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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 59084 ***
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+ Methuen's Colonial Library
+
+ A MODERN LEGIONARY
+
+
+
+
+ UNIFORM WITH THIS VOLUME
+
+ A FRONTIERSMAN
+ By Roger Pocock
+
+
+
+
+ A
+ MODERN LEGIONARY
+
+ BY
+ JOHN PATRICK LE POER
+
+ METHUEN & CO.
+ 36 ESSEX STREET W.C.
+ LONDON
+ 1904
+ _Colonial Library_
+
+
+
+
+A MODERN LEGIONARY
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+
+On a January morning in the early eighties I found myself in Paris
+with less than a dozen francs in my purse, or rather my pockets, for I
+have always had a habit of distributing my money between waistcoat and
+trousers, so that if one pocket be picked the contents of the others
+may have a chance of remaining still in my possession.
+
+How I arrived in Paris is easily explained. After two years and a
+half in a boarding-school I had become so tired of its monotonous
+routine and, indeed, of the idleness which prevailed there--for the
+masters never tried to teach, and, naturally, the boys never tried to
+learn--that I resolved, when the Christmas vacation came to an end,
+to leave my home in the south of Ireland and seek my fortune through
+the world. Accordingly, instead of going back to school, I set out
+for Dublin, whence I started for London by the first boat. In London
+I spent a day, and then came on to Paris, filled with vague hopes and
+vaguer misgivings as to my future. Thus it happened that I at the age
+of sixteen was walking the streets of Paris on the 6th of January 188-.
+
+I considered anxiously what lay before me. I could not go home, even
+if pride did not forbid. True, I could write for money, having enough
+to maintain myself until it came, but that would be too great a
+humiliation. To dig I was not able, and to beg I was ashamed, so I saw
+but one course open to me--to enlist. Having made up my mind, which I
+did the more easily as I had been brought up in a garrison town, and
+like most boys loved to follow the soldiers in their bright uniforms
+and to march along with head erect, keeping step to the music of the
+band, I at once set about carrying my resolve into effect. I was not
+long in beginning. As I walked along the streets I saw a soldier with a
+gold chevron on his arm, and, going across the road, I addressed him. I
+did not speak French very well, but had something more than the usual
+schoolboy knowledge of it, as I had read a good many French books and
+papers when I should have been at Greek or Mathematics in the study
+hall. Very soon, therefore, he learned my purpose, and a conversation
+ensued, somewhat as follows:--
+
+"You are English; is it not so?"
+
+"No; I am Irish, from the south of Ireland."
+
+"Very well, my friend; but you must go to the Foreign Legion, and that
+will not be very pleasant, you may well believe. Always in Algeria,
+except when serving in Tonquin and other devil's colonies on the earth."
+
+"I do not mind that; in the English army one has to go to India and
+South Africa, so what matter?"
+
+"Ah! and you are doubtless without money, and one has to live."
+
+"Let us go in here," said I, pointing to a wine shop. "We can talk
+better over a glass."
+
+"Good comrade! good comrade!" he cried, slapping me on the shoulder;
+"I see that you will be a soldier after my own heart. Have no fear,"
+he continued; "I will tell you all, and you may rely on me as a loyal
+friend."
+
+When we entered the shop my new-found friend asked me whether I should
+drink _eau-de-vie_ or _vin ordinaire_, and, on my refusing the brandy,
+commended my discretion, saying that young soldiers should never touch
+brandy as it interfered with their chances of promotion, and, moreover,
+they did not usually have money enough to pay for it. Thereupon he
+called for _eau-de-vie_ for himself and some wine, rather sour I
+thought it, for his young friend, and when we had clinked glasses and
+drunk, our conversation was resumed.
+
+I shall not try to reproduce the dialogue, which would, indeed,
+be wearisome, as we sat and talked for full two hours, with many
+repetitions. During this time I drank little, and the sergeant, though
+he had his glass filled more than once, took no more than he could
+safely bear. One thing I must say of him, that although he painted
+the soldier's life in glowing colours yet he always kept me in mind
+of the fact that he spoke of the French army in general and his own
+regiment in particular. What he said had no reference to the Foreign
+Legion. That corps was not to be compared to his. There were in it men
+who had fled from justice; from Russia, though, indeed, the offences
+of these were in most cases political; from Germany, and yet many were
+Alsatians and Lorrainers who wished to become French citizens; from
+Austria, Belgium, Spain; from every country in the world. And, whatever
+their crimes had been, they were of a surety being punished, for their
+stations were on the borders of the great desert, where were sand and
+sun and tedium so great that an Arab raid was a pleasant relief.
+
+"But there were French soldiers also there, were there not?"
+
+"Oh yes; the zephyrs, the bad ones who could not be reclaimed to duty,
+to discipline, or even to decency, and who were sent to form what one
+might call convict battalions in places to which no one wished to send
+good soldiers--men who respected themselves and the flag."
+
+"But the Foreign Legion could not be always in Algeria, on the borders
+of the desert?"
+
+"Oh no; there were many of them in Tonquin on active service, and
+these, of course, were just as well or as ill-off as the regular French
+troops, but still they were rascals, though, he would confess, very
+good fighting men. There was a war in Tonquin against great bands of
+marauders who carried a variety of flags, by the colours of which they
+were known: I must have heard of the principal ones--the infamous
+Black Flags, who gave no quarter to the wounded and who mutilated the
+dead. These were helped by the regular Chinese soldiers, and had among
+them many Europeans, dogs that they were, who gave them advice and
+instruction, because these Europeans were Prussians or English who
+hated the great French Republic and viewed its expansion with dislike
+and distrust."
+
+"But was there not a good chance of promotion in the Legion?"
+
+"Oh yes; if one did one's duty and willingly obeyed orders and did not
+get into trouble. Oh yes; there was always justice for the good as
+well as for the bad. If one was not a corporal in five years there was
+little use in staying; one could take his discharge and go away."
+
+That decided me. I was sixteen--in five years I should be
+twenty-one--better spend the time learning experience in the world
+than in the dull, dreary idleness to which I was accustomed, and which
+filled me with disgust. I said so to the sergeant. He looked me up and
+down, and said:
+
+"How old?"
+
+"Sixteen," I replied.
+
+"You cannot enlist; the recruit must be at least eighteen."
+
+I thought a moment. "I will be eighteen; they cannot see the registers
+of my parish."
+
+"Very well, very well, my son; you are resolved. I will say no more to
+prevent you--I will help you--you shall be a soldier of the Republic
+to-morrow."
+
+He kept his word. We spent the day together; he showed me his barrack,
+his room in it, where to dine and sleep, and leaving me at nine
+o'clock, with a parting injunction to meet him at eight in the morning
+at the barrack gate, went away saying:
+
+"Poor devil! poor devil!"
+
+On the following morning at ten minutes to eight I was at the gate.
+Indeed, I might easily have been there at six, but as the morning was
+cold and nothing could be gained by being out and about too soon I
+remained snugly between the sheets until seven. Punctually at eight
+the sergeant appeared, and we walked towards one another smiling. I
+asked him to join me at breakfast. He readily consented, and soon we
+were seated together in a small restaurant before a table at which we
+appeased the hunger induced by the sharp morning air with eggs, bread
+and butter, and coffee. Breakfast over, the sergeant asked, as he said,
+for the last time, if I were still resolved to join the Foreign Legion.
+I replied that I was, if I should be accepted.
+
+"Very good; we have half-an-hour, let us walk about until it is time to
+meet the doctor."
+
+While strolling through the streets he gave me much advice. I was to be
+respectful, alert, step smartly, and, above all, be observant.
+
+"Watch the others," he said, "and you will very soon learn soldiers'
+manners."
+
+I promised to do so, and reminded him that I had grown two years older
+in a single night. He smiled, and said encouragingly:
+
+"Good child! good child!--alas! poor devil!"
+
+I asked him what he meant by alluding to me as a poor devil, and again
+he abused the Foreign Legion with a vocabulary as insulting as it was
+extensive. I had never heard or read one-tenth of the words, but it was
+not hard to guess the meaning. I stopped him by laying my hand upon his
+arm, and said:
+
+"You forget that I may be one of the Foreign Legion before noon."
+
+"True, true; but I do not apply the expressions to you, only to those
+who are already there." And he pointed with his finger towards the
+south.
+
+"Very good; but surely not to all? What can you say against the
+political refugees from Russia?"
+
+"Ah! they are different; they----"
+
+I stopped him again, and said:
+
+"And what can you say against a political refugee from Ireland?"
+
+"Ah, ah! I understand; now I see clearly. Oh, my friend, why did you
+not tell me yesterday?"
+
+From that moment he believed me, a schoolboy of sixteen, to be a head
+centre of the Fenians, or at least a prominent member of some Irish
+league. This belief had consequences shortly afterwards, pleasant and
+unpleasant, but we live down our sorrows as, unfortunately, we live
+down our joys.
+
+Well, soon it was time to "meet the doctor," so we went towards the
+barrack, and passing the gate approached a portion of the square where
+about twelve men in civil dress were already assembled. I was told
+that these also were would-be recruits, not all, however, for the
+Foreign Legion, as some were Frenchmen who volunteered at as early
+an age as possible instead of waiting to be called up. Not far off a
+small party of _sous-officiers_ stood, criticising the recruits, and
+laughing sarcastically at an occasional witticism. These the sergeant
+joined, and I was at leisure to observe my companions. They were of
+all sorts and conditions. One, a tall man with white hands, at least
+I saw that the right one was white, but the left one was gloved, who
+wore a silk hat, frock coat, and excellently got-up linen, looked
+rather superciliously at us all. Another, in a workman's blouse and
+dirt-covered trousers and boots, had his hands in his pockets, and,
+curving his shoulders, looked intently at the ground. A third,
+about eighteen, in a schoolboy's cap and jacket, was humming the
+Marseillaise; he was a French lad who _would_ be a soldier. There was
+a dark-browed man, a Spaniard as I learnt afterwards, tugging at his
+small moustache; a few others whom I have forgotten; and, lastly,
+standing somewhat apart from the crowd, three or four medium-sized,
+heavily-built men, with the look of the farm about them, and, indeed,
+the smell of it too, who proved to be Alsatians.
+
+I was still engaged in observing the others when a door was thrown
+open, and we were all ordered into a large room on the ground floor
+of a building, over the entrance to which were painted some words
+which I now forget. Here we had to strip to shirt and trousers, but
+as there was a stove in the place, and the windows and doors were
+closed, that did not hurt too much. After a short delay the tall man
+was summoned, and left the room by a door opposite to that by which
+we had entered. Others were called afterwards, and I, as it happened,
+was the last. As I passed out the sergeant--I forgot to mention that
+he and the other _sous-officiers_ had come in with us, and all had
+spoken encouragingly to me, having been told that I was a rebel against
+"perfide Albion"--the sergeant, I say, tapped me on the shoulder, and
+said:
+
+"Have no fear, be quiet, respectful, attentive, good lad."
+
+I thanked him with a nod and a smile and passed in. I now found myself
+in a smaller room, where an old soldier with a long grey moustache--I
+thought at once of the old guard--gruffly bade me take off my shirt
+and trousers. I did so, and felt a slight shiver--it was January--as I
+stood naked on the floor. I had scarcely finished shivering when the
+schoolboy came from the doctor's room looking as happy and proud as
+a king on his coronation day. It was quite evident that he had been
+accepted, and already his early dreams of military renown seemed on the
+point of realisation. Poor devil! as the sergeant said of me. I met
+him afterwards twice; the first time he was a prisoner under guard for
+some offence, the second time he was calling out huskily for water in
+the delirium before death.
+
+As he went towards his clothing I entered the apartment he had just
+left It was a large white-walled room, with a couple of chairs and
+tables, a desk and stool, and a weighing machine in a corner, as its
+chief furniture. A couple of soldiers were present, but evidently the
+chief personage in the room was a tall, thin man with a hooked nose
+and sharp grey eyes, whose moustache bristled out on each side. He was
+dressed in uniform, and wore some decorations, but I cannot recall more
+than that now. I doubt, indeed, if I ever fully grasped how he was
+dressed--his eyes attracted my attention so much.
+
+A few questions were asked--my name, age, country, occupation, and
+others--which were answered by me at once and shortly. I did not forget
+the sergeant's advice. Then followed a most careful observation of my
+body. My height and weight were noted, as well as other things which I
+did not understand. I remember I had to breathe deeply, and then hold
+my breath as long as I could, to jump, to hop, and to go through every
+form of work of which the human body or any part of it is capable. My
+eyes were examined in various ways, and there was not a region of my
+person left unexplored by the stethoscope or by the bony fingers of
+my examiner. All the while he called out various words and sentences,
+just as a tailor calls out while he measures you for a suit of clothes,
+and a soldier at the desk took them down. The other soldier acted as
+his chief's assistant, covering my right eye with his hand while the
+left one was being tested, holding a stick for me to jump and hop over,
+putting on the weights while I was on the machine, and doing all these
+things at a nod or other sign from the doctor.
+
+At last the examination was over. The doctor took the sheet of blue
+paper on which the soldier at the desk had been writing, and, looking
+alternately at it and at me, seemed carefully considering. I stood
+erect, hands by my sides, looking steadily and respectfully at him. It
+was very quiet. After some time he said:
+
+"How old are you?" (in English, with just a trace of an accent). I
+waited a moment, but that moment was enough.
+
+"Eighteen, sir."
+
+Had I answered on the spot he would have learned the truth. He paused
+a little, still keeping his eyes on me, and then, slightly lifting his
+eyelids, asked:
+
+"Seventeen?"
+
+"No, sir," I replied; "eighteen to-day."
+
+"When and where were you born?"
+
+"Seventh of January, sir, in the year ----, and at the town of ----, in
+the south of Ireland."
+
+He still gazed at me in doubt, but I met his gaze steadily. Suddenly a
+door opened--not the one through which I had come--and a short, stout,
+bustling man, dressed in blue coat and red trousers, with a gold-laced
+cap on his head, came in and, glancing carelessly at me, shook hands
+warmly with the doctor. In the conversation which ensued it was
+apparent by their glances and gestures that I had more than my share of
+their attention. Finally they approached, and the short man asked me
+my age. I replied as before. Turning sharp round he said with a merry
+smile, which ended in a short, quick laugh:
+
+"Oh, my friend, he is eighteen; he says so, and who knows better? Would
+you destroy the enthusiasm of a volunteer by doubting his word? My fine
+fellow"--this to me--"you will be eighteen before you leave us."
+
+That settled it I was accepted, sent away to dress, and, as I had said
+to the sergeant, before noon I was a sworn member of the Foreign
+Legion, sworn in for five years.
+
+The swearing-in was not impressive. All I remember about it is that in
+a room with a very wide door an officer in a gold-laced cap sat at a
+table, repeated a form of words which I in turn repeated, holding up
+my right hand the while, and then I kissed a book tendered to me by a
+_sous-officier_. Some questions were asked, and I answered, telling
+the truth, as, indeed, I had told the truth all through, except about
+my age, and also except about the insinuation that I was a political
+refugee.
+
+That night I slept in the barrack. About eighteen or twenty other
+recruits for the Foreign Legion occupied a large room with me. We
+were of all countries in Europe, but the Alsatians outnumbered the
+representatives of any other, and next to them came the Belgians and
+Lorrainers. A couple of Poles, a Russian, a Hungarian, a Croat, the
+Spaniard whom I have already mentioned, and myself completed the list.
+We looked at one another rather suspiciously at first, but after some
+time we became more sociable, and tried to explain, each in his own
+execrable French, how we had come to enlist, and it struck me that,
+if all were to be believed, my comrades were the most unfortunate
+and persecuted set of honest men that the sun had ever shone upon. I
+changed my opinion in the morning when I found that the last franc I
+had, nay the last sou, had been taken from my pockets during the night,
+but what was the use of complaining? It was a lesson I had to learn,
+therefore the sooner I learned it the better, and it was well that I
+learned it at no greater expense than a couple of francs. When we got a
+blue tunic, red trousers, and kepi, with boots and other things, I sold
+my civilian clothes to a Jew for one-tenth of their original cost, and
+that money did not leave my possession without my consent. I did not
+spend it all upon myself, but neither did I spend it indiscriminately,
+a jolly Belgian and the Russian had most of the benefit.
+
+A little circumstance occurred which at first gave me great pleasure,
+though afterwards its effects were rather serious, at least in my
+opinion at the time. I had not been an hour in the room when the
+sergeant came and gave me some tobacco and a small bottle of wine. I
+insisted on his sharing the latter; as for the tobacco, that went in
+the night along with my money. I saw some very like it afterwards with
+one of the Poles. When going he shook hands warmly, bade me be of good
+courage, and was about turning away when someone, an Alsatian, I think,
+jostled against him. Immediately the flood-gates of his eloquence were
+opened, he cursed and swore, and that not alone at the cause of his
+anger but also at others who were near. No reply was made, and he went
+away, still cursing and fuming with anger. How this event affected me
+will be told in due course; suffice it to say that, young as I was, I
+saw that his evident partiality for me and his undoubted contempt for
+the others would likely bring unpleasant results before long.
+
+In two days our numbers had increased to about thirty, and we were
+despatched to Algeria under the orders of a sergeant and two corporals.
+During the journey we learned a little more about discipline, but all
+that and the journey itself must wait for a new chapter.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+
+Let me first describe the sergeant who was in chief command of our
+party. He was a small, active, sharp-tongued man, wearing a couple of
+medals and the Cross of the Legion of Honour on his breast, neat in his
+dress--I believe he would, if it were possible, polish his boots forty
+times a day--having a constant eye to us, such an eye as a collie has
+for the flock. When he gave an order, it was clear and abrupt; when he
+censured, you felt no doubt about his meaning, for tongue and tone and
+eye and gesture all united to convey contempt and abuse; if he gave
+ten minutes for a meal, we had to fill our stomachs in that time or
+go half hungry; and as for accepting a drink from one of us--for some
+had a little money--he would as soon have thought, he let us know, of
+accepting a glass of hell-fire from Satan. He was one of those men
+found in every army in the world--men who cannot live out of barracks,
+who feel comfortable only in uniform, who look upon civilians as beings
+to be pitied for not having the military sense, just as the ordinary
+man pities the blind, the deaf, or the dumb. Such men's minds receive
+few, and these transient, impressions from outside their own corps. To
+hear the regiment rated soundly on inspection day is a greater calamity
+than the cutting off of a squadron by Berbers or the ambushing of half
+a battalion by Black Flags; in fine, they are soldiers of the regiment
+rather than of the army.
+
+We were divided into two squads, each under the immediate control
+of a corporal. My corporal was a jolly, good-humoured fellow, a bit
+malicious, a Parisian gamin in uniform. He told us terrible stories of
+the Foreign Legion, and said that we should get through our purgatory
+if we only lived in it long enough. But in the end he defeated his own
+object, for, as some tales were obviously untrue, we had no difficulty
+in persuading ourselves that all were lies. The other corporal, a
+tall, lank man, seemed to me moody or, perhaps I should say, pensive.
+However, he had nothing to do with me, so I scarcely observed him.
+
+With regard to the journey, I can only say that we marched from the
+barrack to a railway station, travelled by train to Marseilles, thence
+by transport to Oran, where we were handed over by the sergeant to a
+_sous-officier_ of our own corps. Some incidents and scenes of the
+journey I must relate, as they show how my military education began.
+And first I must tell about the unpleasantness which I spoke of in the
+first chapter.
+
+Of course, a woman was the exciting cause--the match to the gunpowder.
+Women can't help it; they are born with the desire of getting you to
+do something for them. The average woman merely gets her husband to
+support her; she would like to have every other woman in the parish
+there to see the weekly wages handed over, the wages which, if he were
+a bachelor, would represent so much fun and frolic and reckless gaiety.
+But there are women who would incite you to commit murder or to save a
+life with equal eagerness, just to feel that their influence over you
+was unbounded. However, this has little to do with the present case,
+which was merely a casual flirtation and its ending.
+
+At a certain station, which had more than its due share of loungers,
+our train was stopped for some reason. We were allowed to get out
+during the delay, and the report quickly spread that a squad or two
+of recruits for the Foreign Legion had halted at the place. We were
+soon surrounded by a curious group, many of which passed by no means
+complimentary remarks upon our personal appearance and the crimes they
+supposed us to have committed in our own countries before we came, or
+rather escaped, to France.
+
+In the crowd was a rather handsome woman of about thirty who pretended
+great fear of us, as if we were cannibals from the Congo. The sergeant,
+however, reassured her, told her that we were quite quiet under his
+control--pleasant for us to listen to, wasn't it?--and volunteered to
+give her all information about us. Well, he gave us information about
+ourselves too.
+
+He described the Pole as a dirty Prussian who had robbed his employer
+and then made his escape to Paris. The Spaniard became a South American
+who had more murders on his soul than a professional bravo of the
+Middle Ages. The Russian was a Nihilist who had first attempted to blow
+up the Tsar and afterwards betrayed his accomplices, so that in the
+Foreign Legion, and there only, could he hope to escape at once justice
+and revenge. An Alsatian was described as a Hungarian brute: "these
+Hungarian dogs are so mean, sneaking, filthy, and cowardly"; while the
+poor Hungarian, who had heard all this, almost at once found himself
+pointed out as an Austrian, a slave of an emperor who was afraid of
+Germany. Unfortunately, as it turned out afterwards, I escaped his
+notice, and what I congratulated myself upon at the time I had reason
+afterwards to regret.
+
+While the sergeant was thus trying to advance himself--the vain
+fool!--in the handsome woman's favour and was getting on to his own
+satisfaction, if not to ours, into the crowd struts a young corporal
+of chasseurs. As soon as she saw him the woman turned her back upon
+our sergeant, put her arm affectionately through the corporal's, and
+brought him, vacuously smiling, down to us to tell the sergeant's
+stories over again. She muddled them, but that was of course. We
+never minded anything she said; but weren't we delighted to see our
+_sous-officier_ so excellently snubbed!
+
+"And where, my dear Marie, did you learn all this?" queried the happy
+and smiling chasseur.
+
+"Oh, pioupiou told me." And she pointed with the tip of her parasol
+at the man who a moment before had mentally added her to the list
+of his conquests. And pioupiou was angry; his cheeks got all white
+with just a spot of red in the centre, his eyes glared, he twisted
+his moustache savagely; he turned on us and ordered us back to the
+carriages. But that was not all: the crowd laughed, Marie laughed, the
+corporal--another fool--laughed. Some of us laughed, and we paid for
+all the laughter in the end.
+
+Nothing was said while we were in the station, but as soon as the
+train was again on the move the sergeant began. The first to feel
+uncomfortable was the corporal of my squad. He was told that he did
+not enforce discipline, that he was too free with these rascals, these
+pigs, that he had no self-respect, that he was ill-bred, and much more
+to the same effect. We came in for worse abuse, the Hungarian and a
+Belgian being made special marks for the sergeant's anger because they
+had been the first to laugh when Marie called him "pioupiou." The abuse
+was kept up, with occasional intermissions, for over half-an-hour, and
+no one was sorry when our tormentor sought solace of a more soothing
+nature in his pipe. It is very hard for men to listen to angry words
+which they know they cannot resent, and, sooner than have no relief for
+their pent-up passion, they will vent it on one of themselves, as I
+found out before long.
+
+We had stopped for ten minutes' interval at a station, and the three
+_sous-officiers_ had gone to a small refreshment room after ordering
+us, on various pains and penalties, not to leave our seats. Scarcely
+were they on the platform when the Belgian, who had been most insulted,
+began to rail at me. I was astonished. My surprise increased when the
+others joined with him. I was asked why I should be spared while better
+men were being treated as dogs and worse than dogs. The visit of my
+friend, the kindly sergeant who brought me wine and tobacco, was raked
+up as an instance of favouritism, and the rather violent language which
+he had applied to others in the barrack room was also recalled. I felt
+indignant at the injustice but knew not how to reply. Indeed, there was
+but a small chance of doing so, as all were speaking loudly, and some
+even shaking their fists at me. At last the Belgian, who had started
+the affair, struck me lightly on the cheek. This was too much. I jumped
+at him, had him tightly by the throat with the left hand, and set to
+giving him the right hand straight from the shoulder as quickly and as
+strongly as I could. He was altogether taken aback, and, moreover, was
+almost stunned by my assault, for every blow drove the back of his head
+against the woodwork of the carriage. Before anyone could interfere
+I had given him his fill of fighting, and when I was torn off his
+mouth and nose were bleeding and the skin around both eyes was rapidly
+changing colour. Before the fight could be renewed the sub-officers
+returned, and we all sat silent and sullen in our places.
+
+The sergeant at once grasped the situation.
+
+"What, fighting like wolves with one another already! Very well, my
+fine fellows, it does not end here; to-day the fight and the arrest,
+to-morrow the inquiry and the punishment."
+
+Thereupon he ordered the men on each side of us to consider themselves
+our warders. "If they escape, if they fight again, there will be a more
+severe punishment for you, whose prisoners they are."
+
+"A beautiful way to begin soldiering," he continued, looking
+alternately at the Belgian and myself; "go on like this, and life will
+be most happy for you."
+
+At the next station he ordered the Belgian to be transferred to the
+compartment in which the other squad, under the silent corporal,
+travelled. When he left, to give orders, I suppose, about the prisoner,
+the jolly corporal turned to me, and said:
+
+"My worthy fellow, you have begun well; where did you learn to use your
+hands? No matter, the commandant will talk to you; he will settle all.
+But, my son, what was it about; did he insult you?"
+
+"It was all the fault of the sergeant," I cried----
+
+"Hold, hold!" interrupted the corporal; "take care, you are foolish to
+accuse your officer, and, besides, he was not present."
+
+This gave me a hint.
+
+"No; he was not here, and the corporals were not here either."
+
+"Then it was my fault too?"
+
+"Not yours so much as the sergeant's--you merely deserted your
+post--but he in addition to that abused the men so much before going
+away that their passion was aroused, and when men are angry they cannot
+help fighting."
+
+"Yes, yes," said the corporal; "he did abuse people, there is no doubt
+that he was in bad humour, and would have abused his own brother at the
+time."
+
+Little more was said, but the corporal was very thoughtful, and
+evidently was chewing a cud he did not like.
+
+At the first opportunity, it was when we halted for a meal, the
+corporal took the sergeant aside, and a long conversation ensued. The
+upshot was that I was taken from my guards and brought by the corporal
+to where his comrade stood. The latter asked me to tell him the
+truth about the quarrel, and I spoke as he wished me to. I mentioned
+everything--the kindness of the first sergeant to me and his abuse of
+the others, his own harsh treatment of us from the beginning, his wrong
+and malicious descriptions to the woman--he winced when I mentioned her
+name--his fearful abuse of the men afterwards, and I took care to point
+out that I was the one who had been least hurt by his tongue, and I
+wound up by declaring that, if he and the corporals had not gone away,
+leaving us without any _sous-officier_ in charge, the affair would not
+have taken place.
+
+"I believe you have told me the truth," he said. And I knew well that
+he knew it, for all the time that I was speaking he kept his keen eyes
+fixed upon mine, and they seemed to read me through and through.
+
+The Belgian and I were almost immediately relieved from arrest, but
+my opponent received strict orders to stay in the centre of the squad
+while marching, so that as little chance as possible might be given
+to the curious to note his bruises. He was furthermore told that for
+his own sake he had better tell anyone in authority who might chance
+to make inquiries that he had been suddenly, and when off his guard,
+assaulted by a drunken man at a wayside railway station. He afterwards
+did tell this tale when interrogated by an officer, and, as we others
+corroborated his statement, he escaped all punishment, and so did I.
+All the same, the sneers and whisperings of my companions during the
+remainder of the journey were at least as painful to me as his injuries
+were to the Belgian. In fact, I was more than boycotted by all, and
+the fact that none of my comrades would associate with me in even the
+slightest degree was gall and wormwood to the mind of a sensitive
+youth. How I wished that the first sergeant had not been so kind and
+the second so sparing of abuse to me. I was glad that in the depot for
+recruits I was altogether separated from the rest, and I may add now
+that, when I met some of them afterwards in the East, they seemed to
+have forgotten all the little annoyances of our first acquaintance.
+
+I wish to say but little now about the rest of the way. The chief
+thing that remains in my memory is the scene aboard the transport that
+carried us from Marseilles to Oran. It was so striking that I fancy I
+shall never forget it.
+
+There were troops of all arms aboard. I need not describe the party I
+was with, as I have said enough about it already, and of most of the
+others I can only recall that the various uniforms, the different
+numbers on the caps, all impressed me with the idea that I belonged to
+one of the great armies of the world. Having been, as I have already
+mentioned, brought up in a garrison town I at once noticed distinctions
+which another might pass over as trivial. I saw, for instance, that all
+the soldiers of the line did not belong to the same regiment in spite
+of the strong likeness the various corps showed to one another, and I
+knew that the same held true of the chasseurs and zouaves. I admired
+the way in which disorder was reduced to order; the steady composure of
+those who had no work to do, which contrasted so much with the quick
+movement and tireless exertion of the men told off for fatigue; the
+sharp eyes and short, clear orders of the sergeants; and, above all,
+the calm, assured air of authority of the officer who superintended the
+embarkation.
+
+While I was noting all this my glance fell on a party of men, about
+fifty in number, wearing the usual blue tunic and red trousers, who
+had no mark or number in their caps. Now the Frenchmen of the line
+had each the number of his regiment on the front of the kepi, and we
+of the Foreign Legion had grenades on ours. Moreover, these men were
+set apart from all the rest and were guarded by a dozen soldiers with
+fixed bayonets. The men seemed sullen and careless of their personal
+appearance, and when a Frenchman forgets his neatness you may be sure
+that he has already forgotten his self-respect. Curiosity made me apply
+for information to the corporal over my squad, and he told me that
+these were men who for their offences in regiments stationed in France
+were now being transferred to disciplinary battalions in Algeria,
+where they would forfeit, practically, all a soldier's privileges and
+be treated more like convicts than recruits. I at once remembered
+what the sergeant whose acquaintance I had first made had said about
+the zephyrs, the men that could not be reclaimed. I saw them often
+afterwards, and, though in most of the battalions they are not very bad
+and are treated fairly enough, in others which contain the incorrigible
+ones the officers and sub-officers have to go armed with revolvers, and
+the giving out of cartridges, when it can't be helped, is looked upon
+as the sure forerunner of a murder. Figure to yourself what a hated
+warder's life would be worth if the convicts in Dartmoor had rifles and
+bayonets and if the governor had occasionally to serve out packets of
+cartridges, it being well understood that all--governor, warders, and
+convicts--are supposed to be transferred to, let us say, Fashoda, where
+there is now and then a chance of a Baggara raid.
+
+I don't know much about the voyage across the Mediterranean as I was
+almost, but not quite, sea-sick. It has always been so with me, the
+gentlest sea plays havoc with my stomach. We got into Oran at about
+six o'clock in the evening, and our party at once disembarked. We were
+met on the quay by a sergeant of the Foreign Legion, who showed us the
+way to a barrack, where we were formally handed over to his control.
+That night we stayed in the barrack, and I suffered a little annoyance
+from my comrades, from all of whom I was separated next day, when we
+were transferred to our depot at a place called Saida. I do not know
+whether this is to-day the depot for the Foreign Legion or not, as I
+heard men say that an intention existed on the part of the military
+authorities to place it farther south. Here I spent some time learning
+drill, discipline, and all the duties of a soldier, and this was the
+hardest period of my military life, for my knowledge of French had to
+be considerably increased before I could quite grasp the meaning of an
+order, and very often I was abused by a corporal for laziness when I
+had the best will in the world to do what I was told, if I could only
+understand it.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+
+When we arrived at the depot we were at once divided into small
+parties, each of which was sent to a company for drill. I was attached
+to No. 1 Company, and though four others of my comrades came to it with
+me they did not remain there long. Two of them were Belgians, one an
+Alsatian, and the fourth a Pole. All spoke French well, and it was very
+soon seen that they had learned something about drill already in other
+armies, and, therefore, they were sent almost at once to the battalions
+on service at the edge of the great desert. Thus it was that I found
+myself the only member of the detachment in No. 1, and of this I was
+very glad, for my last experience with them had not been of the most
+pleasant kind.
+
+And now let me put on record the only complaint I have to make about my
+life at Saida. On account of my speaking English all agreed that I must
+be an Englishman, and the Englishman is well hated abroad. Consequently
+on the drill ground and in the barrack room I was continually addressed
+by the expressive sobriquet of "English pig." Now "cochon anglais"
+is not a nice nickname, and though I dared not resent it from the
+corporals and other sub-officers I made up my mind that from my equals
+in rank it was not to be endured. There was a big Alsatian in my squad
+who was most persistent in insulting me, though I had often tried to
+explain to him that I was neither a pig nor an Englishman. With him,
+therefore, I resolved to deal, confident that, if I could put a stop
+to his insolence, the rest would be quiet enough. I determined, as he
+was my superior in age, strength, weight, and length of arm, that it
+would be only right to take him unawares and, if possible, finish the
+business before he could quite understand what I was about. For three
+or four days after settling this matter in my mind I got no opportunity
+such as I wished for. Seeing me take the nickname quietly, for I no
+longer even remonstrated with him, the Alsatian went further than
+before and raised my anger to boiling point. At last the chance came.
+As I entered the room one afternoon I noticed lying near the door a
+rather large billet of wood. The corporal was out, so were most of
+the men, and those who remained, five or six in number, were lazily
+lounging in various attitudes about the room. I put aside rifle, belt,
+and bayonet, for I had just come in from a punishment parade--that is,
+an extra parade ordered to men for some slight irregularity--and looked
+straight at the big brute, as if to challenge him.
+
+"Ah, my fine fellow, how do English pigs like punishment parades in
+this weather?" he began.
+
+"As well," I answered, picking up, carelessly as it were, the billet,
+"as Alsatian dogs like this." And I brought the heavy block down upon
+his head with all my strength. The cap, though utterly destroyed,
+saved his head, but still he was so stupefied by the sudden assault
+and by the force of the blow that I had time to strike him again and
+again. The others jumped up quickly and seized me, crying out that the
+Alsatian was dead. And, indeed, he looked as if he were dead, for his
+head was covered with blood, and one almost imagined that his brains
+would protrude through the wounds. However, after some time he came to
+himself again, and truly no one was better pleased than I, for as I
+cooled down I began to be fearful of consequences.
+
+When the corporal heard about the affair he told the sergeant, the
+sergeant went to the captain, and the captain came down to investigate
+the matter for himself. I told him how I was continually annoyed, and
+when he asked me why I struck the other when off his guard, I pointed
+out that to do so gave me the only chance of revenge. He measured us
+both with his eyes and seemed to agree with me. Anyway, the Alsatian
+was sent to get his wounds dressed and I was ordered extra drills,
+extra fatigues, and to remain altogether in barracks for a fortnight.
+
+Now I wondered how I got off so lightly. Well, in the Foreign Legion a
+fight between men of the same squad is not considered half so serious
+as one between men belonging to different squads, just as no one minds
+so much about a fight between brothers as about one between members
+of separate families. If a soldier of No. 1 squad beats a soldier of
+No. 2 all the men of No. 2 will look for revenge, and all the men of
+No. 1 will know that, and, therefore, at any moment thirty or more men
+may be, to use an expressive phrase, "into" one another with Nature's
+weapons and anything lying handy that will do a man damage. Sometimes
+when the quarrel is more serious than usual--as, for instance, when it
+is about women--bayonets may be used, but, indeed, the soldier very
+seldom has recourse to his accustomed weapons in a fight with comrades.
+But if a dispute arises between a battalion of zephyrs and another of
+the Foreign Legion there is but one way of restoring order--call out
+the cavalry and the guns.
+
+As the Alsatian and I belonged to the same squad the captain contented
+himself with punishing me slightly and warning us both against a
+renewal of the quarrel. The story went around, and I don't believe I
+was called an English pig ever afterwards except by an Irishman or an
+Irish-American, who, of course, spoke only in jest.
+
+Our company consisted of from 160 to 200 men. Sometimes it was strong
+for a week after the arrival of a number of recruits, then again it
+would go down as a squad or two departed for the regiment. My squad
+varied, I think, from ten to seventeen, and, taking us all round, we
+weren't very bad, as soldiers go. What language did we speak? French on
+the drill ground and on duty and in reply to superior officers; amongst
+ourselves a Lingua Franca, made up chiefly of French, especially the
+Argot, but with a plentiful admixture of German, Spanish, Italian,
+Portuguese, and other languages, including in some squads even Russian,
+Turkish, and Arabic. What I say now refers not merely to the depot
+but to the Foreign Legion in general: every battalion, every company,
+I might almost say every squad, had its own peculiarity of idiom;
+Sapristi and Parbleu gave place often to Caramba, Diavolo, and Mein
+Gott. In fact, before I was six months in the Legion I could swear
+fluently in every European language except English; the only English
+curse they taught me was Goddam.
+
+The _sous-officiers_ were pretty strict with us in the depot, but the
+punishments were not too severe. The favourite one was to keep you
+altogether in the barrack and compel you to sleep during the night in
+your ordinary uniform on a plank bed in the guard room. That was the
+worst of it, in the day no one minded the confinement to barracks--for
+what was the use in wandering about a dirty town if one had no money in
+his pocket, and our pay did not last long?--but in the night the plank
+bed was not an ideal resting-place. I did not get into much trouble,
+the row with the Alsatian was my chief offence, and what kept me right
+was the dread of sleeping in the guard room at night.
+
+We drilled every day except Sunday, but there is no use in telling
+about that, as drill is the same all the world over. Our drill
+instructors were certainly eloquent--all had copious vocabularies--and
+the wealth of abuse and cursing that any of them could expend in an
+hour's work was, indeed, extraordinary. While I was unable to fully
+understand I felt angry; by the time I understood every word I was too
+philosophical to care. Moreover, I am sorry to have to say that I was
+rapidly acquiring a fairly extensive vocabulary of my own, and every
+time I heard a curse directed at myself I thought one for the benefit
+of the drill instructor's soul. It's a tradition in every army just
+as it is in every navy, fighting and mercantile, that nothing can be
+got out of men without bad language, and I do believe that there is a
+good deal of truth in the tradition. One would fancy that skippers and
+sergeants wish to familiarise their men with the names at least of the
+lower regions and their ruler, in the firm belief that the men will
+at some time make the acquaintance of both. That's as it may be; at
+anyrate we learned a good deal more than our drill from our instructors.
+
+We had a remarkably fine band. It was chiefly composed of Germans,
+I think, and it does seem strange that ten years after the
+Franco-Prussian war the majority of a French regimental band should
+be composed of the sons of the men who crushed Napoleon the Third at
+Sedan. The band played very often in the square, and every evening that
+it turned out I felt no desire to leave the barrack. I don't understand
+music but I like it. In the square the women and children of the depot
+used to walk about listening, talking and laughing; the officers' wives
+at one side and the wives of the _sous-officiers_ at another. As for
+us, we lounged about at a short distance and made remarks, not always
+in the best taste, about the women of both classes. A good deal of
+quiet, oh, very quiet, flirtation used to go on, and this gave rise
+amongst us to rather broad jests and hints. Of course, many people from
+the town came in also, and these we considered fair game as well. One
+very fat man, accompanied by a tall, extremely thin woman, evidently
+his wife--they seemed to have no children--came regularly at least
+three times a week to listen to the music. If he and his lady knew all
+the fun they provided for us and the jokes uttered at their expense, I
+fancy that the square would never see them again. What they did not
+know did not trouble them, and so they came as long as I remained in
+the depot and I daresay for long enough after I left it.
