beginning of September, I saw the same +change in people's faces as I observed the day the Austrians declared +against us. I guessed we had met some misfortune, and we had, as I +learned afterward, for the Paris papers said nothing of it. + +Bad weather set in at the end of August, and the rain fell in torrents. +I no longer left the barracks. Often, as seated upon my bed, I gazed +at the Elster boiling beneath the falling floods, and the trees, and +the little islands swaying in the wind, I thought: "Poor soldiers! poor +comrades! What are you doing now? Where are you? On the high road +perhaps, or in the open fields!" + +And despite my sadness at living where I was, I remembered that I was +less to be pitied than they. But one day the old Surgeon Tardieu made +his round and said to me: + +"Your arm is strong again--let us see--raise it for me. All right! all +right!" + +The next day at roll-call, they passed me into a hall where there were +clothing, knapsacks, cartridge-boxes and shoes in abundance. I +received a musket, two packets of cartridges, and marching papers for +the Sixth at Gauernitz, on the Elbe. This was the first of October. +Twelve or fifteen of us set out together, under charge of a +quartermaster of the Twenty-seventh named Poitevin. + +On the road, one after another left us to take the way to his corps; +but Poitevin, four infantry men and I, kept on to the village of +Gauernitz. + + + + +XVII + +We were following the Wurtzen high road, our muskets slung on our +backs, our great-coat capes turned up, bending beneath our knapsacks, +and feeling down-hearted enough, as you may imagine. The rain was +falling, and ran from our shakos down our necks; the wind shook the +poplars, and their yellow leaves, fluttering around us, told of the +approach of winter. So hour after hour passed. + +From time to time, at long intervals, we came upon a village with its +sheds, dunghills and gardens, surrounded with palings. The women +standing behind their windows, with little dull panes, gazed at us as +we went by; a dog bayed; a man splitting wood at his threshold turned +to follow us with his eyes, and we kept on, on, splashed and muddied to +our necks. We looked back; from the end of the village the road +stretched on as far as one could see; gray clouds trailed along the +despoiled fields, and a few lean rooks were flying away, uttering their +melancholy cry. + +Nothing could be sadder than such a view; and to it was added the +thought that winter was coming on, and that soon we must sleep without +a roof, in the snow. We might well be silent, as we were, save the +quartermaster Poitevin. He was a veteran,--sallow, wrinkled, with +hollow cheeks, mustaches an ell long, and a red nose, like all brandy +drinkers. He had a lofty way of speaking, which he interspersed with +barrack slang. When the rain came down faster than ever, he cried, +with a strange burst of laughter: "Ay, ay, Poitevin, this will teach +you to hiss!" The old drunkard perceived that I had a little money in +my pocket, and kept near me, saying: "Young man, if your knapsack tires +you, hand it to me." But I only thanked him for his kindness. + +Notwithstanding my disgust at being with a man who gazed at every +tavern sign when we passed through a village, and said at each one: "A +little glass of something would do us good as the time passes," I could +not help paying for a glass now and then, so that he did not quit me. + +We were nearing Wurtzen and the rain was falling in torrents, when the +quartermaster cried for the twentieth time: + +"Ay, Poitevin! Here is life for you! This will teach you to hiss!" + +"What sort of a proverb is that of yours?" I asked; "I would like to +know how the rain would teach you to hiss." + +"It is not a proverb, young man; it is an idea which runs in my head +when I try to be cheerful." + +Then, after a moment's pause, he continued: + +"You must know," said he, "that in 1806, when I was a student at Rouen, +I happened once to hiss a piece in the theatre, with a number of other +young fellows like myself. Some hissed, some applauded; blows were +struck, and the police carried us by dozens to the watch-house. The +Emperor, hearing of it, said: 'Since they like fighting so much, put +them in my armies! There they can gratify their tastes!' And, of +course, the thing was done; and no one dared hiss in that part of the +country, not even fathers and mothers of families." + +"You were a conscript, then?" I asked. + +"No, my father had just bought me a substitute. It was one of the +Emperor's jokes; one of those jokes which we long remember; twenty or +thirty of us are dead of hardship and want. A few others, instead of +filling honorable positions in their towns, such as doctors, judges, +lawyers, have become old drunkards. This is what is called a good +joke!" + +Then he began to laugh, looking at me from the corner of his eye. I +had become very thoughtful, and two or three times more, before we +reached Gauernitz, I paid for the poor wretch's little glasses of +something. + +It was about five o'clock in the evening, and we were approaching the +village of Risa, when we descried an old mill, with its wooden bridge, +over which a bridle-path ran. We struck off from the road and took +this path, to make a short cut to the village, when we heard cries and +shrieks for help, and, at the same moment, two women, one old, and the +other somewhat younger, ran across a garden, dragging two children with +them. They were trying to gain a little wood which bordered the road, +and at the same moment we saw several of our soldiers come out of the +mill with sacks, while others came up from a cellar with little casks, +which they hastened to place on a cart standing near; still others were +driving cows and horses from a stable, while an old man stood at the +door, with uplifted hands, as if calling down Heaven's curse upon them; +and five or six of the evil-minded wretches surrounded the miller, who +was all pale, with his eyes starting from their sockets. + +The whole scene, the mill, the dam, the broken windows, the flying +women, our soldiers in fatigue caps, looking like veritable bandits, +the old man cursing them, the cows shaking their heads to throw off +those who were leading them, while others pricked them behind with +their bayonets--all seems yet before me--I seem yet to see it. + +"There," cried the quartermaster, "there are fellows pillaging. We are +not far from the army." + +"But that is horrible!" I cried. "They are robbers." + +"Yes," returned the quartermaster, coolly; "it is contrary to +discipline, and if the Emperor knew of it, they would be shot like +dogs." + +We crossed the little bridge, and found the thieves crowded around a +cask which they had tapped, passing around the cup. This sight roused +the quartermaster's indignation, and he cried majestically: + +"By whose permission are you plundering in this way?" + +Several turned their heads, but seeing that we were but three, for the +rest of our party had gone on, one of them replied: + +"Ha! what do you want, old joker? A little of the spoil, I suppose. +But you need not curl up your mustaches on that account. Here, drink a +drop." + +The speaker held out the cup, and the quartermaster took it and drank, +looking at me as he did so. + +"Well, young man," said he, "will you have some, too? It is famous +wine, this." + +"No, I thank you," I replied. + +Several of the pillaging party now cried: + +"Hurry, there; it is time to get back to camp." + +"No, no," replied others; "there is more to be had here." + +"Comrades," said the quartermaster, in a tone of gentle reproof and +warning, "you know, comrades, you must go gently about it." + +"Yes, yes, old fellow," replied a drum-major, with half-closed eyes, +and a mocking smile; "do not be alarmed; we will pluck the pigeon +according to rule. We will take care; we will take care." + +The quartermaster said no more, but seemed ashamed on my account. He +at length said: + +"What would you have, young man? War is war. One cannot see himself +starving, with food at hand." + +He was afraid I would report him; he would have remained with the +pillagers, but for the fear of being captured. I replied, to relieve +his mind: + +"Those are probably good fellows, but the sight of a cup of wine makes +them forget everything." + +At length, about ten o'clock at night, we saw the bivouac fires, on a +gloomy hill-side to the right of the village of Gauernitz, and of an +old castle from which a few lights also shone. Farther on, in the +plain, a great number of other fires were burning. The night was +clear, and as we approached the bivouac, the sentry challenged: + +"Who goes there?" + +"France!" replied the quartermaster. + +My heart beat, as I thought that, in a few moments, I should again meet +my old comrades, if they were yet in the world. + +Some men of the guard came forward from a sort of shed, half a +musket-shot from the village, to find out who we were. The commandant +of the post, a gray-haired sub-lieutenant, his arm in a sling under his +cloak, asked us whence we came, whither we were going, and whether we +had met any parties of Cossacks on our route. The quartermaster +answered his questions. The lieutenant informed us that Souham's +division had that morning left Gauernitz, and ordered us to follow him, +that he might examine our marching-papers; which we did in silence, +passing among the bivouac fires, around which men, covered with dried +mud, were sleeping, in groups of twenty. Not one moved. + +We arrived at the officers' quarters. It was an old brick-kiln, with +an immense roof, resting on posts driven into the ground. A large fire +was burning in it, and the air was agreeably warm. Around it soldiers +were sleeping, with a contented look, their backs against the wall; the +flames lighted up their figures under the dark rafters. Near the posts +shone stacks of arms. I seem yet to see these things; I feel the +kindly warmth which penetrated me. I see my comrades, their clothes +smoking, a few paces from the kiln, where they were gravely waiting +until the officer should have finished reading the marching-papers, by +the dim, red light. One bronzed old veteran watched alone, seated on +the ground, and mending a shoe with a needle and thread. + +The officer handed me back my paper first, saying: + +"You will rejoin your battalion to-morrow, two leagues hence, near +Torgau." + +Then the old soldier, looking at me, placed his hand upon the ground, +to show that there was room beside him, and I seated myself. I opened +my knapsack, and put on new stockings and shoes, which I had brought +from Leipzig, after which I felt much better. + +The old man asked: + +"You are rejoining your corps?" + +"Yes; the Sixth at Torgau." + +"And you came from?"