+
+A very important consideration with a soldier, as with any other man,
+is his food. I think we got nearly enough--that is, the fellows who
+were used to it got enough--but the poor devils who were not used to
+slops and bread were badly off, especially those who, like myself, had
+schoolboy appetites. I have seen--this was in the battalion--veterans
+leaving part of their rations untouched and young soldiers, men under
+twenty-five, hungry the whole day long. Early in my soldiering I
+learned the blessed consolation of tobacco. Often when I was more
+hungry after a meal than before it, the soup and bread rather exciting
+my stomach than satisfying it, I have smoked till no sensation of
+emptiness remained. I don't know what a soldier in a Continental army
+would do without tobacco. Nearly all our scanty pay went to buy it,
+and, wretched stuff as it was, I have never enjoyed the best Havana as
+I used to enjoy the delicious smoke when all work and drill for the
+day were over and the pipe of comfort and blessed forgetfulness made
+paradise of a barrack room.
+
+We were good enough to one another. If the Spaniard had no tobacco he
+could generally get some, unless it were too scarce indeed, and then
+he had to be satisfied with half-a-dozen puffs from every pipe in the
+room. I say the Spaniard advisedly, for he was always without money;
+he had such an unfortunate trick of getting into trouble and losing
+his pay. At the same time I too have had to do with the whiffs when
+I longed for a pipeful of my own, and when you wanted to feel the
+taste of the weed in your mouth it was very good to get even them.
+When tobacco was very scarce with all we had more than one device for
+getting a smoke; but there, these are only silly things, not that they
+seemed silly to us at the time.
+
+While at our drill we were the most obedient fellows in the world, so
+were we too when doing the ordinary work of the soldier. But when the
+day's labour was done we were not to be ordered about at the will of
+any sergeant or corporal. Well they knew it too. Why, when a squad in
+No. 2 Company was bullied--out of hours, be it well understood--by
+their corporal a strange thing occurred. The corporal was found one
+afternoon--at least the corporal's body was found--in one of the
+latrines, and it was quite evident to the doctors that he had been
+suffocated. Suspicion fell at once upon the squad he commanded, but,
+and this was the strange thing, every one of them could prove that it
+was impossible for him to have hand, act or part, in the business,
+for some were on guard, and others were at drill, and others--rather
+peculiar, wasn't it?--had been directly under the eyes of the
+sergeant-major of the company. There was a sentry near the latrine,
+who, of course, had not left his post, and this man could tell within
+five minutes the time the corporal entered. He saw no others enter
+at or about the same time, but that was easily explained: a large
+hole had been broken through the back of one of the compartments, and
+half-a-dozen men could easily get through this in as many seconds,
+and, once in without being observed, the rest was easy. Nobody was
+ever even court-martialled for the murder, and, though many might be
+able to guess the names of the murderers, he would be a fool who did
+his guessing within earshot of even a corporal. One thing is certain,
+we had a fairly quiet time afterwards while I was in the depot, not
+that we weren't sworn at and abused just as much on parade--oh yes,
+we were--but when the quiet time came the _sous-officiers_ had sense
+enough to leave us to ourselves. Well, it's all over now. The man who
+carried the business through died in Tonquin--he was a Russian--and he
+will turn up again in this narrative as ringleader of one of the most
+exciting incidents of my life.
+
+I did not form any friendships in the depot. True, there were fellows
+in the squad whom I liked better than others, but I never showed
+preference even for them. One thing chiefly prevented me from making
+friends: I was beginning to learn something about the world and
+its ways, or perhaps I should say about human nature, for with us
+conventionality was dropped when the belt came off for the last time
+in the evening and we spoke very freely to one another. If you liked
+something in a comrade's words or acts you told him so; if you disliked
+anything you were equally outspoken. Did a thought enter your mind
+worthy of being communicated, in your opinion, to the rest it made no
+difference whether it were immoral, or blasphemous, or against the
+law, or contrary to discipline, out it came, and generally with a
+garnishment of oaths and obscene expressions. We very seldom spoke of
+what is good, except to laugh at and revile it. When we saw a woman
+evidently very fond of her husband we said: "Ah, she is throwing dust
+in his eyes; she has more than one lover." If we noticed a husband very
+devoted to his wife, why, it was certain that the devotion was only an
+excuse for watchfulness. Everything good was looked on with suspicion;
+everything bad was natural, right, and obviously true.
+
+We were always looking forward to the future. When in the depot we
+yearned to be with the regiment; afterwards, when with the regiment in
+the south of Algeria, I found my comrades and myself thinking eagerly
+of the chances of going to the East. Life in Tonquin could not be so
+monotonous; there was always fighting going on, and in any case you
+got the chance of looting on the sly after a battle or even a petty
+skirmish. This looking forward is, however, common to most men, but we
+had a special reason for it, inasmuch as we were never comfortable or
+content, our lives being made up for the most part of work and drill
+and punishment, with an occasional fight, which wonderfully enlivened
+the time for those who had not to pay for it.
+
+When we had learned our drill pretty well the officers began to take
+more interest in us. Don't imagine that they were kind and nice to us,
+that they complimented us on our smartness and intelligence, or that
+they even dreamt of standing us a drink in the canteen. Oh no; they
+were somewhat worse than the sergeants, and if their language was not
+so coarse it was equally cutting and abusive. By this time, however, we
+were case-hardened, and, besides, we knew that at last we were leaving
+the depot for ever, and the excitement induced by the expected change
+was in itself a source of joy. We who were about to go went around
+smiling and in good humour with ourselves and all the world. The men
+who knew that their stay would last for some time longer consoled
+themselves with the thought that at last it too must come to an end.
+Simple philosophy, wasn't it? but wonderfully comforting.
+
+We speculated about the battalions, about the stations, about the
+Arabs, about the Moors, about the war in Tonquin, about everything
+that we could think of as possibly affecting our after-life. I, mere
+schoolboy that I was, was one of the most excited, and indulged in the
+most extravagant fancies and dreamt the most extraordinary dreams.
+
+At last the glorious day came. We were aroused at three o'clock in the
+morning, had finished breakfast, and were on the parade-ground at a
+little after four in full marching order. There we were addressed in a
+farewell speech by the commandant, who called us "my children," as if
+he cared especially for each and all of us. I had almost to smile, but
+a smile at such a time would surely entail punishment.
+
+The band played us out of the gate, and off we marched, about 200
+strong, all in good health and spirits, for the little station where
+lay the battalion for which we were designed.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+
+We went altogether by march route to our destination. Every day was
+like the preceding one, and a short description of any day will do for
+all. Reveille at four o'clock, then while some pulled down and folded
+up the tents others cooked the morning coffee, at five or a little
+after we were _en route_, at eight usually, but sometimes later, a
+halt was called for the morning soup; that over, we put our best foot
+foremost until about eleven or half-past. Now came the pleasantest and
+sleepiest part of the twenty-four hours. We ate a little, we smoked a
+little, we slept, or rather dozed, a little, until the bugles warned us
+at half-past three that another stretch of dry, dusty, throat-provoking
+road had to be accounted for. On again at four until six or seven or
+eight, with occasional rests of ten minutes each, and then there was
+nothing but cleaning up after the evening soup. When all was right and
+the sentries had been posted for the night you might talk and smoke if
+you liked, but as a rule you smoked first and fell asleep afterwards.
+
+It was not strange that we, who had been cooped up in the depot so
+long, enjoyed this march. It seemed to us that we were soldiers at
+last, not mere recruits, and dust and thirst and other inconveniences
+were matters to be put up with and laughed at. On the road we often
+sang; at the end of the midday halt, while we helped one another
+with knapsack and belts, you might often hear songs of every country
+from the Urals to the Atlantic. Every man's spirits were high; the
+long-expected change had worked wonders, and the officers, nay, even
+the sergeants and the corporals, had little of abuse or swearing
+for us. True, our _sous-officiers_ were not drill instructors; of
+all things in the world teaching is the most wearing on the temper,
+and perhaps that is why there was so great a difference between the
+sergeants in the depot and the sergeants on the march.
+
+I think we did on an average about three miles an hour. It was good
+enough too, for there were the rifle and the knapsack to be carried,
+and the greatcoat and the blanket and the ammunition, and all the other
+impedimenta of the soldier. The straps of the knapsack galled me a bit,
+and I soon found out the difference between a march out from barracks
+for a few hours and a day-after-day tramp through the heat and the dust
+with the knowledge that you carried your bed and most of your board
+upon your person. The rest at the end of the hour, for we always halted
+for ten minutes after a fifty minutes' march, was a great help; and,
+again, I was a little too proud, or too vain if you like to call it
+so, to fall out of the ranks while my comrades were steadily marching
+on. After all, pride or vanity, call it what you will, never hurts
+a youngster, though it should make him slightly overwork himself in
+trying to keep up with those who are his seniors in age and his betters
+in endurance. All the same, when the day's march was over, it was
+delightful to pull off knapsack, boots and all, and to feel that there
+were before you eight or nine hours of complete freedom from toil.
+
+One night, however, things were not quite so well with me. It was my
+turn for guard, and when we halted for the night I with others was
+turned out of the ranks at once. The first sentries were soon posted,
+and the remainder of us had a couple of hours in or near the guard
+tent to enjoy our evening meal. When that was over we all had a smoke,
+and at nine--we had halted at seven--the reliefs were wanted. I felt
+very lazy as I got up, took my rifle, and set out with the corporal
+of the guard to my post. There I remained until eleven, was relieved
+until one, and went again on sentinel duty until three. At four the
+usual routine began, and I remember that, after the wakeful night, the
+day's march seemed very long. When we halted at midday I fell asleep,
+and when the march was over I forgot to smoke, and, curling myself
+up in my greatcoat and blanket, became utterly oblivious of all that
+occurred until the reveille next morning awakened me to another day.
+I don't remember much of the country through which we passed. Most of
+the time my ears were more engaged than my eyes, for many a good story
+was told and many a happy jest passed as we tramped along in the dust
+and sun. Some fellows told us stories of life in their own countries,
+and if they did not adhere exactly to the truth, why, that only made
+the stories better. Others could not see a man or a woman--especially
+a woman--on either flank but straightway they criticised and joked,
+and very clever we used to fancy the criticisms and jokes were. Some
+again were good singers, and these were constantly shouted at to sing,
+especially the men who sang comic songs. I daresay some of these songs,
+if not all, were scarcely fit for a drawing-room, but as no ladies were
+present it did not seem to make much difference. Then we had a bugle
+march occasionally--say half-a-dozen times a day--and I for one found
+the bugles wonderfully inspiriting. While the bugles were playing none
+of us seemed to feel the road beneath our feet; we stopped talking, we
+almost gave up smoking, the step became more regular, and the ranks
+closed up. I suppose a musician would call a bugle march monotonous;
+well, it may be so, but how many men out of 200 are musicians? But we
+had more music than that. Some of the fellows had brought along musical
+instruments of small size--tin whistles, flageolets, and such things.
+Very well they played too. Many were fairly good whistlers, and so
+there was a variety of means to drive away dull care; indeed, I think
+we were the jolliest and most careless set in the world. Even when
+the sun had been very hot and the road more than usually dusty we had
+always the thought that the end of the annoyance would come when we
+reached our battalion and that every day brought us nearer to the men
+who were to take the place of home and country, friends and relations,
+for five years. We fancied that they would be just like ourselves, and
+we liked one another too well not to be satisfied.
+
+It was while on this march that I first saw how soldiers are punished
+when there is no prison near or when it is deemed best to give a short,
+sharp punishment to an offender. Of course, I refer to cases where the
+offence does not merit a court-martial. We had halted for the evening
+near a small village, and some fellows had gone to it, more, I suppose,
+out of curiosity than because they had any business there. I was not
+with them, and I never fully learned what occurred but I know there
+was a woman in the case. Whether she deserted the corporal for the
+private soldier, or refused to leave the private when his superior
+made advances to her I cannot tell, but some words passed between the
+men, and the corporal made a report to the sergeant, who passed it on
+to the captain. Very few questions were asked; the man was taken to a
+spot near the guard tent, where he would be directly under the eyes
+of a sentry, and there he was put, as we termed it, _en crapaudine_.
+This is how it was done. First his hands were pinioned behind his back,
+then his ankles were shackled tightly to each other, afterwards the
+fastenings of his wrists were bound closely to the ankle bonds, so that
+he was compelled to remain in a kneeling posture with his head and
+body drawn back. After some time pains began to be felt in the arms,
+across the abdomen, and at the knees and ankles. These pains increased
+rapidly, and at last became intolerable. Yet he dared not cry out, or
+at least no one would cry out until he could not help it, for the
+sleeping men ought not to be disturbed, and at the first cry a gag was
+placed between the teeth. This poor devil did not get much punishment.
+I think he was _en crapaudine_ for only an hour or so, but, take my
+word for it, if you place a man in that position for four, five, or
+six hours, he will be in no hurry to get himself into trouble again.
+There are other punishments too--the silo, for instance--but I shall
+not describe these now, as I shall have occasion further on to tell all
+about them when I am dealing with life in the regiment.
+
+We did not always lie under canvas on the march. Sometimes we halted
+at a garrison town or at cantonments, and then some, if not all, of us
+were placed in huts for the night. We saw all kinds of soldiers there.
+We met zouaves, chasseurs, turcos, spahis, zephyrs, but with none had
+we much intercourse. This was due to several reasons. We came in hot
+and tired and with little desire for anything except food and rest, and
+besides we had to clean up clothes, boots, and arms for the parade and
+inspection in the early morning. Then the regular French troops, and
+even, I must admit, the native Algerian soldiers, looked with contempt
+upon us, and you may be sure that we of the Legion returned the
+contempt and the contemptuous words with interest. They never went very
+far in showing their feelings towards our fellows, for we had an ugly
+reputation; more than once a company or two of Legionaries had made a
+desperate attack on a battalion even, and it was well known through
+Algeria that when the Legionaries began a fight there would be, as was
+often said, "blood upon shirts" before the fight was over. Therefore
+the others stood rather in awe of our men, and they did not quite like
+the idea of having anything to do with us, even though we were only
+recruits on the way to the battalion, for every soldier knows that the
+recruit is even more anxious to follow the regimental tradition than
+the veteran. The latter feels that he is part and parcel of the corps
+and that his reputation is not likely to suffer; the former is only
+too eager to show that he accepts, wholly and unreservedly, the ideas
+handed down to him, and, besides, he has not been altogether brought
+under discipline. Thus, though we saw men in many uniforms we got to
+know very little about them--indeed, all our information came from the
+corporals--and I may add here that the corporals impressed upon us that
+we were never to fight individually with Frenchmen or natives, but
+that, if a general quarrel took place, we were to remember our duty to
+the Legion and make it "warm weather" for our opponents. Afterwards on
+more than one occasion we followed that advice.
+
+Once or twice a little unpleasantness arose amongst ourselves. It
+never went very far; the others, who were not desirous of seeing their
+comrades get into trouble, always put an end to the business before
+any real harm was done. I had nothing to do with any of these disputes
+save once, when, in the _rôle_ of peacemaker, I sat with another fellow
+for more than half-an-hour on an Italian who was thirsting for the
+blood of a Portuguese. The Portuguese was receiving similar attentions
+from two others at the opposite side of the tent. It was funny how
+the thing came about. The Italian had got, somewhere or somehow--I
+suppose he stole it--a bottle of brandy, and, instead of sharing all
+round, gave half to his comrade the Portuguese and drank the other
+half himself. When they returned to the tent they were quarrelling,
+and evidently drunk. After some time they began to fight, and we left
+them alone, as they had been so mean about the liquor, until we saw the
+Italian reaching for his bayonet. Then the rest of us joined in, and
+the precious pair of rascals, who had forgotten their comrades when
+they were happy, got something which made them rise in the morning with
+more aches in the body than they had in the head. They apologised the
+next day and we forgave them. This was another lesson to me. I saw that
+when a man got anything outside his ordinary share of good things he
+was supposed to go share and share alike with the rest of his squad.
+Many a time afterwards I have seen men who had at one time been of good
+position at home, and whose relatives could and would send them money,
+openly show the amount received in tent or hut or barrack room, and we
+others went out to spend that money when the evening came with just
+as much belief in our right to do so as if the money had been sent to
+the squad and not to the man. Well, the rich ones did not lose in the
+end, for they got many a favour from their comrades which the average
+soldier would be a fool to expect.
+
+The corporal of my squad on the march south was a rather good fellow. I
+am not quite sure whether he was a German or an Austrian by birth. He
+had seen a good deal of Algerian life, and was determined as soon as
+his term was up to get clear away for ever from Africa. This was not
+pleasant news. Here was a corporal, a man of over four years' service,
+whose whole and sole idea it was to leave the Legion and the country.
+It plainly proved that the life before us was not the most attractive
+in the world, and the thought often crossed my mind that perhaps I had
+been a fool to try soldiering in such a corps. With the happy-go-lucky
+recklessness of youth, however, I quickly got rid of these fancies, and
+I could console myself that five years would not be long passing, and
+at the very worst I should have learned more, situated as I was, than
+if I were to spend the term at school, and at such a school as the one
+I had been attending.
+
+I got on fairly well with the others of my squad. I have never been
+inclined to affront people, and I can honestly say that I have never
+shirked my work, and these qualities, added to a natural cheerfulness
+of disposition which caused me to look at the bright side of things,
+helped me very much all through my stay in the Foreign Legion. Indeed,
+there was only one man who was disliked by all. He was a Pole, a
+German Pole, I believe, and he had the most sarcastic tongue of all
+the men I've ever met. His sneering smile was almost as bad as his
+cutting tongue. While speaking politely he said little things that
+one could not very well resent, and that, therefore, hurt one the
+more. It's bad to be an idler, and worse to have a nasty way of openly
+abusing and insulting people, but the worst gift of God to a man is the
+gift of sarcasm. The sarcastic man never has a friend. There are, of
+course, always men who will fawn upon and flatter him, but that will be
+only through fear of his tongue--even they who most court him rejoice
+inwardly at his misfortunes. He can't be always lucky, he must take his
+bad fortune as it comes, and when it does come he cannot help knowing
+that all who know him are glad.
+
+It was well, I think, for our friend the Pole that the journey did not
+last a week longer. Somebody or other would be sure to lose his temper,
+and if one blow were struck, twenty would surely follow, for we all
+hated him. He said something about a gorilla one day, looking hard all
+the while at the Italian already mentioned, and it was a wonder that
+there was no fight. There would have been, I feel sure, but that the
+bugles sounded the assemble for the last march of the day, and the
+Italian, who was no beauty, had a few hours of marching to get cool.
+The Pole was quiet enough for the next couple of days, and by that time
+we were within six hours' march of our destination.
+
+Before describing the battalion to which I now belonged I must say a
+few words about the Foreign Legion in general, so that the peculiar
+characteristics of the corps may be understood. All that I shall
+mention in this chapter is that one sunny afternoon about four o'clock
+we marched into camp on the borders of the Sahara amid the cheers of
+our future comrades, and that within an hour our 200 men were divided
+amongst the four companies that constituted the 2nd Battalion of the
+First Regiment of the _Légion étrangère_.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+
+For centuries the armies of France have had a certain proportion of
+foreign troops. Readers of Scott will remember the Scottish archers,
+and there is a regiment in the British army to-day which was at one
+time a Scottish corps in the service of the Most Christian Kings of
+France. Almost everyone has heard of the Irish Brigade, a force whose
+records fill many a bloody and glorious page of European history
+and whose prowess more than once turned the ebb-tide of defeat into
+the full flood of victory. It has been computed that almost 500,000
+Irishmen died in the French service; and we may well imagine that
+half-a-million dashing soldiers did not yield up their lives for
+nothing.
+
+In the time of the great Napoleon there were many foreign brigades
+in the grand army. Everybody has read of the famous Polish lancers
+who time and again shattered the chivalry of Prussia, Austria, and
+Muscovy in those combats of giants, when kingdoms were the prizes and
+marshalships and duchies mere consolations for the less lucky ones.
+These Poles were magnificent fools. Poniatowski and his riders clung
+to Napoleon, led the way in his advances, covered the rear in his
+retreats, and all the while the cynical emperor had little, if any,
+thought of restoring the ancient glories of Poland, and thus repaying
+the country for the valour and devotion of her sons. Other foreign
+cavalry he had as well, but they became more or less mixed with the
+native Frenchmen, and thus do not stand out so boldly to our mental
+vision as the Poles. Chief amongst the great emperor's foreign infantry
+brigades was the Irish one. Indeed, to this one alone of them an eagle
+was entrusted, and it may do no harm to remark here that that eagle,
+much as it was coveted by certain enemies, was never lost, and was
+handed back to French custody when the Irish Brigade ceased to exist
+as an independent body after the final defeat at Waterloo. Most of
+the brigade, not caring for the monarchy after having so long and so
+faithfully served the empire, took advantage of the offer made to them
+of taking service under the British monarch, and were incorporated in
+various regiments of the British army. Indeed, in the late twenties and
+early thirties of the nineteenth century it was by no means uncommon to
+meet in Irish villages a war-worn veteran who had been in most of the
+great European battles--Jena, Austerlitz, Borodino, Waterloo--and had
+finished his soldiering under the burning suns of Hindostan.
+
+In the Crimea, again, a foreign legion, somewhat like the legion formed
+by the British Government for the same campaign, was amongst the troops
+sent out by Napoleon the Third. I know very little about this corps,
+but I am quite sure that it got its full share, and more, of danger,
+hard work, and privations. Anyway the Crimean campaign, except for a
+few battles, was more a contest against nature than against the enemy.
+
+In the Franco-Prussian war we next find mention of the Legionaries. At
+the battle of Orleans, when that city was captured by the Prussians,
+the Foreign Legion and the Pontifical Zouaves covered the French
+retreat. When we learn that out of 1500 of the former only 36 remained
+at the end of the day there will be little need to ask where were the
+Legionaries during the rest of the war. It must be remembered also,
+that the 1500 men who fought and fell outside Orleans were the remains
+of the Legionaries brought from Algeria, and that their comrades left
+behind were amongst the most distinguished of those who quelled the
+rebellion of the Kabyles in the year '71. It is only just to mention
+that the Pontifical Zouaves covered themselves with glory at this
+fight; they went into action along with the Legion on the 11th of
+October 1870, 370 strong, of whom only 17 survived the day.
+
+The Foreign Legion, as I knew it, consisted, as I believe it still
+consists, of two regiments, each containing four battalions. As a
+battalion numbers 1000 men the total strength of the service soldiers
+may be put at 8000. In addition there are depot men, including band,
+drill instructors, and recruits; but I have said enough about the
+depot already, so I shall now confine myself altogether to the service
+soldiers.
+
+Every battalion is divided into four companies, and thus a company
+contains, approximately, 250 officers, sub-officers, and soldiers.
+The officers are three--captain, lieutenant, and sub-lieutenant. Next
+comes the sergeant-major of the company, a sub-officer who keeps the
+accounts. There are two sergeants, one for each of the two sections
+into which the company is divided, and under them a number of corporals
+in command of squads, every squad being, be it understood, a distinct
+unit in the economy of the section to which it belongs. The men are
+divided into two classes, the first and the second, and from the first
+class are chosen the corporals as vacancies arise.
+
+The uniform consists of kepi with a brass grenade in front, blue tunic
+with black belt, red trousers, or white, according to the season. With
+the red trousers go black gaiters, with the white ones white spats,
+somewhat like those worn by Highland soldiers in the British army. The
+knapsack, greatcoat, and other impedimenta are rather heavy, especially
+when 150 rounds of ball cartridge are included. I don't know the exact
+weight, but I remember that I used to feel an ugly drag on my shoulders
+at the end of a day's march. The pouch for ammunition at the side also
+pressed heavily against the body, and we often wished that those who
+had the arrangement of a man's equipment should wear it on the march,
+day in day out, if only for a month. There might be some common-sense
+displayed by them after that. But in all ages and nations a man's
+accoutrements--I use the word in the most general sense--have been
+decided on by tailors and good-for-nothing generals--oh, there are
+plenty of them in every army in the world--and, worst of all, by women,
+who twist and turn the said generals around their little fingers. Look
+at a private soldier of any army when standing at attention in full
+marching order; you are pleased with the sight; his head is erect, his
+straightened shoulders seem easily to support the heavy pack behind;
+the twin pouches look so beautifully symmetrical. Ask that soldier how
+he feels at the end of a thirty-mile march. If he isn't a liar, he will
+tell you that the rifle is rather heavy, but he doesn't mind that; that
+the pack galls a bit, but that's to be expected; and that the pouches
+weighted with ammunition have given him a dull, heavy pain in each
+side just above, he imagines, where the kidneys are, and if that pain
+could be avoided he would think little of all the rest. Many a time I
+have taken the packets of cartridges from the pouches before we had
+gone a quarter of a mile and stowed them away between the buttons of my
+tunic--there they had ribs and breast bone to rest against. Why don't
+the people whose business and interest it is to get the best out of
+the private soldier give the private soldier a chance? But they won't.
+Of all the humbugs on the face of God's earth the military officer of,
+say, twenty years' service is the worst.
+
+The soldier of the second class wore no decoration on his sleeve, the
+soldier of the first class had a red chevron, the corporal wore two
+red chevrons, the sergeant a single gold one, and the sergeant-major
+two gold ones. It was a good thing to be a soldier of the first class,
+not because you wore a chevron or got extra pay, but because, when a
+charge was made against you by sergeant or corporal, the officers
+would listen carefully to your defence, and you generally got what the
+second-class man rarely got--a fair chance as well as a patient hearing.
+
+Squad etiquette was rather peculiar. You were assigned to a squad, and
+on entering were made free, as I may say, of the mess, and how you got
+on afterwards with your enforced comrades depended largely on yourself.
+You might be very well liked, or thoroughly disliked, but violent likes
+and dislikes were rather uncommon. As a rule, you had just a little
+trouble in asserting your right to a fair share, and that always, of
+what was going. If you had a dispute with another your comrades looked
+on and listened; if you came to blows they prevented the affair from
+going too far; and unless the corporal was a brute he allowed his squad
+to arrange their own affairs out of working hours in their own way.
+But you dared not form friendships with men outside the squad; if you
+did you were set upon and punished in every way by your comrades, and
+your friend was served in the same way by his. Let me give an instance.
+A rather nice, quiet fellow, an Alsatian, was in my squad at a place
+called Zenina when we received a new draft of recruits from the depot.
+Amongst these was another Alsatian, who came from the same place as
+my comrade, and, as was natural, the two became fast friends. Under
+the circumstances nothing was said at first, and had either asked for
+a transfer to his friend's squad all would have been well. After some
+time, however, the comrades of both began to object. Why, we asked one
+another, should Schmidt openly abandon us and our genial company for a
+man who should by right be good comrade with others? Well, Schmidt was
+abused, and bore the abuse calmly; he got only half a share at meals,
+and still did not go further than a meek protest; he came back after
+seeing his chum, and found all his kit flung outside the door of the
+hut, his rifle fouled, his bayonet covered with salt water, his straps
+dirty, and his buckles dull; still he bore with all. Next evening
+he went to visit his friend, and, while he was absent, we formed a
+soldiers' court-martial and tried him. One man represented the accuser,
+another took the part of Schmidt, but the result was quite evident from
+the first. He was found guilty of neglecting his duties as a comrade,
+and as he had openly abandoned his squad and thereby shown his contempt
+for it, at the same time exposing us to the derision of all the
+battalion, it was high time that the squad should adequately punish him
+and thus vindicate its character.
+
+The chief difficulty was about the punishment. It was first proposed
+that we should put him _en crapaudine_ for a night, seizing and binding
+him while all in the cantonments were asleep, and releasing him in
+the morning before the reveille. However, it was pointed out that the
+corporal would not be likely to permit that, and, if he did permit it,
+Schmidt might report the matter and get the corporal into trouble. Now
+the corporal was a good fellow. He swore at us and abused us and would
+allow not even a sullen muttering in reply, but he would not, if he
+could help it, of course, get a man into trouble with the sergeant or
+the captain or the commandant. Occasionally he would find a bottle of
+wine, half-a-bottle of brandy, or a score or two of cigarettes in his
+corner. He said nothing, and as soon as the bottle was empty he did not
+have anything more to do with it: it was removed without a word by some
+one of us and quietly, I may say unostentatiously, deposited where its
+presence need not be accounted for by any of our squad.
+
+After a good deal of talking we finally settled on a plan. What it
+was will appear in a short time. That night we could not do as we had
+resolved, for the corporal came in at an early hour in the evening
+as drunk and as abusive as a man could be. He rolled against me, and
+cursed me for a dirty, drunken pig, who could not carry his liquor like
+a soldier. He stood tottering in his corner of the room, and gave out
+more bad language than he had ever done before. And we were not quiet.
+He got quite as much as he gave; we described for his benefit our
+conceptions of his father and his mother--his father was a dog and his
+mother the female of the same species--we attributed to himself all the
+bad qualities that we could think of; we even called him coward, and
+dared him to report us at once to the sergeant or the captain. He knew,
+and we knew, that if he did so his arrest would at once follow and that
+the chevrons on his arm would not be worth one of the brass buttons on
+his tunic. We overpowered him with abuse at length, and he fell asleep
+muttering curses and threats, which were altogether forgotten in the
+morning.
+
+Next evening the chance came. The corporal had taken a hint that it
+would be just as well for him for his own sake to have some appointment
+that would keep him away until the last moment before roll call. I may
+admit that when he woke in the morning he looked, and I suppose felt,
+very ill, and even refused his morning coffee when it was first offered
+to him. I took the coffee then from the man who had offered it, and,
+while all the rest, as it had been arranged, turned their backs, poured
+into it nearly a quarter of a pint of brandy. He saw what I was doing
+and took the mixture from me. Smelling it carefully first, he swallowed
+a little; liking the taste, he swallowed some more; and in less than
+two minutes he handed back the empty vessel to me, with a wink and
+a nod of the head that told me how delightful had been the little
+surprise prepared for him.
+
+As he was going out another man held out his hand with a couple
+of cigarettes. "Thanks, my comrade, how you are kind!" said the
+_sous-officier_.
+
+When he came in for soup, I again poured some brandy from the bottle
+into a tin cup in such a way that the corporal saw but the rest did
+not, being discreetly engaged. He did not wait to have it carried
+to him, he came swiftly round, took the cup, and drained it at a
+gulp. Then somebody left six or eight cigarettes near the corporal's
+bedplace, and all walked out except the corporal and myself. I went
+to the door, looked out, came back to my own bunk, took out a bottle
+of wine nearly three-quarters full and the tin cup, walked over to
+the corporal, filled the cup to the brim, and dutifully offered it
+to my superior officer. He drank, and returned the empty cup to me.
+Filling it for myself, I finished the contents, and then asked him
+for a cigarette--just one. The corporal gave it me, and I began the
+conversation.
+
+"Bad for us others if you lost the chevrons, corporal."
+
+"Why? Why? what did I say last night?"
+
+"Oh, nothing to speak about; but, corporal----" Then I stopped and
+looked straight at him.
+
+"Well, my comrade, what do you wish to say?"
+
+Now he was afraid; he began to fear something hidden by the kindness.
+
+"But, my corporal, could you not make an appointment now, so that after
+the evening soup you would be engaged until roll call--away from this
+place and in good company?"
+
+"Oh yes, yes; that is easy."
+
+"And your comrade might like to smoke and drink a little; if so, my
+corporal, after the evening soup, when we others leave the room, look
+behind your knapsack."
+
+"Good comrade; but will anything happen?"
+
+"Yes; a man will go to hospital for a week."
+
+"To hospital?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Only to hospital?"
+
+"My honour; only to hospital."
+
+"And for a week?"
+
+"Well, perhaps for ten days."
+
+"But only to hospital?"
+
+"Have I not pledged my honour?"
+
+"Very good; I will see my good friend Jean this evening. But you, you
+will remember, only the hospital."
+
+After the evening soup, as all were going out, he called me.
+
+"It is settled, my comrade; only the hospital?"
+
+"But yes," I answered.
+
+"Not this?" said the corporal, fingering a bayonet.
+
+I shook my head.
+
+"Not this?" and he touched the butt of a rifle.
+
+I answered as before.
+
+"And only hospital; word of honour?"
+
+"Word of honour," I replied.
+
+"Be it so then; I am well content."
+
+Then he looked behind his knapsack and found half-a-bottle of brandy, a
+bottle of wine, and six cigars. He turned, put out his hand to me, and
+said:
+
+"You are my good comrade. Have no fear; if there should be trouble, it
+is you, it is you that I will save." I laughed and shook his hand; he
+gave me a cigar, and the next moment was sorry for his generosity.
+
+Schmidt went off after the evening soup to see his chum.
+
+"Very well, very well," we said to one another. Lots were quickly
+drawn--we had not a son amongst us to toss with--and Nicholas the
+Russian, Guillaume the Belgian, Jean Jacques from Lorraine, and I
+were chosen as executioners of justice. The others lounged outside
+in different places, all anxious to let us know in good time of the
+arrival of the condemned. About an hour after soup we were warned that
+he was coming towards the hut. At once the blanket which was ready was
+laid on the ground directly inside the door, and each man stood at his
+corner waiting for the victim. The others outside gaily saluted him,
+and the fool did not suspect the unusual courtesy; he was humming an
+air to himself as he stepped through the doorway on to the blanket. In
+a second we had raised it at the corners; he stumbled and fell, in a
+limp heap, in the bottom. We jerked the blanket upward, and crash came
+his head against the roof of the hut. We let go at the word of command,
+given by the Russian; flop went his body against the floor. Again and
+again this was repeated, till our arms were tired, and the others who
+had crowded in and had been excited by the fun swore that he had not
+been punished sufficiently and that they would take our places. I was
+glad enough to surrender my corner to an Italian, for, indeed, my arms
+were weary, and my feelings--I was only a boy, you must remember--were
+shocked at the sight of the unresisting and almost insensible bit of
+humanity in the blanket.
+
+After a short time the Russian said the game should stop, and we, the
+other appointed dispensers of punishment, backed him up. Some grumbled,
+but Nicholas, to give him his due, was not a man to be turned from his
+purpose, and his reputation was such that nobody was very anxious to
+fall out with him. So the blanket was dropped for the last time, pulled
+from under the Alsatian, replaced on his bed, and we all went out,
+leaving the wretched fellow groaning on the ground. After a short talk
+we came back, gave him a drink, put him to bed, and prepared to meet
+the corporal on his return.
+
+The corporal came in a little before roll call.
+
+"What's wrong?" he asked as he heard the moaning of the Alsatian.
+Nobody answered. The corporal went across to the injured man's cot and
+again inquired. The poor devil told him as well as he could, and the
+_sous-officier_ at once ordered us all not to leave the hut until his
+return. He went out, and came back in a few minutes with the sergeant
+of the section. There is no need in telling all about the inquiry that
+followed; suffice it to say that the corporal was the only man sleeping
+in the room that night--the Alsatian was in hospital and we others
+under guard.
+
+Of course, our conduct was approved of throughout the battalion.
+Regimental tradition is dearer than justice, and we were regarded as
+good soldiers and good comrades who had merely vindicated our honour.
+But the army tradition is: when a charge is made and proved, punish.
+Officers _may_ sympathise, but they _must_ punish. Therefore we of the
+squad, corporal and Alsatian excepted, were sentenced to do extra drill
+every day for a month and sleep in our clothes under guard every night.
+It was a hard punishment. The weather was hot, we had little change of
+underclothing, and when we lay down on the planks for the night with
+the shirts and drawers on that we had worn during the day our sleep
+was restless, fitful, and uneasy. It is a wonder we did not mutiny;
+however, that would be going too far, so we counted the days and nights
+that intervened until we should be free soldiers again. The Alsatian
+was transferred from the hospital to another battalion, and I came
+across him again, and was glad to find that he bore no malice; indeed,
+he admitted that we were justified in acting as we had done and that it
+was his own fault, as he had not asked for a transfer.
+
+The incident I have related will give some idea of my life in the
+corps. I shall have soon to relate another story, which will show that
+jealousy might arise between companies as well as in a squad.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+
+About this time there were signs of a disturbance amongst the
+semi-savage tribes that hold the oases on the borders of the great
+desert. These are not, and I daresay never will be, brought completely
+under subjection. They are to the French in Algeria what the hill
+tribes of the Himalayas are to the British in Hindostan. They are
+by nature, proud, fierce, suspicious; by religion, contemptuous of
+Christian dogs; by habit, predatory. They are fairly well armed,
+indeed, they make their own weapons and ammunition. When they go on the
+warpath there is always more trouble than one would expect, considering
+their numbers; they are so elusive, so trained to forced marches, so
+dashing in attack and swift in retreat, that the Government has to
+allow at least three men for every Arab. If a general could corner
+them and get well home with the bayonet after the usual preliminaries
+of shell firing and musketry, or if the rascals would only come on and
+have done with it, a quarter of the number would suffice. But these
+pleasant things don't occur--I mean pleasant for the man with the
+modern rifle--at least, if they do, it is only when all the oases of
+the district have been seized, and then the Arabs may prefer to hazard
+all on a big fight, but as a rule they bow to destiny and surrender.
+
+Well, one morning we noticed the commandant and other officers
+jubilant and smiling, and very soon the news got down to us through
+the _sous-officiers_ that our battalion was for active service. How
+delighted we were! All punishments in the battalion were at once
+remitted; we had no more to suffer for the affair of the Alsatian; and
+the other squad, which had treated Alsatian number two in a similar
+manner, was also included in the pardon.
+
+We were not long getting ready for the march. The day after the good
+news came the battalion tramped out of cantonments nearly 1100 strong,
+every man in good condition, and with 150 cartridges in his pouches.
+A significant order was given on the parade ground, when we formed
+up for the last time in column of companies. We were told to break
+open each man a packet of cartridges and to load. We did so, and the
+commandant addressed us, and gave us fair warning that he could not
+permit _accidents_--he laid great stress on the word and repeated it
+more than once--he told us that if an _accident_ did occur it would
+be bad for the man whose rifle should be found to be discharged; he
+quoted the Bible to us, saying something about "a life for a life and
+a tooth"--yes, I think it was a tooth--"for a tooth." The old soldiers
+understood, and we others learned the meaning before we came to the
+first halting-place.
+
+The fact is, in every regiment, and nowhere more than in the Foreign
+Legion, there are unpopular officers and sub-officers, and there are
+feuds amongst the men, and what is easier than to loose off a rifle
+accidentally and, accidentally as it were, hit the man you dislike? In
+action the thing is done far more commonly than people suppose--and
+that is the safest time to do it; but after a fight, when all the men's
+rifles are foul, and when a cartridge can be flung away as soon as
+used, a bullet is sometimes sent through a tent on the off-chance of
+hitting the right man within. So the commandant was justified when he
+warned and threatened us about accidents.
+
+We marched about twenty-five kilometres every day, and did it
+cheerfully. We did not mind the country through which we passed, for
+all our thoughts were turned to the work before us. The veterans were
+in good humour. What advice they gave! "When the Arab charges you, mon
+enfant, or when you charge the Arab, which is better, thrust at his
+face the first time and at his body the second." "But why?" "Ah, my
+boy, give him the bayonet in the body and still he will strike; give
+it to him in the head, and then you can finish with a second stroke.
+And, again, the glint of the bayonet will disturb his aim, and, even
+should you miss with the first thrust, you can always get your weapon
+back and send it home before he recovers--of course, that is if you are
+quick enough. Moreover, the Arab expects you to lunge at his body, and
+you must always, if you are a good soldier, disappoint your enemy. Then
+there is no protection for his face; but a button or a piece of brass,
+even a secretly-worn cuirass, may turn your point and leave you at his
+mercy."
+
+We eagerly drank in all this and similar hints from the men of
+experience. The old soldiers were delighted. We were all as happy as
+schoolboys out for a holiday; we endured the heat and dust without
+muttering a complaint; nay, even old quarrels were forgotten, and the
+man who would not look at his detested comrade a month before now
+helped him with his knapsack or offered some tobacco, with a friendly
+smile.
+
+When the halt was called in the evening, the sentries were posted,
+the fires lit, the little tents put up, the messes cooked for the
+squads; but very soon the air of bustle and activity gave place to
+an appearance of quiet ease. When the last meal of the day was over,
+and the rifles, bayonets, straps, clothes, and everything else had
+been cleaned, we lay about the camp in small parties, here two or
+three, there half-a-dozen, yonder a full squad. Again we listened to
+the _vieux soldats_; we made them repeat their stories of war and
+pillage; we eagerly questioned them about the chances of loot. Some
+of our fellows had fought in the Russo-Turkish war of '78; Nicholas,
+whom I have mentioned, was believed to have commanded a company of
+Russian guards at the siege of Plevna, and, though he never said in
+so many words that he had even carried a rifle and knapsack in that
+war, he told us stories of it that could be told only by an onlooker,
+and it was easy to see that he was a man of birth and education, and,
+judging by the money with which his purse was often filled--not for
+long though, as he was a prince to spend--of wealth as well. It was
+during this march that I learned for the first time the privileges
+of a soldier as the soldier conceives them--I mean his chances when
+the fighting is over and the enemy's camp, village, or town is in his
+hands. Perhaps I had best say nothing or, if anything at all, but
+little of them. One thing I may mention; it is foolish for people to
+suppose that fighting men of to-day are at all different from their
+compeers of yore--the only change is that the rapine and the pillage
+are not boasted of so openly--but there is just as little of the spirit
+of Christianity in a so-called civilised army as there used to be in
+a legion of Julius Cæsar, perhaps even less. Many people will regret
+this, and yet you always find the goody-goodies and even the women
+loudest in crying out for war to avenge the wrongs, or fancied wrongs,
+of their country or to acquire new territory and new trade. I say this:
+if the women of the world only once realised to the full what war means
+to the women of the losers they would throw all their weight into the
+scale of peace. And remember, armaments are such to-day that no nation
+is absolutely safe from invasion; social questions, the relations
+between capital and labour, the currency, slave labour amongst whites,
+even in the United States--most happily situated of all countries--the
+eternal feud between whites and blacks in the South--any of these may
+at any moment cause a war worse than a war of invasion, because more
+bitter, more relentless, more capable of leaving a heritage of hate.
+Who is the more to be blamed: the rigid moralist at home who admits
+that most wars are the devil's work but proclaims that the war which he
+favours and shouts for is really blessed by God; or the soldier who,
+after dreary weeks or months of weary marching, with broken boots or no
+boots at all during the day, and chilling nights with only a tattered
+greatcoat or a ragged blanket to save him from the dew, with the
+memory upon him of hunger and thirst, of dust and fatigue, of constant
+knowledge that any moment may see him a corpse or a maimed weakling on
+the ground, forgets the Ten Commandments and even his natural humanity
+when the final charge has been successful and the chance has at last
+come for, in part at least, repaying himself, as soldiers have since
+war began repaid themselves, for toil and trouble and danger in the
+conquered town? Blame the man who does wrong if you will, but blame
+more the foolish people who, fancying that rapine and pillage can never
+stalk abroad in their own happy land, let loose the dogs of war upon
+their neighbours. The Carthaginian maids and matrons acclaimed their
+returning heroes; the day came when the Roman legionaries taught those
+very maids and matrons the real meaning of war. How proud the Roman
+women were of their gallant warriors when the gorgeous triumph unfolded
+itself on the long road to the Capitol! With what different feelings
+did they look on war as the news came that Attila had forced his way
+into the rich plains of Lombardy; or, even before that, with what
+agonised apprehension did they not look forth from the walls at the
+red glare in the sky that told of the presence of Hannibal? We abuse
+Turks and Arabs, Filipinos and Chinese, the Baggara from the desert
+and the tribal mountaineers from the borders of Afghanistan because,
+forsooth, they do not make war as Christianity dictates. And what about
+the allied armies in China of late? They were Christians--by repute
+at least; but what were they in reality? Just a little worse than the
+Boxers, that is all. Do I blame them? No; I know the temptations; I
+know how quickly the soldiers of Christian, so-called Christian, armies
+are taught to forget the Ten Commandments. I am not surprised, nor do
+I feel called upon to censure. I shall leave the casting of stones to
+the people who are always strong to resist their passions, especially
+those passions which soldiers feel and yield to most readily--lust of
+others' property, which your virtuous stockbroker will never allow to
+enter into his bosom; lust of strong drink, which never affects the
+shouters for war in the streets; lust of--well, another lust which need
+not be spoken of here, as I have already hinted more than enough of it
+and its consequences.
+
+However, I've done with moralising. We young soldiers heard, and heard
+with an awakening of delight, of pleasurable anticipation, the things
+that might happen when the fighting for the day was done. And war does
+not seem all war. You've got to cook and eat, to forage and drink, to
+mount guard or sleep, just as if you were back in cantonments, and the
+daily routine soon grows upon a man--at any rate it soon grew upon me.
+
+At last we joined the general. We were the first of his reinforcements,
+and very soon, as others arrived, the defensive gave place to the
+offensive. I can't tell about the progress of the little campaign; all
+I know is our share of it, and for me that was quite enough. For a few
+weeks we were cornering the enemy, seizing a well here, a caravan of
+provisions there, and having slight brushes, in which a dozen or two
+men killed and wounded represented our losses. The Arabs, having been
+beaten back by the men originally attacked, did not seem to care to
+give the general a good stand-up fight now that his forces had been
+increased, and after some time we began to fancy that they were merely
+holding out for good terms and would at last surrender in the usual
+way. Not that we grew careless about our guards, pickets, and vedettes,
+discipline prevented that, and luckily, for when all the oases had been
+seized and garrisoned except one, the Arabs, in desperation I believe,
+determined to throw all upon the hazard of a battle. This was my first
+real experience of fighting, for I don't count it fighting to advance
+in skirmishing order and fire at constantly moving figures half-a-mile
+away. I judged their opinion of us by ours of them, and, indeed, we
+never even ducked the head, for we could not fear bullets at such a
+range.
+
+Our cavalry had been pushed forward to locate the enemy and hold him if
+possible. My company and two companies of native infantry and three or
+four guns were sent in support, and the main body, coming along slowly
+and laboriously owing to difficulties of transport, moved in our rear,
+the flanks well protected by outlying horse. One evening when we were
+about fifteen kilometres in front of the general--too far, of course,
+but some officers do so want to distinguish themselves when they get a
+separate command--the chasseurs d'Afrique and the spahis rode back upon
+us. They reported the enemy in a strong position at the last oasis left
+to them, about twelve kilometres away, and our commanding officer sent
+back the news at once, halting meanwhile for instructions. He acted
+somewhat wisely too in getting us to throw up a sort of fortification
+on a piece of rising ground. A circular trench was dug; the stuff taken
+out formed a weak rampart; a biscuit or two and a glass of brandy
+were served out to every man; and then we lay down on the hard ground
+without a tent or even a blanket for shelter or covering. The horsemen
+fell back on the main body; their work was done, and they would be
+worse than useless in a night attack.
+
+Most of the night passed quietly, and I, who had done two hours
+sentry-go before midnight without seeing or hearing anything which
+could disquiet me, began to hope that the savage devils would wait to
+be attacked. About an hour before sunrise the corporal in charge of
+the outlying picket called me for another turn of duty. I arose from
+where I lay, took my rifle from the ground, and prepared to set out for
+my post, about eighty paces in front. I was to relieve Nicholas the
+Russian. As I took his place he whispered: "Look out, young one; the
+dangerous hour!"
+
+When the corporal and his party went away I gazed intently into the
+darkness towards the south. I knew by experience gained in many a night
+watch that very soon the sun would, as it always seemed to me, born and
+bred in a northern land, jump up on the horizon and send his welcome
+arrows of light across shrub and rock and sand. Once the light came
+the sudden rush in upon the camp would be impossible; the modern rifle
+would stave off all attack; spear and bayonet would clash together only
+when our leaders saw that the time had come when we should be on the
+rush and the enemy on the run.
+
+As I gazed I fancied that there was a movement in my front. I could
+not at the time, nor can I now, though I am a man of wider experience
+to-day, swear that I actually saw anything, but that an impalpable,
+strange, indefinite change was coming over the blackness of the desert,
+I neither doubted nor misunderstood. Raising my rifle to my shoulder,
+quietly and cautiously as one does whose own body may be in a second
+the target for countless bullets, I aimed steadily at the blackest
+part of the blackness and fired. As I turned to run to the picket an
+awful shriek rang out, telling me that my bullet had found a billet,
+and then, while I ran shouting: "Aux armes, aux armes!" a hideous,
+savage cry ran in a great circle all about the camp. When I closed on
+the picket the corporal was giving his orders: "One volley, and run
+for the camp." The volley was fired, and we all ran madly back to the
+entrenchments, crying: "Aux armes, les ennemis!" not, indeed, to warn
+our comrades of their danger, but to let them know that we were the men
+of the outlying picket fleeing to camp and not the mad vanguard of the
+attack. We got inside the little rampart, helped over by willing arms,
+and at once the crash of musketry began. Our men had their bayonets
+fixed; for a double purpose this--for defence if the Arabs came home
+in the charge, to lower the muzzle if only shooting were necessary.
+Luckily our firing became so successful that the Arabs stopped to
+reply, and, you may take my word for it, when a charging man halts to
+fire he is already weakening for retreat.
+
+Well, we kept the enemy at a safe distance till the blessed sun sprang
+up and turned the chances to our side. Yet still they hung around, and
+a dropping fire was maintained on both sides. They did not now surround
+the little camp; they had all collected in almost a semicircle on
+the southern side. While the desultory firing went on our commandant
+eagerly turned his gaze from time to time towards the north, and he
+was at last rewarded. He sent orders to give a ration of brandy to
+every man--the rascal! He had seen the glint of lance heads on the
+horizon, and he wanted to take a little of the pursuer's glory from the
+cavalrymen. Glory, glory! what follies are committed in thy name! The
+brandy was given out, the news went around that the horse were coming
+up at the gallop, the men looked with blood-lust in their eyes at the
+lying-down semicircle to the south, the commandant flung off jacket,
+belt, scabbard, keeping only sabre and pistol, and with a wild cheer
+and cries of "Kill, kill!" we rushed from the camp straight at the
+enemy. They were not cowards. They gave us a wild, scattered fire, and
+then, flinging away their rifles and flintlocks, came daringly, with
+loud cries of "Allah!" to meet us. And in their charge they covered a
+greater distance than we did in ours, for they came along every man
+at racing speed, and their line grew more and more irregular, whereas
+we, disciplined and trained to move all as one man, easily fell into
+the regulation _pas gymnastique_, and so went forward a solid, steady,
+cheering line, officers leading, and clarions at our backs sounding the
+charge.
+
+As we neared one another a great shout went up from us. Nicholas
+the Russian, who was my front-rank man, dashed forward and stabbed
+a yelling demon rushing at him with uplifted spear. I ran into his
+place, and saw almost at once a dusky madman, with a short, scanty
+beard, coming straight at me with murder in his eyes. I remembered
+the advice given by the _vieux soldats_, and as he raised his sword I
+plunged my bayonet with all my force into his face. He half reeled, he
+almost fell, and as he recovered again I lunged and struck him fair
+and full on the breast bone. Again he reeled, yet still he tried to
+strike; I thrust a third time, and now at his bare neck; the spouting
+blood followed out the bayonet as I drew it forth and back to strike
+again. Before I had time to do so the Arab fell, a convulsive tremor
+passed over his body, the limbs contracted, the eyes opened wide to
+the sky, the jaw fell, and for the first time I saw my enemy lie
+stark and cold in death before me. I stood watching, with a curious
+feeling at my heart, the body that lay so strangely still upon the
+sand. I felt no desire that life should return to the corpse, nor did
+I feel at all inclined to drive my weapon home again; it seemed to
+me that my assailant and the dead were not one and the same, and the
+animosity which I had felt for the living foe was lost, nay, utterly
+extinguished, in wonder at the awful change my handiwork had produced.
+Remember, I was only a boy, and I had taken that which no man can
+restore. Many times since have I looked without a shudder, almost
+without a thought, on the face of my dead foeman, but on that morning
+in the desert my mind was shocked by the new experience.
+
+Suddenly I heard a trumpet and a cry. I looked towards the right; the
+spahis were riding at top speed with levelled lances on the foe. Our
+men were scattered, fighting in squads and parties over the plain,
+driving the Arabs back. The press of battle had gone beyond me. In a
+moment the horsemen swept into the Arab ranks; the lances rose and fell
+with terrible significance as the mass rolled on. Our work was over;
+the cavalry so rushed and harried the fleeing enemy that the rebellion
+was practically at an end, for that time of course, before noon. When
+the main body came up the chiefs were in our camp, prepared to accept
+any terms offered by the general. These were hard enough. All arms to
+be surrendered, a heavy fine to be paid, their villages to be kept in
+our possession till all the petty fortifications should be dismantled.
+Yes; my company kept a village and an oasis, and I fancy that the next
+generation of Arabs was whiter than their forbears. But that is war;
+and the people--the goody-goodies and the stockbrokers and the foolish
+women--who believe that honour dwells in the heart of a soldier on
+active service will lament our wickedness and get ready for the next
+occasion when they can send off their own soldiers to war, glorious
+war!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+
+Not long after the end of the little war my company and another were
+ordered on garrison duty to a place which we called, for what reason
+I know not, Three Fountains. I never saw three springs in the place;
+of course, there was an oasis but whether this, before being walled
+in, had really been divided into three separate wells I cannot say.
+Probably the name was a fanciful one given by a soldier and taken up by
+his comrades.
+
+Alongside us lay about five or six hundred Turcos. They did not like
+us and we did not care overmuch for them, so you might imagine that
+here were pretty grounds and opportunity for a quarrel. Not so, indeed;
+they kept away from us, for they knew well what would happen should
+one of them dare to enter our lines. We gave them a wide berth, for
+the African is always--like the Asiatic and the American and the
+European--ripe for treachery to men of another race and colour. No; the
+races did not fight, but we of the higher breed,--how angels and devils
+must laugh when people speak of higher breeds!--had a very pretty fight
+amongst ourselves.
+
+It came about in an unusual way, but for the invariable cause. There
+was a Portuguese in No. 4 Company who loved a girl--a Cooloolie girl
+who had followed him in all his marches and campaignings. A Cooloolie,
+I may explain, is the offspring of a Turkish father and an Arab or
+Christian mother, and as a rule when a Cooloolie woman gives herself to
+a man she does it in a thorough manner and without any reservation save
+one--the woman's right to change her mind. And this lassie did change
+her mind, and of her own accord made love to a Greek who belonged to
+my company, as handsome and well-formed a man as I have ever had the
+good fortune to see, and a downright good soldier. Certainly I should
+not care to see him too near my knapsack--brushes and such things have
+a strange knack of disappearing--but I know very well that he was a
+right man in a fight and a trump to spend his money when he had it.
+He did not have it often, and when he had you generally heard next
+morning that an officer's tent had been visited--yes, visited is a good
+word--by someone not invited.
+
+Well, the Cooloolie girl flung over the Portuguese, with bad words
+and worse insinuations, and openly followed the Greek around, like
+a dog after its master. And Apollo, of course, who probably did not
+care a button about the woman, must go here and there, head up, with
+smiling face, cheery talk, and queer jests. He visited every corner of
+the camp: first the part where we, his own company lay; then, still
+followed by the woman, the Turcos, who showed their white teeth and
+grinned and muttered: by Jove, he was a handsome man, and she, though
+rather dusky and stout, looked a perfect beauty in such a place, remote
+from civilisation; last of all he came towards us through the company
+of his predecessor in the Cooloolie girl's favour. Flesh and blood,
+least of all the hot blood of a Peninsular, could not stand it; with a
+hoarse cry and an awful oath the Portuguese rushed at the Greek, but
+Apollo was quite prepared. Slipping aside he struck the poor devil
+full under the ear at the base of the skull and sent him headlong to
+the earth, senseless. Apollo, seeing that his opponent did not rise,
+calmly walked to his own quarters, the girl now hanging upon his arm
+and uttering all the endearing words she could think of, looking up the
+while into his face as one entranced. None of the men of No. 4 Company
+interfered. It was a common thing enough for two men to quarrel about
+a woman, and, though they must have felt sore that their comrade had
+been worsted, still that was no reason why outsiders should interfere.
+The matter would have been settled by the interested parties for
+themselves had it not been for the devilish desire of creating mischief
+that always possessed Nicholas the Russian. Indeed, Nicholas loved
+mischief like a woman.
+
+Now Nicholas was a man who often had money and spent it like a
+gentleman, a soldier, and a rascal. He never got all that was sent to
+him, any more than the Crown gets all the revenues collected in its
+name: to greasy palms coins will always stick. If 1000 francs were his
+due--sent by friends, of course--he reckoned himself lucky to be able
+to spend half. This time he must have received a more than ordinary
+sum, for instead of following the custom of the Legion and showing us,
+his comrades, a little bit of paper, which the commandant would cash
+next day, so that we, his good comrades, the men who liked and loved
+him, might know exactly how much drink and other things to be had for
+money each might fairly reckon on, he said:
+
+"Our comrade, Apollo I mean, has taken the girl; let us be good
+comrades to him; let us take the two cabarets to-morrow, and keep all
+the drink and all the tobacco and all the cigars for ourselves, and
+give the happy pair a right good wedding."
+
+He pulled his moustache as he spoke, and then, turning his eyes round
+the squad, he showed devilment and fun enough in them to entice the
+ordinary good man to break not only the laws of God but to do a still
+more risky thing--to break the laws of his society.
+
+The word was passed around quickly that the Russian would be a good
+friend to all the company, and not merely to his own section or his
+own squad. Everybody was happy; we forgot squad distinctions and shook
+hands with one another and handed freely round our tobacco, for was not
+to-morrow the glorious day when _eau-de-vie_ and wine and cigars and
+tobacco were to be had by every one of us, even without the asking? Ah!
+the good Russian, the worthy comrade! Ah! the handsome Greek! Ah! the
+wise woman, who knows the company to select her lover from! Ah! you,
+good soldier, of another squad it is true; shall we not drink and smoke
+together to-morrow and curse the pigs of No. 4? How they will groan and
+curse and envy us to-morrow! Good-night, brave comrade; good-bye till I
+see you again to-morrow!
+
+The morrow came, with its drills and fatigues and duties. Some of ours
+were for guard, others for camp picket; how they envied us who were
+free for all the fun of the evening! The last meal was over, the last
+duty for the day done, when Nicholas and Le Grand and I went out to
+negotiate with the two cabaret keepers of the place.
+
+Let me say something here about Le Grand. He was the biggest man in the
+battalion, some fellows said in the Legion, but there were others who
+denied this; anyway he was a fine, strapping Dubliner, whose real name
+I do not care to give. He was in my company, but not in my squad, not
+even in my section, so he and I passed each other when we met with a
+friendly "English pig!" "Irish pig!" "Go to the devil!" "Yes, yes; have
+you any tobacco?" "Yes; here, do not forget me to-morrow." Another word
+and we separated.
+
+But let me pay here my tribute to the comrade of whom I shall more
+than once have occasion to speak. He was brave--I learned that on the
+battlefield, I have it not by hearsay; he was generous--I learned
+that many a time when we were together in Tonquin; he was kind and
+honest--that is, honest for a soldier--to all he met with, and his only
+fault was hastiness of temper, which made him knock you down one moment
+and, with the corresponding virtue, pick you up the next. But he never
+struck a boy, he never struck a veteran whose limbs and features showed
+the effects of war, he would die of thirst sooner than take a drop of
+water from the hot-tongued youngster in the fight who had the desire
+to go forward and the weariness of the rifle and pack, and the moist
+heat of socks and the dull, heavy, deadly pain of pouches at the sides.
+I do not know where you are to-day, Le Grand; wherever you are take a
+little, a very little, tribute from one of your comrades. Great as was
+your frame, our liking and love for you were greater.
+
+Well, we walked slowly, as befitted men bent on so important a mission,
+down to the collection of mud huts where the sutlers were. Nicholas,
+as the giver of the feast, had the centre, Le Grand was on his right,
+and I, the youngest and least of the three, supported the Russian on
+the left. We did not speak, but Nicholas now and then laughed, while
+a constant smile, cynical, sarcastic, and malicious, was on his lips.
+The Russian was evidently calculating on the fun he would have, for he,
+if no one else did, forecasted accurately the result. He was paying,
+and paying for a purpose; excitement was to him the breath of life;
+he had no fear of consequences; if he were punished he would take his
+punishment with that calm ease of manner which was the despair of all
+his superiors from the commandant down.
+
+The first cabaret we visited was kept by a retired soldier--a man
+who had spent most of his life in Algeria, who had in fact, almost
+forgotten France. An ugly, old Kabyle woman, whom, I daresay, he had
+picked up a young girl in some forgotten desert raid, lived with him,
+cooked his meals, and helped to swindle us poor fellows out of the
+wretched pittance we were paid.
+
+When we entered the host came forward, smiling, gloating I should say,
+on Nicholas. The fellow evidently knew about the money. The Russian
+came straight to the point.
+
+"How much, _mon vieux_, for all in this hole?"
+
+"What! all?"
+
+"Well, you may leave out madame and the domestic furniture. How much, I
+ask you, for the hut, the drink, the tobacco, the glasses, the tables
+and forms, and all the rest of your property?"
+
+"Well, well, I do not understand."
+
+"Let us go to the Jew then," said Nicholas to Le Grand.
+
+"Very well."
+
+"What do you say, my friend?" This to me.
+
+"A Jew can't swindle more than this old ruffian."
+
+We turned to leave.
+
+"No, no, no; I will sell all," cried the sutler.
+
+"Very well," said Nicholas; "show me all you have, and quickly. I will
+make an offer; if you take it I will pay the money at once."
+
+The sutler showed us what he had: so much brandy, the strongest in
+France, he said--so much wine; how beautiful, would we not take a
+glass?--so much tobacco, and so on; he praising and Nicholas critically
+valuing as the goods were shown. When everything had been shown
+Nicholas offered 500 francs for all.
+
+"Oh no, not at all; that would ruin me."
+
+"Very well; let us go to the Jew."
+
+As we were passing out he ran out after Nicholas, and said:
+
+"Six hundred."
+
+"Five," said Nicholas.
+
+The sutler shook his head.
+
+"Give me five hundred and fifty and take all, in the name of the devil."
+
+"For the last time, five hundred."
+
+"Oh, you have a hard heart, very hard for so young and brave a soldier."
+
+The temptation was too great; he would not let us go to the Jew, so he
+accepted. The money was paid, and Nicholas gave the old soldier and his
+wife ten minutes to get out their personal belongings, leaving me on
+guard to see that nothing else went out by mistake.
+
+A similar scene, Le Grand afterwards told me, took place in the Jew's.
+At anyrate, in about a quarter of an hour Nicholas came back alone,
+having left our comrade to watch the other sutler's departure, and told
+me that he was going away to summon the rest.
+
+"Fill a couple of glasses for ourselves first," he said; "I want to
+give the Jew time to get his things away."
+
+The old soldier cocked his ears.
+
+"You have bought the Jew's stuff too, my boy?"
+
+"Yes," said Nicholas; "my company will drink, this evening. Get madame
+and your property to a safe distance, as there may be trouble."
+
+The old man took the hint and hurried away; he was too experienced a
+soldier not to easily guess what would happen when a poor and thirsty
+company looked on at the carousal of a rich and happy one.
+
+Well, down came the company, laughing, clapping one another on the
+back, jumping about, for all the world looking partly like schoolboys
+out for an unexpected and unhoped-for holiday, partly like a commando,
+as the Dutch say, from the lower regions. There was not room for all
+in the huts, but the barrels were quickly rolled out and broached with
+due care, for who would spill good liquor? There was no scrambling or
+pushing; in spite of the excitement every man waited good-humouredly
+for his turn, for was there not enough for all? Eight or ten of us
+selected by Nicholas were filling the glasses; a man came to me and
+asked for brandy, I gave him a glassful, he drank, passed on to a
+second and got a ration of wine, and then went off to the place where
+the tobacco was distributed, giving way to another. This went on
+continuously until all had received an allowance of brandy and another
+of wine and a third of tobacco, and then Nicholas, this time also
+accompanied by Le Grand and me, went for the _nouveaux mariés_, as
+he called them. We brought them down in triumph, Apollo smiling and
+bowing, the Cooloolie girl beaming with happiness, Nicholas as solemn
+as a judge, Le Grand and I breaking our sides with laughter. Such
+cheering and such compliments! Such a babel of tongues! The soldiers
+were all shouting out, every man, or almost every man, in his own
+tongue, and those words I caught and understood did not certainly err
+on the score of modesty. Nicholas amidst renewed cheering handed an
+immense vessel of wine to the lady; she drank some and passed it to
+Apollo, who drained it to the bottom.
+
+When the cries had somewhat subsided Nicholas made a short speech.
+He alluded in graceful terms to the happy pair, and hoped that their
+children's children would in the years to come follow the flag in the
+old Legion, in the old regiment, in the old battalion, above all, in
+the old company. He praised the company; he said we could fight any
+other company on the face of the earth; as, he concluded by saying,
+our well-loved comrade has taken, and will keep, the woman he wants
+without asking any man's permission, so we have taken, and will keep
+for ourselves, the liquor in the camp.
+
+He spoke in a loud tone, so that certain men of the other company might
+hear. These were looking enviously on at the orgy, and were quite near
+enough to make out the general tenor of his remarks. And Nicholas meant
+them to hear his words. He was no fool, and he knew what his speech
+would provoke; he was no coward, when the fight came, he stood up to
+his work like a man; he was no liar, for at the investigation he told
+exactly what he had done, and kept back only his purpose in doing it.
+
+I may mention here that there were no _sous-officiers_ and no soldiers
+of the first class at the carousal. We were all men of the second
+class, who neither hoped nor wished for promotion, therefore we were
+quite careless as to what might happen.
+
+Very soon the fellows of No. 4 Company began to come out of their
+quarters by twos and threes. As we saw them approaching we raised our
+voices, we shouted, sang, danced, cried out toasts, and did everything
+in our power to make them at once angry and jealous. The Cooloolie
+was in the centre, seated in Apollo's lap, the Greek himself having
+improvised a sort of arm-chair out of the staves and ends of an empty
+barrel. Even then things might not have been too bad, but nothing can
+keep a woman quiet, especially when her tongue is loosened with wine.
+She called to the men of No. 4 to go and fetch the Portuguese, and we
+all laughed. She openly and without shame showered kisses and other
+endearments on her lover, and the laughter was redoubled. She called
+out to the poor, thirsty and tantalised devils outside the charmed
+circle that her old sweetheart was--well, let me leave her words to
+the imagination of those who have ever listened to an angry, reckless
+woman's tongue--and she ended by saying that the Portuguese was only a
+fair sample of his comrades. The men of No. 4 were now all around us,
+and those of us who, like myself, had partaken only sparingly of the
+wine began to scent a fight. There was no premeditation, I believe,
+on the part of the others; indeed, the only man who desired to make
+trouble from the beginning was Nicholas the Russian, and truly he got
+his wish gratified to the full. A few bad words passed between some of
+theirs and some of ours, a blow was struck and replied to; in a moment
+a wild rush towards the combatants was made by all. A general melee
+ensued, and in a second almost, as it seemed, a little spot of ground
+was covered with the struggling, twisting, writhing bodies of four
+hundred angry, swearing men.
+
+As I was running down to where the press of fighting was, I came full
+tilt against a man of No. 4. He and I staggered and almost fell from
+the shock. Luckily I had a half-empty bottle in my hand, and though
+when he recovered himself he almost made me totter with a swinging blow
+on the chest, yet I sent him fairly down with an ugly stroke of the
+bottle across the head.
+
+The next man I crossed tumbled me fairly over. What followed
+immediately afterwards I do not know. The next thing I remember is that
+I was standing on a table, striking out on all sides with the leg of
+a chair. A sudden rush on the part of the men of No. 4 drove back our
+company, the table was overturned, and I found myself sprawling on the
+ground, trying as best I could to regain my feet. Our fellows rallied
+and pushed back the others, and a tacit armistice took place. Not for
+long, though. The others got together in a mass, we formed up in a
+circle round the barrels and the tobacco, and the fight re-commenced.
+And the Cooloolie woman was the best combatant of all, for though she
+herself did not do more than claw a man or two, who broke away at once,
+not wishing to hurt a woman beloved by men of both companies, yet
+with her cries and execrations she lashed them and us into a fury of
+fighting which made all men perfect devils. I have seen worse fighting,
+but then we had weapons. This fight was really the most savage save
+one, which I shall speak of afterwards, for there was no care of
+hurting comrades, there was no hanging back in the rush, there was no
+yielding of even a foot in the defence, and all the while the white
+guards looked on in horror, and the Turcos crept back to their part of
+the encampment with deadly terror in their hearts.
+
+Half-a-dozen times we stopped for a moment or two to take breath. Then
+one of ours would rush at a man of No. 4, or one of No. 4 would come
+with an oath against a man of ours, and in a second the fray would be
+re-commenced. The officers and the _sous-officiers_, the guard and the
+picket, tried to separate us. It was all in vain; they might just as
+well have tried to pull apart two packs of wolves. Moreover, half of
+the soldiers brought down to quell the trouble belonged to ours, and
+half to No. 4, and the commanding officer was very much afraid that
+these might join in the fight, and they carried arms and ammunition.
+But, you will say, why not use the Turcos? Ah, that would never
+do. The commanding officer might succeed in putting an end to the
+disturbance with their assistance, it is true, but the consequences
+which were sure to follow were too serious, for the Turcos would never
+afterwards be safe from an attack. All the legionaries, not merely the
+men of the companies in the camp, but all the legionaries throughout
+Algeria, would resent the interference of the native troops, and
+heaven only knows what scenes of bloodshed might arise in unexpected
+quarters, and from trivial causes. Had there been even half-a-company
+of Frenchmen in camp all would have been well, but the nearest French
+soldiers, a squadron or two of chasseurs, lay a few kilometres away.
+To them, however, a mounted messenger was sent, and when we were
+almost weary of fighting, and began to think it time to look after the
+wounded--the place looked like a battlefield where regular weapons
+had been employed--we heard the trumpets of the cavalry and saw not
+a hundred yards away the long line of horsemen thundering down with
+raised swords at the charge. Before the chasseurs we broke and fled,
+but they were on us too soon for safety, and many a man went down
+before the charge.
+
+As I was running to a hut a sergeant of chasseurs overtook me.
+Instinctively I jumped aside and lifted my right arm to protect my
+head. It was no use; down came the flat of the heavy sabre on my
+shoulder, and almost at the same time the charger's forequarter
+struck me sideways on the breast. I fell, and wisely remained quiet
+and motionless on the ground until the charge had passed. I then got
+up and reached the hut, which I found almost packed with men of both
+companies, whose appetite for fighting had altogether disappeared.
+In a short time we were all prisoners. My company was marched to the
+north side of the camp and No. 4 to the south, and we lay out all the
+night; and nights are very cold in these warm countries--the more so by
+contrast with the heat of the day.
+
+Now about the casualties. I cannot tell the exact number killed
+outright in the quarrel or charge, or of wounded who afterwards
+died, but it was certainly not less than a score. More than 100 were
+seriously injured, and there was not a man of all the fighters without
+several ugly marks on his body. The Greek, who had fought well until,
+as I heard, a blow of a stone brought him insensible to the ground, had
+his brains knocked out by a horse's hoof; the Portuguese, we learned,
+died in hospital of his hurts. As for the Cooloolie girl--well, what
+would you expect? She wept for a week, and then took to herself a
+new lover out of the many who sought her favour, for your famous or
+notorious woman does not long lack suitors.
+
+How we made up the quarrel and escaped severe punishment--heaven knows
+we punished ourselves enough as it was--must be told in a new chapter.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+
+Nobody was surprised when, on the morning after the affray, a corporal
+of chasseurs and half-a-dozen men came to escort Nicholas, Le Grand,
+and me to the commandant's quarters in the camp. Nicholas had his head
+swathed in rags, and limped more than slightly with the left foot;
+Le Grand showed a beautiful pair of black eyes and confessed to a
+racking headache. Every part of my body felt its own particular pain,
+my right eye was closed up, and I had an ugly cut on the forehead, the
+scar of which still remains. When we arrived at the place of inquiry,
+we found every officer in the camp, our own officers and those of
+the chasseurs and Turcos, assembled around the commandant. For a few
+moments there was silence, while they eyed us and we looked steadily at
+the commandant. At last this officer spoke, slowly and in a quiet tone:
+"The affair of yesterday was serious, indeed serious." He fixed his
+gaze on Nicholas. "You, I hear, bought all the drink and tobacco from
+the sutlers. Did that lead to the quarrel?"
+
+Nicholas saluted respectfully and asked permission to make a statement.
+When it was accorded he began to tell all the story, just, indeed,
+as it happened, or almost as it happened. In narrating the dispute
+between the rivals he placed all the blame upon the Greek, for he
+knew at the time that the Greek was dead and therefore could not be
+punished. He said nothing, however, about certain encouragement that
+Apollo had received before and during his vainglorious parade through
+the camp with his new love on his arm; nor did he mention certain
+sarcastic expressions concerning the Portuguese which he himself had
+uttered in the hearing of the Cooloolie girl; also, he seemed to forget
+that these very expressions were used most frequently and with most
+infuriating effect by her when she was sitting, almost lying indeed,
+in the Greek's arms just before the fight. No; he told the truth, but
+not all the truth, and he told everything in so open and candid a way
+that Le Grand and I were almost deceived. He let fall the nickname
+Apollo, as it were by accident, and then, turning respectfully to the
+captain of chasseurs, who could not be supposed to know the man, he
+explained: "We called him so, monsieur le capitaine, because he was so
+handsome." "Quite true, quite true," acquiesced the commandant; "he
+was a veritable Apollo." Afterwards we heard that the cavalry officers
+went to see the Greek as he lay stripped in the hut of the dead, and,
+although the face was disfigured out of all human semblance by the
+horse's hoof, yet the beautiful curves and splendid proportions of
+his body, marked even as it was by countless bruises, proved that the
+nickname was well deserved.
+
+One good effect was produced by Nicholas' statement. Everything was so
+honest and straightforward, so natural and true-seeming, that anything
+he might afterwards say was likely to be believed. Moreover, though the
+officers had not seen the parade of the lovers through the camp, yet
+they had evidently heard of it; and, again, the _sous-officiers_ could
+be brought to prove the truth of that part of the story.
+
+When the Russian was asked about the buying of the sutlers' property
+for the use of only one company, he again begged leave to make a
+rather long statement, partly, he admitted, about himself, but chiefly
+about the customs of the corps. He said that without such a statement
+the business could not be clearly and thoroughly understood by the
+officers, especially by those officers who did not belong to the
+Legion. Again leave was granted to him to tell his story in his own
+way, and the commandant was graciously pleased to allow Le Grand and
+me to stand at ease; he even said to Nicholas: "You need not stand
+altogether to attention, make gestures if you wish, speak freely, just
+as if you were telling a story to your friends." Nicholas bowed with a
+courtier's grace; he wore no kepi, being a prisoner at the tribunal;
+the chasseurs looked at one another in astonishment, wondering at the
+aristocratic air that could not be concealed even under a private
+soldier's tunic or by a bruised and battered face. Ah! little they
+knew of the wrecked lives, the lost souls, that came to us from every
+country in Europe, that made the Foreign Legion, if I may say so, a
+real cemetery of the living.
+
+Nicholas explained that, when a man had money, he was bound by all
+the rules of the corps to spend it with the men of his squad; that,
+when the money was more than usually plentiful, he was supposed to
+entertain his section; that, in the rare cases when thousands of
+francs--how the chasseurs opened their eyes at this!--were in a man's
+possession, all the rules of regimental etiquette obliged him to spend
+the money royally and loyally with his comrades of the company. Beyond
+the company one could not go. Were one as rich as a Rothschild one
+could not do more than give a few francs to a man of another company
+if he were a fellow-countryman--all, or nearly all, had to be spent
+with one's comrades of the company. Our officers recognised the truth
+of this, they understood our unwritten laws, and again Nicholas added
+to his reputation for veracity. But he said nothing at all about
+giving a percentage to the sergeant-major, nor about the taxes levied
+by the sergeant of the section and the corporal of the squad. The
+sergeant-major, who was present, looked relieved when this part of the
+Russian's statement came to an end--for were not two hundred francs
+of the Russian's money in his pocket at the time? Nicholas knew what
+to tell and what to keep back; there would be no use in alluding to
+the money which he was practically compelled to give to his superior
+officers; it would only cause anger at the time and produce trouble and
+a heavier punishment for us afterwards.
+
+Nicholas went on to state that he had received a large amount of money
+from a friend in Europe, and that he had at once resolved to pay for
+a good spree for his comrades. For a joke he called the affair a
+wedding _déjeuner_ in honour of the Greek and the Cooloolie girl. He
+thought--at least he said he thought--that the other company would not
+mind; they knew the rules of the Legion as well as he; a little fun
+about the new connection ought to hurt nobody except the Portuguese.
+But, poor, misguided fellow that he was, he had never calculated the
+damage that might be done by a woman's tongue; he, simple, ignorant
+baby, thought that we should have a couple of hours of jollity and
+drinking and that then all would go quietly back to quarters. He had
+always held the men of No. 4 in great respect; he would, indeed, be the
+last in the world to insult them, or in the slightest degree to make
+little of the company. He admitted with sorrow--the hypocrite--that
+his action had been injudicious--it would have been all right only for
+the woman; he had paid for drink and tobacco, but not for insults to
+any man or men of No. 4; it was the woman who insulted people; he did
+not want to fight with anybody, least of all with the men of No. 4,
+but, when his company became engaged in an affray, he would have been
+indeed a bad comrade, nay, a coward, had he remained out of the fight.
+We wished for only the drink and the tobacco; we soldiers had no desire
+but to enjoy ourselves in peace and quietness in the evening after the
+hard work of a hot and dusty day; we had no malice, not even now did we
+harbour evil thoughts, towards our fellow-soldiers of No. 4; but what
+will you? who can stop a woman's tongue?--we could not even expostulate
+with her without insulting our good comrade Apollo; if she drove
+the others to attack us by her ugly words, were we, men not afraid
+of death, to tamely surrender? That, they all knew, was impossible.
+Without actually saying it he flung the whole blame for the fight on
+the woman's shoulders. I thought at first that this was not quite fair,
+but I soon saw that Nicholas was really doing his best to save us all.