---- + +"The hospital at Leipzig." + +"That is easily seen," said he; "you are fat as a beadle. They fed you +on chickens down there, while we were eating cow-beef." + +I looked around at my sleeping neighbors. He was right; the poor +conscripts were mere skin and bone. They were bronzed as veterans, and +scarcely seemed able to stand. + +The old man, in a moment, continued his questions: + +"You were wounded?" + +"Yes, veteran, at Lutzen." + +"Four months in the hospital!" said he, whistling; "what luck! I have +just returned from Spain, flattering myself that I was going to meet +the _Kaiserliks_ of 1807 once more--sheep, regular sheep--but they have +become worse than guerillas. Everything goes to the bad." + +He said the most of this to himself, without paying much attention to +me, all the while sewing his shoe, which from time to time he tried on, +to be sure that the sewn part would not hurt his foot. At last he put +the thread in his knapsack, and the shoe upon his foot, and stretched +himself upon a truss of straw. + +I was too fatigued to sleep at once, and for an hour lay awake. + +In the morning I set out again with the quartermaster Poitevin, and +three other soldiers of Souham's division. Our route lay along the +bank of the Elbe; the weather was wet and the wind swept fiercely over +the river, throwing the spray far on the land. + +We hastened on for an hour, when suddenly the quartermaster cried: + +"Attention!" + +He had halted suddenly, and stood listening. We could hear nothing but +the sighing of the wind through the trees, and the splash of the waves; +but his ear was finer than ours. + +"They are skirmishing yonder," said he, pointing to a wood on our +right. "The enemy may be near us, and the best thing we can do is to +enter the wood and pursue our way cautiously. We can see at the other +end of it what is going on; and if the Prussians or Russians are there, +we can beat a retreat without their perceiving us. If they are French, +we will go on." + +We all thought the quartermaster was right; and, in my heart, I admired +the shrewdness of the old drunkard. We kept on toward the wood, +Poitevin leading, and the others following, with our pieces cocked. We +marched slowly, stopping every hundred paces to listen. The shots grew +nearer; they were fired at intervals, and the quartermaster said: + +"They are sharp-shooters reconnoitring a body of cavalry, for the +firing is all on one side." + +It was true. In a few moments we perceived, through the trees, a +battalion of French infantry about to make their soup, and in the +distance, on the plain beyond, platoons of Cossacks defiling from one +village to another. A few skirmishers along the edge of the wood were +firing on them, but they were almost beyond musket-range. + +"There are your people, young man," said Poitevin. "You are at home." + +He had good eyes to read the number of a regiment at such a distance. +I could only see ragged soldiers with their cheeks and +famine-glistening eyes. Their great-coats were twice too large for +them, and fell in folds along their bodies like cloaks. I say nothing +of the mud; it was everywhere. No wonder the Germans were exultant, +even after our victory at Dresden. + +We went toward a couple of little tents, before which three or four +horses were nibbling the scanty grass. I saw Colonel Lorain, who now +commanded the Third battalion--a tall, thin man, with brown mustaches +and a fierce air. He looked at me frowningly, and when I showed my +papers, only said: + +"Go and rejoin your company." + +I started off, thinking that I would recognize some of the Fourth; but, +since Lutzen, companies had been so mingled with companies, regiments +with regiments, and divisions with divisions, that, on arriving at the +camp of the grenadiers, I knew no one. The men seeing me approach, +looked distrustfully at me, as if to say: + +"Does _he_ want some of our beef? Let us see what he brings to the +pot!" + +I was almost ashamed to ask for my company, when a bony veteran, with a +nose long and pointed like an eagle's beak, and a worn-out coat hanging +from his shoulders, lifting his head, and gazing at me, said quietly: + +"Hold! It is Joseph. I thought he was buried four months ago." + +Then I recognized my poor Zebede. My appearance seemed to affect him, +for, without rising, he squeezed my hand, crying: + +"Klipfel! here is Joseph!" + +Another soldier, seated near a pot, turned his head, saying: + +"It is you, Joseph, is it? Then you were not killed." + +This was all my welcome. Misery had made them so selfish that they +thought only of themselves. But Zebede was always good-hearted; he +made me sit near him, throwing a glance at the others that commanded +respect, and offered me his spoon, which he had fastened to the +button-hole of his coat. I thanked him, and produced from my knapsack +a dozen sausages, a good loaf of bread, and a flask of brandy, which I +had the foresight to purchase at Risa. I handed a couple of the +sausages to Zebede, who took them with tears in his eyes. I was also +going to offer some to the others; but he put his hand on my arm, +saying: + +"What is good to eat is good to keep." + +We retired from the circle and ate, drinking at the same time; the rest +of the soldiers said nothing, but looked wistfully at us. Klipfel, +smelling the sausages, turned and said: + +"Holloa! Joseph! Come and eat with us. Comrades are always comrades, +you know." + +"That is all very well," said Zebede; "but I find meat and drink the +best comrades." + +He shut up my knapsack himself, saying: + +"Keep that, Joseph. I have not been so well regaled for more than a +month. You shall not lose by it." + +A half-hour after, the recall was beaten; the skirmishers came in, and +Sergeant Pinto, who was among the number, recognized me, and said: + +"Well; so you have escaped! But you came back in an evil moment! +Things go wrong--wrong!" + +The colonel and commandants mounted, and we began moving. The Cossacks +withdrew. We marched with arms at will; Zebede was at my side and +related all that passed since Lutzen; the great victories of Bautzen +and Wurtschen; the forced marches to overtake the retreating enemy; the +march on Berlin; then the armistice, during which we were encamped in +the little towns; then the arrival of the veterans of Spain--men +accustomed to pillaging and living on the peasantry. + +Unfortunately, at the close of the armistice all were against us. The +country people looked on us with horror; they cut the bridges down, and +kept the Russians and Prussians informed of all our movements, and +whenever any misfortune happened us, instead of helping us, they tried +to force us deeper in the mire. The great rains came to finish us, and +the day of the battle of Dresden it fell so heavily that the Emperor's +hat hung down upon his shoulders. But when victorious, we only laughed +at these things; we felt warm just the same, and we could change our +clothes. But the worst of all was when we were beaten, and flying +through the mud--hussars, dragoons, and such gentry on our tracks,--we +not knowing when we saw a light in the night whether to advance or to +perish in the falling deluge. + +Zebede told me all this in detail; how, after the victory of Dresden, +General Vandamme, who was to cut off the retreat of the Austrians, had +penetrated to Kulm in his ardor; and how those whom we had beaten the +day before fell upon him on all sides, front, flank, and rear, and +captured him and several other generals, utterly destroying his _corps +d'armee_. Two days before, on the 26th of August, a similar misfortune +happened to our division, as well as to the Fifth, Sixth, and Eleventh +corps on the heights of Lowenberg. We should have crushed the +Prussians there, but by a false movement of Marshal Macdonald, the +enemy surprised us in a ravine with our artillery in confusion, our +cavalry disordered, and our infantry unable to fire owing to the +pelting rain; we defended ourselves with the bayonet, and the Third +battalion made its way, in spite of the Prussian charges, to the river +Katzbach. There Zebede received two blows on his head from the butt of +a grenadier's musket, and was thrown into the river. The current bore +him along, while he held Captain Arnauld by the arm; and both would +have been lost, if by good luck the captain in the darkness of the +night had not seized the overhanging branch of a tree on the other +side, and thus managed to regain the bank. He told me how all that +night, despite the blood that flowed from his nose and ears, he had +marched to the village of Goldberg, almost dead with hunger, fatigue, +and his wounds, and how a joiner had taken pity upon him and given him +bread, onions, and water. He told me how, on the day following, the +whole division, followed by the other corps, had marched across the +fields, each one taking his own course, without orders, because the +marshals, generals, and all mounted officers had fled as far as +possible, in the fear of being captured. He assured me that fifty +hussars could have captured them, one after another; but that by good +fortune, Bluecher could not cross the flooded river, so that they +finally rallied at Wolda, where the drummers of every corps beat the +march for their regiments at all the corners of the village. By this +means every man extricated himself and followed his own drum. + +But the happiest thing in this rout was, that a little farther on, at +Buntzlau, their officers met them, surprised at yet having troops to +lead. This was what my comrade told me, to say nothing of the distrust +which we were obliged to have of our allies, who at any moment might +fall on us unprepared to receive them. He told me how Marshal Oudinot +and Marshal Ney had been beaten: the first at Gross-Beeren, and the +other at Dennewitz. This was sad indeed, for in these retreats the +conscripts died from exhaustion, sickness and every kind of hardship. +The veterans of Spain and Germany, hardened by bad weather, could alone +resist such fatigue. + +"In a word," said Zebede, "we had everything against us--the country, +the continual rains, and our own generals, who were weary of all this. +Some of them are dukes and princes, and grow tired of being forever in +the mud instead of being seated in comfortable arm-chairs; and others, +like Vandamme, are impatient to become marshals, by performing some +grand stroke. We poor wretches, who have nothing to gain but being +crippled the rest of our days, and who are the sons of peasants and +workingmen who fought to get rid of one nobility, must perish to create +a new one!" + +I saw then that the poorest, the most miserable are not always the most +foolish, and that through suffering they come at last to see the +sorrowful truth. But I said nothing, and I prayed God to give me +strength and courage to support the hardships the coming of which these +faults and this injustice foretold. + +We were between three armies, who were uniting to crush us; that of the +north, commanded by Bernadotte; that of Silesia, commanded by Bluecher; +and the army of Bohemia, commanded by Schwartzenberg. We believed at +one time we were going to cross the Elbe, to fall on the Prussians and +Swedes; at another, that we were about attacking the Austrians toward +the mountains as we had done fifty times in Italy and other places. +But they ended by understanding our movements, and when we seemed to +approach, they retired. They feared