+Everybody knew the wild way she spoke and acted before the first blow
+was struck, but Nicholas knew quite well that nobody would hold her
+accountable for her language, while everybody would admit that the
+men of No. 4 had reasonable grounds for attacking us, and, of course,
+we when attacked were quite justified in defending ourselves. This
+was what the Russian was aiming at all along: to put the blame on the
+Cooloolie girl, who in the first place could not be court-martialled
+for a soldiers' quarrel, and in the second would most undoubtedly be
+sympathised with for the loss of her lover. At the same time, a case
+of extenuating circumstances was made out for No. 4 Company, and we,
+the attacked party, who did not apparently seek to provoke an attack,
+would be adjudged guiltless of offence because we merely resisted. It
+was a splendid plan--it saved us--but we had, in addition to becoming
+reconciled with our comrades and getting some punishment, to volunteer
+for the war. That, however, will be told of in its own time and place.
+
+When the Russian had finished his statement a few questions were asked
+of him, not in the nature of a cross-examination, but for the evident
+purpose of clearing up matters that were not quite understood by the
+hearers. He answered these with readiness and to the point, preserving
+always the bearing and language of an aristocrat, with the tone and
+temper of a simple soldier in presence of his superiors. When they had
+done with him the commandant questioned first Le Grand and then me, but
+we merely corroborated our comrade's story. Not that there was at the
+time any doubt in our minds that Nicholas had desired a fight and had
+paid for the gratification of his desire, but who can give evidence
+of what has passed in another's mind, and who would betray a generous
+comrade?
+
+At last the commandant sent us away, and we returned under escort to
+the place where our company lay under guard, hungry, thirsty, without
+change of clothing, and every man aching all over, and cursing as the
+effects of the fight began to make themselves felt. The other men
+crowded around us to learn what had happened. Nicholas, in the centre
+of a ring of eager, interested listeners, told exactly, without change,
+addition or omission, in a loud voice so that all might hear, the
+tale of the inquiry. All were satisfied so far, many, indeed, gave up
+their preconceived beliefs, and thought that the Russian's account of
+the affray and what led up to it was "the truth, the whole truth, and
+nothing but the truth." We, Le Grand and I, confirmed the account, we
+made no secret of our belief that all would yet be well, we swore it
+was the woman who led our good friends of No. 4 to assault us, and
+surely no one could blame us for defending ourselves.
+
+After some time Nicholas called Le Grand and me apart, and we held a
+consultation for nearly a quarter of an hour. The others marked us,
+they noted the earnest words and persuasive gestures of the Russian,
+they watched the eager, attentive looks of Le Grand and me. When we had
+settled the matter to our own satisfaction apparently Nicholas led the
+way to the centre of the little camp--prison I should call it, for the
+sentries looked inwards and not outwards. In a moment, as it seemed,
+every man that was able to drag himself forward was in a group around
+our little party. Nicholas waited until a hush fell upon the meeting,
+and then addressed them somewhat in the words that follow. I have no
+doubt about the essence of what he said, but I cannot hope to reproduce
+the eloquent language, the expressive features, the seductive tones,
+above all, the general air of the born orator that Nicholas assumed.
+From time to time he appealed to Le Grand or to me for confirmation of
+his words. There was, indeed, no necessity, the men were at his will
+before he had spoken for two minutes.
+
+In brief, this was what he said:
+
+"My comrades, we have had an ugly quarrel with our fellow-soldiers of
+No. 4, and we cannot, I think, blame them for attacking us, nor can
+they with justice blame us for defending ourselves. But there is no
+doubt about the real origin of the affair. The woman used to belong
+to one of theirs; she chose, as she had a right to do--that everyone
+admits--to give up her lover in their company and to give herself to a
+man of ours. Well, we must acknowledge that she and the Greek were not
+discreet, and I will confess that, for my own part, I did not act with
+discretion either, but what could I do when I had money in my pocket
+but spend it with my companions of the encampment and the battlefield?
+If there had been no jealousy about a woman, we should have had a
+peaceful, enjoyable evening; if there had been no money in the company,
+the jealousy would have been settled by a fair fight between the rivals
+in the usual way that we all understand and appreciate, without four
+or five hundred men being drawn into the quarrel. We are under guard
+and are sure of punishment; in all respects they are faring, and will
+fare, no better than we. Let us try, now that the Greek is dead and the
+Portuguese, as I hear, is dying, to become reconciled to our comrades
+of No. 4. Trust me, if we can settle the matter amongst ourselves,
+so that all may understand that we shall not renew the quarrel, the
+officers will be only too glad to have an excuse for passing over the
+affair as lightly as possible. What I recommend then is this: let a
+deputation of four be appointed from amongst us; let us ask permission
+to visit the prison camp of No. 4; let us ask them to appoint four of
+their number to confer with us; believe me, we shall soon, for the
+sake of the men of both companies, come to a satisfactory arrangement,
+and we all shall be friends again, and, indeed, be better friends than
+ever before, because we have learned to respect one another."
+
+The Russian's proposal was agreed to on the spot. Someone said that
+Nicholas ought to be chief of our embassy, but this he would not agree
+to. He would be a member, if they wished, but only with the same rights
+and the same responsibilities as the others. Le Grand, a Hungarian, and
+I were chosen as his partners in the delicate business, and some way or
+other we all seemed to be satisfied that our troubles would soon come
+to an end.
+
+The first thing to be done was to get permission to go across, under
+escort be it well understood, to the prisoners of No. 4. This was
+obtained by the aid of our sergeant-major. He must have spoken very
+strongly to the commandant, for the latter came down to us in a great
+hurry, asked Nicholas point-blank whether we were serious in the
+attempt to settle the affair amicably, and if he thought we had any
+chance of succeeding. Things were bad enough, heaven knows, as they
+were, but it was rather risky to keep nearly 400 fighting men without
+their weapons and ammunition in the very centre of the scene of the
+recent operations. Had the Kabyles attacked the camp on the night after
+the quarrel, they would have slaughtered us, the unarmed ones, like
+sheep, and in all probability would have easily carried with a rush the
+little fortification that had been set up around the huts. Therefore
+the commandant was only too glad to get a chance to put us under arms
+again, if he could only believe that we would not use them against one
+another. The quarrel was an ugly thing, but that could be explained,
+and we should in any case receive punishment, but a disaster to his
+command would spell ruin for his chances of promotion. He was pleased,
+therefore, when Nicholas laid his hand upon his heart and promised upon
+his honour--yes, he said upon his honour--that we would do our best to
+settle matters, that we would in no way again raise the anger of the
+men of No. 4, and, finally, that he was himself prepared to apologise
+for his part in the affair. This expression, I am sure, the commandant
+took to refer to the buying up of all the drink and the tobacco; we,
+who knew better, remembered the irritating speech that the Russian had
+made after the _nouveaux mariés_ had pledged each other.
+
+Well, after a little hesitation he let us go across. We were escorted
+this time by the men of our own company--soldiers of the first class,
+who had taken no part in the fight, and soldiers of the second
+class who had been either on guard or on camp picket. The escort
+was under the command of our sergeant-major, and I am sure that he
+was sent so that the commandant might get a trustworthy account of
+the negotiations. We could not object to any arrangement; we were
+very well satisfied to get the chance of making it up again with our
+fellow-soldiers, for, as I have already said, the nights are cold in
+Algeria, and we feared that news of the quarrel might have already
+spread amongst the Kabyles, and we knew that the exposed position
+in which we were placed left us completely at their mercy, should
+they make up their minds to attack. Moreover, the soldier, even in a
+peaceful country, hates to be deprived of his weapons and his belts;
+how much more then did we, in a hostile land, dislike the deprivation
+of them!
+
+When we arrived at the cordon of sentries around No. 4 Company we
+were halted, and Nicholas, standing slightly in advance of us, his
+fellow-ambassadors, told them why we came and asked them to be so
+kind as to appoint four men of theirs to confer with us, so that the
+dispute might be settled and the companies be at peace with each other
+again. He was listened to with attention, and when he had finished his
+message he said that we four should wait, with the sergeant-major's
+kind permission, for half-an-hour to give them time to deliberate and,
+if they should agree to the proposal, to select their delegates.
+
+Before the half-hour was over the men of No. 4 Company had made up
+their minds to accept the proposal, and at once appointed four of
+theirs to arrange matters with us. Two of the four were Alsatians, one
+a Lorrainer, and the fourth, and, indeed, the most important--their
+Nicholas, as I may say--a bronzed, sharp-eyed and sharp-witted Italian.
+As soon as these ambassadors were nominated, our sergeant-major took
+the eight of us away a short distance from the escort and told us that
+we might speak freely, as he and the sergeant-major of No. 4 would be
+the only listeners, and they would in every way respect our confidence.
+The second sergeant-major said the same thing: "Speak freely," he
+continued, "and, for the love of God, settle the affair for ever. It
+is not pleasant to see so many brave soldiers without arms in such a
+region; who knows when the Kabyles will attack?" The hint was not lost
+upon us, and I believe that the seven others felt, as I did, that the
+sooner we were again good friends and under arms the better.
+
+Nicholas made the first speech, and said in almost the same words what
+he had already told the commandant. He did this, I believe, purposely.
+Our sergeant-major was very attentive, and Nicholas guessed, as all
+did, that he would make a report to the officers, and it would be just
+as well that the statement made then at this meeting should be on
+all-fours with the statement made previously at the tribunal. But he
+went further. He explained that he had made up his mind to give a good
+evening to his company when money came to him from Europe, and surely
+no one would blame him for that. Then he went on to say that he was
+truly sorry for the affray and for any language or acts of his that
+might have brought it about. Had he but remotely guessed what would be
+the result, he would have burned the money sooner than let it be the
+cause of strife between companies which had been so lately fighting
+side by side against the enemy and which had never before fallen out
+with each other. For his own part, he hoped and prayed that the former
+good relations might once more exist between us, and he believed that
+they would, and that we should respect one another more than ever on
+account of the gallantry which No. 4 Company and his own had displayed
+in that unfortunate struggle. Many other things he said to the same
+effect, and when he had finished it was easy to see that all, with the
+exception of the Italian, were satisfied. Not that the Italian desired
+to prolong the disagreement, but he saw--what his fellow-delegates
+either did not see, or, for the sake of peace, pretended not to
+see--that Nicholas had deliberately resolved, when the money arrived,
+to get up a quarrel between the companies through pure devilment and
+love of excitement. The Italian wanted to show clearly to all that
+he at least understood and was determined to publish his opinion,
+and it must be admitted that he was quite within his rights in doing
+so, though it would have been more discreet on his part to keep his
+thoughts, for the moment any way, to himself. He developed his plan of
+attack in a Socratic manner.
+
+"Why," he questioned the Russian (I may mention that all through he
+ignored the rest of us), "why did you not spend the money with all?"
+
+"Because I never go outside my company," replied Nicholas.
+
+"Very good; but why did you buy up all the drink in the two cabarets?
+Why did you not leave some in one of them for us?"
+
+"Because I thought that all would be scarcely enough for my own
+comrades, and one thinks only of his own."
+
+"True," continued the Italian; "but then why did you not give us
+notice that you were taking all for yourself and your companions?"
+
+"Because I thought that such a notice would be an insult and would
+certainly provoke a quarrel, a thing which I was most anxious to avoid."
+
+A low muttering of approval followed this, but Cecco only smiled like
+one unconvinced. I was looking at Nicholas at the time; truly he had
+the air and bearing of one who would suffer martyrdom rather than tell
+a lie. He puzzled me. For a moment I almost believed him innocent, he
+seemed so calm and steadfast, his manner was so open and ingenuous.
+Here, a stranger might remark, is an upright, God-fearing man, whose
+heart knows no guile, whose mind is lofty and self-respecting, whose
+bosom swells with love and friendship for his fellow-man. Cecco's
+comrades seemed almost to believe, but the Italian was too cunning, too
+experienced in the world--above all, too full of knowledge of his own
+rascality--to be convinced.
+
+"Well, well, well," he said; "we were insulted, and you best of all
+know it. Shall we not have even an apology? There cannot," he went on,
+"be an excuse. No matter about the woman and her fickleness; no matter
+about the wine and the tobacco; what can be said of the ugly words
+spoken of us, the comrades of the Portuguese?"
+
+"Ah," replied Nicholas in a tone of contrition and with an assumption
+of sorrow that would have deceived Vidocq himself, "that is what wounds
+me. I, alas! have been indiscreet. I confess that I was overjoyed when
+I saw around me my comrades happy and free from care, and that in a
+moment of excitement I said things which were altogether wrong and
+uncalled for. Let me beg your forgiveness for my offence, and, as an
+evidence of my regret and a proof of your forgiveness, let us spend,
+both companies together, the remainder of the money sent to me by a
+kind friend in my own country."
+
+The admission that the Russian still had money, and enough too to
+provide fun and pleasure for both companies, was quite sufficient to
+settle the whole affair. Even Cecco was satisfied, as he remarked:
+"What was the use of abusing one another for a thing that could not be
+undone, when it was so much better to shake hands and clink glasses and
+be good friends as of old?"
+
+"What indeed?" assented the Lorrainer. "What indeed?" said we all.
+
+We shook hands earnestly and gladly with one another, and each
+quartette departed to its own company. All were pleased to hear the
+report. The men of No. 4, indeed, cheered Nicholas as loudly as we
+did. The commandant was satisfied; he knew well that the men were only
+too glad to become reconciled, but he took care when the rest of the
+Russian's money was spent that it was spent in the encampment and that
+half-a-squadron of chasseurs were standing by their saddled horses
+until the last man had gone quietly home to quarters. They were not
+wanted, indeed, but the cunning fox was taking no chances, as a serious
+renewal of the fight would, if not at once put down, be bad for his
+military reputation.
+
+So we became friends again. But we suffered a little, and judged
+it best to volunteer for the war in Tonquin, for the soldier going
+on active service, especially as a volunteer, generally gets his
+punishments remitted, and is received back again into the favour of his
+superiors.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+
+Of course, the affair did not altogether end with the reconciliation of
+the companies. Punishment had to be awarded to both, and as ours was
+the more guilty one we received more than the men of No. 4. As so many
+were included it was obviously impossible to punish us in any of the
+ordinary ways, but we got extra drills, extra duties, unnecessary most
+of them, and in addition each of the companies had to furnish all the
+guards and pickets for the little camp on alternate days. This relieved
+the Turcos and those of our men who had not been in the fight, but it
+was very hard for us others to do double drill and double fatigue, let
+us say on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and on Tuesdays, Thursdays,
+and Saturdays to be on sentry or on picket during the day and to sleep
+in our clothes, with only a greatcoat to cover us, during the night.
+And even then there was no chance of sleeping much, for when night
+fell one of the sections was on guard and outlying picket for two
+hours, and then the other relieved the first for the next two. Thus,
+if my section went on duty at eight o'clock in the evening after, be
+it well understood, doing our fair share of guard and camp-picket work
+from eight in the morning, we were relieved at ten for a little rest,
+went on again at midnight, and were relieved at two; took up the duty
+once more at four, and remained on until six, and then we had two
+hours to get our morning coffee and clean up our things to come off
+guard at eight. You might think that it was hardest on the officers,
+sergeants, and corporals; but no, only one officer and one-third of the
+_sous-officiers_ mounted guard on any morning, so that all of these got
+five nights in bed out of every six, whereas we, the troublesome ones,
+got only one night in every two.
+
+We bore it well enough, however, though I must admit that we used bad
+language occasionally, but, as there were so many of us included in the
+punishment, no one minded it so much as if he were the only delinquent.
+It helps a man wonderfully to bear hardship and disgrace when he sees
+many others undergoing the same misfortunes as himself, and this is the
+rule even though he does not wish evil to his comrades in distress. One
+man on a sinking raft will in all probability go mad before it takes
+its final plunge beneath the waves; a dozen men similarly situated will
+have less fear of the great deep and the great unknown, because each
+is, as it were, consoled by the knowledge that others too must pass
+through the grim portals of death at the same time and place and by
+the same means as he. Thus it was that, though we grumbled and cursed
+one minute, the next we laughed and rallied one another; and we had,
+moreover, one great consolation--we knew that the story would rapidly
+run through the Legion, and that our good comrades, 8000 in number,
+would laugh with fierce delight when they heard of the encounter and
+its causes, and would admire and envy the men who had the spirit and
+the devilment to provide such a relief from _ennui_ in the little camp
+on the border of the desert. We eagerly figured to ourselves how they
+would gloat over the story of the Cooloolie girl and her lovers--the
+handsome Greek and the passionate Portuguese; we knew how they would
+envy Nicholas and his money; we felt quite certain that the story would
+go down to succeeding legionaries with embelishments, as was natural,
+and finally become one of the best-loved traditions of the corps. It
+is still too early to call it a tradition; but, take my word for it,
+the fight between the two companies at Three Fountains is talked of
+to-day in many a barrack-room, in many a lonely village round an oasis
+in the Sahara, over many a camp and watch fire, in many a canteen and
+cabaret, where the _vieux soldats_ pull their grey moustaches and tell
+the eager-eyed recruits over the _eau-de-vie_ and the _vin ordinaire_
+the wonderful story of what happened when a Cooloolie girl changed her
+lover and a Russian prince, in exile and disgrace, received thousands
+of francs from a friend, "most likely a woman, _mes enfants_," in
+Europe and spent it as a soldier should. Ay, even the officers are
+proud of the story to-day, and, when they go to France on leave, our
+little escapade is told in the family circle and to all the friends
+and relations who are continually asking for tales of _ces affreux
+légionnaires_.
+
+I had almost forgotten another part of our punishment. While all the
+others turned out for parade without knapsacks, those of us who had
+been in the affray had to appear in heavy marching order, as English
+soldiers say--that is, with all our _buffleterie_, knapsack, and
+pouches on our persons. In fact, looking at us one would imagine that
+we were just about to start on a campaign. Another thing was that
+Nicholas, Le Grand, and I, as to all appearance the ringleaders in the
+affair, were not allowed to stir out of the camp or even to go much
+through it; a sergeant or a corporal would quickly order us back to
+our own quarters, if we were seen at any distance from them. Moreover,
+we three lost all our pay; but that made little difference, it was not
+much anyway, and our comrades gave us as much tobacco as we wanted and
+as much wine as we really cared about or they could spare.
+
+While we were thus getting a foretaste of purgatory, into the camp
+one sultry afternoon rode the colonel of the regiment. That evening
+he spent in talking to the officers and examining some sergeants and
+corporals, who were believed to have most knowledge of the quarrel and
+of those engaged in it, especially the corporals who commanded the
+squads in which the Russian, Le Grand, and I were. Le Grand, I have
+already said, did not belong to our squad, not even to our section.
+Next morning at six a company of Turcos relieved No. 4 Company, which
+had been on guard and outlying picket all the night, and at seven,
+immediately after the morning coffee, the two companies of legionaries
+were formed up in line first and inspected, and then in column of
+sections, No. 1 section of mine being the front, and No. 2 of No. 4
+Company the rear, of the half-battalion. While in this formation we
+were addressed by the colonel of the regiment. I cannot give a detailed
+account here of what he said; all I remember is that he abused,
+threatened and cursed us for nearly half-an-hour. We did not mind that,
+however, as we were case-hardened enough already; but what we did mind
+was the Parthian shaft he let fly as he turned to leave the ground:
+"Remember, remember well, that all the punishment has not been endured;
+when the commandant is satisfied I shall wish to be satisfied too." To
+say truth, then, he frightened us.
+
+When we were dismissed from parade, we indulged in many gloomy
+speculations as to the extra punishment awaiting us. We knew, or rather
+guessed, two things at once--first, that the extra fatigues and guards
+would soon be discontinued, for our officers were not likely to make
+us disgusted with our duties, because we should then become careless,
+and who could foretell what danger might arise from the inattention
+of a sentry or the unwilling response to orders on the part of an
+advance-guard? Secondly, we quite understood that very soon we should
+turn our backs on Three Fountains, where everything kept us from
+forgetting the dispute and the fight, especially the little mound at
+the eastern side of the camp, that marked the last resting-place of the
+Greek and the Portuguese and our other comrades who had fallen--an ugly
+reminder of an ugly fray. As soon, therefore, as other white troops
+could be sent to our camp we should pack and march--the question was,
+whither? Now, there are many bad stations in the south of Algeria.
+There are places where one may often not wash his face and hands for
+a week, so scarce is water there. To do the French Government justice,
+these places are usually held by native troops who do not mind thirst
+and dirt so much as Europeans, but it was well known that white men
+had on more than one occasion been sent to such stations and kept
+there until they almost despaired of ever becoming civilised again.
+Moreover, in these spots there is a great lack of other things besides
+water; there is no wine save that which comes to the officers; there
+is only the tobacco sold to one by the Government. Worst of all, a
+woman must be very much in love or very ugly before she will consent
+to follow a man thither. These are the suicide stations, if I may call
+them so--the stations where a shot rings out in the night and all rush
+to arms, fearing an attack of Touareks or Kabyles, but when dawn comes
+there is only a dead sentry making black the yellow sand at a post.
+When one man shoots himself an epidemic seems to set in; men hear every
+day in hut or tent or guard room the ill-omened report; soon they go
+about looking fearfully at one another, for no one knows but that he is
+looking into the eyes of a comrade who has made up his mind to die. The
+corporal counts his squad, "fourteen, fifteen--ah! there were sixteen
+yesterday," so he says; he thinks: How long until I have only fourteen,
+and who will be the next man to quit _la gamelle_?
+
+We thought of all these things during the day, and we noted, more with
+anxiety than relief, that for us there were no drills or fatigues. My
+company was, indeed, warned to be ready to relieve the Turcos on guard
+at eight o'clock in the evening, but we were allowed to lounge about
+our quarters and talk with one another all the day. The different
+squads kept to themselves; a grave crisis either dispels all squad
+distinctions or accentuates them, and it was the latter that took
+place on this occasion. We ate our meals in gloomy silence, but in
+the intervals between them we speculated incessantly on what the
+colonel meant by saying that when the commandant had punished us he
+would take care to punish us too. Though we thought of everything that
+might occur, yet we were not satisfied; the indefiniteness of the
+threat was its chief terror. If one knows with certainty the worst,
+why, one can prepare to meet it, but when some fate, terrible but not
+tangible, certain but not understood, hangs over a man or a number of
+men courage is apt to ooze out at the finger ends. Talk of the sword of
+Damocles, that was nothing;--it simply meant death at some uncertain
+time--why, we all have such swords over our heads, and yet we eat and
+drink and sleep, we pray and curse, we laugh and weep, we hurt or help
+our neighbour, we gain or spend, as if life were the one thing safe and
+sure, safe and sure for ever. No one thinks much of his future beyond
+the grave; it is the future on this side of the Styx that we most
+earnestly dwell on. Why, even the man condemned to death thinks far
+less of what may happen to his soul, if he believes that he has a soul,
+when it leaves the body, than of the years of gladness and fellowship
+with men that the law is about to take from him. The uncertainty and
+the suspense united made us discontented and gloomy; we spoke to one
+another, it is true, but not in the old and pleasant way. There was not
+much cursing or swearing--we had gone beyond such solace or relief--but
+there was plenty of morose ill-humour, and as for _bonne camaraderie_,
+there was less of it in a company than there had been the day before in
+a single squad.
+
+After the evening soup Nicholas nodded to me to come over to him. I was
+not sorry to go across the little space between us; he was the first
+who had even been commonly polite to me that day. When we were together
+he spoke in a low tone and in English--I may remark here that Nicholas
+was very well educated and spoke at least half-a-dozen languages with
+purity and ease--asking me what I intended to do.
+
+"Nothing," I replied. "I see nothing that I can do."
+
+"Nothing?" he queried.
+
+"Nothing. And you?"
+
+"Oh! I," said he, "do not intend to stay in Algeria any longer; my
+physician orders me to a warmer climate somewhere in the East."
+
+"Yes," he went on; "I fancy that Tonquin will suit my present ailment;
+anyway, better see life along with the others who are now campaigning
+there than stagnate in a desert hole."
+
+"You do not mean----" I began, but he interrupted me.
+
+"Yes, I do mean it; and I know that they will be only too glad to get
+such volunteers as we are."
+
+"They" (by "they" he meant the military authorities) "know very well
+that we shall be trying to escape from the fire to the frying-pan,
+and that we shall have only two things to depend upon to get us out
+of the latter--valour and good conduct. So we shall be the very best
+of soldiers, because, while others have merely to keep their good
+reputation, we shall have to earn ours over again. Trust me, they will
+be glad to accept us as volunteers for the war, and, listen, I know
+these French, when we volunteer they will almost altogether forgive
+us. They are very hard and strict, especially with us, and they are
+too nice about their honour, and they stand overmuch on ceremony and
+punctilio, but they are really generous, often more generous than just.
+When they find us trying to retrieve our good name they will give us
+every opportunity to do so. We shall have many vacancies in the ranks,
+it is true, and many a good comrade will not answer at the evening
+roll call, but it will be well with the survivors. In any case, I am
+tired of soldiering here. Why should I not see the world, not as I saw
+it before," he smiled sadly, as I thought, when he said this, "but as
+millions of men have seen it--a nameless unit in a crowd? After all,
+many of Cæsar's legionaries had happier lives than Cæsar." When he
+ceased speaking there was silence between us for some moments. Then he
+asked:
+
+"And you, young one, what will you do?"
+
+"I will volunteer," I answered; "there surely cannot be worse fighting
+in Tonquin than there was here at Three Fountains a short while ago."
+
+He smiled, and said: "Was it not good practice for war? Was it not
+better than all the drill in the world?"
+
+"Yes," I replied; "if someone got a thousand francs every week, we
+should be the finest fighting men on the earth. I mean those of us who
+did not go out there," and I nodded towards the mound on the eastern
+side of the camp. He shook his head. "Say nothing about that; it is all
+over now. I do not mind your saying what you think to me alone, but do
+not, I ask you, speak too freely to our comrades. They will soon forget
+everything, if they are not constantly reminded of things."
+
+After some further conversation we separated.
+
+I said nothing to the others about our resolve, as I wished that the
+Russian should be the first to explain matters to our comrades. I had
+more than one reason for doing this. In the first place, Nicholas, as
+he was known in the corps--what his real name and rank were we never
+learned--was my senior in age and experience; in the second, he was a
+man of infinitely greater influence than I or any other in the company,
+partly on account of his money and generosity, but still more because
+of his manner, bearing, and unconscious air of authority; moreover,
+he was the clearest and most convincing speaker I have ever heard.
+Again, he had brought us into trouble and had done a good deal to get
+us out of it; to him, therefore, all looked for further deliverance. I
+felt sure that, when he told the rest of his intention, all of ours,
+and probably all of No. 4 Company, would volunteer along with him.
+It would be much better for us if companies volunteered instead of
+merely men or squads or sections. The greater the number going of their
+own accord to the war, the more lenient would our officers be; and,
+furthermore, no man would be likely to be sent amongst strangers--we
+should probably all soldier together. Should Nicholas and I go out by
+ourselves, we should be transferred with bad reputations to a company
+already in Tonquin, and for that neither he nor I had any liking. If
+all volunteered, we might still remain an unchanged unit, even though
+in a new battalion, and one must never forget that when a man has been
+for some time living and working and fighting, yes, and looting, and
+perhaps doing worse, along with certain companions, he has a feeling of
+_camaraderie_, of yearning for their society, which makes it very hard
+for him to leave them, though it must be acknowledged that a soldier
+easily makes new friends and new attachments wherever he goes.
+
+Nicholas did not ponder long before he announced his intention of
+volunteering for Tonquin. I don't think it took the others much by
+surprise, perhaps because recent events had prepared them for anything,
+perhaps because the Russian's acts, no matter how strange they might
+appear in another man, were only ordinary, natural, and to be expected
+in him. Any way they merely nodded or smiled, and at first no one asked
+for an explanation. This, however, the Russian gave of his own accord.
+
+"You know, _mes camarades_," he began, "that the colonel is very
+angry with us and that he has it in his power to make things very
+uncomfortable for those who have displeased him. Now I do not care to
+stay under his command if I can get away from it, and there is but one
+course, as far as I know, by which I can avoid his anger and perhaps
+regain the reputation of being a good soldier and one not likely to
+disgrace the flag. There is, as we all are aware, a war against savages
+going on at this moment in Tonquin. I mean to volunteer to go thither;
+it will be easier to campaign against Black Flags, who will kill me
+if they can and whom I will kill if I am able, than to suffer in a
+camp of hell in the desert, where one cannot resist nor even complain.
+Better, far better, will it be to march and fight, even to starve and
+die, like a soldier in an enemy's country than to live a life worse
+than a convict's in some one of those awful cantonments where even the
+native soldiers are discontented and restless. You all have heard,
+as I have, of the woes of poor soldiers in such places. The officers
+and sub-officers are hard enough here--I mean no offence to our own
+corporal, he has always been good comrade to his squad--but there they
+are veritable demons, there they carry revolvers by day and by night,
+and, if a sergeant should lose his temper and shoot a simple soldier,
+there is no redress, there is no punishment, unless the dead man's
+comrades themselves take a just vengeance on the murderer. And then
+there will be executions and deprivation of pay, and the last state of
+the company will be worse than the first. Again, in those places, where
+not even our poor amusements and relaxations are possible, where one
+can enjoy neither wine nor the society of women, men go mad and men
+commit suicide, and men deliberately break the laws in sheer despair,
+and, worst of all, men die lingering deaths from settled melancholy,
+thinking always, as they cannot help thinking, of home and former
+friends and the pleasant, happy days of youth. But I, for my part, will
+not, if I can avoid those places, go thither to starve, to mope, to rot
+alive, and to die--hopeless, friendless--for there men are not friends
+but only associates--with a curse upon my lips and heavy anger with God
+and man in my heart. No; rather will I volunteer for Tonquin. There I
+shall be, if no better, at least no worse than thousands of others who
+are fighting bravely, and are ready, if need be, to bravely die."
+
+When Nicholas stopped speaking an Alsatian said: "I too will
+volunteer." That was all; Alsatians are not inclined to talk much,
+but they are good, hardworking, steadfast men in action. If you are
+fighting and an Alsatian is your comrade, your rear-rank man let us
+say, don't be a bit afraid to go forward, the Alsatian will be always
+there, backing you up. They are not men who are anxious to lead a
+bayonet charge, but they won't refuse to follow, and where they go they
+generally stay, for just as they don't begin an advance they won't,
+on the other hand, begin a retreat. Put a Parisian, a Gascon, or a
+Breton at the head of a company of Alsatians and you have practically
+resurrected a company of the Old Guard.
+
+There was some confused talking after this. Nicholas, the Alsatian,
+and I kept out of the conversation, smoking our pipes in quiet
+contemplation of the rest; the corporal of the squad was seated on his
+camp-cot, a cigarette between his lips, looking with a cynical smile at
+the Russian. At last it was decided--all the squad would volunteer. As
+soon as the corporal found that we were unanimous he seized his kepi
+and ran out of the hut without uttering a word save: _Bons soldats,
+bons camarades_. We learned afterwards that he rushed straight off to
+the captain and told him of our decision. This was welcome news, as
+all the officers were chafing and fuming because they had not been
+selected for the front. I may here mention that our corporal was the
+first to gladden the captain's heart and bring him some hope of gaining
+glory and promotion, and, when the captain got the chance of giving
+promotion, our corporal exchanged the two red chevrons on his sleeve
+for the single gold one of a sergeant.
+
+Well, when the others heard of this, there was much earnest
+conversation and still more earnest gesticulation in the little camp.
+All were excited; the desire to get away from the punishment stations,
+the eager wish for change, the natural impulse of soldiers to put
+into practice the teaching of the drill-ground and the manoeuvres,
+all combined to render the men anxious to follow the example of our
+squad. Before we went on duty that night my company had volunteered
+to a man, and, when we dismounted guard in the morning, we were not a
+whit surprised to find ourselves relieved by native troops, for that
+told us that we had guessed aright and that No. 4 Company, our friends
+and erstwhile foes, had thrown in their lot with us and would be our
+_compagnons d'armes et de voyage_. We were very glad of that. Together
+we were a half battalion, a weak one, it is true--the mound on the east
+and the hospital held so many of our comrades--but still strong enough
+to demand and command respect.
+
+While we were enjoying our morning soup the officers of the company
+came round. How different everything was then compared with the day
+before! The captain, a bronzed, heavy-moustached man, whose military
+career had not been very successful--he was a good soldier and a good
+officer, but he had made the great mistake of falling in love, as a
+_sous-lieutenant_, with his colonel's wife, and the colonel, now a
+general, had not forgotten--was in great good humour. He remembered
+our crime, only to laugh at it, and said that the men who could give
+so good an account of themselves against the heroes of No. 4 were
+just the soldiers he wished to lead into action. He told us to be
+very careful. If we misconducted ourselves again the company might be
+distributed amongst the four battalions of the other regiment of the
+Legion, and that would be bad for us and bad for him as well. "Let us
+only be allowed to remain together," he said. "We shall all go out to
+Tonquin, and then there will be plenty of excitement, and promotion
+must come." He was thinking, I suppose, of his own disappointments. It
+must be very hard on a man to be passed in the race by others who were
+boys at school when he was wearing a sword; why, the commandant of the
+battalion was younger than he. The other officers were also pleased;
+the lieutenant a handsome fellow of twenty-five or so, was anxious to
+get his company; the sub-lieutenant, a stern, hard-featured man of
+forty, who had risen from the ranks, was quite satisfied to go to a
+place where he might have a chance of picking up unconsidered trifles.
+Ah! _ces vieux militaires_ are the quietest and most thorough-going
+pillagers in the world. Nothing comes amiss to them--they could teach
+even Cossacks how to loot--and how they manage to keep this loot and
+get it safely home to wife or mistress--for they have always a woman
+on their private pay-sheet--I cannot for the life of me imagine. They
+do it, however, and they are not only in the Foreign Legion or in the
+French army--you will find them in every army, nay, in every regiment
+in the world.
+
+Well, the sergeants and corporals were well pleased too. They kept us
+for all that under strict discipline until the day we found ourselves
+aboard the transport at Marseilles. But I am anticipating.
+
+At about five o'clock in the evening both companies were paraded and
+inspected just as on the day before, but there was a great change in
+the colonel's manner. He was not over friendly with us, but he did not
+abuse or threaten. He called us sharply to attention, and then said:
+"Every man in the front rank who wishes to volunteer for Tonquin will
+march one pace to the front; every man in the rear rank who wishes to
+volunteer for Tonquin will march one pace to the rear. Volunteers,
+march!" At once the ranks separated. All in front stepped one pace
+forward; all in the rear took one pace backward. He walked down between
+the ranks, saw that all had volunteered, took up his former position
+in front of us, and ordered us back to our original formation. "All
+have volunteered. I am well satisfied. Dismiss the parade, monsieur le
+commandant."
+
+For some time after we were busy getting ready to leave Three
+Fountains, and no one was sorry when we presented arms to a detachment
+of zephyrs that came to take our place. As soon as they had returned
+the compliment we fell into marching array in columns of fours, wheeled
+to the left, passed by the flank of the zephyrs, saluted the Turcos
+of the main guard at the gate, and stepped out on our first march
+northward. Truly, we were glad to leave behind the cantonment of Three
+Fountains and its associations. Always fond of change, we dropped our
+sadness, the sadness which one cannot choose but feel when leaving
+behind for ever even one's temporary home. Before we had finished the
+first league spirits were as high, laughter as gay, jests as plentiful
+as on my very first march, when with the other two hundred recruits I
+went from the depot to the battalion. Normally the two companies should
+be about five hundred strong, but death and the doctor detained so many
+that I do not believe we were quite four hundred all told. However,
+at the depot, which we reached in good time, doing a fair day's
+march every day, we received additions to our numbers--self-styled
+recruits, really men who had learned more than a little of soldiering
+in other armies, and whom ill-luck or bad character or desire of French
+citizenship had driven or induced into the Foreign Legion.
+
+At the depot we received our outfit for the East. The kepi was
+exchanged for the white helmet, lighter underclothing was served out
+to us, all clothing and footwear was renewed, and I may say without
+boasting that when, fully five hundred strong, we paraded for the
+last time before entraining for Oran, in order to hear the farewell
+address of the depot commandant, we presented as smart and soldier-like
+an appearance as any commanding officer could wish to see. The depot
+commandant made a short speech, shook hands with our commanding
+officer, wished him and us _bon voyage et prompt retour_, and then,
+with the band at the head of the column, we marched out of the gate,
+saluting the guard as we passed, amidst the ringing cheers of the
+veterans and recruits left behind. When we were safely in the train
+all discipline was at an end: we shouted, cheered, laughed and sang,
+and so began our journey to the land where more than half my comrades
+lie--as quiet as the Greek and the Portuguese under the little mound on
+the eastern side of the mud huts of _Trois Fontaines_.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+
+On a beautiful summer morning we marched down to the quay to join the
+transport that was to carry us and five or six hundred others to our
+destination in the East. All was bustle, excitement, and confusion
+for some time, but matters quickly arranged themselves, and, when the
+last of the stores had been safely stowed away, we marched in single
+file up the gangway and stood to attention by squads on the deck. Each
+squad was led off by its corporal to the place assigned to it, and in
+a short time our quarters looked for all the world like a barrack on
+shore, save that one saw no bed-cots there. Our rifles and equipments
+were put in their proper places, the roll was called below for the last
+time, we were reported "all present and all correct," and then we were
+allowed to troop up on deck, to get our last glimpse of the land that
+many of us would never see again. As the ship cast off, we raised a
+cheer which was responded to by the people on the quay, a band ashore
+struck up the Marseillaise, the Frenchmen first, and then we others
+of the Legion took up the refrain, and thus amid cheering, singing,
+and waving of helmets and handkerchiefs we started on our voyage to
+Tonquin. There were not many friends of those aboard weeping on the
+quay; we legionaries had none, and the Frenchmen were zephyrs--that is,
+men of bad character who had been assigned to convict battalions, and
+their friends, no doubt, were not over sad about their departure. There
+were some ladies and children who were affected, but they belonged
+to the officers--the sub-officers and the men had no friends, no
+relations, no home, one might say, save the barrack, the cantonment
+hut, the tent, or, as at the time, the troopship. Well, so much the
+better: having nothing to lose but life, and that as a rule a wretched
+one, we should be the more reckless when recklessness was needed, and
+the French generals took care that we, the zephyrs and the legionaries,
+were put in the fighting line as much as possible and that the good
+men, the respectable soldiers, should only come into the fray when the
+burden of the fight was over and when we others were so spent with
+toil that reliefs were absolutely necessary. Let no one misunderstand
+me. I do not wish to convey that the French soldier or officer shirks
+danger; on the contrary, I believe Frenchmen to be amongst the most
+daring soldiers in the world and the most cheerful under hardships, but
+the generals did not see any good in putting worthy citizens, future
+fathers of respectable families, into the most dangerous positions
+when they had ready to their hands men who bore so bad a reputation
+as the zephyrs and the legionaries gathered from every country under
+the sun. They were quite right in this, but all the same we might
+sometimes, just once in a while, have been allowed to dawdle along with
+the reserve instead of being continually on the jump where the bullets
+were. Of course, though we grumbled, we were proud too that the most
+difficult and most dangerous work fell to our share.
+
+For the first couple of days out I was very sea-sick, but the horrible
+_mal-de-mer_ in the end passed off, and I was able to take an interest
+in things around me as before. I don't mean to say much of the life
+aboard. Such a tale would be only a recital of troubles and grievances,
+but troops on a transport cannot expect a very pleasant time. One thing
+we were glad of--there were no women and children aboard. The veterans
+told us why we should rejoice at this, and any man who has travelled on
+a troopship with women and their babies will easily guess the reason.
+The worst part of the voyage was while we were going through the Red
+Sea. There one loathed his morning coffee and growled at his evening
+soup. The dull, deadly, oppressive heat in that region almost killed
+us. We lay around, unable almost to curse, and the soldier who finds
+himself too weak to do that, must be in a very bad way indeed. Only
+once in the Red Sea did we show signs of life. It was when a French
+troopship passed us on her way home with sick and wounded from the
+war. The convalescents crowded on her deck and raised a feeble shout.
+We cheered heartily in reply, and we kept up the cheering until it was
+impossible for them any longer to hear. We pitied them, poor devils.
+How they must have in turn pitied us, going as we were to the wretched
+land where they had left behind health and many good comrades, and
+where we too should pay our quota of dead and receive our quota of
+wounds and illness. Anyway the sight of them roused us for a time, but
+we quickly fell back into the languor induced by the excessive heat.
+
+Here let me make a remark which may be of interest to many. We
+legionaries had men, as I have already said more than once, from
+every country in Europe, and from some outside of it, and one might
+imagine that men of different nations would be differently affected
+by the heat, aggravated, as it was, by cramped quarters and wretched
+food. Well, I cannot single out any country whose natives endured the
+discomfort better or worse than the others, but there were undoubtedly
+two classes of men aboard, one of which was far more lively, far less
+given to grumbling, and altogether possessed of more buoyancy and
+resilience of temperament than the other. These were the men of fair
+complexion. All the fair-haired, blue-eyed soldiers seemed to be able
+to withstand bad conditions of living more easily and better than their
+dark-complexioned comrades. I offer no explanation of the fact, but I
+noted during the voyage for the first time, and afterwards I had many
+opportunities of confirming my original impression, that fair men are
+superior to dark ones in endurance and in everything connected with
+war except the actual fighting; with regard to that, complexion does
+not count. I have noticed in fever hospitals that the black moustaches
+far outnumbered the reddish ones; in a field hospital there was never
+such a disparity. I cannot say that other observers agree with me. I
+merely put on record a thing that I noticed and that produced a deep
+impression on me, but I never mentioned it to my comrades, nor shall I
+now write down the various speculations with regard to men and nations
+that I was led by it to indulge in. All I say is: I thank my stars that
+my moustache is rather red--that seems to me a token of endurance, if
+not of strength.
+
+In due time we arrived off Singapore, and put in there. I must now
+mention a few incidents of our stay in that harbour; they were, indeed,
+the chief events of the voyage.
+
+The reason why we put into Singapore was that coal had run short, and
+the captain of the troopship did not like to go on to Saigon with
+the small supply left. Those of us who did not know that Singapore
+belonged to Great Britain soon learned the fact, and more than one
+eagerly desired to get clear of the ship to land, and thus regain his
+freedom. Now, I am no apologist for desertion. I think it a mean and
+cowardly crime, but, if there be any excuse for it, surely many of
+ours must be held excused. Remember that we were foreigners in the
+French service, that many of ours had had good reason to flee from
+justice in their own countries, that we all had a bad reputation with
+our officers and our French comrades, and, above all, that recent
+events--the fight at Three Fountains and the morbidly suggestive mound
+at the east side of the camp there; the ugly fear of a horrible desert
+station and the intolerable heat of the Red Sea--had made many men
+think anxiously, constantly, longingly of getting away, at a stroke as
+it were, from ugly memories and gloomy forebodings begotten of them.
+Men don't desert from their colours without grave reason. Even the
+most flighty man will think twice and thrice before taking the risk of
+the court-martial that awaits detection or recapture. Moreover, in our
+case sentries with loaded rifles were on duty at all points; one would
+imagine that not even a rat could leave the ship unnoticed.
+
+Well, the vessel was brought near the wharf and two gangways were run
+out, one for the coolies carrying in the full baskets, the other for
+the coolies going out with the empty ones. These coolies carried their
+baskets on their heads, as you often see women carrying loads in other
+countries. As each one passed the bunker he tipped the contents of his
+basket in, and then went under a little archway, and crossed out by the
+second gangway for a new load. Now there was one man of my company--a
+Bulgarian--who was under confinement for some slight offence against
+discipline, and, as the heat was almost unbearable, he had been brought
+up by the guard--acting with the commandant's permission, be it well
+understood--and allowed to sit under this archway during the heat of
+the day. I was the nearest sentry to him, being placed at the outgoing
+gangway, and one of my orders was to watch this man. Like many other
+orders I remembered this one only in order to be able to repeat it to
+the officer of the day, and never imagined that there was any necessity
+of caring more about it. I was mistaken.
+
+As the coolies passed under the archway, a good deal of coal dust
+accumulated there. This dropped from the baskets, which they often
+carried mouth downward in their hands, when empty. The prisoner had a
+vessel of water, and this he carefully mixed with coal dust until he
+had enough to stain all his body black. I must mention that part of
+his little apartment was screened off from view by a half-partition,
+and while in this recess he could be seen only by the coolies as they
+passed through. Here he undressed and carefully blackened his person,
+and then, watching a favourable opportunity when my attention was
+completely taken up by a dispute on the quay, he throttled a coolie
+passing through, forcibly seized his basket, gave him--as payment, I
+suppose--a knock-down blow on the point of the jaw, and started for the
+gangway. This he gained unperceived by me. Half-a-dozen steps carried
+him ashore, and once on British soil he was safe from all arrest. He
+flung the basket on the ground, and at once ran at his utmost speed
+towards the town. A cry from those on shore called my notice to the
+running man, and I knew at once, by his size and carriage, that the
+Bulgarian had escaped. The moaning of the coolie, who was rapidly
+coming to after the sudden and savage assault on him, was another
+intimation that I had of the escape. I was put under arrest at once,
+and kept in close confinement until we reached Saigon, but the officer
+in command did not punish me further. The ingenuity displayed by
+the deserter was so evident, that no one blamed me very much for
+being taken off my guard and allowing a wrong man to go ashore, and,
+moreover, as we neared Tonquin, all thought more and more of the
+fighting and less and less of punishing a man who was not flagrantly in
+the wrong. Of course, there was no chance of recapturing the Bulgarian;
+he had reached foreign soil, and there is no act of extradition
+affecting men guilty of merely military offences. It was well for him,
+however, that my eyes were turned towards the dispute on the quay; all
+the blackening would scarcely have deceived me, and I should have shot
+him dead on the gangway before he could have time to reach the land.
+For all that I was glad that he got safely away, for, though a man will
+do his duty no matter how disagreeable it may be, yet he is not at
+all sorry when he misses the chance of doing such duty as mine would
+have been, had I noticed the runaway in time. Further on I shall have
+occasion to mention the case of another deserter, a man who deserted
+from a certain European army to French soil, and it was strange--oh,
+very strange--that neither the French nor the other sentries could
+hit him at less than a hundred yards' range, while he was making a
+desperate rush across the strip of undefined territory that marked the
+frontier.
+
+Some other incidents occurred at Singapore, but, as I was under arrest,
+I can only speak of them as I heard about them from my comrades. After
+the Bulgarian's escape a far stricter watch was kept--double sentries
+were posted--but to a determined man nothing is impossible. More than
+one was found absent at morning roll call, and at last it became
+evident that, in some cases at least, connivance on the part of a pair
+of sentries had permitted the escape. If a man once got down into the
+water, he was practically free. Certainly a shark--and sharks do abound
+in these waters, and especially in the harbours, where they pick up all
+sorts of garbage--might cross his path, but there was not much danger,
+as the distance to the land was so small. No one of ours, as far as
+we could know, was caught in such a way. One, however, was caught by
+something almost as bad, but I must give a new paragraph to describing
+the hero of the tale before I begin the story about him.
+
+The man I refer to I have already mentioned in connection with the
+negotiations between the companies after the fight at Three Fountains.
+He was the Italian that held the same leading place in the deputation
+from No. 4 Company as Nicholas the Russian did in ours. Without
+education--I don't believe that he could write his name--he possessed
+a fund of shrewdness and a faculty of quick observation that made him
+more than the equal of scholars--and many men of good education were
+in our ranks. Not at all desirous of a quarrel, he was pre-eminently
+one to avoid fighting with, for in a row he forgot all about his own
+safety and seemed not to care what hurt he received so long as he
+hurt his enemy, and any weapon that lay at hand would be used by him
+without hesitation at the time or remorse or shame afterwards. A smart,
+clean, active soldier; yet he was always getting into trouble and
+disgrace, now with his corporal, at another time with the sergeant of
+the section, but never with the officers. Fellows said that he belonged
+either to the Mafia or the Camorra, but opinions were divided as to
+whether he came to the Legion to avoid arrest by the Italian Government
+for crimes committed in the course of business or punishment from his
+association for treachery or some other offence against their laws.
+Anyway he was with us, and though not liked, still respected; though
+we did not fear him, yet we took good care to let him alone. He was
+not a man--to his credit be it said--who interfered with others. Why,
+then, should others interfere with him? About five feet five in height,
+of carriage alert rather than steady, with quick, black eyes, dark
+complexion, small, black moustache, regular features and even, white
+teeth, he was certainly one to attract anyone's attention, especially
+a woman's. He was very cynical with regard to the sex, not valuing
+woman's fondness much, but, all the same, so long as he was a girl's
+lover he allowed no poaching on his preserves. He sang well--French
+songs as well as Italian--and played on more than one musical
+instrument, his favourite one being a small flageolet, and with this
+he lightened more than one weary hour for us on shipboard. He never
+told anyone, I believe, of his intention to desert. I fancy he was too
+cautious for that. When he did go, no sentry connived at the business,
+for, even had our men been doing duty, not one of us cared so much for
+the Italian as to risk a court-martial for his sake.
+
+I must here remark that the legionaries had been relieved of sentry
+duty, as so many of them had gone away without even bidding good-bye
+to anyone. The French soldiers, the zephyrs, were now doing all this
+duty; and they did it so well, I must admit, that no man got clear
+away while they were on the watch--at least until the Italian left
+the ship--but his absence was not a long one. All our coal had been
+taken in, and the vessel had moved away from the wharf out into the
+harbour, so that it lay about 200 yards from shore. The sentries must
+have thought that no man would be so mad as to attempt to swim such a
+distance, since the water was full of sharks, and in all probability
+their vigilance had decreased. The morning after the ship had moved out
+the Italian did not answer at roll call, and it was at once assumed,
+and truly, that he had escaped, and, as no cry from the water had
+been heard by the men on duty, that he had got safely to land. Before
+the hour of departure the French consul came off in his own boat, to
+see the officers of the ship and of the troops. This, of course, was
+natural, but everyone was surprised to see him, as soon as he gained
+the deck, rush forward with malicious joy in his eyes to greet the
+commandant.
+
+"Ah, mon commandant, I have a present for you."
+
+"Thanks, thanks, my friend; how you are good!"
+
+"A most charming present. I bring you a friend whom you most earnestly
+desire to see."
+
+Leaning over the side he shouted out some orders to his sailors, and
+they, going under an awning at the stern, carried out the Italian
+bound hand and foot. How the commandant cursed him; how the Frenchmen
+smiled and jeered; how we, his comrades, felt sad that our worthy
+comrade should have been caught almost on the threshold of liberty!
+_Camaraderie_ overcame all other feelings, and we pitied the poor
+wretch, for we guessed that a court-martial would have little mercy
+on a soldier, especially a soldier of the Legion, captured in the act
+of deserting from his company while on the way to the seat of war. As
+for the Italian, he was calm and collected, but, if he were free and
+had a knife and were within striking distance of the commandant, that
+officer would surely have had an end put to his cursing on the spot. In
+a moment the Italian was brought aboard and at once sent down to the
+prisoners' quarters, where he found several comrades, myself among the
+number, eagerly speculating on the noise and confusion above.
+
+As soon as the guard had gone away someone asked the Italian what the
+noise on deck was about. He answered sharply:
+
+"About a better man than you--about me."
+
+None of us cared to put any further questions; Cecco was in very bad
+humour indeed. However, in about ten minutes he told us all, saying he
+had slipped over the side of the vessel when four sentries had come
+close enough to chat--this, you must remember, meant only the approach
+to one another of two posts, as all sentries had been doubled--that he
+had been in the water for about three minutes when he came close to
+a boat, which he boarded; that, like a fool, he made himself and his
+intention known before he found out the character of his hosts; that he
+was at once seized, and was told, when bound, that the boat belonged
+to the French consul and therefore he was still on French territory.
+"The rest you know," said he, "or can guess." We were sorry, and told
+him so. He thanked us graciously enough, and hoped we might have
+better luck in our enterprises than he had had in his, and, in reply
+to a question as to what he thought would happen, he said at first
+that he did not know and he did not care, but he would dearly like to
+have the commandant at his mercy just long enough to kill him. "Listen
+carefully," he went on. "I shall be shot in all probability, but they
+will give me a chance of saying a prayer and making my confession
+before I die. The commandant will also be shot, but he will get no
+notice, and, unless he be very lucky indeed, no priest will be present
+to send him absolved from sin into the presence of God." For the rest
+of the voyage the Italian and we got on well together. He got the best
+of the dinner, not that he thanked us or that we wanted thanks; he knew
+why we did it, and we should have been very bad soldiers indeed if we
+did not do a little to keep up the spirits of a man doomed, as we knew
+him to be, to a sudden and early death.
+
+Let me anticipate once more. After our arrival at Saigon, Cecco was
+court-martialled, openly insulted the officers composing the court, was
+sentenced to death, and shot the following morning. And the commandant
+was shot in the back in a little skirmish in Tonquin--a brilliant
+little affair that would have brought him promotion had he lived. It
+may have been an accident, but there was at least a dozen Italians in
+the company immediately behind him, and in the heat of action bullets
+do occasionally go astray. How do I know that he was shot in the back?
+Well, I don't _know_, but I suspect for two reasons: first, there was a
+sort of investigation, which naturally led to nothing; and, secondly,
+the Italian's words came back to my mind directly I heard of the
+commandant's death. After all, is it not bad enough for an officer to
+punish a man or to get him punishment? Why should he swear at the poor
+devil and abuse him as if he had no spirit, no sense of shame, no soul?
+Any man will take his punishment fairly and honestly, if he believes
+that he has deserved it; no man will stand abuse without paying in full
+for it when he gets his chance, for abuse is not fair to the man who
+is waiting for his court-martial. But all, or nearly all, officers are
+either fools or brutes.
+
+Another thing that happened at Singapore Le Grand told me afterwards.
+In the early days of desertion a fellow--I think he was a Belgian--came
+to Le Grand and proposed that they should go away together.
+
+"I am," said the Belgian, "a baker by trade; you speak English well and
+can teach me. Let us go together. You will interpret for me and I will
+work for both. We shall get enough of money in six months to carry us
+to the United States, and there we shall separate as soon as I know
+enough of the language to make myself understood."
+
+"No," replied Le Grand; "I volunteered for the war, and I mean to see
+what fighting means in Tonquin. Moreover, if I went away now, no one I
+care about would ever have any respect for me again. It is bad enough
+with me as it is; I will do nothing to make it worse. The most people
+can allege against me now is folly; no one shall ever be able to charge
+me with cowardice as well."
+
+Many times the baker renewed his entreaties to Le Grand to go away. Le
+Grand would not: he knew that hardships--perhaps sickness or wounds or
+death--lay before him, but better anything than self-reproach and loss
+of self-respect. Le Grand was right in his own way, because he was, and
+is (for he is still alive and in a good position), a gentleman; the
+Belgian baker was wise too in his generation and according to his own
+lights. He slipped off before the Frenchmen were ordered to supply all
+the guards. No one knows whether he fell a prey to the sharks or not,
+and, I may add, no one--not even Le Grand--cares.
+
+The only other important thing that was told to me was that our fellows
+and the zephyrs became rather dangerous to one another. From the
+beginning we were not too amiable, but when the commandant put us--at
+least the other legionaries, for I was at the time in the prisoners'
+quarters on account of the Bulgarian's escape--to do most of the
+duties about the ship and put Frenchmen only on sentry, so that no
+more men of the Legion might desert, things rapidly came to a head.
+The commandant was lucky in two respects--the voyage to Saigon was
+short, and a French war vessel accompanied the transport. Had there
+been a twenty days' voyage without an escort the decks would have been
+washed red with blood, for, be it remembered, though the average
+French soldier can conduct himself with propriety in almost any place,
+the zephyr is a military convict pure and simple. No matter how bad we
+were, the zephyrs were worse. Well, let me put it in another way: the
+zephyrs aboard were the bad characters of the French army; we others,
+the legionaries, were the bad characters of all the other armies of
+Europe. They, the zephyrs, had no chance of regaining their characters
+in their own country, where their misdeeds were known; our fellows
+had started, each with a clean sheet, on joining an alien army. Thus
+our reputation as a body was bad, but no man had any very ugly charge
+against his name; the zephyrs were bad by man, by squad, by company,
+and by battalion. However, they are really amongst the finest fighting
+men in the world; some people, indeed, say that the zephyrs are second
+only to the legionaries.
+
+There was no fight. The big war-vessel lay not so far away, and
+all knew what its shells could do. Strange that we met these very
+zephyrs afterwards, and our companies and theirs, certainly aided by
+others, did a hard afternoon's bayonet-work together. We were friends
+after that, so much so that I believe that one battalion, and that a
+battalion of zephyrs, is the only one of the French army to speak with
+liking--all, of course, speak with respect, unless at a distance--of
+the Foreign Legion. But everything to its own place.
+
+At last we reached Pingeh--a fine harbour. I was set free, as well as
+all other prisoners save the Italian, and we disembarked, happy again
+at the change, to take our share in the war against the Black Flags,
+thinking more of the relief from the cramped quarters than of any
+dangers that lay before us.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+
+When we arrived at Pingeh, the port of Saigon, the zephyrs disembarked
+first, and we followed. Straightway most of us were marched off to
+a camping-field where tents and other impedimenta were awaiting us,
+and in a short time we had formed a fairly creditable camp. Those of
+ours who were kept behind on the quay were employed in sorting out our
+baggage as the coolies carried the troopship's load ashore. Considering
+that all except the officers carried their belongings on their backs,
+this was not hard work, and most of them were satisfied, but the dozen
+or so left on guard over the ammunition cases brought out by the
+transport were not at all lucky, as they got no meal, not even a cup of
+coffee, for fully twelve hours. That's always the way. Your ordinary
+officer can't understand why everybody is not satisfied when he is. If
+the captain has a good lunch and a better dinner, the simple soldier
+may tighten his belt and put a bit of tobacco between his teeth--that
+is good enough for him. Well, there are officers who care for their
+men, but they are so few that, if you know a hundred captains, you
+may easily reckon the good ones on the fingers of a hand. Some are
+inclined to be good, but though physically brave they are morally
+cowards; they cannot stand the sneering of those who look upon the men
+as mere instruments for gaining decorations and promotion, and it is
+so very easy to acquire the habit of doing as most of your equals do.
+It is wrong--oh! I who have felt it know how wrong it is!--for a man
+who has rank and a better lot than others to forget the responsibility
+attached to his position, to let the men under him understand hour
+by hour and day by day and week by week how little he cares for their
+comfort, to swear at the sick, to sneer at the wounded, to order the
+dead to be thrown any way into a trench, and to abuse the burial party
+because they did not cover the carcasses quickly enough. War is war, as
+an Alsatian in my company used to say; but why should a man, or rather
+men, come into camp for the night after a long march, and perhaps a
+sharp fight, to be sworn at and abused by the officers who, for their
+own sakes even, should try to make things cheerful for all? But again I
+am digressing.
+
+We spent about a week at Saigon, under canvas all the time. Of course,
+we got our share of inspection; first the chief officer--I forget
+now who he was, not that he was at all worth remembering--then the
+medical officer, then a quartermaster--the best of all, for he supplied
+deficiencies in clothing. I must say this: when a French soldier goes
+on campaign he is well fitted out--they took from us every article that
+showed any signs of wear, and a new one was at once issued. At first
+we thought that we should have to pay out of our scanty means for the
+new supplies. We were only too glad to find that, instead of taking our
+money under false pretences, as they do in other armies, our pay was
+increased, and we were told, and truly told, that the increase would
+last while we were on active service. Take my word for it, no matter
+how bad the officers may be, the French Government is the best in the
+world to its troops on active service. If men suffer, it is not the
+fault of those in Paris; put the blame rather on the underlings--I mean
+the commandants and the captains. But, remember, what I have just said
+I have said only of the Republic--of the monarchy and the empire I know
+nothing.
+
+Another reason for this delay was that the French, if they can by any
+chance do it, keep men quiet on land for some days after a voyage. This
+is very sensible. No man gets what I may call his land legs until some
+time after he has come ashore from a transport, where space is small
+and men are many, where food is wretched, and water mawkishly warm and
+suspiciously sweet. The rest did us good; the new clothing and the
+extra pay put us in good humour. When at last we put on our knapsacks
+for the march into the interior, we were altogether different from the
+500 semi-mutinous scarecrows who had landed from the troopship only six
+or seven days before.
+
+Every man had 150 rounds of ball cartridge in his pouch; all rifles
+were loaded; we were evidently to be kept on the _qui vive_ from the
+earliest possible moment; talking in the ranks was often stopped
+without any visible cause; the sentries were visited half-a-dozen times
+a night; discipline was in all respects as strict as it could be; and
+we were made to understand, as if we had learned nothing in Algeria,
+that we were in front of a cautious, skilful, and sometimes daring,
+enemy, and that every man was responsible for his own and his comrades'
+lives.
+
+Now I have no intention of writing a history of the war in Tonquin.
+I shall merely give details of the most important events of my life
+there, and of these the first in order was the battle of Noui-Bop.
+
+We had not been long in the East, and were by no means acclimatised,
+when the battalion to which our two companies had been sent was ordered
+to join a mixed force of French soldiers and natives under the command
+of a distinguished French general, whose name is of no importance to my
+narrative. This general was operating against a large force of Black
+Flags, and, as a result of his operations, there was every prospect
+of a hot engagement, and this was exactly to our taste. Ever since we
+had joined the battalion we had been looked upon with suspicion by the
+officers, for the news of the fight between the companies at Three
+Fountains had travelled to Tonquin, and many believed that it was a
+foolish thing to allow both companies to soldier together, as there
+might be at any moment a renewal of the fray. Even our comrades of the
+two other companies in the battalion at first thought that we might
+again fall out, but very soon they saw what the officers could not, or
+would not, see--that No. 4 and ours were as friendly as possible to
+each other and that there was not the slightest chance of ill-feeling
+showing itself between us. Thus we were anxious to be in a big battle;
+we trusted in ourselves, and every man was determined, by showing
+reckless bravery in the field, to wipe away the disgrace which we
+knew attached to us, partly for our little fight and partly for the
+desertions at Singapore.
+
+After a good deal of manoeuvring, of which we bore our share, at last
+it was evident that the eventful day had come. Some chasseurs d'Afrique
+who were with us had located the Black Flags and their allies, many of
+whom were regular soldiers of the Chinese army, in a strong position
+at a place called Noui-Bop. Our native scouts confirmed this, and also
+reported that there were several white officers amongst them--these
+we guessed to be English or Prussians, or a mixture of both. We knew
+that the enemy had good rifles and plenty of ammunition, that they held
+favourable ground, that there was no chance of outflanking them owing
+to their superiority in numbers and the nature of the country, and that
+the frontal attack should be pushed well home if it were to succeed.
+Well, so much the better, we said to ourselves.
+
+On the morning of the battle we were aroused a little after sunrise.
+This was because, in the East, it is best for European soldiers to
+get the work of the day done before the sun becomes too hot. After
+breakfast my battalion was ordered to leave knapsacks, greatcoats,
+blankets--everything, indeed, save our arms and the clothing we stood
+up in--in the quarters which we had occupied during the night, and
+about fifty men were told off to see that there was no looting of
+their comrades' belongings while the fight was going on. Then we went
+forward, and took up our position in the centre of the fighting line.
+On our right there were Annamite tirailleurs, backed up by some French
+soldiers, I think zouaves; on our left a half-battalion of a French
+regiment of the line--if I do not mistake, the 143rd. We waited and
+smoked awhile, some laughed and joked, others puffed at their pipes in
+silence, the officers were talking and looking always to the rear. At
+last a dull booming was heard--the guns were beginning behind us--we
+could see the shells passing over our heads and bursting more than a
+thousand yards away in our front. Pipes were put up, but still we sat
+quietly on the ground, listening to the roar of the guns and watching
+the shells as they searched the line where our enemies lay. A staff
+officer galloped up to our commandant, and we all got up without
+waiting for the word of command. After a short colloquy the staff
+officer galloped back to the general, the orders came clear and abrupt
+from commandant and captains, and before we could well understand what
+we were doing No. 4 Company and mine were extended in skirmishing
+order, with the other two companies of the battalion behind us in
+support.
+
+We had not advanced very far in this formation when a man, five or six
+files on my right, flung up his arms and came to the ground with a
+groan. Just then we began to fire, our firing being kept strictly under
+control by the officers and sub-officers, who saw no use in allowing
+us, as soldiers naturally do, to blaze away all our ammunition at too
+long a range against a well-protected enemy. We went along almost too
+well; not alone had the officers to control our fire, they had also to
+work hard to keep us in hand as we went forward in the attack. All was
+well. A man fell here and another there, but the losses were not enough
+to speak about until we came to the dangerous zone.
+
+Now let me explain what is meant by the dangerous zone. I did not
+understand it at the time, but I afterwards learned all about it, and
+many a time I thanked my stars when the order came to fix bayonets,
+for then I knew that I was safely through the ugly place and that most,
+if not all, of the chances were in my favour.
+
+The Chinese--at least those of them whom we were fighting--never put
+the rifle to the shoulder as Europeans do when about to fire. Instead,
+they tuck the rifle-butt into the armpit and try to drop the bullet,
+as it were, on the attacking party. They cannot well do this until the
+attack comes within five hundred yards of the defence, nor can they do
+it when the enemy is within two hundred yards of their line, but they
+succeed fairly well--that is, well for such clumsy shooters--while
+the fighting line of the advance is between five hundred and two
+hundred yards of their position. This was pointed out to us by our
+officers, and we could easily see for ourselves that what they said was
+true. Looking back--of course, when the battle was over--we saw only
+scattered bodies lying for the first three or four hundred yards of our
+advance, then a comparatively large number in the dangerous zone, after
+that few, for, as we closed with the bayonet and were practically at
+point-blank range, the Black Flags wavered and fired at the sky rather
+than at us.
+
+Well, we had got along fairly until we came to within about five
+hundred yards of the enemy's trenches. Then the men went down fast,
+and the officers, sergeants, corporals, and veterans shouted out to
+us neophytes to run. And we did run; we covered about three hundred
+yards of heavy ground--we were attacking through rice fields, you must
+know--as quickly as men ever did before or since. I was pretty blown
+when I heard the order given to lie down, and down we lay, with bullets
+flying overhead, until we regained our breath. Above us the shells
+from our guns were shrieking, in front they were exploding; it gave us
+all--at least it gave me--a feeling of heartfelt gratitude that the big
+guns were on our side. After some time we were ordered forward again.
+We ran a bit, fired a round, ran again a little way and fired another
+cartridge, not at the foe, for as yet we could see no men in our front,
+but at the long line of smoke that overhung the trenches where the
+Black Flags and their allies, the Chinese regulars, were waiting for
+our charge.
+
+In this fashion we managed to get to within about eighty yards of the
+enemy's trenches, and were then ordered to halt, lie down, and fire as
+often as possible at the heads and figures that we were now beginning
+to distinguish where the little puffs of smoke arose. A light breeze
+was sweeping down the battlefield, and this lifted the blue-white
+clouds, so that men on both sides could easily make out their enemies.
+An officer sprang up about twenty yards away from me, waved his sword,
+and shouted out something which I could not hear, so incessant was
+the rattle of musketry. I saw the others fixing their bayonets, and I
+reached round to my left side to pluck out mine. As I did so, I saw the
+supporting companies of ours running up to join us. Very soon they were
+at our side, and the four companies, nearly a thousand strong, poured
+in a hot fire for a minute or two. Then we heard the clear notes of the
+charge. In a second, commandant, officers, sub-officers, and simple
+soldiers were all racing for the trenches like madmen, shouting: "Kill,
+kill!" How I got there I do not know. I was in, anyway, if not amongst
+the first, certainly not amongst the last, and when there a horrible
+scene lay before my eyes. On all sides were dead and dying men, some of
+the dead quiet and calm in appearance, as if only sleeping, with just a
+little spot of red on the forehead or staining the breast; others torn
+to pieces by the deadly shells. Some of the wounded were quite passive
+and resigned; others were crying out, I suppose for mercy. But it was
+not of them we thought, our business lay with a large body of men,
+led by a big chief in yellow tunic and wide yellow trousers, who met
+us with bayonet, sword, and spear and tried to retrieve the fortunes
+of the day. Our officers--bad as they were, they were brave--rushed
+straight at this band. We followed like wolf-hounds rushing at wolves.
+Their hoarse cries and imprecations soon died away as with bloody
+bayonets we thrust and dug our way through them from front to rear.
+Once more the Asiatic went down before the European, and in five
+minutes from the time our foremost entered the trenches we had left
+not a single Black Flag or Chinese regular standing on his feet. Some
+of the wounded fired at us as they lay upon the ground; that work,
+however, was very soon stopped.
+
+Meanwhile the half-battalion of French troops of the line had gallantly
+carried their part of the entrenchments, but on the right the native
+troops, the Annamite tirailleurs, were in trouble. Some Frenchmen were
+with them, but these were too few of themselves to make head against
+the enemy, who thronged like bees to flowers where they saw a good
+chance of throwing back the attack. My captain, a good soldier and a
+bad man, hastily collected about a hundred of his men, and getting
+us into some sort of order gave us the word--and the example too,
+indeed--to charge. We fell upon the exposed flank of the barbarians. In
+a couple of minutes we drove it in upon the main left of the enemy, and
+very soon the Annamites, taking their courage in both hands, returned
+to the attack. Some of ours again went round and charged the enemy
+in the rear, and then the game was up--the battle was over. I wish I
+need say no more about the fighting, but many would not surrender, and
+these, of course, were promptly shot or bayoneted where they stood.
+Some wounded also suffered, but I must say that when a white man,
+zouave or legionary, put a wounded enemy out of pain it was only after
+the savage had tried to shoot or stab a passing soldier. Well, if a
+wounded man will try to kill there is only one thing to do--put it as
+soon as possible out of his power to do serious damage. I don't blame
+the savages much for firing or cutting at our fellows; as they never
+gave quarter to whites, they naturally believed, I suppose, that
+whites would give no quarter to them.
+
+Some of the Annamite tirailleurs did, I am afraid, a little
+unjustifiable killing. Well, it's the way with these people; they
+think as little of killing a wounded man as a hungry legionary would
+of killing a providentially sent chicken. We must make allowances; but
+I am very doubtful about the wisdom of European nations in supplying
+arms and teaching modern drill to the yellows, the blacks, and the
+browns. You may make any of these very good imitations of white
+soldiers, but the leopard cannot change his spots, and the effects of
+centuries of cruelty cannot be eradicated in a day. The Annamites had
+one excuse--they were merely doing to the Black Flags what the Black
+Flags would have done to them and to us had the issue of the fight
+been different. This is a poor excuse, I admit, but then any excuse
+is better than none at all. The white officers attached to our native
+levies did their best to keep their men in hand, but orders are not
+always minded, even by the very best soldiers, in the heat of action or
+the flush of victory.
+
+No one must assume that what I have written is a full account of the
+battle of Noui-Bop. I merely tell what happened under my own eyes. I
+know nothing whatever of the events that occurred in other parts of the
+battlefield, nor must it be considered that the troops I have mentioned
+were the only attacking ones. There were others advancing far away to
+the right and to the left--we were only the centre of the advance--and
+when I speak of right and left, I mean right and left of the central
+attack, not extreme right and left of the firing line.
+
+When we had cleared the Black Flags and their comrades out of the
+entrenchments, we had a short rest under arms. Very soon, however, we
+received orders to advance, but cautiously, so as not to get too far in
+front of the rest. In our rear we could see the artillerymen bringing
+up their guns to new positions. Occasionally a gun would be unlimbered
+and a shell or two thrown into a part of the enemy trying to re-form.
+These shells did not do much damage to the enemy, but they did a great
+deal of good to us; it was so pleasant to watch the projectiles hissing
+through the air and to know that our friends the Black Flags were also
+watching them, but with very different feelings. One of our fellows, a
+happy-go-lucky Andalusian, called the shells _lettres d'avis_--warning
+notices that we were coming and that it would be best for the
+barbarians to be "not at home." Only twice in this advance had we to
+make a regular attack, and in each case the men who opposed us did not
+wait to allow us to get to close quarters; they fled with a hail of
+bullets about their ears before we got within two hundred yards. The
+French advance on the extreme right seemed to have more difficulty. I
+fancy an attempt was made to take them in flank. Anyway, we heard a
+continuous roll of musketry, with the heavy booming of guns, for about
+ten or fifteen minutes, and then only a dropping fire, when the attack
+had evidently been repulsed. On the left no trouble was experienced;
+our comrades there swept forward, driving the men opposed to them like
+sheep. About eleven o'clock we were halted. The native levies were
+sent on in pursuit, as they were better able than European soldiers to
+follow up a retreating enemy in the heat of the noonday sun. We lay
+down and rested, happy in the thought that our first fight in Tonquin
+was over and won. We were not allowed to remain long at our ease after
+the fight. First two companies, and afterwards the other two, were
+sent back to get the knapsacks and other impedimenta left behind by
+the general's order before the advance. About half-past four in the
+afternoon we got some bread and soup, and a little after five, when
+the great heat of the day was over, we set forward on our march in the
+track of the retreating enemy and the pursuing tirailleurs. We kept on
+until nearly nine o'clock at night, occasionally halting for a rest.
+In spite of the Annamite levies being in front of us on this march we
+took all possible precautions against a surprise; we had a section
+of a company in front, and, in advance of that again, one of its
+squads. Other squads were out far to the right and to the left. These
+precautions may seem unnecessary, as our own friends were in front,
+but, indeed, they were very useful for several reasons. In the first
+place we saw that, no matter how triumphant our arms might be, there
+was to be no relaxation of precaution or of discipline; in the second,
+it was possible that our irregulars might have allowed a large body of
+the enemy to slip in behind them, and these might ambush us; again, all
+the men of the main body felt a sense of security, and consequently
+their nerves were not kept constantly strained--a material advantage in
+warfare. It is a good maxim to put all the watchfulness on a few and to
+allow the main body to rest or march in security; so an officer will
+have better soldiers in action. The best men in the world can't help
+feeling worried and depressed by constant expectation of an attack.
+A battle is nothing--very often it is, indeed, a relief--but always
+waiting and always speculating on an attack, and always wondering
+from what side it will come, will wear out the strongest nerves. Then
+come dogged sullenness, loss of interest in one's work, carelessness
+in duty, and slovenliness in the little things that all soldiers take
+pride in, and in the end disaster.
+
+That night we lay about fifteen or sixteen kilometres from the place
+where we had rested the previous night. It was lucky that it was not
+my turn for guard; I felt so sleepy after the morning fight and the
+evening march. I had scarcely rolled myself up snugly in my greatcoat
+and blanket when I fell into a heavy, dreamless sleep, and I could
+almost swear that I had not had two minutes' rest when the reveille
+went in the morning. I felt very hungry, and that made me get up
+quickly from the spot of hard ground on which I had been sleeping,
+to help the others to light the fire for the squad's morning coffee.
+Nicholas the Russian asked me how I felt.
+
+"Hungry, my comrade, hungry," I replied. And everyone, even the
+captain, who was passing at the time, laughed as if I had said a good
+thing. Soldiers are very like schoolboys; the simplest thing said
+or done by one they know far surpasses anything said, no matter how
+brilliant, anything done, no matter how renowned, by those they do not
+know. On active service they are even more easily amused. We often
+laughed heartily at sayings that, considered calmly by me now, show not
+the slightest trace of humour.
+
+When the tale of dead and wounded was made up it was seen that our
+battalion had suffered more than any other corps in the fight, and that
+of the four companies constituting it mine had the greatest number of
+losses. This was not bad for me. For some reason or other the captain
+made me a soldier of the first class, and I was very glad indeed that
+Nicholas the Russian and Le Grand were also promoted to wear the single
+red stripe on their right sleeves. We laughed heartily as we thought of
+our advance in rank and of what we should have got instead of promotion
+if all were known about the quarrel at Three Fountains. Well, what
+people don't know won't trouble them.
+
+For some time after this our battalion was always on hard duty. We
+on some days marched only ten or twelve kilometres; on others, in
+pursuit of a band of marauders, we covered as much as twenty-five or
+thirty. Remember, we had to do all this in a country where roads are
+bad and travelling over fields almost impossible, with heavy packs
+on our backs, and never less than a hundred rounds of ball cartridge
+in our pouches. Then no matter how pleasant the greatcoat and the
+blanket might be at night, they were no light load during the day, and
+especially between the hours of eleven in the forenoon and four in
+the afternoon, when we had to go forward if there was the slightest
+chance of catching up with some or other band of scoundrels. Moreover,
+when soldiers are on flying duty, they seldom get enough to eat, and
+what they do get is not the very best or nicest food in the world. One
+day we came in at the hour of evening soup to a little camp where some
+zouaves and marine fusiliers were. They were very good to us indeed;
+the soup they had just prepared for themselves they gave to us, and
+they took, good fellows that they were, the dry bread and unboiled
+rice that we had in our haversacks. They were decent men, these French
+soldiers; they saw that we had been on tramp for some time, and they
+hesitated not a moment to give us the savoury soup when they saw the
+hungry longing in our eyes and the convulsive twitch of nostrils, as
+the grateful odour was perceived. They did more; they gave us some wine
+and native spirit, and I do not know whether we were more pleased with
+the gifts or with the free, generous dispositions of the givers. Well,
+we did as much afterwards for Frenchmen.
+
+This victory at Noui-Bop gave the French control over a large strip of
+country. Moreover, many new recruits joined the Annamite tirailleurs,
+for the Asiatic, like all others, wants to be on the winning side.
+There were promotions, of course, but the only ones I was at all
+interested in were those that gave the single red chevrons to Nicholas,
+Le Grand, and myself. We had got to like one another very much, and I
+believe that the promotion of one gave more pleasure to his comrades
+than to himself. I may say here that Nicholas and Le Grand afterwards
+refused further promotion; I, a boy and fool, took it when offered, but
+I must tell how that came about in another chapter.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+
+I will not weary the reader with an account of our marches to and
+fro, hunting straggling bands of marauders. This work soon became
+monotonous, and the recital of our doings would, I am sure, prove
+monotonous as well. Only one thing impressed itself strongly on my mind
+at the time, and this was that a man who fell out of the ranks had no
+chance of getting mercy from the Black Flags. Occasionally, we came
+across the horribly mutilated body of a French soldier or an Annamite
+tirailleur, and the sight was sickening. One circumstance, which I must
+now relate, made our blood boil over and, if we learned to give no
+quarter, the enemy had no one to blame but themselves.
+
+We arrived at a small village one morning about nine o'clock, having
+been on the march continuously since five. Here we rested during the
+heat of the day, and one of the men of my squad and I went to a little
+shop to buy tobacco. We saw some fruit there--I don't know what kind
+it was--and my comrade purchased some and gave a share to me. We ate
+it, and thought no more about the business, but the fruit cost my poor
+friend his life.