the Emperor especially, but he +could not be at once in Bohemia and Silesia, and so we were forced to +make horrible marches and countermarches. + +All that the soldiers asked, was to fight, for through marching and +sleeping in the mud, half rations and vermin had made their lives a +misery. Each one prayed that all this might end one way or the other. +It was too much for human endurance; it could not last. + +I, myself, at the end of a few days, was weary of such a life; my legs +could scarcely support me, and I grew leaner and leaner. + +Every night we were disturbed by a beggar named Thielmann, who raised +the peasantry against us; he followed us like a shadow; watched us from +village to village, on the heights, on the roads, in the valleys; his +army were all who bore us a grudge, and he had always men enough. + +It was about this time, too, that the Bavarians, the Badeners, and the +Wurtembergers declared against us, so that all Europe was upon us. + +At length we had the consolation of seeing that the army was collecting +as for a great battle; instead of meeting Platow's Cossacks and +Thielmann's partisans in the neighborhood of villages, we found +hussars, chasseurs, dragoons from Spain, artillery, pontoon trains on +the march. The rain still fell in floods; those who could no longer +drag themselves along sat down in the mud at the foot of a tree and +abandoned themselves to their unhappy fate. + +The eleventh of October we bivouacked near the village of Lousig; the +twelfth near Graffenheinichen; the thirteenth we crossed the Mulda, and +saw the Old Guard defile across the bridge, and La-Tour-Maubourg. It +was announced that the Emperor crossed too, but we departed with +Dombrowski's division and Souham's corps. + +At moments the rain would cease falling and a ray of autumn sun shine +out from between the clouds, and then we could see the whole army +marching; cavalry and infantry advancing from all sides, on Leipzig. +On the other side of the Mulda glittered the bayonets of the Prussians; +but we yet saw no Austrians and Russians: they doubtless came from +other directions. + +On the fourteenth of October, our battalion was detached to reconnoitre +the village of Aaken. The enemy were in force there, and received us +with a scattering artillery fire, and we remained all night without +being able to light a fire, on account of the pouring rain. The next +day we set out to rejoin our division by forced marches. Every one +said, I know not why: + +"The battle is approaching! the fight is coming on!" + +Sergeant Pinto declared that he felt the Emperor in the air. I felt +nothing, but I knew that we were marching on Leipzig, and I thought to +myself, "If we have a battle, God grant that you do not get an ugly +hurt as at Lutzen, and that you may see Catharine again!" The night +following the weather cleared up a little, thousands of stars shone +out, and we still kept on. The next day, about ten o'clock, near a +village whose name I cannot recollect, we were ordered to halt, and +then we felt a trembling in the air. The colonel and Sergeant Pinto +said: + +"The battle has begun!" and at the same moment, the colonel, waving his +sword, cried: "Forward!" + +We started at a run; knapsacks, cartouche-boxes, muskets, mud, all +drove on; we cared for nothing. Half an hour after we saw, a few +thousand paces ahead, a long column, in which followed artillery, +cavalry, and infantry, one after the other; behind us, on the road to +Duben, we saw another, all pushing forward at their utmost speed. +Regiments even advancing at the double quick across the fields. + +At the end of the road we could see the two spires of the churches of +Saint Nicholas and Saint Thomas in Leipzig, piercing the sky, while to +the right and left, on both sides of the city, rose great clouds of +smoke through which broad flashes were darting. The noise increased; +we were yet more than a league from the city, but we were forced to +almost shout to hear each other, and men gazed around, pale as death, +seeming by their looks to say: + +"This is indeed a battle?" + +Sergeant Pinto cried that it was worse than Eylau. He laughed no more, +nor did Zebede; but on, on we rushed, officers incessantly urging us +forward. We seemed to grow delirious; the love of country was indeed +striving within us, but still greater was the furious eagerness for the +fight. + +At eleven o'clock we descried the battle-field about a league in front +of Leipzig. We saw the steeples and roofs crowded with people, and the +old ramparts on which I had walked so often, thinking of Catharine. +Opposite us, twelve or fifteen hundred yards distant, two regiments of +red lancers were drawn up, and a little to the left, two or three +regiments of mounted chasseurs in the fields along the Partha, and +between them filed the long column from Duben. Farther on, along the +slope, were the divisions Ricard, Dombrowski, Souham, and several +others, with their rear to the city; cannons limbered, with their +caissons--the cannoneers and artillerymen on horseback--stood ready to +start off; and far behind, on a hill, around one of those old +farmhouses with flat roofs and immense outlying sheds, so often seen in +that country, glittered the brilliant uniforms of the staff. + +It was the army of reserve, commanded by Ney. His left wing +communicated with Marmont, who was posted on the road to Halle, and his +right with the grand army, commanded by the Emperor in person. In this +manner our troops formed an immense circle around Leipzig; and the +enemy, arriving from all points, sought to join their divisions so as +to form a yet larger circle around us, and to inclose us in Leipzig as +in a trap. + +While we waited thus, three fearful battles were going on at once: one +against the Austrians and Russians at Wachau; another against the +Prussians at Mockern on the road to Halle; and the third on the road to +Lutzen, to defend the bridge of Lindenau, attacked by General Giulay. + +These things I learned afterward; but every one ought to tell what he +saw himself: in this way the world will know the truth. + + + + +XVIII + +The battalion was commencing to descend the hill, opposite Leipzig, to +rejoin our division, when we saw a staff-officer crossing the plain +below, and coming at full gallop toward us. In two minutes he was with +us; Colonel Lorain had spurred forward to meet him; they exchanged a +few words, and the officer returned. Hundreds of others were rushing +over the plain in the same manner, bearing orders. + +"Head of column to the right!" shouted the colonel. + +We took the direction of a wood, which skirts the Duben road some half +a league. It was a beech forest, but in it were birches and oaks. +Once at its borders, we were ordered to re-prime our guns, and the +battalion was deployed through the wood as skirmishers. We advanced +twenty-five paces apart, and each of us kept his eyes well opened, as +may be imagined. Every minute Sergeant Pinto would cry out: + +"Get under cover!" + +But he did not need to warn us: each one hastened to take his post +behind a stout tree, to reconnoitre well before proceeding to another. +To what dangers must peaceable people be exposed! We kept on in this +manner some ten minutes, and, as we saw nothing, began to grow +confident, when suddenly, one, two, three shots rang out. Then they +came from all sides, and rattled from end to end of our line. At the +same instant I saw my comrade on the left fall, trying, as he sank to +the earth, to support himself by the trunk of the tree behind which he +was standing. This roused me. I looked to the right and saw, fifty or +sixty paces off, an old Prussian soldier, with his long red mustaches +covering the lock of his piece; he was aiming deliberately at me. I +fell at once to the ground, and at the same moment heard the report. +It was a close escape, for the comb, brush, and handkerchief in my +shako were broken and torn by the bullet. A cold shiver ran through me. + +"Well done! a miss is as good as a mile!" cried the old sergeant, +starting forward at a run, and I, who had no wish to remain longer in +such a place, followed with right good-will. + +Lieutenant Bretonville, waving his sabre, cried, "Forward!" while, to +the right, the firing still continued. We soon arrived at a clearing, +where lay five or six trunks of felled trees, and a little lake full of +high grass, but not a tree standing, that might serve us for a cover. +Nevertheless, five or six of our men advanced boldly, when the sergeant +called out: + +"Halt! The Prussians are in ambush around us. Look sharp!" + +Scarcely had he spoken, when a dozen bullets whistled through the +branches, and at the same time, a number of Prussians rose, and plunged +deeper into the forest opposite. + +"There they go! Forward!" cried Pinto. + +But the bullet in my shako had rendered me cautious; it seemed as if I +could almost see through the trees, and, as the sergeant started forth +into the clearing, I held his arm, pointing out to him the muzzle of a +musket peeping out from a bush, not a hundred paces before us. The +others, clustering around, saw it too, and Pinto whispered: + +"Stay, Bertha; remain here and do not lose sight of him, while we turn +the position." + +They set off, to the right and left, and I, behind my tree, my piece at +my shoulder, waited like a hunter for his game. At the end of two or +three minutes, the Prussian, hearing nothing, rose slowly. He was +quite a boy, with little blonde mustaches, and a tall, slight, but +well-knit figure. I could have killed him as he stood, but the thought +of thus slaying a defenceless man froze my blood. Suddenly he saw me, +and bounded aside. Then I fired, and breathed more freely as I saw him +running, like a stag, toward the wood. + +At the same moment, five or six reports rang out to the right and left; +the sergeant Zebede, Klipfel, and the rest appeared, and a hundred +paces farther on we found the young Prussian upon the ground blood +gushing from his mouth. He gazed at us with a scared expression, +raising his arms, as if to parry bayonet-thrusts, but the sergeant +called gleefully to him: + +"Fear nothing! Your account is settled." + +No one offered to injure him further; but Klipfel took a beautiful +pipe, which was hanging out of his pocket, saying: + +"For a long time I have wanted a pipe, and here is a fine one." + +"Fusileer Klipfel!" cried Pinto, indignantly, "will you be good enough +to put back that pipe? Leave it to the Cossacks to rob the wounded! A +French soldier knows only honor!" + +Klipfel threw down the pipe and we departed, not one caring to look +back at the wounded Prussian. We arrived at the edge of the forest, +outside which, among tufted bushes, the Prussians we pursued had taken +refuge. We saw them rise to fire upon us, but they immediately lay +down again. We might have remained there tranquilly, since we had +orders to occupy the wood, and the shots of the Prussians could not +hurt us, protected as we were by the trees. On the other side of the +slope we heard a terrific battle going on; the thunder of cannon was +increasing, it