+
+When we were on the march that afternoon, I felt very sick. My
+comrade--I forgot to mention that he came from Lorraine and was serving
+with us in order that, when his time was up, he might become a French
+citizen--was even worse, and both of us had to fall out of the ranks.
+However, we again caught up with the company, but a second time we were
+compelled to stay behind, and this time the captain ordered our rifles
+and ammunition to be taken from us and carried by our comrades.
+
+"The Black Flags," he said, "may get you if they like, but they sha'n't
+have your arms or ammunition."
+
+I don't blame the officer, he was quite right. The same thing was done
+with every man who showed signs of weakness or weariness, for we had
+no ambulance in these hurried pursuits, and the abandoned soldier kept
+only his bayonet for defence against the human wolves that hung on our
+flanks and rear. Not much good that, for the cowards used to overpower
+the poor devils with stones, and, as soon as they were beaten to the
+ground, the brutes would seize them and execute their horrible tortures
+on their bodies before death came--a merciful release. Again, however,
+we struggled back to the company. Nicholas, who was carrying my rifle
+and ammunition in addition to his own, said: "Cheer up, my good friend;
+keep on a little longer; we shall soon be in camp." Le Grand, who
+was in the squad immediately behind mine, got permission to carry my
+knapsack, another man took my greatcoat, and still another my blanket,
+but, in spite of the relief thus afforded me, it was with the utmost
+difficulty that I kept on. The Lorrainer was similarly aided, but he
+was too unwell, and had for the third and last time to fall out. He
+never rejoined the company, and we could at the time only speculate
+upon his fate, but very soon we were to learn the truth.
+
+Helped on by my comrades, I managed to stagger into the little
+collection of huts where we were to pass the night. Nicholas and
+Le Grand foraged for me, and got somewhere and somehow a supply of
+native spirit. Le Grand made me a stiff glass of boiling hot punch,
+and this I was compelled to drink, though my stomach rebelled at all
+things. I fell asleep soon after, and woke in the morning, qualmish,
+indeed, and weak, but completely rid of all the bad effects brought
+on by indulgence in the fruit. Nicholas insisted on my taking some
+of the spirit in my morning coffee, and also filled my water bottle
+with coffee containing about a glass of the fiery stuff, so that I
+might have medicine on the march. All the others of the squad were
+sympathetic, and Le Grand, though not of my squad, came over to our
+hut to inquire about me. Nobody minded this--it was no breach of squad
+etiquette, as we were both Irishmen--but, of course, it would not do
+for us to be too much together--we remembered the punishment given to
+the Alsatians.
+
+Some information received by our officers made us return by the route
+passed over on the previous day. When we came near the place where the
+unfortunate Lorrainer had fallen out, a great cloud of birds rose up
+from the ground and flew, crying hoarsely, away. Very soon we learned
+the meaning of this. The captain of my company, who was riding in
+front, suddenly shouted out: "Halt!" and dismounting, gave the reins
+to his orderly and crossed into a rice field that bordered the way.
+What he saw there seemed to fill him with disgust and horror. He called
+out to the other officers to come and see; then the sergeants and the
+corporals were summoned; finally we private soldiers went by fours to
+view the sight. What a horrible thing met our gaze! On the ground lay
+the dead body of the Lorrainer, hacked and mutilated in a fashion that
+I cannot describe. We were almost sickened by the sight. Often before
+we had seen mutilated bodies, but never one so savagely disfigured as
+this, and, moreover, this was the body of one who had been our good
+comrade only the day before.
+
+"Ah," said the captain to me, "was it not well that you struggled on?"
+
+"My captain," said Nicholas, speaking before I could get out a word, "I
+will never again give mercy to a Black Flag. As they do to us, let us
+do to them."
+
+The captain answered nothing to this, but sent us back to our ranks.
+Before we left the spot we buried the poor Lorrainer.
+
+All that day we spoke of nothing but the horrible sight we had seen
+in the morning. We were angry; we made resolutions to take a sharp and
+speedy vengeance for the death of our comrade and the indignity shown
+to his corpse; we encouraged one another in the desire for revenge; we
+spoke of what might happen to any one of us who fell faint or wounded
+on the way; we were gloomy and sullen, not with despair, but with the
+gloom and sullenness of incensed men. Had we met any enemies that day,
+not even the commander-in-chief of the army in Tonquin could have
+prevented us from treating them as they had treated our poor comrade,
+and, when we did get the chance, we took a bloody vengeance on the
+barbarians--such a vengeance as even in the Legion was spoken of with
+bated breath.
+
+Now at this time the battalion had been divided into three parts--two
+companies held a depot of stores and ammunition, the remaining two
+were out as small flying columns through the country. It was our turn
+to go into garrison and rest a while, and two days after burying
+our unfortunate comrade we marched into the depot. The day after
+our friends of No. 4 Company came in, and the two companies, Nos. 1
+and 2, that we relieved started off on a ten days' trip through the
+country, seeking the enemy but, as a rule, not finding them. While
+we were resting in garrison we told the story of the Lorrainer's sad
+fate to the men of No. 4, and we also made them acquainted with our
+determination to have satisfaction at all costs for the brutality of
+those who had tortured to death a poor, sick soldier, to all intents
+and purposes unarmed, and then disfigured his body in so revolting a
+manner. I give no details of the mutilation here, but we described it
+fully to our comrades, and they too were filled with horror and anger.
+The two companies had got a strange sort of liking for each other,
+arising out of the fight at Three Fountains, and we could not have met
+men more willing to back us up in our resolve than they were, and fate
+sent us other allies almost as good too.
+
+A few days before our turn came to go out on the tiresome tramp after
+quickly disappearing enemies, two companies of Frenchmen came into our
+little camp. To our surprise, and, indeed, at first to our disgust,
+they were the two companies of zephyrs that had come out with us in the
+transport. We had not lain alongside of them since we parted at Saigon,
+and then our feelings towards one another were not at all friendly.
+However, if soldiers quickly fall out, often they become friends again
+as easily, and so it happened with us. The zephyrs were not a day in
+camp before they knew all about the Lorrainer and our desire to avenge
+him, and, since they considered the people of Lorraine as their own
+flesh and blood, they felt almost as angry as we did. Very soon we all
+were, if not friends, at least allies for the purpose of obtaining
+vengeance on the Black Flags, and it was tacitly understood amongst the
+soldiers of the four companies that, when next we went into action, no
+quarter was to be given and that the commands, even the entreaties,
+of our officers to show mercy were to be disregarded. As soldiers we
+all recognised that it would be impossible to punish so many men, and
+we saw also that, if we took a terrible vengeance, the officers would
+do their best to hide the fact, and, though it might become known
+throughout the army, yet there was no chance of the general giving it
+official recognition by giving us official punishment.
+
+Now the two companies of zephyrs numbered at the time about 300 men and
+No. 4 and mine about 350; the rest were in the hospital or the grave.
+
+When No. 1 and No. 2 Companies of my battalion came into camp, the
+zephyrs and we others marched out. At the end of the first day's march
+we picked up a couple of companies of Annamite tirailleurs, weak ones
+they were, and angry, as they had had a couple of fights recently
+with the Black Flags and got by no means the best of the fighting.
+Another weak company of native levies joined us the next day, so that
+altogether our commandant had at his disposal about 650 Europeans and
+about 300 Asiatic tirailleurs. There were no guns with us, but we did
+not mind their absence, this time we meant to depend solely on the
+bayonet.
+
+I have often wondered whether or not our officers knew of our
+resolution. Certainly the corporals and sergeants did, but these
+_sous-officiers_ were too experienced to say anything to us about it;
+they might as well have tried to turn back Niagara as to change our
+minds. That they knew, and they knew also that we were dangerous men to
+cross when united and feeling strongly about anything. Bullets don't
+always fly towards the enemy. Many a man with a private grudge against
+sergeant or corporal might be only too glad to salve his conscience,
+or what stood for his conscience, by saying to himself that he was
+merely executing justice on behalf of his section or his squad. If the
+officers knew, they kept silent, but one thing was certain, however
+it came about: we were the quietest and most subdued force, to all
+appearance, in the world. The officers and sub-officers were strangely
+easy with us; we in the ranks dropped all the boisterous gaiety that
+usually distinguishes soldiers; we were well behaved, respectful,
+attentive to our duties--in short, for the time being we were model
+troops.
+
+One evening our scouts brought in word that a fairly large body of the
+enemy, from two to three thousand strong, lay within two hours' march
+of our encampment. These were evidently the men who had driven back
+the Annamite tirailleurs, and our yellow friends were quite well aware
+of what had happened to their wounded, whom they had been compelled
+to abandon on the field. "So much the better," whispered we to one
+another; "the native levies will be our very good brothers this time."
+
+Next morning we were aroused without sound of bugle, and after the
+morning meal had been disposed of, every man received a ration of
+wine. Some fellows drank this at once, most of us, however, put it into
+our water bottles for use during the day. Soon we were on the march,
+due precautions being taken against a flank attack or a surprise,
+and about eight o'clock or half-past we arrived within sight of the
+enemy. They were not disposed to stir on our account, and we were quite
+satisfied. We had begun to despise them--I mean when we met them in
+fair fight. That is the way with all Europeans; a white man gets to
+know his yellow brother only to despise him.
+
+Towards nine o'clock the regular advance began. No. 4 Company of
+legionaries attacked on the right, my company being in support, with
+half-a-section, supported by some Annamite tirailleurs, flung out to
+guard against a flank attack on the part of the enemy; on the left a
+company of zephyrs were extended, the second company of Frenchmen doing
+the same duty on the left as mine did on the right; in reserve were the
+rest of the Annamite tirailleurs.
+
+Our men advanced in the usual way until they came within charging
+distance of the enemy's entrenchment. At this time a slight diversion
+was caused on the left by a feeble attempt to outflank and throw into
+confusion the white soldiers and native levies advancing in support.
+This attempt failed, and, just as we knew that it had failed, a
+similar one was made on us. We quickly put an end to it, pouring in
+a heavy fire at short range, and when these attacks were repulsed
+a considerable body of the Black Flags left the field. But the
+firing line in front had still to reckon with the soldiers manning
+the trenches, and these certainly fought with admirable spirit and
+determination. Better for them had they run away!
+
+When the time came, in the commandant's opinion, for the charge which
+was to end the fight, one section of my company was ordered forward to
+join No. 4, the other section, the one to the right, with about 100
+Annamite tirailleurs, to overlap the enemy in that direction and, if
+possible, to take them in the rear.
+
+As we ran along we heard first the heavy, continuous firing that always
+precedes the bayonet charge, and then the hoarse roar of "Kill, kill!"
+that told us that our comrades were going up with the bayonet.
+
+We redoubled our exertions, slaughtered to a man a small body of Black
+Flags that tried to block the way, and very soon we were clear past
+the end of the entrenchments and were moving inwards--that is, to the
+left--to catch the savages in the rear. We just succeeded. The enemy,
+driven out of the entrenchments by the frontal attack, were pouring out
+in hundreds along their line of retreat We rushed at them with cries of
+exultation and revenge, and as we drove back the fugitives on one side
+a section of zephyrs and some natives drove them back on the other.
+We had now completely hemmed them in. Roughly speaking, on the south
+were a company and a half of legionaries and a company and a half of
+zephyrs, with a few Annamites who had come up from the reserves; on the
+north, half a company of legionaries, half a company of zephyrs, and
+about a hundred and fifty native tirailleurs; between these two forces
+about six or seven hundred Black Flags and their allies. It was now a
+game of battledore and shuttlecock: our comrades on the south drove the
+savages on to our bayonets; we sent them yelling back again. Once more
+our fellows attacked and pushed them towards us; we, who had re-formed
+the ranks, again closed and used the bayonet mercilessly until they
+tried to break away. This went on for some time, but every charge
+brought the opposed lines of white soldiers closer, and thus diminished
+the little space in which the Black Flags could move. At last we were
+all a dense crowd, in the centre a mob of savages so closely packed
+together that they had scarcely room to thrust or cut, around this a
+circle of maddened men stabbing furiously and crying out:
+
+"Vengeance for our comrade; kill, kill!" By scores the central mob went
+down. At last not more than fifty or sixty were left, and these were on
+their knees or thrown prone upon the ground crying out for quarter. We
+opened our ranks and let all the Annamites through; in three minutes
+not a Black Flag was left alive.
+
+In plain words, this was a massacre--of that there can be no doubt.
+It is only fair, however, to put the responsibility on the proper
+shoulders. Therefore I say that it was meditated upon and carried out
+by the simple soldiers; the officers and sub-officers merely fought
+well while there was any show of resistance. It would be unjust to
+the men to say that the officers led us, for we were far too anxious
+to get to close quarters to require leading, but when the resistance
+had ceased the captains and lieutenants vehemently ordered, and, when
+orders were disregarded, begged of us to stop. The sergeants and
+the corporals asked us to refrain from killing, but they were not
+over-earnest about it--they understood us better than the leaders of
+higher rank--and they knew quite well that our desire of vengeance
+could be appeased only by blood. The corporal of my squad said to us
+afterwards:
+
+"No doubt it was wrong, but perhaps it was necessary."
+
+But, it will be asked, were there no leaders in the affair? Yes;
+there were leaders--indeed, the very best leaders that could be found
+for such a deed. You must understand that we had in our ranks men of
+education and refinement; gentlemen, let me say, who had gone astray.
+These were of many nations and of various crimes. I have already
+mentioned Nicholas the Russian. I could also tell you something of a
+Prussian ex-lieutenant of hussars; of an English infantry officer,
+son of a high official in the Colonies, who had sent in his papers
+after a five minutes' interview with his colonel; of the Austrian
+_beau sabreur_ who loved women better than their honour and preferred
+cards to his own; of many others who came to the Legion as a means
+of committing social suicide, and who--unhappy rascals that they
+were--were yet good, honest, fighting men, and not bad comrades if one
+only put a guard upon his tongue. Two of them could not live in the
+same squad, and the authorities knew it. Every one of them was a second
+corporal, so to speak, and really, to take the case of the man I knew
+best, Nicholas was far more respected amongst us than our authorised
+superior, and the corporal was as well aware of the fact as we. Well,
+these were the leaders. When the officers and sub-officers, who
+thought only of victory and perhaps promotion, would have had us show
+mercy when the fight was over, these men, born and trained leaders,
+encouraged us to slay and spare not, and showed us an example of fierce
+brutality which we, angry on account of the murder and mutilation
+of our comrade, only too faithfully followed. We should certainly
+have done some unfair killing in any case, but we others should not,
+I believe, have been guilty of such excesses were it not for the
+ruined gentlemen who for once saw a chance of giving vent to their
+long pent-up feelings of anger with all the world--especially their
+world--that had for ever cast them out Long ago there was an Italian
+proverb: "Inglese Italianato e diavolo incarnato," and I believe it to
+have contained a good deal of truth at the time. Nowadays the "devil
+incarnate" is the gentleman by birth and breeding who has been rejected
+by his natural society because he has been so unlucky as to be found
+out.
+
+Well, the fight was over, and we, having cleaned our bayonets, rested
+quietly on the field. Nobody in the ranks said a word; the sergeants
+stood apart from us and from each other; a little knot of officers
+gathered together and spoke in whispers. The commandant rode up and
+spoke in a low tone to them, then he went away, and the sections were
+ordered to fall into ranks. The zephyrs and we were marched a little
+way from the place, and were ordered to prepare a small encampment; the
+Annamite tirailleurs were sent out scouting while this was being done;
+there was not the slightest thought in any man's mind of pursuing the
+flying enemy. Indeed, pursuit would have been useless; those who had
+got away had too long a start, and we were very tired and in no mood
+for further fighting that day. About two hundred legionaries and some
+zephyrs were after a short time sent out to bury the dead. I should
+mention that our wounded had been first carried to the place where
+we were forming the little camp. I was glad that I was not with the
+burial party; those who formed it had no stomach for their evening
+soup. Towards nightfall all things necessary had been done--the wounded
+cared for, the dead buried four deep in a long trench, this for the
+Black Flags, and two shorter trenches, one for the legionaries and the
+zephyrs, the other for the Annamite tirailleurs. The camp was very
+quiet; the men not on guard or outlying picket lay about smoking, but
+with very little conversation; the officers of all detachments had
+assembled in the centre, and were talking earnestly about the events of
+the day.
+
+Nothing was ever said to us about this ugly affair. It was over and
+done with; there was no use in talking about it In any case, how
+could eight or nine hundred men--that is, including the Annamite
+tirailleurs--be punished? Cæsar could decimate his legions--the day
+is gone by for such punishment; moreover, even if special soldiers
+were selected for trial by court-martial their comrades would surely
+have revenge on the officers, the sergeants, and the corporals. It is
+dangerous--take my word for it, very dangerous--to go too far with any
+regiment in any army. With us it would be even worse, for no one, not
+even the general in chief command, would be safe from our bullets if
+only a chance arose. I believe that we were at once the worst used and
+the most feared corps on the face of the earth.
+
+Not long afterwards No. 4 Company and mine rejoined our comrades of
+Nos. 1 and 2. We parted from the zephyrs in a very friendly way; they
+told us that they liked us very much, and we paid them a similar
+compliment. Often afterwards we heard from other legionaries that a
+certain corps of zephyrs had shown them singular friendliness. In a
+short time the story went round about the affair, and people began to
+understand why this battalion of zephyrs was so well able to get on
+with the soldiers of the Legion. Our fellows were good comrades to
+them, just as they were good comrades to ours. If the zephyr had money,
+the legionary had a share; if the legionary had money, the zephyr did
+not find himself without wine and tobacco and the other things that
+money procures. Frenchmen of other corps did not mind. After all,
+it was none of their business; besides, the zephyr as well as the
+legionary had a rather ugly camp reputation; both were too ready to
+fight with men of other regiments on the slightest provocation.
+
+In a short time we received some recruits, and the four companies of
+the battalion were brought up to a fairly respectable strength. Every
+company now numbered more than two hundred men, and at long last
+promotion came in the ranks. The sergeant of my section had died of
+wounds soon after the little affair I have just mentioned. My corporal
+was promoted in his stead. It will be remembered that the corporal
+of my squad had given the first intimation to the captain that we
+were about to volunteer for active service; the captain now took the
+opportunity of rewarding him for bringing the joyful news. There were
+only two soldiers of the first class in the squad--Nicholas the Russian
+and I. Nicholas, as the older and better soldier, was offered the rank
+of corporal. He refused it, as was natural. It was all right to become
+a soldier of the first class, because that rank saved him from many
+disagreeable duties, but the idea of one who had commanded a company
+accepting the control of a squad and receiving curses and abuse from
+the company officers when a soldier got into trouble was not to be
+entertained for a moment. The second chevron was then offered to me. I
+accepted it on the spot, and by none was I more heartily congratulated
+than by Nicholas. He went further than mere compliments and good
+wishes: he asked me if I wanted money to pay for some drink and tobacco
+for the men. Luckily, I had a few francs saved out of my scanty pay,
+and so I was able to decline his generous offer. At the same time I
+assured him that, if I wanted the loan of money from any man, I would
+rather be in his debt than in another's. And I paid him the further
+compliment--its truth pleased him--that I was, indeed, corporal on
+parade but that he was corporal in camp, and that I should find it hard
+to prove superior rank to his in a fight I knew--everybody knew--that
+Nicholas had more influence than any corporal or, for that matter,
+than either of the sergeants. He was glad that I openly admitted it
+to him, and a more loyal soldier never helped a sub-officer when help
+was really needed than he. I, probably the youngest corporal in the
+army--not yet seventeen--had a more orderly and well-disciplined squad
+than any other corporal in the service. Partly, I believe, this was
+due to my own desire to give fair play to all the men, but chiefly,
+I know, to the thorough-going way in which Nicholas supported me in
+everything. Every man under me felt that I would do my best to screen
+him if he broke the regulations, to save him as much as possible if
+he were brought before the captain or the commandant by sergeant or
+sergeant-major. Often I deliberately shut my eyes to things that were
+wrong in themselves but dear to the heart of the soldier, and one day
+I went so far as warmly to defend before the captain a man charged by
+the sergeant-major with a serious military offence, though everybody
+knew that the man's sole claim to be helped by me was that he was a
+member of my squad. Nicholas told me that I had acted imprudently.
+"The sergeant-major," he said, "will be your enemy; but there is one
+consolation, the squad is more than pleased. The Austrian, however,"
+he went on, "had no right to get himself into such trouble and, as it
+were, compel you to save him from the consequences of his own guilt. We
+will punish him; get permission to go outside the camp this evening,
+and leave him to us." I understood. I got permission to be absent for
+four hours--from seven in the evening until eleven. When I came back
+the Austrian was lying on the floor of the hut with a blanket thrown
+over him, dead.
+
+"It was an accident, my corporal," said Nicholas.
+
+"Yes; an accident," said a Belgian; "we did not mean to break his neck."
+
+I examined the body. It was quite true that he was dead; already his
+jaw had fallen, and a coldness and rigidity had seized upon his limbs.
+I thought for a minute. The lights were out, only a feeble ray of
+moonlight shone through the door.
+
+"Is there anything to be done?" said I to Nicholas.
+
+"Yes," he replied; "if we are all true comrades."
+
+The others swore that they would be loyal to the death; as for me,
+there was no need of asseveration: if I tried to save the men of the
+squad, it was sink or swim for me with all.
+
+"Let us bring him out," said Nicholas, "and put him outside the camp.
+Then let nobody know anything of him save that he lay down at the usual
+hour. You, corporal, must say that he was present when you came in; I
+will give the rest of the evidence."
+
+We had some difficulty in getting out the dead body, but when Nicholas
+had interviewed a sentry we managed the rest easily enough. We left
+it about two hundred paces from the camp, fully dressed, and with a
+bayonet in the right hand. In the morning the nearest sentry called out
+for the sergeant of the guard. He on coming up recognised the body as
+that of a French soldier. It was carried to the guard-hut, and there
+lay awaiting identification. I reported the absence of the Austrian
+when the sergeant came round, and soon afterwards I was ordered to go
+to the guard-hut. There I identified the body. All the squad and myself
+were examined about the matter. Nicholas was the only one who knew
+anything, and his story was that, lying awake at night, he had heard
+the Austrian getting up, and asked him was he unwell. The Austrian had
+said: "A little, not much; don't disturb anyone about me." He had then
+gone out, and Nicholas had fallen asleep. Everyone believed that he
+had left the camp to visit some female friend, and that he had been
+suddenly fallen upon by natives and beaten to death. Such a little
+thing was quickly forgotten, and we of the squad took particular pains
+to avoid even mentioning his name.
+
+After this event the squad would do anything for Nicholas and for me.
+That was why it was so good a squad. Why, the captain looked surprised
+when a man of mine was brought up before him. Well, if I were good to
+them, they were good to me, and I had the pleasant consciousness that
+no man would try to shoot me in the back when the bayonets were fixed
+for the charge.
+
+I kept aloof from the other corporals, and was rather distant with
+the men--that is, with all except Nicholas. To him I never hesitated
+to confide my thoughts, and many a time he gave me advice well worth
+the having. He had read much and had travelled and mixed constantly
+with men, and all the worldly wisdom he had gained was at my disposal;
+indeed, I often felt secretly pleased that the Prince, as we
+sometimes called him in his absence, was so frank and free with me.
+He had, I knew, been exiled by the Tsar, or at any rate compelled
+by circumstances to leave his country. I knew of some things he had
+done--and they were guilty deeds--but he was so clever, so superior to
+us others in manner and bearing, so generous when he had money, and,
+best of all virtues in a soldier's eyes, so loyal to his comrades, that
+a far more experienced man than I might have easily fallen under his
+influence.
+
+I shall have more to say of the Russian in the next chapter, and soon
+after that he will disappear for ever from these pages. I shall not
+anticipate, however, but let the tale unfold itself in its proper
+order, making but one more observation here--namely, that when the
+account of the last fight which I have mentioned went through the
+Legion, and I believe I may say through all the army, it, coupled with
+the story of the fight at Three Fountains, gave No. 4 Company and mine
+a most unenviable reputation. In a way this was good; nobody felt
+inclined to quarrel with us, and a most unusual calm and quietness
+prevailed in every camp where we lay. At the same time the generals
+gave us our fill of fighting--more than our share, indeed--but these
+things will come in their own place afterwards. And so I close this
+chapter--the chapter of the slaughter.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+
+The next important event of my life in Tonquin was the first battle of
+Lang-Son. This was, to put it bluntly, a defeat for our troops and a
+really creditable victory for our enemies. Of course, reasons are given
+by the beaten side for every mishap. "Rank bad luck," for instance,
+unknown and unforeseen difficulties of country, unsuspected numerical
+superiority of the victors--anything and everything except a fair and
+straight admission of an honest beating in open warfare. Now these
+are all nonsense. Why should a general talk of "rank bad luck"? If he
+ascribes a defeat to this, may not people fairly ascribe his victories
+to good luck, and that alone? As for saying that the lie of the land
+was not known, that is merely a confession of ignorance, and worse--of
+carelessness in using his mounted men and his scouts. That an enemy
+may succeed in massing a great number of men at a given point without
+the knowledge or even suspicion of his opponent is quite conceivable;
+is it not what every general who knows his business tries to do? Read
+the history of any campaign and you will find that all the decisive
+actions were won by a swift and secret concentration of troops against
+an important place held by comparatively weak numbers. If I were a
+general, I should try to divide my enemy's forces and concentrate
+my own. Ah, when a man is beaten let him say so honestly; let him
+point out, if he wishes, how his opponent out-manoeuvred him; and let
+him, in the name of all the gods, say nothing about luck, and, above
+all, be discreetly silent about anything that might hint at his own
+carelessness or the worthlessness of his scouts.
+
+Now, let me try to show how our defeat came about. But first let me
+again say that the enemy beat us fairly and squarely in the engagement;
+that we retreated is good enough proof of that. Well, in the first
+place, the generals and the other officers firmly believed that the
+Black Flags and their allies would never be able to stand up against
+either our rifle fire or our charge. They had good reason, I admit, for
+assuming this. Unfortunately, they never reckoned on having to fight
+regular troops, officered and disciplined by Europeans, and it was
+these regular troops, well armed, well drilled, well led, and showing
+an amount of courage and staying power which one does not usually
+attribute to Asiatics, that drove us off the field. There were Black
+Flags and other barbarians in the fight, but these we could have easily
+first stalled off with the rifle and afterwards cut to pieces with the
+bayonet: it was really the men in uniforms who won the fight.
+
+In the second place, we soldiers had learned to depend implicitly on
+our commanders. They had led us so well that we had as much confidence
+in their foresight and military skill as they had in our courage and
+steadfastness. The day before we were driven from Lang-Son no man
+even dreamt that our generals could be ignorant of anything occurring
+within a radius of a hundred miles; that a numerous and well-appointed
+army was within striking distance without their knowledge seemed, or
+would seem, if such a thing entered our minds, the fancy of a fool or
+the vain imagining of a coward. When the fight was going on we were
+surprised at the gallant manner in which our foes stood up against us.
+After a time, when more than once we had hurled them back with the
+bayonet, we recognised that we were dealing with the most formidable
+force that we had yet encountered. They gave us bullet for bullet,
+thrust for thrust. They were good men, and when the bayonets crossed
+they fought quietly and earnestly, and died without a murmur, almost
+without a groan. They could never hold out long against us in a
+charge--they were too light--and, another point to be noted, though
+the Asiatic will face death by the hands of the executioner with far
+more stoicism than the European, in the press of the battle the white
+man's enthusiasm is infinitely better than the yellow man's contempt of
+death. But in the firing they more than held their own, they were more
+numerous, their ammunition was evidently plentiful, and, to tell the
+plain truth, in spite of our bayonet charges they fairly shot us off
+the field.
+
+To put the matter in a nutshell: we were defeated because our generals
+did not know the kind and the number of troops opposed to them. Let
+me add, our overweening confidence in our own prowess gave way to
+something very different as we saw ourselves slowly but surely forced
+back, and noted that the bayonet was not used to gain ground for a
+fresh advance but merely to drive back for a moment a too closely
+pressing enemy. At the same time it is but justice to admit that
+the defence was a good one. We retired, undoubtedly, but we showed
+no confusion beyond that certain amount that always shows on a
+battlefield, nay, even at a peaceful review.
+
+I must now go on to my own part in the unlucky fight. After the first
+repulse my battalion had been constantly engaged in covering the rear
+of the retreat. On our right flank some French line regiment was busy
+in the same way. All the other troops, as far as I could judge--but
+a corporal sees very little of a battle outside the part borne in it
+by his own company--had been withdrawn, and were hard at work getting
+ready a new line of defence, while we who were just in front of the
+enemy kept them back in order to gain time. At last we could scarcely
+hold them at bay, and the order was given that our battalion should
+retire by companies. Nos. 2 and 4 quickly left the firing line; No. 1
+was the next to leave, and my company poured in as hot a fire as we
+could until the order was given to run at top speed to the rear. I,
+as luck had it, had just loaded. I fired deliberately at a white man
+I saw about three hundred yards away cheering on the enemy, and saw
+him fall. I then turned and ran as fast as I could after my comrades.
+These were now some distance in advance, but as I went along I saw a
+good path leading slightly away from the point where the company would
+naturally fall into ranks again for another volley or two at the enemy
+and to allow the men time to regain their breath. This path, though
+slightly diverging from my route, at any rate would bring me away from
+the enemy, and I could, when at a safe distance from the Chinese, cut
+across country to rejoin my squad. I was running through rice-fields,
+and I knew that I could vastly increase my speed on the path. My one
+object at the time was to get away; I had no desire to fall, wounded or
+unwounded, into my pursuers' hands. I therefore turned and fled along
+the path, which ran by the side of a small stream.
+
+As I ran, I noticed that the ground on the other side of the path
+gradually rose and at length formed a fairly high mound. This,
+however, I did not mind; every step took me further from the savages.
+I gradually slackened speed as my breath gave out, and instinctively
+flung away the cartridge, that I had fired at the white officer and put
+my hand into the pouch at my right side for a fresh one. Just as my
+thumb and forefinger closed on a cartridge, a sudden apparition met my
+gaze. I was rounding a corner, and there, not twenty yards away, was a
+Chinaman, evidently as astonished as I at the rencontre. I have never
+been so frightened in my life as at this totally unexpected meeting
+with an enemy in such a place. I had no power to take the cartridge
+from the pouch and fit it into the rifle. I was thunderstruck; I felt
+an awful horror of impending death. The Chinaman--he seemed a giant in
+my eyes--hastily tucked the butt of his gun into his right armpit and
+fired. I ducked instinctively, and at once knew that he had missed.
+The awkward way he fired and the sudden movement on my part had saved
+my life. In a second I had a cartridge in the rifle and the rifle at
+my shoulder; the Chinaman dropped his weapon and fled. Now the pathway
+was quite straight and level for a distance of about two hundred yards.
+There was no means of making a hasty escape to one side or the other;
+on the right ran the stream, on the left stood up a mound about eight
+or nine feet high. I saw, therefore, that I could let my man go a good
+distance without firing at him. This I desired, for my rifle kicked
+a little. When he was about a hundred and fifty yards away I aimed
+carefully at the back of his knee, pulled the trigger, and probably
+took him fairly in the small of the back. He flung up his arms, reeled,
+and fell face downwards in the water, and lay there quite still. I was
+satisfied. I felt a natural and yet an unreasonable anger with the man
+who had sought to take my life--natural, because every man hates those
+who attack him; unreasonable, because why should not he try to do to
+me as I should have tried to do to him were the positions changed? But
+soon my anger gave place to caution. I reloaded and clambered up the
+bank, determined to leave the path, as I could not know that other
+Chinese might not stop my way with better success than the first. After
+crossing through some low shrubs and brushwood the sound of volleys
+quickly repeated led me to the company. I fell into my proper place.
+Nobody said anything except the captain--a new man not with us a
+month--who sarcastically asked if I had seen a ghost.
+
+We gradually fell back towards the new line of defence. The regulars
+attacking wasted no time, and pushed us rather rapidly along. At last
+a staff officer came with a message to our captain, and we hurriedly
+poured a heavy fire into the advancing enemy, then we all turned and
+ran towards the point whither the captain led us. We got a good start
+and covered the ground quickly; at a little line of small trees and
+underwood lay safety. As we straggled into this we were ordered to
+face about and lie down. We saw the Chinese regulars coming along with
+hoarse cries of joy, not extended in skirmishing order, but in dense
+masses of men, who pressed and struggled to the front.
+
+A bugle call rang out, and suddenly a horrible rattle of musketry
+began. The enemy were fairly caught. Every rifle of ours was blazing
+away at about two hundred yards' range at the easy target they
+presented. In a moment, as it seemed to me, the attack withered away.
+Where a minute before were triumphant soldiers rushing in pursuit
+of a fleeing foe, one saw now nothing but prostrate bodies on the
+ground. Many, no doubt, flung themselves down as the first shots rang
+out, but the vast majority must have been swept into eternity by our
+fire. But this was not all. Our guns began, and even those who were a
+thousand yards away felt staggered in their advance. For ten minutes
+we heard nothing but the rattle of musketry, the booming of the guns,
+the noise of the shells as they hurtled through the air, and then
+the explosions a thousand yards away. The cries and shrieking of the
+wounded were unheard and unheeded. If the enemy had driven us from
+the field and could fairly claim a victory, we in the end taught them
+such a lesson surely as defeated never before taught their conquerors.
+That last firing more than equalised losses, and, better still, gave
+us the bitter-sweet of vengeance, and restored the old feeling of
+self-confidence that had been so rudely shaken on that day.
+
+This was really the close of the battle. In various parts firing
+still went on, but an attack in force by either side was manifestly
+impossible. The Chinese regulars had been too much cut up towards the
+close of the fighting; as for us, there was only one course to be
+taken--retreat towards our base in order to prevent being outflanked.
+The new line of defence had served its purpose. It was not strong
+enough, nor were we numerous enough, to withstand an attack in force
+on the morrow, especially as our opponents were strong enough to hold
+us in front while flanking columns got round even to our rear. After
+an hour's rest, which we badly wanted, the order was given to retire,
+and for seven hours we struggled on, angry, weary and hungry. At last
+we formed a little camp; some rice and brandy were served out--we had
+no soup or coffee--and so, in bad humour with ourselves, the enemy, and
+our rations, we lay down on the ground to forget in sleep discomfort
+and defeat.
+
+Luckily, the enemy did not press their advantage as they should. We
+were soon reinforced, and when we had recovered from the fatigue of the
+fight and the retreat, we again tried conclusions with them with better
+success. The story of the second battle of Lang-Son will be told in
+due course. I must now narrate an incident that occurred between the
+battles, while we were still retreating and somewhat pressed by the foe.
+
+First, it must be understood that my battalion formed part of the
+rear-guard. There were French soldiers of several corps and native
+levies as well, and I may say here that the Frenchmen showed as much
+steady courage in retiring before overwhelming masses of the enemy as
+they usually show of gallantry and _élan_ in a charge. I can never
+again believe that the Frenchman is good only when advancing; given
+capable officers, he is a perfect soldier at all points. This retreat
+proved the fact. We were half starved; there was the continual fear
+of being wounded and left to the merciless Black Flags; for all that,
+while the legionaries were furious and occasionally downcast, though
+doing their duty like brave men, the men of the line, the zouaves,
+the marine fusiliers, the chasseurs--and I believe the rear-guard
+had men of all these--were, after the first feeling of anger and
+disappointment, cheerful, making light of difficulties, almost gaily
+prophesying a speedy revenge.
+
+Now one evening my battalion halted after a weary, heart-breaking tramp
+during the day. We had had little food, and that unsuitable, for some
+time. In my squad was a man whose country I have good reasons for not
+mentioning; suffice it to say that he came from a land lying on the
+eastern frontier of France. I shall call him Jean, though that was not
+his name. All the day he was saying: "Quelle misère, quelle misère!"
+until we were sick of the words, and I told him, rather roughly I am
+sorry to say, to keep his troubles to himself. When we came into camp
+great precautions were adopted to prevent surprise, and I may detail
+these so that everything may be quite plain. Moreover, they will show
+how careful our officers were.
+
+Now, as I have often mentioned, a battalion has four companies.
+Normally a company has two hundred and fifty men, but at this time the
+strongest company of my battalion numbered only about a hundred and
+sixty. In the camp the battalion lay in square, so that each company
+had one side of the square to protect in case of attack, and had to
+furnish all the guards and outlying pickets on that side. My company
+lay on the side nearest the enemy, or, as I should rather say, nearest
+the quarter whence an attack would most probably come.
+
+When the company was halted and faced outwards, a corporal and his
+squad--say seventeen all told--were detached to furnish the inner
+sentries. Of these eight men were posted at intervals about fifty paces
+from the main body; the corporal and the eight reliefs lay half-way
+between them and the company. Thus every soldier was on sentry for two
+hours at a time, and then had two hours to rest as well as he could on
+the bare ground. This squad constituted the guard.
+
+Now two squads with their respective corporals, having an officer
+or sergeant in chief command, formed the outlying pickets of the
+company or, if you wish, of one side of the square encampment. Half of
+each squad acted as sentries about seventy-five yards from the inner
+line of watching men; between the two lines of sentries the reliefs
+of the outlying pickets rested. The sentries of the guard stood up,
+the sentries of the outlying pickets lay down; no glint of buckle or
+bayonet was allowed to show. It was next to impossible to surprise the
+camp, even if the darkness should prevent the outer line of sentinels
+from seeing the approach of an enemy, by placing their ears to the
+ground they could easily hear the tread of any considerable body
+of troops, and it would require a very considerable body of men to
+surprise effectively--that is, to annihilate--about six hundred good
+soldiers, who knew how useless it was to ask for quarter from such
+enemies. I hope I have made this matter clear: military men, I know,
+will understand, and I hope that others may be able to comprehend it
+too.
+
+My squad was for outlying picket that night, and as it contained only
+fifteen men I had to borrow one from the corporal of the next squad
+for duty. This happened to be the one in which Le Grand was, and I
+asked for him. My request was granted, and Le Grand was attached for
+twelve hours to my little party. The sub-lieutenant of the company
+was in charge of the picket, and having led us out to our places he
+ordered the other corporal and me to post the first sentries. I posted
+eight men, amongst them Jean, who was still suffering from melancholy,
+and returned to the spot where the reliefs were to lie. Nicholas, Le
+Grand, and I lay near one another on the ground and began a whispered
+conversation in English, a language that the Russian spoke with great
+purity and ease. In the course of this I mentioned to Le Grand the
+strange way in which Jean had been speaking all the day, and Nicholas
+volunteered to tell us the poor fellow's strange story. I can only give
+the merest outline of it. I wish I could tell it just as I heard it
+that night, but Nicholas was a born storyteller; indeed, he was clever
+in all things.
+
+I must try to give it in my own words.
+
+Jean had been a light cavalryman in the army of his own country, which
+bordered on France. He was, in his own words, a _mauvais sujet_, always
+getting into trouble. He could not resist the charms of female society,
+and many a dreary hour he passed in prison for staying away from his
+duties because he could not tear himself away from some newly-found
+angel. Things in the end came to such a pass that his life in barracks
+became unbearable, as his comrades had now turned against him. A
+cavalryman's horse must be attended to, and if the rider be absent
+his comrades have to do extra work. Now extra work is merely a cause
+of extra swearing when the proper man for the duty is ill or absent
+on leave, or even absent without permission once in a while, but when
+a man is continually staying out and then getting sent to cells the
+affair is altogether different. In no army will soldiers stand that. It
+is quite enough, men say, for each to groom and feed his own charger,
+but it is very unfair that a soldier, his own work done, should be
+ordered to do the work of another who is away enjoying himself or
+paying for his pleasure in the guard-room. So Jean had been rather
+roughly disciplined by his fellow-soldiers, and this punishment did him
+so much more good than any inflicted by the officers that for nearly
+two months he was a fairly steady soldier. Seeing this, the other
+fellows became again friendly with him, never, indeed, having borne
+malice, and only desiring that he should do his share of the work.