filled the air with one continuous roar. But our +officers held a council, and decided that the bushes were a part of the +forest, and that the Prussians must be driven from them. This +determination cost many a life. + +We received orders, then, to drive the enemy's tirailleurs, and as they +fired as we came on, we started at a run, so as to be upon them before +they could reload. Our officers ran, also full of ardor. We thought +the bushes ended at the top of the hill, and that we could sweep off +the Prussians by dozens. But scarcely had we arrived, out of breath, +upon the ridge, when old Pinto cried: + +"Hussars!" + +I looked up, and saw the _Colbacks_ rushing down upon us like a +tempest. Scarcely had I seen them, when I began to spring down the +hill, going, I verily believe, in spite of weariness and my knapsack, +fifteen feet at a bound. I saw before me, Pinto, Zebede, and the +others, making their best speed. Behind, on came the hussars, their +officers shouting orders in German, their scabbards clanking and horses +neighing. The earth shook beneath them. + +I took the shortest road to the wood, and had almost reached it, when I +came upon one of the trenches where the peasants were in the habit of +digging clay for their houses. It was more than twenty feet wide, and +forty or fifty long, and the rain had made the sides very slippery; but +as I heard the very breathing of the horses behind me, while my hair +rose on my head, without thinking of aught else, I sprang forward, and +fell upon my face: another fusileer of my company was already there. +We rose as soon as we could, and at the same instant two hussars glided +down the slippery side of the trench. The first, cursing like a fiend, +aimed a sabre-stroke at my poor comrade's head, but as he rose in his +stirrups to give force to the blow I buried my bayonet in his side, +while the other brought down his blade upon my shoulder with such +force, that, were it not for my epaulette, I believe that I had been +wellnigh cloven in two. Then he lunged, but as the point of his sabre +touched my breast, a bullet from above crashed through his skull. I +looked around, and saw one of our men, up to his knees in the clay. He +had heard the oaths of the hussars and the neighing of the horses, and +had come to the edge of the trench to see what was going on. + +"Well, comrade," said he, laughing, "it was about time." + +I had not strength to reply, but stood trembling like an aspen leaf. +He unfixed his bayonet, and stretched the muzzle of his piece to me to +help me out. Then I squeezed his hand, saying: + +"You saved my life! What is your name?" + +He told me that his name was Jean Pierre Vincent. I have often since +thought that I should be only too happy to render that man any service +in my power; but two days after, the second battle of Leipzig took +place; then the retreat from Hanau began, and I never saw him again. + +Sergeant Pinto and Zebede came up a moment after. Zebede said: + +"We have escaped once more, Joseph, and now we are the only Phalsbourg +men in the battalion. Klipfel was sabred by the hussars." + +"Did you see him?" I cried. + +"Yes; he received over twenty wounds, and kept calling to me for aid." +Then, after a moment's pause, he added, "O Joseph! it is terrible to +hear the companion of your childhood calling for help, and not be able +to give it! But they were too many. They surrounded him on all sides." + +The thoughts of home rushed upon both our minds. I thought I could see +grandmother Klipfel when she would learn the news, and this made me +think too of Catharine. + +From the time of the charge of the hussars until night, the battalion +remained in the same position, skirmishing with the Prussians. We kept +them from occupying the wood; but they prevented us from ascending to +the ridge. The next day we knew why. The hill commanded the entire +course of the Partha, and the fierce cannonade we heard came from +Dombrowski's division, which was attacking the Prussian left wing, in +order to aid General Marmont at Mockern, where twenty thousand French, +posted in a ravine, were holding eighty thousand of Bluecher's troops in +check; while toward Wachau a hundred and fifteen thousand French were +engaged with two hundred thousand Austrians and Russians. More than +fifteen hundred cannon were thundering at once. Our poor little +fusillade was like the humming of a bee in a storm, and we sometimes +ceased firing, on both sides, to listen. It seemed as if some +supernatural, infernal battle were going on; the air was filled with +smoke; the earth trembled beneath our feet: our soldiers like Pinto +declared they had never seen anything like it. + +About six o'clock, a staff-officer brought orders to Colonel Lorain, +and immediately after a retreat was sounded. The battalion had lost +sixty men by the charge of Russian hussars and the musketry. + +It was night when we left the forest, and on the banks of the +Partha--among caissons, wagons, retreating divisions, ambulances filled +with wounded, all defiling over the two bridges--we had to wait more +than two hours for our turn to cross. The heavens were black; the +artillery still growled afar off, but the three battles were ended. We +heard that we had beaten the Austrians and the Russians at Wachau, on +the other side of Leipzig; but our men returning from Mockern were +downcast and gloomy; not a voice cried _Vive l'Empereur!_ as after a +victory. + +Once on the other side of the river, the battalion proceeded down the +Partha a good half-league, as far as the village of Schoenfeld; the +night was damp; we marched along heavily, our muskets on our shoulders, +our heads bent down, and our eyes closing for want of sleep. + +Behind us the great column of cannon, caissons, baggage-wagons and +troops retreating from Mockern filled the air with a hoarse murmur, and +from time to time the cries of the artillerymen and teamsters, shouting +to make room, arose above the tumult. But these noises insensibly grew +less, and we at length reached a burial-ground, where we were ordered +to stack arms and break ranks. + +By this time the sky had cleared, and I recognized Schoenfeld in the +moonlight. How often had I eaten bread and drank white wine with +Zimmer there at the Golden Sheaf, when the sun shone brightly and the +leaves were green around! But those times had passed! + +Sentries were posted, and a few men went to the village for wood and +provisions. I sat against the cemetery wall, and at length fell +asleep. About three o'clock in the morning, I was awoke. + +It was Zebede. "Joseph," said he, "come to the fire. If you remain +here, you run the risk of catching the fever." + +I arose, sick with fatigue and suffering. A fine rain filled the air. +My comrade drew me toward the fire, which smoked in the drizzling +atmosphere; it seemed to give out no heat; but Zebede having made me +drink a draught of brandy I felt at least less cold, and gazed at the +bivouac fires on the other side of the Partha. + +"The Prussians are warming themselves in our wood," said Zebede. + +"Yes," I replied; "and poor Klipfel is there too, but he no longer +feels the cold." + +My teeth chattered. These words saddened us both. A few moments after +Zebede resumed: + +"Do you remember, Joseph, the black ribbon he wore the day of the +conscription, and how he cried, 'we are all condemned to death, like +those gone to Russia? I want a black ribbon. We must wear our own +mourning!' And his little brother said: 'No, no, Jacob, I do not want +it!' and wept! but Klipfel put on the black ribbon notwithstanding; he +saw the hussars in his dreams." + +As Zebede spoke, I recalled those things, and I saw too that wretch +Pinacle on the Town Hall Square, calling me and shaking a black ribbon +over his head: "Ha, cripple! you must have a fine ribbon; the ribbon of +those who win!" + +This remembrance, together with the cold, which seemed to freeze the +very marrow in our bones, made me shudder. I thought Pinacle was +right; that I had seen the last of home. I thought of Catharine, of +Aunt Gredel, of good Monsieur Goulden, and I cursed those who had +forced me from them. + +At daybreak, wagons arrived with food and brandy for us; the rain had +ceased; we made soup, but nothing could warm me; I had caught the +fever; within I was cold while my body burned. I was not the only one +in the battalion in that condition; three-fourths of the men were +suffering from it: and, for a month before, those who could no longer +march had lain down by the roadside weeping and calling upon their +mothers like little children. Hunger, forced marches, the rain, and +grief had done their work, and happy was it for the parents that they +could not see their cherished sons perishing along the road; it would +be too fearful; many would think there was no mercy in earth or heaven. + +As the light increased, we saw to the left, on the other side of the +river--and of a great ravine filled with willows and aspens--burnt +villages, heaps of dead, abandoned wagons, broken caissons, dismounted +cannon and ravaged fields stretched as far as the eye could reach on +the Halle, Lindenthal and Doelitch roads. It was worse than at Lutzen. +We saw the Prussians deploy, and advance their thousands over the +battle-field. They were to join with the Russians and Austrians and +close the great circle around us, and we could not prevent them, +especially as Bernadotte and the Russian General Beningsen had come up +with twenty thousand fresh troops. Thus, after fighting three battles +in one day, were we, only one hundred and thirty thousand strong, +seemingly about to be entrapped in the midst of three hundred thousand +bayonets, not to speak of fifty thousand horse and twelve hundred +cannon. + +From Schoenfeld, the battalion started to rejoin the division at +Kohlgarten. All the roads were lined with slow-moving ambulances, +filled with wounded; all the wagons of the country around had been +impressed for this service; and, in the intervals between them, marched +hundreds of poor fellows with their arms in slings, or their heads +bandaged--pale, crestfallen, half dead. All who could drag themselves +along kept out of the ambulances, but tried nevertheless to reach a +hospital. We made our way, with a thousand difficulties, through this +mass, when, near Kohlgarten, twenty hussars, galloping at full speed, +and with levelled pistols, drove back the crowd, right and left, into +the fields, shouting, as they pressed on: + +"The Emperor! the Emperor!" + +The battalion drew up, and presented arms; and a few moments after, the +mounted grenadiers of the guard--veritable giants, with their great +boots, their immense bear-skin hats, descending to their shoulders and +only allowing their mustaches, nose, and eyes to remain visible--passed +at a gallop. Our men looked joyfully at them, glad that such robust +warriors were on our side. + +Scarcely had they passed, when the staff tore after. Imagine a hundred +and fifty to two hundred marshals, generals, and other superior +officers, mounted on magnificent steeds, and so covered with embroidery +that the color of their uniforms was scarcely visible; some tall, thin, +and haughty; others short, thick-set, and red-faced; others again young +and handsome, sitting like statues in their saddles; all with eager +look and flashing eyes. It was a magnificent and terrible sight. + +But the most striking figure among those captains, who for twenty years +had made Europe tremble, was Napoleon himself, with his old hat and +gray overcoat; his large, determined chin and neck buried between his +shoulders. All shouted "_Vive l'Empereur!