+
+Well, one night a big gamble was carried on in the barrack-room. Some
+recruits had come in for training, and two or three of these were
+fairly well off. The old soldiers thought that card-playing would
+tend to a more equal distribution of the money, and preparations
+were accordingly made for a wakeful night. A few bottles of brandy
+and wine were smuggled in, and when all the lights were out blankets
+were judiciously placed over the windows, the lower edge of the
+door, and even the keyhole, so that by no accident might the game be
+interrupted. Then some candles were lit, and after the men had been
+cordially invited to drink, some game or other was begun, and, as was
+natural, the more equable distribution of the money began. Now Jean was
+a very good card-player, and the little pile of silver and coppers at
+his corner of the table steadily increased, and when the little party
+broke up at reveille, his head was heavy with sleep and his pockets
+with money. He got through the duties of the day as well as he could,
+and when evening came dressed to go out, just merely, as he said to
+Nicholas afterwards, for a walk and a glass of wine. Of course, he took
+all his money with him: that was an obvious precaution.
+
+Soon after passing through the gate he met a lady whose acquaintance
+he had made some time before. She was pretty and clever, knew how to
+dress, and was by no means averse to the society of a handsome light
+cavalryman whose pockets were well lined and whose reputation for
+generosity in his dealings with the fair sex was so well established as
+our friend's.
+
+The pair had ever so much to say to each other, and Jean admitted that
+he had a little money, sent to him by a rich aunt, he said, who would
+some day die and leave him a nice little property--oh, merely a few
+thousand shillings a year. (I use the word shillings as it gives no
+clue to Jean's country.) "How good she was!" said the pretty girl. "And
+I," she went on; "oh, you would never guess what I am doing now." Jean
+guessed, and guessed, and guessed again. It was all no use; he had to
+pay for a pair of gloves before his curiosity would be gratified. Then
+she told him that a certain rich bachelor, a Government official, had
+gone for a cure to some watering-place and had left her in sole charge
+of his domicile until his return.
+
+"Oh," said Jean, "I guessed the rich man, and yet I had to pay for the
+gloves."
+
+"True, my friend, very true indeed," she answered; "but you did not
+guess the visit to the baths, and is not that, my handsome fellow, the
+most important thing?"
+
+There was no denying this. Surely it must rejoice youth and health to
+find age and pain so careful, so thoughtful, for self and others!
+
+Jean was generous; he could well afford to be, as he had won a
+large sum, for a soldier; the girl, to give her her due, was not
+too exacting. An idyllic life was lived by both in the beautifully
+furnished house of Dives Senex for almost a week. Jean went out only
+at dark, and then merely for a walk around the unfrequented parts of
+the town for an hour. As he wore the old man's clothes, which fitted
+fairly well, there was little danger of his being recognised. At last
+the dreaded morning came when Jean should leave the house. He knew that
+sharp punishment awaited him at the barracks, but he had made up his
+mind to make a bold bid for liberty. This time he feared the anger of
+his comrades more than a court-martial, for he had been guilty of the
+unpardonable sin of winning money and spending it without the aid of
+the other troopers, while all the work of barrack-room and stable was
+left to them. He knew very well that the consequences would be ugly,
+and he determined to desert from his corps, more from fear of the squad
+court-martial than of the regular one presided over by an officer. Of
+course, his desertion was nothing--that is common in all armies--but
+Jean's plan of deserting was unique. I at least have never heard of a
+similar case.
+
+Now the town in which Jean's regiment lay was not very far from the
+French frontier. At this place there was a debatable ground about a
+hundred yards wide, and on each side a line of sentries, French on
+the west, Jean's countrymen on the east. Jean had quite made up his
+mind to cross to French territory; he believed that, if he could only
+get there and get a few kilometres away from the frontier, the French
+authorities would not trouble themselves to capture him and send him
+back. Moreover, desertion, as I have already had occasion to mention,
+is not an extraditable offence. The difficulties were to get to the
+frontier, to cross it safely, and to travel some distance into France.
+
+Well, Jean knew that at a certain hour that day his regiment would be
+out of barracks for cavalry drill. He also knew a way of getting into
+his quarters without passing any men of his own regiment on duty. An
+infantry guard lay at a certain gate. They would in all probability let
+him pass; he could then cross the infantry parade ground, go under an
+archway or through a gate--I am not quite certain about this--and enter
+the cavalry barracks. Once there he would act as circumstances required.
+
+To make as certain as possible of passing the guard, he bought a
+blue envelope, put a sheet of paper inside, fastened the edges, and
+wrote the address of some high officer upon it, and then placed the
+seemingly official document between his belt and tunic. Anybody
+would thus mistake him for an orderly carrying a despatch, and so no
+one would think of interfering. Thus prepared he easily passed the
+infantry guard, nodding genially to some of the men, and made his way
+across the parade ground to the entrance to the cavalry quarters. Here
+he was in luck; no one was about except a couple of recruits doing
+sentry duty--one at the stables, the other about fifty yards away.
+Jean was not recognised by either, and, going to his room, put on his
+sword, and dressed himself as if for general parade. He then went
+down to the stables, saddled his charger, which was the only animal
+in the place, mounted, and rode back the way he came. Again he passed
+without suspicion the infantry guard at the gate, and soon found
+himself smartly trotting towards the frontier. He was in high spirits.
+Everything had gone so well, surely luck would not desert him now.
+
+As he neared the frontier he trotted towards a guard-house on the
+side of the road. The sentry near the door looked carelessly at him
+as he came up, the sergeant did not condescend to come forward to
+meet him: he was evidently only a light cavalryman sent with some
+ridiculous message or other from the town. When only a few yards from
+the guard-house, instead of pulling up and delivering the blue envelope
+which he now held in his hand, he flung it on the ground, and driving
+the spurs into his horse's sides he passed the astonished sentry and
+galloped into the debatable land. A gap in the hedge allowed him into
+the fields that bordered the road. He heard as he went through the
+report of a rifle behind, but the sudden turn saved him. He now went
+towards the French line at a spot about equidistant from two French
+sentries, and as he did so he lowered his head to his horse's neck. The
+French sentries also fired and missed. You can scarcely blame them;
+their surprise must have been so great when they saw a presumably mad
+light horseman invading single-handed the sacred soil of France. In
+less time than it takes to tell Jean was through the second line of
+guards and careering wildly across country, taking hedges, streams and
+ditches like the winning jockey of the Grand National. A few scattered
+bullets whizzed about his ears, but rider and horse were untouched. He
+was now safe from the fire of his fellow-countrymen, and the French
+sentinels probably did not want to hit him; his escapade, serious
+though it might be for the others, was only a good joke to them.
+Moreover, a private soldier must be very bad-minded indeed when he
+tries to shoot another private, though of a different army, who has
+evidently got into trouble and is seeking to escape. Certain things
+excite compassionate feelings amongst men of all armies--amongst the
+simple soldiers, I mean. As for the sergeants and corporals, the
+thoughts of the chevrons they have and those they hope for make them
+dead to all feelings of pity for a man in trouble.
+
+After some time Jean began to feel somewhat at ease. He pulled up under
+cover of a small wood and began to consider his next move. If he could
+only get rid of the uniform he fancied he should be comparatively safe.
+This had to be done quickly, as he was not more than three miles from
+the frontier, and the French cavalry would soon be on his track. While
+he was thinking he glanced around to see if he were observed, and
+saw an old man, evidently of the farming class, looking at him with
+surprise. Jean determined to appeal for aid, and going towards the
+peasant frankly told his story. The peasant smiled at first and then
+laughed heartily.
+
+"My good friend," said he, "take off the saddle and bridle and put them
+here," at the same time pointing to a place where the underwood was
+very thick. Jean did so, and the old man carefully concealed them.
+
+"Now lead your horse by the mane to that field where you see the cows
+grazing, and return."
+
+Jean obeyed.
+
+"Now come to my house"--he pointed it out--"in ten minutes: no one will
+be within. You will find clothes on a chair, but be sure to take away
+again your uniform, belts and sword--they would be of no use to me;
+hide them where they will not be likely to be found."
+
+Jean did as he was told. He found some old clothes on the chair
+just inside the door; on a table were some bread and milk. He drank
+the latter and pocketed the former when he had put on the disguise,
+and then flung all his military clothing and equipments into a
+stagnant pool. On that day he did not travel far, but found a secure
+hiding-place until the darkness should allow him to go his way in
+safety. During the night he tramped about twenty-five kilometres,
+keeping his eyes and ears on guard, but only once was he in danger.
+He heard the footfalls of horses at a distance and left the road. Two
+mounted gendarmes passed, and after a short interval Jean resumed his
+journey. At daybreak again he sought and found a hiding-place, and
+there slept for some hours. When he awoke he felt hungry and thirsty,
+and resolved to try to buy something at a farmhouse that was visible
+about five hundred yards away. As Jean spoke good French he anticipated
+no difficulty on the score of language, and, having some silver in his
+pockets, there surely ought to be no difficulty in the way of obtaining
+supplies. When he went to the farmhouse he was met by an old woman, who
+at once pitied the tired wayfarer with the handsome face and the ragged
+clothes; she gave him bread and meat and a glass of wine, refusing all
+payment. She was so good and looked so trustworthy that Jean told her
+his story, omitting, however, all mention of women, and explaining
+that his desertion was due altogether to the tyranny of the officers.
+The good old woman pitied him the more for his sad tale; she even gave
+him a suit of fairly good clothing belonging to her son, at the time
+serving with his regiment. How the women of Europe love and honour the
+soldier and pity his misfortunes! There the army has hostages from all
+homes. She even pressed money on him, but this he refused to take. He
+had money enough in his pocket to carry him a good way towards Paris,
+and, even if he had to tramp a bit of the way, with his new clothing he
+felt independent and free from care.
+
+In the end Jean entered Paris, and immediately volunteered for the
+Foreign Legion. At once he was accepted, and after a short time in
+Algeria was sent to Tonquin. There he was taken into my battalion, and
+handed over to me to help to make up the number of the squad. And now
+he was amongst us, calling out every moment the unlucky words: "Quelle
+misère, quelle misère!"
+
+Nicholas took up a longer time in telling this story than I, but you
+must remember that the Russian was very clever and had the story at
+first-hand. I have only given the general outline; most of the details
+have been forgotten by me after so many years.
+
+Well, at last the sub-lieutenant in charge of both squads of the
+outlying picket ordered the reliefs to be posted. I took Nicholas the
+Russian, Le Grand the Irishman, and six others of various nationalities
+to relieve the half-squad that had done sentry duty for the previous
+two hours. I remember I put Le Grand in place of poor Jean. When
+we--that is, I, the corporal, and the eight men relieved--came back
+to the lying-down place I dismissed quietly the men, of course only
+from duty, not from the place, and lay down on my back, shut my eyes,
+and began to muse. Almost before I felt it I was in a half-doze, when
+suddenly the report of a rifle caused me to jump up. As I opened my
+eyes I saw, so quickly did the alarm arouse me, the falling body of a
+man. I hurriedly called out the names of the reliefs--the men relieved
+were now the reliefs--all answered except Jean.
+
+"I think, my corporal," said an Alsatian, "that he has shot himself."
+
+The whole camp was roused; the sub-lieutenant ran down and called me
+to account for the alarm. I went over to the prone figure, passed my
+hand across the face, and found it at once warm and wet. Poor Jean, as
+we saw when dawn came, had blown away the top of his head. There was
+no enemy, it was true, but I fancy the legionaries did not sleep any
+more that night; a dead comrade in the camp is worse, a thousand times
+worse, than a living foe outside.
+
+Now I won't moralise over this. Jean, as I have called him, was a good
+comrade, especially when he had money; he was fickle, but so were all,
+amongst the women; he chose to shoot himself, that was his business and
+not mine. And that is all that I, his corporal, have to say.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+
+A little time after the suicide of Jean we found ourselves in a
+position to attempt the recapture of Lang-Son. We went forward
+cautiously, doing at most ten kilometres a day. Then even at the end
+of a day's march we were in fit condition for a battle, in case the
+enemy elected to attack us in the evening or during the night. As we
+again went forward our spirits rose. We were extremely glad to have
+done with the constant retirement in front of the enemy; of all things
+in the world the most disheartening is a withdrawal after a defeat.
+A victory means hard work, and a pursuit harder, but a retreat is
+the hardest of all. I am not speaking of the glory of victory or the
+disgrace of defeat. Like most soldiers I think only of my private
+troubles and the troubles of my comrades, and I can assure the reader
+that, when a battalion is falling back on the base, supplies are bad
+and insufficient, anxiety on the part of all is heart-breaking, an
+attack in force is always to be expected, and no one can safely say
+that those who have beaten his side once may not do so again and more
+decisively. Even in a pursuit, when the rations are short, one feels
+that the enemy is suffering more than himself, and the thought that
+the battalion is pressing on their rear, giving them no peace or ease
+or quietness, adds a zest to the bad and scanty food which makes it
+palatable and satisfying. Let no one run away with the idea that we
+simple soldiers did not feel the sting of defeat--indeed, we felt it,
+and sorely too--but while one can forgive himself for a disaster, he
+finds it very hard to forgive the enemy for following it up. It is bad
+enough to be driven off a stricken field; it is infinitely worse to
+be harassed afterwards. War is like gambling: if you win first, even
+though you lose afterwards, you like to keep on playing the game; but
+if you lose in the beginning, you will at once imagine that the game is
+not worth the candle. The young soldier who in his first battle tastes
+the bitterness of defeat and endures the hardships of the hurried
+march, the wakeful rest under arms, the wretched food, the dirt and
+worse than dirt, the continual strain upon the nerves, and all things
+else which are the portion of the conquered, will see war divested of
+all its seeming glory; his voice at least will never be for war.
+
+The Black Flags and their allies, the Chinese regulars, gave us very
+little trouble on our march towards Lang-Son. What little fighting did
+take place on the way cannot be described by me, as my battalion had
+nothing to do with it. Annamite tirailleurs with some French soldiers
+and legionaries formed the first line of the advance. They easily
+overcame all the opposition offered to them; it was only when the grand
+assault in force had to be made that we others came into the fighting
+line. While advancing rations again were both good and sufficient;
+occasionally too we got an allowance of wine or brandy, and these
+extra rations pleased us very much, for it is wonderfully easy to make
+soldiers happy. Our guards and pickets were just as well set and kept
+as ever--our officers were taking no risks--and God help the man of
+ours who slept at his post. We acquiesed cheerfully in this; and in any
+case we were so accustomed to exact discipline and perfect precautions
+against surprise that constant guard and picket-mounting seemed as
+natural as getting one's morning coffee or evening soup. Since we did
+not march much any day there was always a fairly long time in camp,
+and when we entered camp in the evening, the men who had been up the
+night before lay down and rested while the others, who had had, thanks
+to their comrades' watchfulness, a good night's rest, lit the fires
+and cooked the evening meal and performed all the other duties that
+soldiers have to do in the field. This had a good effect upon all; it
+was just as if one man said to another: "You watched last night while I
+slept in safety, I will now work while you rest in comfort and wait for
+your soup." The officers, I am sure, noted this and were glad: anything
+that makes soldiers better comrades tends also to make them better
+fighting men.
+
+At last the day came when we were within striking distance of the
+enemy. All ranks were satisfied. We knew that very soon the disgrace
+of the last action would be wiped away, and we in the ranks were just
+as eager to clean the slate as our officers. I do not think that many
+were thinking of gaining promotion or distinction in the fight. The
+important thing was to show to all the world, or at least to that part
+of it which was interested in the campaign, that our reverse was but an
+accident of war and its effects only temporary. Again, we all desired
+satisfaction for the torments and annoyances of the retreat; these were
+too recent to be easily forgotten.
+
+The battle was begun, as usual, by the artillery. They, however, were
+not long the only men engaged, for very soon after the cannonade had
+begun the long lines of infantry were extended to right and left.
+My company was in the right attack, and we went gaily forward in
+skirmishing order until a man or two fell. Then we opened fire at a
+pretty long range at the place where the cloud of smoke told us that
+our friends the enemy lay. This firing did not delay the advance. On
+the contrary, it hastened it, for now we fired and ran forward, fired
+again and made another dash towards the front. Indeed, our officers
+and sergeants had a good deal of work to keep us from going along too
+quickly, and in the end we corporals were commanded to cease firing
+and to devote our attention exclusively to keeping our squads well in
+hand, so that the line might advance evenly and the men be brought up
+in sound wind and condition to the point where the bayonets would be
+fixed for the final charge. Of course, I know you will say that the
+corporals should have been doing this from the very outset, but it is
+very hard for a man to carry a rifle and cartridges without making some
+use of them. Why, I have seen officers, and those of high rank too,
+take the rifle of a dead man and half-a-dozen cartridges from his pouch
+in order to have the satisfaction of firing a few shots at the enemy.
+It is human nature, or rather the nature of soldiers in a fight; one
+likes to feel that he is doing something on his own account to help his
+comrades and to hurt the foe.
+
+Well, the officers and the sub-officers worked well together, and
+the men, to give them their due, obeyed orders willingly, especially
+when the excitement of the first firing had passed away and they had
+settled down to the steady work of the advance. When we came within
+about four hundred yards of the entrenchments the rushes succeeded one
+another more rapidly, and men went a greater distance between shots.
+Thus we gradually approached, until finally we were all ordered to lie
+down and fix bayonets. As we did so the supports joined the fighting
+line--they were somewhat blown with the last race forward--and so we
+lay about eighty yards or less from the enemy's position, firing as
+quickly as possible. The Chinese regulars and the Black Flags were not
+remiss either in their volleys. A hail of bullets crossed the zone
+between us, but their fire slowly slackened, especially as a very
+storm of shells was falling towards their rear. Their supports, we
+saw, could not easily come up. At length the guns in our rear ceased
+shelling the position; at the same time the fire had greatly diminished
+in front. The commandant saw that the time had come, and at the sound
+of the charge we sprang up, ran at the regulation _pas gymnastique_
+towards the trenches, and, when about twenty yards away, rushed at
+the top of our speed, with the usual charging cry of "Kill, kill," at
+the fortifications, which had been already so badly damaged by the
+guns. In a few seconds we were in and using the bayonet with deadly
+earnestness and a grim determination to wash away in blood the memory
+of our recent defeat. The Black Flags flung down their weapons and ran
+out at the back of the entrenchments, but the Chinese regulars fought
+very well indeed. Well as the Chinese fought they could not long stand
+up against us. I have already mentioned that they are very light;
+indeed, I doubt if the average weight is much more than seven stone and
+a half. Then they can stand bayoneting without shrinking, but they are
+by no means quick in using the bayonet themselves; again, if a Chinaman
+gets you on the ground he will drive his weapon home six or seven times
+more than are needed, and will never notice your comrade coming along,
+quietly, with lowered head and levelled bayonet to attack. It seems to
+me that the Chinese go into a fight with something ugly to foreigners
+to meet, but altogether unlike what we Europeans call courage; they
+just go in, they kill, they are killed, and that is all there is about
+it. Yet they are not cowards; if they are, why did they not run like
+the Black Flags? And they will charge wounded men with spirit, if I may
+use the word in that connection; and with just as much steady calmness
+they will await the onset of the foreign devils when they rush the
+mound, get into the ditch and slay, and, not yet slaked with blood,
+rush out at the rear of the entrenchments with bloody bayonets, and
+loot and murder and rapine in their minds.
+
+We got in, and in a few moments not a man was left standing up in the
+trenches. We looked around. What was the next thing to do? "No. 1
+Company, remain here," shouted the commandant as he tried to staunch
+the blood that ran down the left side of his face from an ugly sabre
+slash on the temple; "the other companies advance." We three companies
+got out at the rear of the field fortifications and awaited orders
+again. "Go up that hill, captain"--this to my captain from the
+commandant--"and help the soldiers of the line to carry it." "Yes, my
+commandant," said the captain. We turned towards the right and looked
+at the little hill. It was about three hundred yards only from level
+ground to crest; the top was fortified, but only slightly; the soldiers
+of the line were half-way up on their side, but they were meeting
+with a very gallant resistance. The rifles above showed no signs of
+slackening; a heavy, dense smoke covered the crest of the hill; midway
+down you saw the spirts of flame and little smoke clouds where the
+French were going up. That smoke quickly disappeared, for the men never
+fired twice in the same spot. We ran at first up the hill, and were
+not noticed; very soon we went more easily, as the hill grew steeper
+and the rifles above began to pay us attention. Then we fired upwards
+in return, but our bayonets were fixed, and we knew very well that in
+these alone lay any chance of success. How could we hit men above us
+whom we could not see? It was impossible, but we could, and did, send
+bullets so near their heads that aiming down was almost as fruitless
+for them as aiming up was for the soldiers of the line and ourselves.
+
+As we went along an officer ran up almost to the top, waving his sword,
+and crying out to the men to follow. We went a little more quickly.
+Just as he reached a point about ten paces from the outer face of the
+entrenchments he fell, shot through the heart. A great cry arose from
+us; we sprang up, disregarding all cover, and madly raced for the
+summit of the little hill. Volley after volley was fired at us, but
+with little damage. Take my word for it, when the Asiatic sees the
+European charging with bayonet on rifle-barrel his aim is not quite so
+good as usual, and in any case his best is not much. So we rushed, and
+when we came to the little fortification we had small difficulty in
+getting in; by that time the French soldiers of the line had crowned
+the height on their side and were over the entrenchments. We were
+almost shoved back by the fugitives running from the Frenchmen, but
+we steadied ourselves and gave them the bayonet, until at last they
+were all down, and the soldiers of the line and the legionaries alone
+stood facing one another on the little hill with ugly curses and bloody
+steel. Not that they cursed us or we them; only when you are using the
+bayonet, and for a while afterwards, your language is a real reflex of
+your thoughts.
+
+It was the Frenchmen who really carried the hill; we had only come in
+towards the end to their assistance. So we left them on the ground
+that they had so gallantly won, and, going down the side nearest the
+remnants of our opponents, we looked for more work, more excitement,
+more glory, and more revenge. And we found them all very soon.
+
+We had scarcely reached the bottom of the hill when a crowd of Chinese
+regulars, with some Black Flags who had not run away, charged us with
+loud cries and imprecations. We met them fairly and squarely, and
+pushed them at the point of the bayonet a few yards back. They were
+reinforced, and by sheer weight of numbers made us for a time give way.
+Our officers fought like devils; truth to tell, though we did not like
+them, we could not help admiring their courage in a fight. The captain
+was down, so was the sub-lieutenant, the lieutenant had been wounded at
+the beginning of the battle; the one sergeant who was left took up the
+command and led us back from a short retreat in an ugly rush against
+the enemy. I saw a Black Flag carrying a standard in his left hand,
+while he cut all around at our fellows with the sword in his right. I
+determined to have that flag, or at least to make a bold try for it,
+and went with levelled bayonet at the barbarian. He cut down a man of
+ours as I came, and had not time to parry my thrust with his sword, and
+failed to do so with the staff of the banner. He took the point fairly
+in the left side, and I had only just time to get my weapon back when
+he delivered a furious slash at my head. Receiving this on the middle
+of the rifle-barrel I thrust a second time, and sent him fairly to
+the ground. Reversing my rifle--that is, holding it at the left side
+instead of the right--I stabbed straight down, and pinned his right
+hand to the ground. Pressing then on the rifle with my left hand, so
+that he could not free his sword arm, I plucked away the banner with
+my right. Nicholas at the time shouted out: "Look out, corporal, look
+out." And, looking up, I saw half-a-dozen Black Flags coming straight
+at me. I flung the banner on the ground, pulled my bayonet out of the
+savage's hand, and, just in time, got into a posture of defence. The
+first man I stopped with a lunge in the face just between the eyes, but
+the others would have killed me were it not that now the squad came to
+my assistance. Nicholas and the others soon finished the half-dozen who
+had attacked me, but others came up too, and very soon about a dozen of
+us were desperately resisting a desperate attack. They outnumbered us
+by about four to one, but we were heavier, steadier, and, above all,
+quicker with the bayonet. All the same, man after man of ours went down
+till half our number lay dead or dying on the ground. Luckily, Le Grand
+noticed our difficulty and, calling together six or eight men of his
+own squad, came to our assistance. Le Grand and his comrades took the
+Black Flags in the flank; the new assailants overwhelmed them; they
+gave way sullenly at first, but in the end broke and fled, leaving
+more than half their number on the field. I was happy in retaining
+the banner, but I almost at once learned how dear that banner was to
+me. A cry from Le Grand made me turn round, and I saw Nicholas lying
+on the ground and a wounded Black Flag cutting at him with a sabre,
+while the poor Russian did his best to ward off the blows with his
+hands. As I looked, a Spaniard of Le Grand's squad drove his bayonet
+up to the rifle-muzzle three times in quick succession into the body
+of the wounded savage who was trying to kill our good comrade. I ran
+to Nicholas and, laying down rifle and captured flag, asked him how he
+felt, was he badly wounded, and without waiting for an answer began to
+bind his wounded arms and hands. He shook his head sadly.
+
+"It is no use, my comrade; I have got worse than that."
+
+Indeed he had, for his left side was torn open. Nicholas nodded his
+head towards a dead Black Flag, and we saw at once the weapon that had
+inflicted so horrible a wound. It was shaped somewhat like a bill-hook,
+but could be used for thrusting as well as cutting, about four inches
+of the end being shaped like a broad-bladed knife, the remainder of
+the steel rather resembling a narrow-bladed hatchet. The poor Russian,
+in spite of the severe wound, had managed to kill his enemy. I am glad
+he did so, for, had the barbarian been only wounded, I should have
+been sorely tempted to finish the work, and though one may kill a
+helpless man without pity when "seeing red" or to avenge a friend, yet
+afterwards the thought of such slaughter is unpleasant. After some time
+we stopped the bleeding, and were glad to be able to give him a good
+long drink, and then to refill his own water bottle with the few drops
+still remaining in the bottoms of ours. We left him only when we had to
+rejoin the company. The sergeant who now commanded it asked me gruffly
+where I had been. I showed him the captured banner, and in a few words
+told of the desperate fight made by the Black Flags to regain it. He
+seemed satisfied, and asked how many men I had lost.
+
+"Nine," I replied.
+
+He counted us, and said: "Nine lost and nine left; that is rather
+serious; a banner is not worth so many men."
+
+But you may be sure that it would have been worth a whole section in
+the sergeant's eyes, had he taken it.
+
+There was little more fighting to be done that day. All along the
+line the French had been successful, and already linesmen, chasseurs,
+zouaves, legionaries, and tirailleurs were bivouacking in Lang-Son. My
+battalion searched out its wounded and brought them to an appointed
+spot; you may be sure that poor Nicholas was carried as gently as
+possible to the place. I went back for him before I thought of looking
+for anyone else, even an officer. He was lying quietly where we had
+left him, and I found that already he had drunk all the water in the
+bottle. Luckily, as I was going back, I passed the dead body of a
+white officer of our opponents; he was dressed in a yellow tunic and
+trousers, with tan boots; his white helmet lay a foot or so from his
+head; a heavy, fair moustache curled outwards on both cheeks; his jaw
+had fallen, and his wide-open blue eyes were staring upwards at the
+sky; at least a dozen gashes showed red upon the body, and a bloody
+sword in one hand, an empty revolver in the other, were evidence that
+his death had been amply paid for. A white man fights well when he
+knows that there is no quarter for him. Luckily, as I have said, I came
+across this body, for slung round the right shoulder and resting at the
+left hip was a leather bottle. I took this, and was glad to find that
+it was more than half full of brandy and water.
+
+"A share, corporal," said a comrade.
+
+"No," I answered; "all for Nicholas."
+
+"Pardon me, corporal; I forgot."
+
+Nicholas thanked me with a glance and a nod. With some rifles and a
+couple of greatcoats we made a fairly good litter, and bore him to the
+quarter where the surgeons were working in their shirt sleeves. There
+we left him with the attendants and went out to bring in others. When
+I was leaving the hospital, if I may call it so, for the last time, as
+every wounded man had been brought in, Nicholas beckoned to me. I went
+over, and he whispered:
+
+"I am dying. I make you the heir to all I possess. Very little--but
+still all; here it is."
+
+He pressed a small bag into my hand. I said:
+
+"Not at all, good comrade; you will want it when you recover, or at
+least to get better attendance and a few delicacies in hospital."
+
+"No, my friend; I am leaving _la gamelle_. Take it and I shall be
+pleased. Try to see me in the morning; to-morrow evening it will be too
+late."
+
+He forced the little bag again into my hand. I had to take it, but I
+resolved to see him in the morning and to return it if he were still
+alive, though I could not help feeling an ugly presentiment that my
+poor friend was really dying and that the best friend I had in the
+little world of the Foreign Legion was about to leave me for ever.
+
+After soup had been served out to all the men the sergeant, who still
+commanded the company, told me that I was wanted at the hospital. I,
+thinking only of Nicholas, said that I should go thither at once.
+
+"Do you know, corporal," said he, "where it is?"
+
+"Certainly, yes," I answered. "Did I not help to bring many wounded
+there to-day?"
+
+"Of whom are you thinking?" he asked.
+
+"Nicholas, the prince, you understand. Do you not remember Three
+Fountains?"
+
+"Very well--too well, indeed," the sergeant replied; "but it is not
+the Russian who desires to see you, it is the captain." Calling to a
+hospital attendant passing at the time he inquired if the man were
+going to the officers' hospital. He was not going there, but would pass
+it on his way to his own destination.
+
+"Go with him," said the sergeant to me; "he will show you the place.
+Ask for our captain."
+
+I went away with the hospital orderly, and was shown the officers'
+hospital quarters by him. On giving name, company, and battalion--they
+saw my rank upon my sleeve--I was told to wait until the
+surgeon-in-charge could be told that I wished to see a patient. Very
+soon the surgeon came. He asked me quite abruptly whom I desired to
+see. I told him with military directness, but respectfully, and he said
+that I might be brought to where the captain lay. I went there with an
+orderly. The captain had a wound on the right arm not of much account;
+it certainly did not keep him in hospital, but, as he had been knocked
+down and stunned by a blow of a musket-butt on the left temple, the
+surgeons would, and did, detain him for awhile. Several times while
+I was with him he put his hands to his head and swore a little. But,
+of course, that was none of my business. He asked me about the banner
+I had taken--"not, you must remember," said he, "that that was very
+useful or very creditable."
+
+I told the story, and especially laid stress on the facts that poor
+Nicholas had warned me of the first attack and that he was now dying in
+the simple soldiers' hospital.
+
+"You are sorry?" he queried.
+
+"Very; he was my good comrade."
+
+"Had he much money?"
+
+"He gave me all." And I showed the little bag.
+
+"How much?"
+
+I counted, and replied:
+
+"One thousand four hundred and fifty francs, twenty or thirty piastres."
+
+"You are rich."
+
+"My captain, he will share with me if he lives, and if he dies I am the
+poorer by a friend."
+
+"Pouf! a sergeant does not want friends amongst the simple soldiers."
+
+"No, my captain, nor enemies; but I am not a sergeant."
+
+"You are; the commandant will announce it to-morrow. He was with me an
+hour ago."
+
+"Thanks, my captain; I did not see a ghost this time."
+
+"Ah, you remember! What made you look so pale that day?" I told him,
+and his only remark was:
+
+"It might have frightened a man, and you are only a boy. How old are
+you?"
+
+"Oh, in truth," I said, "not yet seventeen."
+
+"But you are over eighteen in the records."
+
+"That, my captain, is my official age."
+
+"Very well, very well; it has nothing to do with me."
+
+After awhile the captain said:
+
+"Who was Nicholas? What was he?"
+
+I answered truly that I did not know--that nobody knew--that he had
+often plenty of money, and was a good comrade.
+
+"We could not fail to see, my captain," I went on, "that he had been
+in a high position once; there is, indeed, a story that he commanded a
+company of Russian guards at Plevna, but no one knows with certainty.
+He did not tell, and we did not like to inquire." Then I asked the
+captain for permission to leave the company for half-an-hour in the
+morning.
+
+"Why do you ask that?"
+
+"I want to see Nicholas; he will be disappointed if I do not go to see
+him."
+
+"Perhaps he will be dead."
+
+"I think not so."
+
+"Perhaps he will ask for his money."
+
+"I mean to offer it to him."
+
+The captain smiled, and said:
+
+"You are a strange legionary; you do not care for money."
+
+"On the contrary, my captain, I do like money and what it buys; but
+Nicholas is my friend."
+
+"You may go; stay away an hour if you like. Tell the sergeant that I,
+the captain, have given you permission."
+
+"A thousand thanks, my captain."
+
+After some further questions and answers the captain ordered me to
+go. I saluted, and was just turning to leave when he called me back.
+Pointing to a cigar-box on a rickety table, he told me to give it to
+him. I did so. He opened it and took out two cigars.
+
+"Give that to monsieur the prince, with his captain's compliments, and
+keep this for yourself. Tell him, sergeant"--he laid stress upon the
+word--"that I am sorry for his misfortune and proud to have had such a
+man in my company. Say to him exactly what I have said to you."
+
+"Yes, my captain," I answered, saluted again, thanked him for the
+cigars, and went away. Let me say here, though it does somewhat
+anticipate events, that the captain was my good friend afterwards,
+and more than once broke my fall when I got into trouble. The death
+of Nicholas deprived me of a good comrade. By it I gained a friend
+in a higher position, but I would any day have surrendered the
+captain's good will if by so doing I could regain the companion of the
+barrack-room and the canteen.
+
+When I got back to the company, I reported my return at once to the
+sergeant. He asked me what the captain wanted me for, and I told him
+that the officer had questioned me about the affair of the banner and
+about Nicholas. I said nothing of the money or the cigars.
+
+"Did he tell you anything?"
+
+"Yes; he said that I was to be sergeant to-morrow."
+
+"Indeed," said the sergeant.
+
+"I suppose, sergeant, I may thank you for a favourable report about
+to-day's fight."
+
+"I only told the truth," said the sergeant, "and I always liked you
+when I was corporal of the squad."
+
+Then I told him about the captain's permission to me to absent myself
+for an hour in the morning so that I might pay a visit to Nicholas.
+
+"You must tell that," he replied, "to the sub-lieutenant in charge; an
+officer has been sent to us from another company."
+
+"Very well," said I. "Where is he?"
+
+He brought me to the sub-lieutenant's quarters. I told the officer
+of my permission; he was satisfied. Before I went he asked about the
+captain's wounds and a few questions of curiosity about Nicholas. I
+told him all I knew about the captain and almost nothing about my
+comrade. As I was leaving, the sergeant drew my attention to the fact
+that I had omitted speaking about my promotion.
+
+"You captured a flag, you say?"
+
+"Yes, sir; and there was a hard fight to retain it."
+
+"And the commandant will promote you sergeant to-morrow?"
+
+"Monsieur le capitaine said so, sir."
+
+"Very good, very good; somebody must be sergeant, I suppose, and why
+not you as well as another? You may withdraw."
+
+As we went away I asked the sergeant if there were any place where I
+could get a drink of wine or brandy.
+
+"Certainly, yes--if you have money, my comrade."
+
+"Come then," I said, "let us go there together."
+
+He brought me to a small hut, where I had to pay a stiff price for
+his brandy and my wine, and when he saw that I had plenty of money he
+unbent and congratulated me more than once on my promotion. He ended by
+borrowing twenty francs, which I willingly lent; of course, he forgot
+to repay me.
+
+The next morning on parade the commandant praised me a little and
+ordered me to take over the duties of No. 1 section. The sergeant who
+had borrowed the twenty francs from me the day before was appointed
+sergeant-major, and the corporal of a squad of No. 2 was made
+sergeant of that section. When we were dismissed, I reminded the new
+sergeant-major of my permission to visit Nicholas. He remembered the
+money I had shown the evening before and promptly brought me up before
+the sub-lieutenant in temporary command of the company, in order that I
+might report my intention of taking advantage of the leave given me by
+the captain. The sub-lieutenant offered no opposition. As I was going
+away the sergeant-major, no doubt remembering that I was comparatively
+rich--that is, rich for a sergeant of legionaries--told me that he
+would take care that my section was all right during my absence.
+
+"Many thanks," I said; "perhaps monsieur le sergent-majeur would wet
+the promotion in the evening."
+
+"But yes, but yes, with pleasure. Do not hurry, you will be back in
+good time; sometimes the sergeant-major is a better friend than a
+simple sub-lieutenant." He was right, and we both knew it.
+
+I went across as quickly as I could to where the field hospital for the
+wounded of the right attack lay. I had little difficulty in finding
+Nicholas; he visibly brightened at seeing me, and, when I tried to
+shake hands, he put his finger on my sleeve, where the single gold
+chevron was that a sergeant of a section wears.
+
+"It pleases me," he whispered; "but don't be too ambitious, other men
+have lost all through ambition."
+
+I said nothing. I was glad that he was pleased, but I cannot tell how
+sorry to see him weak, worn out, and, as one may say, with the dews of
+death already gathering on his forehead. He could not speak, even in a
+low tone, he could only whisper; I had to bend down to catch his words.
+
+He asked about a few men of the squad, and I told him who were dead,
+who dying, who still in the ranks. He was anxious too about Le Grand,
+and was very glad to hear that the latter had gone through the fight
+without even a scratch, though he had had one narrow escape.
+
+"Le Grand," I said to Nicholas, "had to take a dead man's helmet."
+
+"Why, why?" he eagerly whispered.
+
+"Because his own was cut in two by a sabre-stroke. Had the cut been
+downwards, Le Grand would be alongside you to-day."
+
+"I am glad he escaped so well; I like him."
+
+After a little more conversation I was told that my visit must end.
+
+"Who is chiefly with you, Nicholas?" I asked.
+
+He nodded towards an attendant. I went to this man and gave him a
+hundred francs.
+
+"Be good to my comrade," I said.
+
+"Yes; yes," he replied, astonished at such a gift from a mere sergeant
+of legionaries; "I will do all I can, but that, alas! is little."
+
+"I know," I answered, "there is no hope; but smooth the way for him as
+well as you can to Eternity."
+
+He promised with many oaths that he would do so. I don't know whether
+or not he kept his word, but I really do think that the unexpected
+money, and still more the unexpected amount of it, made him a good
+friend to the last to my poor comrade.
+
+So Nicholas the Russian passes out of my story. I never saw him
+afterwards, for that evening my company left Lang-Son for an outside
+station about ten miles from the place. Some time afterwards a
+legionary of No. 2 Company told me that he had been in hospital with
+Nicholas, and that the Russian had died about four o'clock in the
+afternoon of the day I visited him, and was buried in the evening of
+the same day. He is out of the turmoil of the world now, and I wonder,
+had he in early youth understood life as he learned it in the Foreign
+Legion, would he have "played the game" in the same way? One never
+knows. Perhaps he would have lived and died that wretched nonentity,
+the respectable member of society--the Pharisee who has neither
+courage to do evil nor heart to do good--but who lives his life out in
+constant endeavour to equate God and the devil, to balance, for his
+own benefit of course, his duty to his fellow-man and his so-called
+duty to himself; perhaps he unknowingly thought at the end as the Dying
+Stockrider spoke:
+
+ "I've had my share of trouble, and I've done my share of toil,
+   And life is short, the longest life a span,
+ I care not now to tarry for the corn or for the oil
+   Or the wine that maketh glad the heart of man.