_" but he heard nothing of +it. He paid no more attention to us than to the drizzling rain which +filled the air, but gazed with contracted brows at the Prussian army +stretching along the Partha to join the Austrians. So I saw him on +that day and so he remains in my memory. The battalion had been on the +march for a quarter of an hour, when at length Zebede said: + +"Did you see him, Joseph?" + +"I did," I replied; "I saw him well, and I will remember the sight all +my life." + +"It is strange," said my comrade; "he does not seem to be pleased. At +Wurschen, the day after the battle, he seemed rejoiced to hear our +'_Vive l'Empereur!_' and the generals all wore merry faces too. To-day +they seem savage, and nevertheless the captain said that we bore off +the victory on the other side of Leipzig." + +Others thought the same thing without speaking of it, but there was a +growing uneasiness among all. + +We found the regiment bivouacked near Kohlgarten. In every direction +camp-fires were rolling their smoke to the sky. A drizzling rain +continued to fall, and the men, seated on their knapsacks around the +fires, seemed depressed and gloomy. The officers formed groups of +their own. On all sides it was whispered that such a war had never +before been seen; it was one of extermination; that it did not help us +to defeat the enemy, for they only desired to kill us off, knowing that +they had four or five times our number of men, and would finally remain +masters. + +They said, too, that the Emperor had won the battle at Wachau, against +the Austrians and Russians; but that the victory was useless, because +they did not retreat, but stood awaiting masses of reinforcements. On +the side of Mockern we knew that we had lost, in spite of Marmont's +splendid defence; the enemy had crushed us beneath the weight of their +numbers. We only had one real advantage that day on our side; that was +keeping our line of retreat on Erfurt: for Giulay had not been able to +seize the bridges of the Elster and Pleisse. All the army, from the +simple soldier to the marshal, thought that we would have to retreat as +soon as possible, and that our position was of the worst; unfortunately +the Emperor thought otherwise, and we had to remain. + +All day on the seventeenth we lay in our position without firing a +shot. A few spoke of the arrival of General Regnier with sixteen +thousand Saxons; but the defection of the Bavarians taught us what +confidence we could put in our allies. + +Toward evening of the next day, we discovered the army of the north on +the plateau of Breitenfeld. This was sixty thousand more men for the +enemy. I can yet hear the maledictions levelled at Bernadotte--the +cries of indignation of those who knew him as a simple officer in the +army of the Republic, who cried out that he owed us all--that we made +him a king with our blood, and that he now came to give us the +finishing blow. + +That night, a general movement rearward was made; our lines drew closer +and closer around Leipzig; then all became quiet. But this did not +prevent our reflecting; on the contrary, every one thought, in the +silence: + +"What will to-morrow bring forth? Shall I at this hour see the moon +rising among the clouds as I now see her? Will the stars yet shine for +me to see?" + +And when, in the dim night, we gazed at the circle of fire which for +nearly six leagues stretched around us, we cried within ourselves: + +"Now indeed the world is against us; all nations demand our +extermination; they want no more of our glory!" + +But we remembered that we had the honor of bearing the name of +Frenchmen, and must conquer or die. + + + + +XIX + +In the midst of such thoughts, day broke. Nothing was stirring yet, +and Zebede said: + +"What a chance for us, if the enemy should fear to attack us!" + +The officers spoke of an armistice; but suddenly about nine o'clock, +our couriers came galloping in, crying that the enemy was moving his +whole line down upon us, and directly after we heard cannon on our +right, along the Elster. We were already under arms, and set out +across the fields toward the Partha to return to Schoenfeld. The +battle had begun. + +On the hills overlooking the river, two or three divisions, with +batteries in the intervals, and cannon at the flanks, awaited the +enemy's approach; beyond, over the points of their bayonets, we could +see the Prussians, the Swedes, and the Russians, advancing on all sides +in deep, never-ending masses. Shortly after, we took our place in +line, between two hills, and then we saw five or six thousand Prussians +crossing the river, and all together shouting, "_Vaterland! +Vaterland!_" This caused a tremendous tumult, like that of clouds of +rooks flying north. + +At the same instant the musketry opened from both sides of the river. +The valley through which the Partha flows was filled with smoke; the +Prussians were already upon us--we could see their furious eyes and +wild looks; they seemed like savage beasts rushing down on us. Then +but one shout of "_Vive l'Empereur!_" smote the sky and we dashed +forward. The shock was terrible; thousands of bayonets crossed; we +drove them back, were ourselves driven back; muskets were clubbed; the +opposing ranks were confounded and mingled in one mass; the fallen were +trampled upon, while the thunder of artillery, the whistling of +bullets, and the thick white smoke enclosing all, made the valley seem +the pit of hell, peopled by contending demons. Despair urged us, and +the wish to revenge our deaths before yielding up our lives. The pride +of boasting that they once defeated Napoleon incited the Prussians; for +they are the proudest of men, and their victories at Gross-Beeren and +Katzbach had made them fools. But the river swept away them and their +pride! Three times they crossed and rushed at us. We were indeed +forced back by the shock of their numbers, and how they shouted then! +They seemed to wish to devour us. Their officers, waving their swords +in the air, cried, "_Vorwaertz! Vorwaertz!_" and all advanced like a +wall, with the greatest courage--that we cannot deny. Our cannon +opened huge gaps in their lines; still they pressed on; but at the top +of the hill we charged again, and drove them to the river. We would +have massacred them to a man, were it not for one of their batteries +before Mockern, which enfiladed us and forced us to give up the pursuit. + +This lasted until two o'clock; half our officers were killed or +wounded; the colonel, Lorain, was among the first, and the commandant, +Gemeau, the latter; all along the river side were heaps of dead, or +wounded men crawling away from the struggle. Some, furious, would rise +to their knees to fire a last shot or deliver a final bayonet-thrust. +Never was anything seen like it. In the river floated long lines of +corpses, some showing their faces, others their backs, others their +feet. They followed each other like rafts of wood, and no one paid the +least attention to the sight--no one of us knew that the same might not +be his condition at any minute. + +[Illustration: In the river the dead were floating by in files.] + +The carnage reached from Schoenfeld to Grossdorf, along the Partha. + +At length the Swedes and Prussians ceased their attacks, and started +farther up the river to turn our position, and masses of Russians came +to occupy the places they had left. + +The Russians formed in two columns, and descended to the valley, with +shouldered arms, in admirable order. Twice they assailed us with the +greatest bravery, but without uttering wild beasts' cries, like the +Prussians. Their cavalry attempted to carry the old bridge above +Schoenfeld, and the cannonade increased. On all sides, as far as eye +could reach, we saw only the enemy massing their forces, and when we +had repulsed one of their columns, another of fresh men took its place. +The fight had ever to be fought over again. + +Between two and three o'clock, we learned that the Swedes and the +Prussian cavalry had crossed the river above Grossdorf, and were about +to take us in the rear, a mode which pleased them much better than +fighting face to face. Marshal Ney immediately changed front, throwing +his right wing to the rear. Our division still remained supported on +Schoenfeld, but all the others retired from the Partha, to stretch +along the plain, and the entire army formed but one line around Leipzig. + +The Russians, behind the road to Mockern, prepared for a third attack +toward three o'clock; our officers were making new dispositions to +receive them; when a sort of shudder ran from one end of our lines to +the other, and in a few moments all knew that the sixteen thousand +Saxons and the Wurtemberg cavalry, in our very centre, had passed over +to the enemy, and that on their way they had the infamy to turn the +forty guns they carried with them, on their old brothers-in-arms of +Durutte's division. + +This treason, instead of discouraging us, so added to our fury, that if +we had been allowed, we would have crossed the river to massacre them. +They say that they were defending their country. It is false! They +had only to have left us on the Duben road; why did they not go then? +They might have done like the Bavarians and quitted us before the +battle; they might have remained neutral--might have refused to serve; +but they deserted us only because fortune was against us. If they knew +we were going to win, they would have continued our very good friends, +so that they might have their share of the spoil or glory--as after +Jena and Friedland. This is what every one thought, and it is why +those Saxons are, and will ever remain, traitors: not only did they +abandon their friends in distress, but they murdered them, to make a +welcome with the enemy. God is just. And so great was their new +allies' scorn of them, that they divided half Saxony between themselves +after the battle. The French might well laugh at Prussian, Austrian, +and Russian gratitude. + +From the time of this desertion until evening, it was a war of +vengeance that we carried on; the allies might crush us by numbers, but +they should pay dearly for their victory! + +At nightfall, while two thousand pieces of artillery were thundering +together, we were attacked for the seventh time in Schoenfeld. The +Russians on one side and the Prussians on the other poured in upon us. +We defended every house. In every lane the walls crumbled beneath the +bullets, and roofs fell in on every side. There were now no shouts as +at the beginning of the battle; all were cool and pale with rage. The +officers had collected scattered muskets and cartridge-boxes, and now +loaded and fired like the men. We defended the gardens, too, and the +cemetery, where we had bivouacked, until there were more dead above +than beneath the soil. Every inch of earth cost a life. + +It was night when Marshal Ney brought up a reinforcement--whence I knew +not. It was what remained of Ricard's division and Souham's Second. +The _debris_ of our regiments united, and hurled the Russians to the +other side of the old bridge, which no longer had a rail, that having +been swept away by the shot. Six twelve-pounders were posted on the +bridge and maintained a fire for one hour longer. The remainder of the +battalion, and of some others in our rear, supported the guns; and I +remember how their flashes lit up the forms of men and horses, heaped +beneath the dark arches. The sight lasted only a moment, but it was a +horrible moment indeed! + +At half-past seven, masses of cavalry advanced on our left, and we saw +them whirling about two large squares, which slowly retired. Then we +received orders to retreat. Not more than two or three thousand men +remained at Schoenfeld with the six pieces of artillery. We reached +Kohlgarten without being pursued, and were to bivouac around Rendnitz. +Zebede was yet living, and, as we marched on, listening to the +cannonade, which continued, despite the darkness, along the Elster, he +said, suddenly: + +"How is it that we are here, Joseph, when so many thousand others that +stood by our side are dead? It seems as if we bore charmed lives, and +could not die." + +I made no reply. + +"Think you there was ever before such a battle?" he asked. "No, it +cannot be. It is impossible." + +It was indeed a battle of giants. From ten in the morning until seven +in the evening, we had held our own against three hundred and sixty +thousand men, without, at night, having lost an inch: and, +nevertheless, we were but a hundred and thirty thousand. God keep me +from speaking ill of the Germans. They were fighting for the +independence of their country. But they might do better than celebrate +the anniversary of the battle of Leipzig every year. There is not much +to boast of in fighting an enemy three to one. + +Approaching Rendnitz, we marched over heaps of dead. At every step we +encountered dismounted cannon, broken caissons, and trees cut down by +shot. There a division of the Young Guard and the mounted grenadiers, +led by Napoleon himself, had repulsed the Swedes who were advancing +into the breach made by the treachery of the Saxons. Two or three +burning houses lit up the scene. The mounted grenadiers were yet at +Rendnitz, but crowds of disbanded troops were passing up and down the +street. No rations had been distributed, and all were seeking +something to eat and drink. + +As we defiled by a large house, we saw behind the wall of a court two +_cantinieres_, who were giving the soldiers drink from their wagons. +There were there chasseurs, cuirassiers, lancers, hussars, infantry of +the line and of the guard, all mingled together, with torn uniforms, +broken shakos, and plumeless helmets, and all seemingly famished. + +Two or three dragoons stood on the wall near a pot of burning pitch, +their arms crossed on their long white cloaks, covered from head to +foot with blood, like butchers. + +Zebede, without speaking, pushed me with his elbow, and we entered the +court, while the others pursued their way. It took us full a quarter +of an hour to reach one of the wagons. I held up a crown of six +livres, and the _cantiniere_, kneeling behind her cask, handed me a +large glass of brandy and a piece of white bread, at the same time +taking my money. I drank and passed the glass to Zebede, who emptied +it. We had as much difficulty in getting out of the crowd as in +entering. Hard, famished faces and cavernous eyes were on all sides of +us. No one moved willingly. Each thought only of himself, and cared +not for his neighbor. They had escaped a thousand deaths to-day only +to dare a thousand more to-morrow. Well might they mutter, "Every one +for himself, and God for us all." + +As we went through the village street, Zebede said, "You have bread?" + +"Yes." + +I broke it in two, and gave him half. We began to eat, at the same +time hastening on. We heard distant firing. At the end of twenty +minutes we had overtaken the rear of the column, and recognized the +battalion of Captain Adjutant-Major Vidal, who was marching near it. +We had taken our places in the ranks before any one noticed our absence. + +The nearer we approached the city the more detachments, cannon and +baggage we encountered hastening to Leipzig. + +Toward ten o'clock we passed through the faubourg of Rendnitz. The +general of brigade, Fournier, took command of us and ordered us to +oblique to the left. At midnight we arrived at the long promenades +which border the Pleisse, and halted under the old leafless lindens, +and stacked arms. A long line of fires flickered in the fog as far as +Randstadt; and, when the flames burnt high, they threw a glare on +groups of Polish lancers, lines of horses, cannon, and wagons, while, +at intervals beyond, sentinels stood like statues in the mist. A +heavy, hollow sound arose from the city, and mingled with the rolling +of our trains over the bridge at Lindenau. It was the beginning of the +retreat. + +Then every one put his knapsack at the foot of a tree and stretched +himself on the ground, his arm under his head. A quarter of an hour +after all were sleeping. + + + + +XX + +What occurred until daybreak I know not. Baggage, wounded, and +prisoners doubtless continued to crowd across the bridge. But then a +terrific shock woke us all. We started up, thinking the enemy were +upon us, when two officers of hussars came galloping in with the news +that a powder wagon had exploded by accident in the grand avenue of +Randstadt, at the river-side. The dark, red smoke rolled up to the +sky, and slowly disappeared, while the old houses continued to shake as +if an earthquake were rolling by. + +Quiet was soon restored. Some lay down to sleep: but it was growing +lighter every minute; and, glancing toward the river, I saw our troops +extending until lost in the distance along the five bridges of the +Elster and Pleisse, which follow, one after another, and make, so to +speak, but one. Thousands of men must defile over this bridge, and, of +necessity, take time in doing so. And the idea struck every one that +it would have been much better to have thrown several bridges across +the two rivers; for at any instant the enemy might attack us, and then +retreat would have become difficult indeed. But the Emperor had +forgotten to give the order, and no one dared do anything without +orders. Not a marshal of France would have dared to take it upon +himself to say that two bridges were better than one. To such a point +had the terrible discipline of Napoleon reduced those old captains! +They obeyed like machines, and disturbed themselves about nothing. +Such was their fear of displeasing their master. + +As I gazed at that bridge, which seemed endless, I thought, "Heaven +grant that they may let us cross now, for we have had enough of battles +and carnage! Once on the other side and we are on the road to France, +indeed, and I may again see Catharine, Aunt Gredel, and Father +Goulden!" So thinking, I grew sad; I gazed at the thousands of +artillerymen and baggage-guards swarming over the bridge, and saw the +tall bear-skin shakos of the Old Guard, who stood with shouldered arms +immovable on the hill of Lindenau on the other side of the river--and +as I thought they were fairly on their way to France, how I longed to +be in their place! Zebede, through whose mind the same thoughts were +running, said: + +"Hey! Joseph; if we were only there!" + +But I felt bitterly, indeed, when, about seven o'clock, three wagons +came to distribute provisions and ammunition among us, and it became +evident that we were to become the rear-guard. In spite of my hunger, +I felt like throwing my bread against a wall. A few moments after, two +squadrons of Polish lancers appeared coming up the bank, and behind +them five or six generals, Poniatowski among the number. He was a man +of about fifty, tall, slight, and with a melancholy expression. He +passed without looking at us. General Fournier, who now commanded our +brigade, spurred from among his staff, and cried: + +"By file, left!" + +I never so felt my heart sink. I would have sold my life for two +farthings; but nevertheless, we had to move on, and turn our backs to +the bridge. + +We soon arrived at a place called Hinterthor--an old gate on the road +to Caunewitz. To the right and left stretched ancient ramparts, and +behind, rows of houses. We were posted in covered roads, near this +gate, which the sappers had strongly barricaded. Captain Vidal then +commanded the battalion, reduced to three hundred and twenty-five men. +A few worm-eaten palisades served us for intrenchments, and, on all the +roads before us, the enemy were advancing. This time they wore white +coats and flat caps, with a raised piece in front, on which we could +see the two-headed eagle of the _kreutzers_. Old Pinto, who recognized +them at once, cried: + +"Those fellows are the _kaiserliks_! We have beaten them fifty times +since 1793; but if the father of Marie Louise had a heart, they would +be with us now instead of against us." + +For some moments a cannonade had been going on at the other side of the +city, where Bluecher was attacking the faubourg of Halle. + +Soon after, the firing stretched along to the right; it was Bernadotte +attacking the faubourg of Kohlgartenthor, and at the same time the +first shells of the Austrians fell in our covered ways; they followed +in file; many passing over Hinterthor, burst in the houses and the +streets of the faubourg. + +At nine o'clock the Austrians formed their columns of attack on the +Caunewitz road, and poured down on us from all sides. Nevertheless we +held our own until about ten o'clock, and then were forced back to the +old ramparts, through the breaches of which the Kaiserliks pursued us +under the cross-fire of the Fourteenth and Twenty-ninth of the line. +The poor Austrians were not inspired with the fury of the Prussians, +but nevertheless, showed a true courage; for, at half-past ten they had +won the ramparts, and although, from all the neighboring windows, we +kept up a deadly fire, we could not force them back. Six months before +it would have horrified me to think of men being thus slaughtered, but +now I was as insensible as any old soldier, and the death of one man or +of a hundred would not cost me a thought. + +Until this time all had gone well, but how were we to get out of the +houses? Unless we climbed on the roof, retreat was no longer possible. +This again was one of those terrible moments I shall never forget. All +at once the idea struck me that we should be caught like foxes which +they smoke in their holes. The enemy held every avenue. I went to a +window in the rear, and saw that it looked out on a yard, and that the +yard had no gate except in front. I thought it not unlikely that the +Austrians, in revenge for the loss we had inflicted upon them, might +put us to the point of the bayonet. It would have been natural enough. +Thinking thus, I ran back to a room, where a dozen of us yet remained, +and there I saw Sergeant Pinto leaning against the wall, his arms +hanging by his sides, and his face as white as paper. He had just +received a bullet in the breast, but the old man's warrior soul was +still strong within him, as he cried: + +"Defend yourselves, conscripts! Defend yourselves! Show the +Kaiserliks that a French soldier is yet worth four of them! ah the +villains!" + +We heard the sound of blows on the door below thundering like +cannon-shot. We still kept up our fire, but hopelessly, when we heard +the clatter of hoofs without. The firing ceased, and we saw through +the smoke four squadrons of lancers dashing like a troop of lions +through the midst of the Austrians. All yielded before them. The +Kaiserliks fled, but the long, blue lances, with their red pennons, +were swifter than they, and many a white coat was pierced from behind. +The lancers were Poles--the most terrible warriors I have ever seen, +and, to speak truth, our friends, and our brothers. They never turned +from us in our hour of need; they gave us the last drop of their blood. +And what have we done for their unhappy country? When I think of our +ingratitude, my heart bleeds. The Poles rescued us. Seeing them so +proud and brave, we rushed out, attacking the Austrians with the +bayonet, and driving them into the trenches. We were for the time +victorious, but it was time to beat a retreat, for the enemy were +already filling Leipzig; the gates of Halle and Grimma were forced, and +that of Peters-Thau delivered up by our friends the Badeners and our +other friends the Saxons. Soldiers, citizens, and students kept up a +fire from the windows, on our retiring troops. + +We had only time to re-form and take the road along the Pleisse; the +lancers awaited us there: we defiled behind them, and, as the Austrians +again pressed around us, they charged once more to drive them back. +What brave fellows and magnificent horsemen were those Poles! How +those who saw them charge--in such a moment--must admire them! + +The division, reduced from fifteen to eight thousand men, retired step +by step before fifty thousand foes, and not without often turning and +replying to the Austrian fire. + +We neared the bridge--with what joy, I need not say. But it was no +easy task to reach it, for infantry and horse crowded the whole width +of the avenue, and continued to come from all the neighboring roads, +until the crowd formed an impenetrable mass, which advanced slowly, +with groans and smothered cries, which might be heard at a distance of +half a mile, despite the rattling of musketry. Woe to those upon the +sides of the bridge! they were forced into the water and no one +stretched a hand to save them. In the middle, men and even horses were +carried along with the crowd; they had no need of making any exertion +of their own. But how were we to get there? The enemy were advancing +nearer and nearer every moment. It is true we had stationed a few +cannon so as to sweep the principal approaches, and some troops yet +remained in line to repulse their attacks, but they had guns to sweep +the bridge, and those who remained behind must receive their whole +fire. This accounted for the press on the bridge. + +At two or three hundred paces from the bridge, the idea of rushing +forward and throwing myself into the midst of the crowd, entered my +mind; but Captain Vidal, Lieutenant Bretonville, and other old officers +said: + +"Shoot down the first man that leaves the ranks!" + +It was horrible to be so near safety, and yet unable to escape. + +This was between eleven and twelve o'clock. The fusillade grew nearer +on the right and left, and a few bullets began to whistle over our +heads. From the side of Halle we saw the Prussians rush pellmell out +with our own soldiers. Terrible cries now arose from the bridge. +Cavalry, to make way for themselves, sabred the infantry, who replied +with the bayonet. It was a general _sauve qui peut_. At every +movement of the crowd, some one fell from the bridge, and, trying to +regain his place, dragged five or six with him into the water. + +In the midst of this horrible confusion, this pandemonium of shouts, +cries, groans, musket-shots, and sabre-strokes, a crash like a peal of +thunder was heard, and the first arch of the bridge rose upward into +the air with all upon it. + +Hundreds of wretches were torn to pieces, and hundreds of others were +crushed beneath the falling ruins. + +A sapper had blown up the arch! + +At this sight, the cry of treason rang from mouth to mouth. "We are +lost--betrayed!" was now the cry on all sides. The tumult was fearful. +Some, in the rage of despair, turned upon the enemy like wild beasts at +bay, thinking only of vengeance; others broke their arms, cursing +heaven and earth for their misfortunes. Mounted officers and generals +dashed into the river to cross it by swimming, and many soldiers +followed them without taking time to throw off their knapsacks. The +thought that the last hope of safety was gone, and nothing now remained +but to be massacred, made men mad. I had seen the Partha choked with +dead bodies the day before, but this scene was a thousand times more +horrible; drowning wretches dragging down those who happened to be near +them; shrieks and yells of rage, or for help; a broad river concealed +by a mass of heads and struggling arms. + +Captain Vidal, who, by his coolness and steady eye, had hitherto kept +us to our duty, even Captain Vidal now appeared discouraged. He thrust +his sabre into the scabbard, and cried, with a strange laugh: + +"The game is up! Let us be gone!" + +I touched his arm; he looked sadly and kindly at me. + +"What do you wish, my child?" he asked. + +"Captain," said I, "I was four months in the hospital at Leipzig: I +have bathed in the Elster, and I know a ford." + +"Where?" + +"Ten minutes' march above the bridge." + +He drew his sabre at once from its sheath, and shouted: + +"Follow me, my boys, and you, Bertha, lead." + +The entire battalion, which did not now number more than two hundred +men, followed; a hundred others, who saw us start confidently forward, +joined us without knowing where we were going. The Austrians were +already on the terrace of the avenue; farther down, gardens, separated +by hedges, stretched to the Elster. I recognized the road which Zimmer +and I had traversed so often in July, when the ground was covered with +flowers. The enemy fired on us, but we did not reply. I entered the +water first; Captain Vidal next, then the others, two abreast. It +reached our shoulders, for the river was swollen by the autumn rains; +but we crossed, notwithstanding, without the loss of a man. Nearly all +of us had our muskets when we reached the other bank, and we pressed +onward across the fields, and soon reached the little wooden bridge at +Schleissig, and thence turned to Lindenau. + +We marched silently, turning from time to time to gaze on the other +side of the Elster, where the battle still raged in the streets of +Leipzig. The furious shouts, and the deep boom of cannon still reached +our ears; and it was only when, about two o'clock, we overtook the long +column which stretched, till lost in the distance, on the road to +Erfurt, that the sounds of conflict were lost in the roll of wagons and +artillery trains. + + + + +XXI + +Hitherto I have described the grandeur of war--battles glorious to +France, notwithstanding our mistakes and misfortunes. When we were +fighting all Europe alone, always one against two, and often one to +three; when we finally succumbed, not through the courage of our foes, +but borne down by treason, and the weight of numbers, we had no reason +to blush for our defeat, and the victors have little reason to exult in +it. It is not numbers that makes the glory of a people or an army--it +is virtue and bravery. This is what I think in all sincerity, and I +believe that right feeling, sensible men in every country will think +the same. + +But now I must relate the horrors of retreat, and this is the hardest +part of my task. It is said that confidence gives strength, and this +is especially true of the French. While they advanced in full hope of +victory, they were united; the will of their chiefs was their only law; +they knew that they could succeed only by strict observance of +discipline. But when driven back, no one had confidence save in +himself, and commands were forgotten. Then these men--once so brave +and so proud, who marched so gayly to the fight--scattered to right and +left; sometimes fleeing alone, sometimes in groups. Then those who, a +little while before, trembled at their approach, grew bold; they came +on, first timidly, but, meeting no resistance, became insolent. Then +they would swoop down and carry off three or four laggards at a time, +as I have seen crows in winter swoop upon a fallen horse, which they +did not dare approach while he could yet remain on his feet. + +I have seen miserable Cossacks--very beggars, with nothing but old rags +hanging around them; an old cap of tattered skin over their ears; +unshorn beards, covered with vermin; mounted on old worn-out horses, +without saddles, and with only a piece of rope by way of stirrups, an +old rusty pistol all their fire-arms, and a nail at the end of a pole +for a lance; I have seen those wretches, who resembled sallow and +decrepit Jews more than soldiers, stop ten, fifteen, twenty of our men, +and lead them off like sheep. + +And the tall, lank peasants, who, a few months before, trembled if we +only looked at them--I have seen them arrogantly repulse old +soldiers--cuirassiers, artillerymen, dragoons who had fought through +the Spanish war, men who could have crushed them with a blow of their +fist; I have seen these peasants insist that they had no bread to sell, +while the odor of the oven arose on all sides of us; that they had no +wine, no beer, when we heard glasses clinking to right and left. And +no one dared punish them; no one dared take what he wanted from the +wretches who laughed to see us in such straits, for each one was +retreating on his own account; we had no leaders, no discipline, and +they could easily out-number us. + +And to hunger, misery, weariness, and fever, the horrors of an +approaching winter were added. The rain never ceased falling from the +gray sky, and the winds pierced us to the bones. How could poor +beardless conscripts, mere shadows, fleshless and worn out, endure all +this? They perished by thousands; their bodies covered the roads. The +terrible _typhus_ pursued us. Some said it was a plague, engendered by +the dead not being buried deep enough; others, that it was the +consequence of sufferings that required more than human strength to +bear. I know not how this may be, but the villages of Alsace and +Lorraine, to which we brought it, will long remember their sufferings; +of a hundred attacked by it, not more than ten or twelve, at the most, +recovered. + +At length--since I must continue this sad story--on the evening of the +nineteenth, we bivouacked at Lutzen, where our regiments re-formed as +best they might. The next day early, as we marched on Weissenfels, we +had to skirmish with the Westphalians, who followed us as far as the +village of Eglaystadt. The twenty-second we bivouacked on the glacis +at Erfurt, where we received new shoes and uniforms. Five or six +disbanded companies joined our battalion--nearly all conscripts. Our +new coats and shoes were much too large for us; but they were warm; we +felt like new men. + +We had to start again the twenty-second, and the following days passed +near Goetha, Teitlobe, Eisenach and Salminster. The Cossacks +reconnoitred us from a distance. Our hussars would drive them off; but +they returned the moment pursuit was relaxed. Many of our men went +pillaging in the night, and were absent at roll-call, and the sentries +received orders to shoot all who attempted to leave their bivouacs. + +I had had the fever ever since we left Leipzig; it increased day by +day, and I became so weak that I could scarcely rise in the mornings to +follow the march. Zebede looked sadly at me, and sometimes said: + +"Courage, Joseph! We will soon be at home!" + +These words reanimated me; I felt my face flush. + +"Yes, yes!" I said; "we will soon be home; I must see home once more!" + +The tears forced themselves to my eyes. Zebede carried knapsack when I +was tired, and continued: + +"Lean on my arm. We are getting nearer every day, now, Joseph. A few +dozen leagues are nothing." + +My heart beat more bravely, but my strength was gone. I could no +longer carry my musket; it was heavy as lead. I could not eat; my +knees trembled beneath me; still I did not despair, but kept murmuring +to myself: "This is nothing. When you see the clock-tower of +Phalsbourg your fever will leave you. You will have good air, and +Catharine will nurse you. All will yet be well!" + +Others, no worse than I, fell by the roadside, but still I toiled on; +when near Folde, we learned that fifty thousand Bavarians were posted +in the forests through which we were to pass, for the purpose of +cutting off our retreat. This was my finishing stroke, for I knew I +could no longer load, fire, or defend myself with the bayonet. I felt +that all my sufferings to get so far toward home were useless. +Nevertheless, I made an effort, when we were ordered to march, and +tried to rise. + +"Come, come, Joseph!" said Zebede; "courage!" + +But I could not move, and lay sobbing like a child. + +"Come, stand up!" he said. + +"I cannot. O God! I cannot!" + +I clutched his arm. Tears streamed down his face. He tried to lift +me, but he was too weak; I held fast to him, crying: + +"Zebede, do not abandon me!" + +Captain Tidal approached, and gazed sadly on me. + +"Cheer up, my lad," said he; "the ambulances will be along in half an +hour." + +But I knew what that meant, and I drew Zebede closer to me. He +embraced me, and I whispered in his ear: + +"Kiss Catharine for me--promise! Tell her that I died thinking of her, +and bear her my last farewell!" + +"Yes, yes!" he sobbed. "My poor Joseph!" + +I could cling to him no longer. He placed me on the ground, and ran +away without turning his head. The column departed, and I gazed at it +as one who sees his last hope fading from his eyes. The last of the +battalion disappeared over the ridge of a hill. I closed my eyes. An +hour passed, or perhaps a longer time, when the boom of cannon startled +me, and I saw a division of the guard pass at a quick step with +artillery and wagons. Seeing some sick in the wagons, I cried, +wistfully: + +"Take me! Take me!" + +But no one listened; still they kept on, while the thunder of artillery +grew louder and louder. More than ten thousand men, cavalry and +infantry, passed me, but I had no longer strength to call out to them. + +At last the long line ended; I saw knapsacks and shakos disappear +behind the hill, and I lay down to sleep forever, when once more I was +aroused by the rolling of five or six pieces of artillery along the +road. The cannoneers sat sabre in hand, and behind came the caissons. +I hoped no more from these than from the others, when suddenly I +perceived a tall, lean, red-bearded veteran mounted beside one of the +pieces, and bearing the cross upon his breast. It was my old friend +Zimmer, my old comrade of Leipzig. He was passing without seeing me, +when I cried, with all the strength that remained to me: + +"Christian! Christian!" + +He heard me in spite of the noise of the guns; stopped, and turned +round. + +"Christian!" I cried, "take pity on me!" + +He saw me lying at the foot of a tree, and came to me with a pale face +and staring eyes: + +"What! Is it you, my poor Joseph?" cried he, springing from his horse. + +He lifted me in his arms as if I were an infant, and shouted to the men +who were driving the last wagon: + +"Halt!" + +[Illustration: "Halt! Stop!"] + +Then embracing me, he placed me in it, my head upon a knapsack. I saw +too that he wrapped a great cavalry cloak around my feet, as he cried: + +"Forward! Forward! It is growing warm yonder!" + +I remember no more, but I have the faint impression of hearing the +sound of heavy guns and rattle of musketry, mingled with shouts and +commands. Branches of tall pines seemed to pass between me and the sky +through the night; but all this might have been a dream. But that day, +behind Solmunster, in the woods of Hanau, we had a battle with the +Bavarians, and routed them. + + + + +XXII + +On the fifteenth of January, 1814, two months and a half after the +battle of Hanau, I awoke in a good bed, and at the end of a little, +well-warmed room; and gazing at the rafters over my head, then at the +little windows, where the frost had spread its silver sheen, I +exclaimed: "It is winter!" At the same time I heard the crash of +artillery and the crackling of a fire, and turning over on my bed in a +few moments, I saw seated at its side a pale young woman, with her arms +folded, and I recognized--Catharine! I recognized, too, the room where +I had spent so many happy Sundays before going to the wars. But the +thunder of the cannon made me think I was dreaming. I gazed for a long +while at Catharine, who seemed more beautiful than ever, and the +question rose, "Where is Aunt Gredel? am I at home once more? God +grant that this be not a dream!" + +At last I took courage and called softly: + +"Catharine!" And she, turning her head cried: + +"Joseph! Do you know me?" + +"Yes," I replied, holding out my hand. + +She approached, trembling and sobbing, when again and again the cannon +thundered. + +"What are those shots I hear?" I cried. + +"The guns of Phalsbourg," she answered. "The city is besieged." + +"Phalsbourg besieged! The enemy in France!" + +I could speak no more. Thus had so much suffering, so many tears, so +many thousands of lives gone for nothing, ay, worse than nothing, for +the foe was at our homes. For an hour I could think of nothing else; +and now, old and gray-haired as I am, the thought fills me with +bitterness. Yes, we old men have seen the German, the Russian, the +Swede, the Spaniard, the Englishman, masters of France, garrisoning our +cities, taking whatever suited them from our fortresses, insulting our +soldiers, changing our flag, and dividing among themselves, not only +our conquests since 1804, but even those of the Republic. These were +the fruits of ten years of glory! + +But let us not speak of these things, the future will pass upon them. +They will tell us that after Lutzen and Bautzen, the enemy offered to +leave us Belgium, part of Holland, all the left bank of the Rhine as +far as Bale, with Savoy and the kingdom of Italy; and that the Emperor +refused to accept these conditions, brilliant as they were, because he +placed the satisfaction of his own pride before the happiness of France! + +But to return to my story. For two weeks after the battle of Hanau, +thousands of wagons, filled with wounded, crowded the road from +Strasbourg to Nancy, and passed through Phalsbourg. + +They stretched in one long line through all Alsace to Lorraine. + +Not one in the sad _cortege_ escaped the eyes of Aunt Gredel and +Catharine. What their thoughts were, I need not say. More than twelve +hundred wagons had passed;--I was in none of them. Thousands of +fathers and mothers sought among them for their children. How many +returned without them! + +The third day Catharine found me among a heap of other wretches, in +basket wagons from Mayence, with sunken cheeks and glaring eyes--dying +of hunger. She knew me at once, but Aunt Gredel gazed long before she +cried: + +"Yes! it is he! It is Joseph!" + +She took me home, and watched over me night and day. I wanted only +water, for which I constantly shrieked. No one in the village believed +that I would ever recover, but the happiness of breathing my native air +and of once more seeing those I loved, saved me. + +It was about six months after, on the 15th of July, 1814, that +Catharine and I were married; Monsieur Goulden, who loved us as his own +children, gave me half his business, and we lived together as happy as +birds. + +Then the wars were ended; the allies gradually returned to their homes; +the Emperor went to Elba, and King Louis XVIII. gave us a reasonable +amount of liberty. Once more the sweet days of youth returned--the +days of love, of labor, and of peace. The future was once more full of +hope--of hope that every one, by good conduct and economy, would at +some time attain a position in the world, win the esteem of good men, +and raise his family without fear of being carried off by the +conscription seven or eight years after. + +Monsieur Goulden, who was not too well satisfied at seeing the old +kings and nobility return, thought, notwithstanding, that they had +suffered enough in foreign lands to understand that they were not the +only people in the world, and to respect our rights; he thought, too, +that the Emperor Napoleon would have the good sense to remain +quiet--but he was mistaken. The Bourbons returned with their old +notions, and the Emperor only awaited the moment of vengeance. + +All this was to bring more miseries upon us, which I would willingly +relate, if this story did not seem already long enough. But here let +us rest. If people of sense tell me that I have done well in relating +my campaign of 1813--that my story may show youth the vanity of +military glory, and prove that no man can gain happiness save by peace, +liberty, and labor--then I will take up my pen once more, and give you +the story of Waterloo! + + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Conscript, by +Emile Erckmann and Alexandre Chatrian + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CONSCRIPT *** + +***** This file should be named 31288.txt or 31288.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/1/2/8/31288/ + +Produced by Al Haines + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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