+ For gifts misspent, and chances lost, and resolutions vain
+   'Tis somewhat late to trouble: this I know--
+ I would live the same life over if I had to live again,
+   And the chances are, I go where most men go."
+
+Anyway, whatever he was to others, he was good friend and good comrade
+to me, and if no one else regrets, I regret.
+
+_Amice mi, vale, vale, vale!_
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+
+One evening the sergeants and corporals were ordered to forewarn the
+men that the battalion would leave the neighbourhood of Lang-Son early
+the following morning. Where we were going we did not know; indeed, I
+believe that even the commandant himself was unaware of our destination
+when he ordered the battalion to hold itself in readiness for a march.
+When the morning parade had been inspected--we, of course, paraded in
+full marching order--the commandant ordered us to stand at ease. While
+thus waiting in the ranks, an officer of the staff came and gave a
+written paper to the commandant. Shortly afterwards the staff-officer
+went away, and we were marched off in column of fours for some place
+or other, where, we--sub-officers and men--knew not, nor did we care.
+Restlessness is the chief characteristic of the soldier; he stagnates
+in garrison, or, if he doesn't, he avoids _ennui_ by illegitimate
+amusements--excitements, I should say, that sooner or later get him
+into trouble.
+
+I am ashamed to confess that I was as happy as the others as we tramped
+along. Of course, I was sorry for Nicholas, and as I spent the money
+he had left me with the other sergeant and the sergeant-major of the
+company, I felt that all the fun and gaiety that money can produce
+cannot make up for the loss of a good comrade. I took care to do as
+Nicholas would wish me towards my late associates, the corporals, and
+my former associates, the simple soldiers--they were not forgotten when
+the money was spent. Of course, I did not go outside my section, and I
+took good care that my former squad, the squad I had soldiered in ever
+since I was sent from the depot to a battalion, first as soldier of the
+second class in the little trouble with the Arabs in Algeria, in the
+big trouble at Three Fountains, in the troopship, at Noui-Bop; then as
+soldier of the first class till the end of the vengeance at a place I
+have not named--you may be sure it gets scant mention in the official
+records; then as corporal in the defeat at Lang-Son and the retreat
+afterwards, and at the second battle, when we recaptured the town:--oh
+no, I did not forget the men who were what Xenophon would call my
+table-companions; for their part, they thanked me but little, but we
+all understood.
+
+There is no use in detailing our life for the next few weeks. We were
+always marching, now to the north, anon to the west, then a sudden turn
+to east, perhaps, or south or back towards the north again. It was all
+one; we looked for the enemy; we did not find him. At last a momentous
+order came for us. We were much reduced in strength, and the general
+commanding-in-chief determined to send most of the battalion to the sea
+coast and, if the doctors should recommend, back to Algeria. I don't
+think that we mustered six hundred of all ranks at the time, possibly
+we did not exceed five hundred. When I tell you that we were constantly
+receiving batches of fresh men--almost every troopship brought out a
+hundred or two hundred soldiers of the Foreign Legion--you will be
+surprised at this; but then the country is bad for Europeans, and we
+were always in the fighting line of the battles and on tramp here,
+there, and everywhere between them. Anyway, the commandant asked for
+volunteers to form a company to be left behind, and officers as well as
+men were asked to come forward.
+
+"First," said the commandant, "I want a captain."
+
+All the captains stepped out He selected mine. I forgot to state that
+my captain had been sent back to duty, as soon as the surgeons found
+that the blow on the head had produced only temporary ill-effects.
+
+"Now," said the commandant, "a lieutenant."
+
+Forward stepped every officer of that rank. The sub-lieutenant--now a
+lieutenant--who had come out with my company, the _vieux militaire_
+who had risen from the ranks, the man who was good at fighting and
+better at pillage, the man who could overlook much if you were a
+good looter and handed him over a decent percentage of your gains,
+the man with the piercing eye, the hooked nose, the spike-like grey
+moustache was taken on the spot. I believe this selection gave the old
+soldier immense pleasure. "Ah," I can fancy him saying to himself,
+"the commandant knows better than to take boys fresh from school."
+Everybody under forty was to him a boy fresh from school, except, be
+it noted, Nicholas. He did not understand Nicholas, but he was too
+old a soldier, too experienced in the Legion, not to know the ruined
+nobleman, the dangerous man, when he met him. A sub-lieutenant was
+selected in turn, a mere boy who had been sent to us for some little
+peccadillo, some little indiscretion, probably in connection with a
+senior officer's wife. Then a sergeant-major was taken, an Alsatian
+from No. 3. The sergeants were now called on for volunteers, and, just
+as we all stepped forward, a French officer of chasseurs approached the
+commandant to speak with him.
+
+"Select your own sergeants and corporals, captain," the commandant
+cried out to my captain; "the doctor will select the men, for I assume
+that all will volunteer."
+
+The captain promptly selected the two sergeants of his own company. I
+was delighted. I, a boy of less than seventeen, as the captain knew,
+though in the records of the battalion I was approaching nineteen,
+found myself senior sergeant of a company that was evidently to be
+a separate unit for some time. How I mentally thanked the officer
+of chasseurs for his timely intervention, for I felt sure that the
+commandant would not have selected me. The corporals were quickly
+chosen as the captain took all his own corporals who had not been
+seriously wounded and who did not show signs of breaking down, the
+others were taken by him from corporals of other companies after
+a hasty walk down the line of volunteers. He was a clever man,
+that captain of mine: all the outside corporals he selected were
+fair-haired. I have already mentioned that such men can stand hardships
+better than the black-haired ones.
+
+When the commandant had finished his chat with the chasseur, he said:
+
+"All men in the front ranks"--we were drawn up in column of
+companies--"that wish to volunteer, step one pace to the front; all men
+in the rear ranks that wish to volunteer, step one pace to the rear.
+March."
+
+All stepped forward or backward, as the case might be; the commandant
+went down the right flank and saw all the companies opened out.
+
+"Very well, _mes enfants_, since you all volunteer, the doctor will
+make a selection."
+
+The doctor examined every man. As he marched down the ranks he cast
+out almost half, one glance told him that these could not be accepted,
+wounds and disease and semi-starvation and hardship had worn them
+out; the rest he carefully examined in the afternoon, and, to cut
+the matter short, next morning the commandant and other officers and
+other sub-officers and other soldiers said good-bye to a fairly strong
+company--we were more than two hundred and twenty all told--and started
+on their march to the coast. We felt sad as our comrades went away.
+In twenty-four hours we had forgotten them, as, undoubtedly, they had
+forgotten us. Wrong! you say; well, the soldier who can't forget will
+die of brooding over his memories.
+
+In a day or two a few Annamite tirailleurs and eight or ten French
+engineers had came into camp. The chief officer of the tirailleurs
+brought a message for our captain, and in accordance with this we
+pushed forward about seventy or eighty miles and seized a strong
+position, right, as one may say, in the heart of the enemy's country.
+This we proceeded to fortify, the engineers superintending, the
+legionaries working, and the Annamites out on all sides to give us
+notice of any movements against our little post on the part of our
+foes. These, however, allowed us to finish the little fortification
+in peace; once it was finished, we cared not a jot for them. We
+had brought along a good deal of supplies; more of every kind that
+the country produced were collected from all sides; ammunition was
+plentiful, so why should we care?
+
+This was my captain's first separate command, and he had a nice
+little force to help him to keep the post. First, there were the
+legionaries, two hundred and twenty seasoned soldiers; then about a
+hundred and eighty native levies under French officers; last, a really
+admirable demi-squad of engineers. No artillery, of course; but who
+wants artillery when he has enough of rifles? My captain did not, and
+he was really a clever man. Not that guns and gunners have not their
+uses--oh, they have--but they are wanted with brigades and divisions
+for big battles; they are useless, they are worse than useless, to
+small parties on the trail of the enemy or holding some out-of-the-way
+position which may have to be abandoned at a minute's notice. In a
+retreat, when you are burdened with guns, one or two things must be
+done--destroy the artillery, and so produce a bad effect on the men;
+keep it, and by so doing slow down your march in swampy ground. We were
+all glad that no guns had been sent to us. We were quite confident that
+we could maintain our ground with the rifle alone; then, if we really
+had to withdraw, we felt more confident of cutting our way through
+with steady bayonet fighting than if we had to depend on the spasmodic
+assistance of artillery in a retreat.
+
+When the little fortification was finished to the satisfaction of the
+captain and the sergeant in command of the engineers, the little force
+was divided into four parts. Every part had a special duty every day.
+If No. 1 were employed guarding the camp for the twenty-four hours, No.
+2 would be out in the day gathering stores of all kinds and getting
+information; No. 3 would be cooking and doing the other work of the
+camp, except guarding it; and No. 4 would be quietly resting. Thus
+every part had three days' work for one day of rest, but, be it well
+understood, every man was on guard-duty only one night in four. Every
+party, I may mention, had one-fourth of the legionaries and one-fourth
+of the Annamite tirailleurs. As for the engineers, they examined the
+fortifications every day, and did nothing then but cook and eat,
+mend and wash their clothing, and lie about and smoke. The officers
+commanding the parties were the lieutenant and the sub-lieutenant of
+the legionaries, the lieutenant and the sub-lieutenant of the native
+levies, while the captain exercised a general supervision over all,
+especially the entrenchments, the engineers, and the stores.
+
+Things went on well and pleasantly for some time. In fact we were all
+getting tired of the monotony--that is, all except the Annamites, who
+were quite satisfied--and we sergeants and corporals especially were
+desirous of some excitement. This we got, and in full measure. That
+everything may be understood I must give a brief description of the
+post--the fortified encampment I may call it.
+
+The main post was almost rectangular in shape, but a little way out
+from one corner stood a block-house, its nearest angle pointing towards
+an angle of the fort. This block-house was built with the intention of
+protecting the portion of the camp nearest to it, and also in order
+to prevent the enemy from taking up a commanding position within less
+than half musket-shot of our quarters. Furthermore, it dominated a
+spring from which a stream flowed in close proximity to the main
+fortification. This was very necessary, for the Black Flags have no
+compunction about poisoning "foreign devils." The block-house had two
+storeys, and was generally occupied by about twenty men, detached, of
+course, from the party on guard for the day. It was rather exposed on
+the two sides away from the main position, but being well and solidly
+built no one dreamed that it could ever be in any great danger. Well,
+it was; but that came afterwards, and will be dwelt on in due course.
+As for the big position being in danger, everyone scouted the thought.
+Ah, it's well for men that they are generally fools!
+
+Well, the time came at last when the Black Flags came to visit us. The
+first token of their arrival in force was given by the cutting off of
+a squad of Annamite tirailleurs; the second, firing at long range on a
+party of legionaries; the third, the burning of a couple of villages.
+I suppose they thought that the people in these hamlets were friendly
+to us; they were, indeed, friendly, but so they would have been to any
+men who carried arms. The poor people who remain quietly at home and
+take no part in fighting always suffer most. We took their property and
+paid them for it, at least our officers did; the Black Flags came, took
+their money, their women, and often their lives, and then set fire to
+their wretched habitations. In war both sides live very much, if not
+altogether, on the country. You can imagine how pleasant that is for
+the cultivators and others who seek to continue the occupations which
+can be profitable only in time of peace. Well, cowards sow and brave
+men reap.
+
+After the burning of the villages we scouted much more cautiously. Up
+to the first appearance of the Black Flags the Annamites were often
+by themselves, but afterwards we never went in smaller parties than
+thirty, of whom two-thirds were legionaries. So long as we had the
+natives, we could not very well be surprised; and so long as they had
+us with them, they knew that they would not be asked to bear the brunt
+of the fighting, if the enemy only showed himself in force.
+
+One day I was in command of a small party that cautiously felt its way
+towards the north-east, where a village had been seen burning the night
+before. I had two weak squads of my section and a dozen natives, in all
+we were about thirty-five rifles. As we went slowly on, the corporal
+of the tirailleurs gave me to understand that there was danger ahead.
+I did not thank him for the information--I knew as much myself--but,
+as the ground was fairly open, I determined to push on a little
+farther. At the same time I took the precaution of sending a couple
+of men to reinforce the little party guarding each flank, and four to
+the corporal of legionaries who commanded the advance-guard. Scarcely
+had these soldiers reached their respective destinations, when heavy
+firing began in front, followed almost at once by scattered shots on
+the right. The Annamite tirailleurs came back at once, the legionaries
+did not retreat so quickly; they fired as they retreated, and showed
+no signs of panic. I steadied the natives by telling them very plainly
+that the man who moved without orders would be at once shot. When they
+understood this, they stood up to their fight fairly well.
+
+As the outlying squads closed on my command, I asked the corporal
+who had led and the legionary of the first class who had commanded
+on the right, what they thought of the attack. The corporal said it
+seemed serious; the soldier of the first class, that we ought to move
+off to the base at once, as many men were trying to creep round to
+our rear. Now both of these might be depended on. The corporal was a
+man of much service; the other a Prussian who had found life in his
+own country too exciting, but who was a good soldier in all respects
+on active service; in garrison, of course, it was different. I fell
+back, therefore, showing a bold front, keeping the Annamites and six
+legionaries together--the latter to hold the former--and leaving all
+the other legionaries to fight in skirmishing order as we went away.
+A few of ours were wounded, and these the natives had to carry, but
+we managed to withdraw for more than half-a-mile without any serious
+casualty. Then a legionary was shot through the heart; an Annamite was
+sent for his rifle and ammunition, and the retreat went on as before.
+Once only did the enemy attempt to rush us. I hurried to the right with
+tirailleurs and legionaries when I saw them nearing for the charge, but
+our rifle fire was so effective that no man reached our bayonets.
+
+Not very long afterwards the lieutenant of my company came up with
+about forty men, two-thirds of whom were legionaries. He at once took
+over the chief command, and had little difficulty in getting us all
+back to camp. I fancy, however, that the Black Flags could have done
+a great deal of harm to us if they had tried more resolutely to come
+to close quarters, for they outnumbered us certainly by six to one.
+They made only faint-hearted attempts to rush us, and every time they
+tried that game, we concentrated our fire on the men concentrated for
+the charge. They made a great mistake in massing themselves together,
+for our bullets could not fail to find a man or men amongst them in
+the too close formation they assumed. We, on the contrary, kept a very
+open formation in the firing line, but behind there were always two
+little squads ready to hurry up to the part where there was any danger
+of a serious attack. For my part, I was glad to see that the lieutenant
+practised the same tactics as I; in the first place, it was a sort of
+compliment to me; and in the second, no one could blame the sergeant
+for doing what the officer, a most experienced fighter, did. To end
+this portion of my story, I may say that the little party got back
+safely to the fortification with the loss of three legionaries and one
+Annamite tirailleur killed and about seven or eight wounded severely
+enough to go into hospital. There were other men wounded, but their
+wounds did not count--they were only bullet-grazings or flesh wounds.
+
+When we were safely inside the little post, the captain ordered us to
+see first to our wounded and then to hold ourselves in readiness to go
+to any part of the defence where we might be required. The Black Flags,
+however, did not press the attack; evidently they were only part of the
+enemy who meant to assault our position, probably a few hundred sent
+out for raiding purposes.
+
+Nothing of any importance occurred for two or three days. We knew that
+the Black Flags were closing round us; in fact, we could not go five
+hundred yards from the camp without being fired on, but that gave us no
+uneasiness. Ammunition and stores were plentiful, the block-house made
+our water supply safe, our friends were only a hundred miles away, and
+we guessed that very soon a general or other high officer would come to
+inspect the post, and, of course, such people are always accompanied by
+at least a couple of thousand men. A gold-laced cap and an escort are
+not a sufficient outfit for a general; you must, to satisfy his _amour
+propre_, give him an army as well. One thing must be noted here. Though
+the block-house commanded the spring from which arose the rivulet that
+ran by the outer side of the fortification, yet the captain was not
+satisfied. He feared that in spite of all vigilance the well might be
+poisoned or polluted, so that orders were given that no water was to
+be taken into camp until four hours after sunrise. By that time all
+poisons that might have been deposited in the spring during the dark
+hours would be washed away, and a fatigue-party would have examined
+the stream carefully for dead bodies of men or animals. As I shall not
+allude to this again, I must tell here that on several occasions we
+found putrid bodies in the stream. We always took them out on the spot,
+and the men would take no water from the parts below where they were
+found for at least twenty-four hours. If the carcasses were got in the
+spring itself, a couple of engineers and two or three legionaries went
+out and cleansed it.
+
+At last we recognised that regular siege was being laid to our
+position. The Black Flags, assisted by a fair number of Chinese
+regulars--we knew these by their uniforms--had possession of every
+natural vantage-point around the camp. In some places, the nearest
+enemies were fifteen hundred yards away from the outer face of the
+entrenchments, in one or two the ground permitted them to come with
+safety as near as six or seven hundred yards. The average distance
+between the opposing forces was, I believe, about a thousand yards.
+They did not carry round a big fortified line--that would be too much
+trouble and would require a large number of soldiers to man it at all
+points--but they selected six or eight places of natural strength,
+erected forts upon them, and crowded these forts with defenders. The
+intervals between these were held by constantly moving bands, numbering
+anything from half-a-dozen to a hundred.
+
+For some time the fighting was desultory. We did not fire at them
+unless they came within easy range, for there was no use in throwing
+away ammunition, and, besides, it would be a good thing if they would
+only learn to despise us. They knew our strength to a man. If they saw
+or believed that we were short of cartridges, they would surely reckon
+us a certain prey. At the same time they would be doubtful of the
+success of a mere blockade, as our stores were plentiful, and any day
+might bring a relieving force. As for us, we eagerly desired a grand
+attack. We had enough of men to provide all parts of the entrenchment
+with a sustained rifle fire, and even if they did get up to our
+fortifications we trusted to our bayonet work too much to have any fear
+of the issue. Moreover, since the second battle of Lang-Son and our
+selection to remain behind when our comrades went down to the coast,
+we had conceived, unconsciously, I believe, a very high idea of our
+prowess both as individual soldiers and as a company.
+
+The grand attack which we had been expecting and praying for--I mean
+that we should have prayed for, if we ever prayed--was delivered at
+last. For a couple of days and nights the enemy kept up a brisk fire,
+giving us no rest. To this we made but little reply. The Black Flags
+became bolder every hour, and on the second day of the fusilade some
+were so contemptuous of our fire that they crawled up to within less
+than two hundred yards of the entrenchments to burn their powder.
+Our arrangements for the second night did credit to the captain. He
+divided his little force into two parts. The first of these kept watch
+and ward from sunset until half-past one in the morning; the second,
+which had been resting with rifles by their sides, took up guard duty
+in turn until six. Thus, along the entrenchments half the men, clad
+in greatcoats, were standing up, looking out for any movement of the
+enemy, while the other half, wrapped up in greatcoats and blankets,
+lay down only a yard away from their watching comrades. Thus half the
+rifles in garrison were ready for instant use; the remaining half could
+be in action in thirty seconds. Our captain was clever--I have always
+said so, and I will always assert it; other captains are creatures of
+routine, and will do the same thing in a fortified post in the enemy's
+country as they were in the habit of doing in a quiet town in the heart
+of France. Routine, so admirable in time of peace, is a thing rather to
+be neglected in time of war.
+
+The moiety to which I was attached lay down just behind the men on
+guard from sunset to half-past one. Then we were called to take our
+turn of duty. I had only dozed off once or twice while lying down, but
+for all that I was as wakeful as if I had slept for a week, when I
+turned out of the blanket and stood up in my greatcoat in the chilly
+air. Very soon I had the men under my charge at their posts. First, the
+lieutenant came round to ask in an undertone if all were ready within
+and if all seemed right outside; then the captain visited me and bade
+me pass the word up and down my command that the attack, if made at
+all, would be made within an hour, or an hour and a half at most, and
+that all should be thoroughly on their guard, for on every man's rifle
+a good deal depended. I, standing at the centre of my section, told
+the men on my right and left what the captain had said, each of them
+whispered the message to his next man, and so the words went down the
+ranks. After this all was quiet; the men seemed like so many bronze
+statues, but one knew that every eye was peering out intently into the
+blackness and that every ear was straining to catch the lightest sound.
+As for me, I looked now to the front, then to the right, and then
+towards the left; I neither saw nor heard anything which could betoken
+the approach of an enemy.
+
+We were nearly an hour so waiting, watching, and listening, and the
+constant strain had just begun to tell upon the nerves, when from the
+eastern side of the camp a report of a rifle came. Almost at once this
+was followed by a constant fire, not firing by volleys, be it well
+understood, but a well kept-up fire on both sides, never ceasing, but
+swaying, as it were, up and down, as now the reports came almost all
+together, now they came in twos and threes, or in dozens and in scores.
+The eastern side was not engaged long when the northern and southern
+ones joined in. A moment afterwards the red spirts came to us out of
+the darkness of the night. We replied, and a hot fusilade was well
+maintained without and within. The block-house garrison was also hotly
+engaged. They had little trouble with two faces, for the fronts of
+them were swept by the fire from the nearest angle of the fort, but on
+the other faces their work was far harder than ours. As was obvious
+afterwards, when the light came and gave us the advantage, the Black
+Flags had tried to catch the main position unawares, if possible,
+but at least to give its garrison enough to do. The chief object was
+to win the block-house; that captured, we others could be poisoned
+out. I afterwards learned that in the block-house there were two
+engineers and twenty-one legionaries, the whole being commanded by the
+sergeant-major I spoke of, the Alsatian who came from No. 3. They were
+good men; one engineer and seven legionaries, all simple soldiers, were
+killed; almost all the others were wounded, but even wounded men who
+could stand remained at their posts, and those others who had to stay
+out of the fight loaded their rifles and the rifles of the dead, and
+passed them to the fighting men, so that two shots often went through a
+loophole when, in the Black Flags' minds, only one should be expected.
+They were good men; I am proud of having soldiered with such.
+
+But one attempt was made to rush the fort. This occurred at the angle
+where the fire from the two sides swept the ground in front of two
+faces of the block-house. I don't believe that the enemy dreamt of
+taking our place by storm, but one thing was certain, the attack in
+force took away all aid for the block-house from the main position
+and made the men outside dependent altogether on themselves. That the
+determined attack on the little garrison outside, weakened as it was by
+death and wounds, did not succeed was due, first to their determined
+resistance, and secondly to the fact that, just as the attack became
+fiercest, the light became good enough for us to see our foes, to
+reckon their strength, and then to allow our captain to withdraw men
+from the two sides that were but feebly fired at to the others where
+the firing was practically point-blank. The sudden reinforcement
+overpowered the attack. A rapid and unexpected sally by fifty or sixty
+legionaries with fixed bayonets relieved the pressure round the
+block-house. The little garrison received from the sortie party a dozen
+men as reinforcements, the rest returned, and that really finished the
+engagement. A few shots still continued to be exchanged, but the firing
+after the sally was of no account--a man killed or wounded on either
+side "did not count in the tale of the battle."
+
+After this we had a little peace. We buried our dead outside the
+ramparts, but we left no mounds to afford shelter to enemies. All the
+earth that would in ordinary cases form heaps above the graves was
+taken to strengthen our defences; the plain outside was left as level
+as before. Was he not a clever captain? As for the enemy's killed and
+wounded, the uniformed men amongst them took them away under a flag
+of truce. We never allowed more than twenty-five to be engaged on the
+work within a hundred yards of the outer face of the fortifications,
+because we never trusted the Chinese. One thing else we did, we sent
+out the Annamites to gather all the weapons and ammunition of those who
+had fallen near the camp. These were of no use to us, but we deprived
+the enemy of them. Some of the wounded fell out with the Annamite
+tirailleurs; well, it was so much the worse for the wounded.
+
+When the burials were over and the wounded were going along well, we
+began to look forward to another attack. The Chinese regulars evidently
+took the business in hand this time, for there was no attempt to carry
+the main post or the block-house by assault; now we had to contend
+with mines. It was very well for us that there were engineers in the
+garrison; without them we should in all probability have seen most of
+our defences blown into the air. As it was, the Chinese mined and our
+engineers countermined. At first the mining was comparatively simple,
+as far as we were concerned. The Chinese had not the skill of the
+French sappers, and the result was that we always found out where they
+were boring, before they even imagined that we could know anything
+about their operations, but after we had destroyed a few mines, and
+with them a certain number of men, the underground attack became more
+skilful and more concealed. On more than one occasion both parties of
+tunnellers discovered each other at the same time, and the earth was
+quickly put back by both; we did not want a communication between mine
+and countermine, for that might give passage to a couple of thousand
+Chinese and Black Flags into our camp; the enemy did not want to come
+to close quarters with us, for more than once they had learned that,
+bayonet to bayonet, the Asiatic stood no chance against the European.
+I shall not say much about the underground operations, as I am not an
+engineer; moreover, my duties as sergeant kept me almost always above
+ground; we allowed the military engineers to direct everything below.
+Of course, it will be understood that the legionaries, and sometimes
+the Annamite tirailleurs, furnished the working parties; the regular
+engineers chiefly concerned themselves with planning the works first
+and overseeing them afterwards. There is a story of one countermine
+which, however, I must narrate, as it intimately concerned myself.
+
+Our fellows had cautiously dug forward for a considerable distance.
+No sound of tunnelling on the side of the Chinese had been heard; as
+the _dénoûment_ proved, they had been as cautious as we. The working
+party was tearing down the earth with the sharp edge of the pick, not
+striking with all their strength. Thus very little noise was made,
+and, besides, it was enjoined on all who were at work in the mine that
+talking could not be allowed. The men loyally obeyed orders, even if
+they had not felt inclined to do so through the spirit of discipline,
+the knowledge that the others were doing their best to tunnel under
+the fortification and then blow part of it to pieces prior to a grand
+attack with rifle and bayonet, would have made them obedient enough. I
+had gone down into the mine, more out of curiosity than because I had
+business there; my excuse was that I wished to get the names of the
+men of my section working in the pit. When I went down, I stayed for
+a moment or two. While I was holding a whispered conversation with a
+sub-officer of engineers, a cry from a worker drew our attention. In a
+moment the engineer saw what had happened, and cried out: "Les Chinois,
+les Chinois!"
+
+As a matter of fact, the Chinese miners and we were separated only by
+a thin wall of loose earth; a blow or two struck by I know not which
+party tumbled this down, and we were all mixed up together, French and
+Chinese, in the tunnel. All struck out at random. I drew my bayonet,
+which, of course, I always wore, and dashed the point in the face of a
+yellow man from outside.
+
+The lamps were extinguished in the struggle that ensued; we were all
+striking blindly about with pick-axe, shovel, and bayonet; no man knew
+who might receive his blow. It was a horrible time. In the darkness I
+heard the cries and oaths and groans; I shoved forward my bayonet, it
+met something soft; I drew it back and lunged again; again it met the
+soft, yielding substance, or perhaps the blow was lost on empty air. If
+I struggled forward, I tripped over a body; if I went back, surely a
+miner would knock my brains out with his pick. This went on for a short
+space that seemed an eternity. At last hurrying footsteps and shouts
+of encouragement and a welcome gleaming of lights told of the arrival
+of aid. When our comrades came up, we found that all the Chinese able
+to flee had fled; fourteen of them, however, and eight or nine men
+of ours, were lying pressed against and on top of one another in a
+narrow space. All, dead and wounded alike, were carried out; the place
+was blocked up at once, and the countermine that had taken so much
+time and work on our part was filled in. When the dead and wounded
+were examined two legionaries and two engineers were found dead, four
+legionaries and an Annamite tirailleur wounded, ten Chinese killed
+outright, four just alive. An ugly list for the small place in which
+the fight was, but it was the darkness that caused so heavy a casualty
+list amongst comparatively few combatants. It was a most unpleasant
+struggle. After that experience I shall never care to fight again in
+the dark.
+
+For some time afterwards the siege went on in a less exciting way. The
+enemy had evidently resolved to starve us out. We had, as we thought,
+enough of stores in the beginning to last until relief came, but when
+the relief did not make its appearance at or after the time expected,
+the captain began to have serious misgivings for the future. We were
+utterly shut off from all communication with the outside world; for all
+we knew, another disaster might have befallen the French troops, and,
+if that were the case, there could be no hope of relief in time. A full
+fortnight had now elapsed since the date that we had confidently set
+for the coming up of reinforcements; we were all asking one another the
+reason of the delay. Other questions also arose. Would our comrades
+come soon? If they did not, would our provisions hold out? Should we be
+able to fight our way through, in case the post had to be abandoned?
+There was no thought of surrender, for all understood that it was
+better to die fighting than to give ourselves up to the diabolical
+tortures inflicted by the Black Flags and their allies on unlucky
+prisoners of war.
+
+One day rations were reduced by one half. In some way to make up for
+this an allowance of native spirit was served out every afternoon, but
+the brandy and the wine were carefully kept for the use of the sick
+and wounded. These were by no means few, and when the dead were added
+to the ineffectives the total reached almost fifty per cent. of the
+original force. Indeed, after we had been on half-rations for a time,
+we legionaries formed a skeleton company of skeletons; we were so few
+and so reduced in weight. But through all we were resolute and, nearly
+to the last, cheerful. Certainly when the half-rations were further
+diminished, our spirits markedly sank, but no one expects starving men
+to show much gaiety.
+
+The soldiers were kept constantly on the alert both by the enemy and by
+us, their sub-officers. The captain told the sergeants and corporals
+that the men were to be always engaged in some work or other, as he
+did not wish to give them time to annoy themselves by thinking. This
+instruction made me a busy man. I was always on the look-out for little
+duties for my section, at the same time taking care not to overwork the
+men, and I tried to be as cheerful as possible with them. My fellows
+and I got along well together on the whole. I never brought a man
+before the captain if I could help it, and I let the corporals of the
+section understand that the squads were not to be sworn at more than
+was absolutely necessary. At the same time all knew that an order once
+given had to be at once obeyed.
+
+Things had been going on in this fashion for some time when the enemy
+again plucked up courage to attack. We were very glad of this, because
+it showed that they feared the arrival of a French force before they
+could reduce us to extremity by a mere blockade. The second big
+fight was a replica of the first one, only that on this occasion the
+assault on the block-house was more determined than before. It lasted
+longer too, for we were too few in number to risk fifty or sixty
+men in a sortie, but, in spite of all, the defence was successfully
+maintained. Two days afterwards some Annamites captured a Chinese.
+He was in a state of abject terror when brought before the captain,
+and on the promise that his life would be spared and liberty given
+him, he soon told us all he knew of the French movements. We learned
+then that a strong force was approaching and might be expected almost
+at any moment; we were also told that a third and last attack was in
+preparation. This attack, however, and the relief of the post will be
+told in the next chapter, as they deserve a chapter to themselves.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+
+It was quite evident that the block-house would have to stand the
+brunt of the attack this time as before. Now we were rather weak in
+numbers for the adequate defence of the main position, yet not a single
+man could be withdrawn from the little garrison of the outside post.
+Even with the full number of rifles allowed to it the block-house
+might be taken--taken, that is, in the event of the death or the
+rendering ineffective of all its men, and that this was by no means
+an impossibility was proved by the losses in the last fight. Out of
+twenty-two sub-officers and men only seven were unscathed, and of the
+others three were slightly, five severely, wounded, and seven killed.
+With a more desperate and better sustained attack upon more exhausted
+troops, might not the Chinese fairly hope for complete success?
+
+To make up in some degree for the anticipated loss of the outpost the
+captain gave orders that all vessels in camp should be filled, that, as
+these were emptied they should be refilled, and that no soldier should
+drink out of any vessel except his own water-bottle. All the rest,
+filled as they were, were placed in a central position in the camp,
+and this place all were forbidden to approach under pain of death. The
+sentries on guard had strict orders to allow no one to go near the
+precious stock of water. The captain said:
+
+"If you do not shoot or bayonet the trespasser, I will drive you forth
+unarmed to become the prey of the Black Flags."
+
+If their own brothers had dared to approach the water, the sentries
+would have shot them after hearing that.
+
+A strong party was sent to the block-house, for there was a chance
+that it might hold out, and in any case the captain resolved that the
+enemy should not have it for nothing. The lieutenant of my company was
+in command. I was second; there were two corporals, one an Alsatian,
+the other a Lorrainer, and twenty men. This was as many as could be
+conveniently accommodated in the small space. We were all well supplied
+with ammunition; we carried, every man, three days' provisions. When
+we paraded before going out, the captain told us that we should hold
+our ground as well and as long as we could; if we managed to repel one
+assault, only one, our lives would be saved and the honour of the corps
+maintained.
+
+Our small party took up its quarters, relieving the others, who were,
+you may be sure, not sorry to be relieved, and was at once divided into
+three parts. I commanded one, a corporal each of the others; as for
+the lieutenant, he was over all, and seemed to be ever watchful and
+absolutely incapable of feeling fatigue. While one party watched, the
+rest lay down and slept or tried to sleep. There was no cooking to be
+done, as our provisions were of the cast-iron pattern--baked bread and
+cooked meat; as for drink, we had a small allowance of native spirit
+and as much water as we should want for three days.
+
+For twenty-four hours we were undisturbed, except when once the door
+was opened and a man looked out. Then a regular fusilade of shots came
+towards us. We saw that we were fairly cooped up, and that the only
+chance of our ever leaving the block-house alive lay in the arrival
+of French troops. We fancied, but this was perhaps imagination, that
+we could hear firing in the distance; this gave us hope and renewed
+our courage. Early in the evening of our second day on duty a strong
+attack was made not only on our post, but on the main position as well.
+At first this was confined to a hot fire, and four of ours, one the
+Alsatian corporal, were shot at the loopholes. As night came down,
+the enemy approached to short range, and even in the dark we were a
+splendid target for them. All the night they fired, and twice they set
+the block-house on fire, but volunteers quickly put out the flames,
+though at a fearful sacrifice of life. As the first beams of the rising
+sun illuminated the battlefield, the Chinese regulars, followed by
+a crowd of Black Flags, tried to storm the post. They succeeded in
+breaking down two upright beams on one side and tried to pour in, but
+our bayonets soon piled up a heap of bodies in the narrow entrance that
+they had made. We got a short respite now, and heard with feelings
+of indescribable joy a steady, well-sustained firing outside the
+position held by the enemy. Once more, however, the Chinese attacked.
+With battering rams of wood tipped with iron they broke down a clear
+half of one wall. Some of the superstructure fell and delayed them
+for a time, but this they quickly tore away, and the remains of the
+little garrison, having no longer power to hold the fort or hope of
+escape, sallied desperately forth, to sell their lives as dearly as
+possible. The lieutenant leading fell shot between the eyes; the rest
+of us rushed straight at the Chinese and bore them back. They rallied
+and again attacked. We fought with the courage of despair. We could
+make little head against them, but for all that we steadily piled up
+a rampart of bodies in our front. I heard as I fought the familiar
+war cry of the legionaries; I shouted out in reply. Just as a Chinese
+lifted his musket to fell me to the earth, I saw the advancing line of
+reinforcements. There was a sudden shock, and then came darkness on my
+eyes, and, when I came to, the block-house, now on fire, was blazing in
+the sunlight, and I felt a terrible agony in head and limbs and body.
+But the post had been held and relieved; the enemy were scattered in
+all directions, with hundreds of pursuers at their heels; there were no
+more short rations to be dreaded, no more night attacks, nothing now
+but rest and peace and warm congratulations.
+
+Let me tell the fate of the little guard of the block-house. The
+lieutenant, both corporals, and eighteen soldiers were dead; two
+soldiers and I, the sergeant and second in command, were wounded.
+Both the soldiers died that night; I, the sole survivor, was promoted
+sergeant-major and recommended for the military medal. Had I been a
+Frenchman, I should have got the cross and a commission; as it was,
+I was more than satisfied, for did not I get the rewards won by my
+comrades as well as by me? For a few days I lay in hospital, and the
+doctors feared that I might suffer from concussion of the brain as a
+result of the heavy blow dealt me by the Chinese. However, all bad
+effects passed away quickly, and I returned to duty on the day that
+my promotion to the rank of sergeant-major was confirmed. The captain
+visited me in hospital; he would not allow me to talk, and merely said
+that he was glad I had survived, and then laughingly told me that "the
+devil's children had their father's luck." He could be sarcastic on
+occasion, but I did not mind; I can take a joke as well as another.
+
+After the post had been relieved the remains of the original garrison
+were transferred to the sea-coast. The march down was exactly similar
+to all the other marches, except in one important matter, we did not
+have to break camp hurriedly and run after rapidly vanishing enemies.
+No; our daily marches were not too long, our nightly rest was unbroken,
+and, as we approached the coast, we got better quarters and better
+supplies. The men too had the proud consciousness of a dangerous and
+difficult duty well done. The other soldiers whom we met used to cook
+our soup and prepare the camps for us; that's the soldier's way of
+offering congratulations, and these were the compliments we liked.
+
+When we marched one afternoon into Saigon, I was in very bad health.
+The reaction after the siege, with its reduced rations, its constant
+watchfulness, and all the little annoyances that beset a poor devil
+of a sergeant trying to keep the men of his section content under
+difficulties, together with the fatigue of the march, made me feel very
+ill by the time we came to the base. Moreover, I was troubled about
+the accounts of the company. The sergeant-major who preceded me, and
+who was killed in the last attack, had left the company's accounts in
+an unintelligible state; no one could tell whether any man had or had
+not been paid a piastre since the beginning of the siege, nor could you
+find out who had drawn occasional rations of wine and extra tobacco.
+The captain knew nothing; he had been too busy with fighting and
+looking after stores. I went to him and said that it was not fair to
+ask me to make up a dead man's accounts. He agreed with me, and asked
+me what the devil I was going to do about the affair.
+
+"Let the clerks at headquarters settle all," I replied; "it ought to be
+their business and not mine."
+
+"Very well," said the captain; "but how will you throw the work on
+their shoulders?"
+
+"Easily enough," I answered; "I need but refuse to accept the books
+until they are set right."
+
+"But suppose you are ordered to take them and to set them in order
+yourself?"
+
+"Very well, sir; I will then claim money for every man, dead or alive.
+When the clerks point out to me that a certain man is dead, I will
+withdraw his name: in that way I shall give them more trouble than if
+they were to make up the accounts themselves."
+
+"Do what you like," said the captain; "only pay the survivors--the dead
+may rest."
+
+I took the hint, and made out the accounts in such a way, that it
+appeared that all the dead had been paid in full up to the day of
+death, and that none of the survivors had obtained a centime for
+months. The paymasters grumbled, and I was called on more than once
+for an explanation. I could only say that I knew nothing about the
+men's accounts beyond what they told me.
+
+"But how do you know," asked a commandant one day, "that the dead men
+were paid in full?"
+
+"I don't know it, sir," I answered; "but I have marked them as paid
+because I cannot afford time to look for their heirs."
+
+Everybody laughed at this--the idea of a legionary leaving legacies to
+his relations was too ridiculous. In the end, however, we survivors got
+nearly all the money we claimed, and everybody was satisfied.
+
+It was easy to see that most of our company were unfit for further duty
+at the time. Many were in hospital, and those of us who remained in
+camp were listless and easily fatigued. The medical officers did not
+like our looks, and it became a current report that we should all be
+very soon sent back to Algeria. The transport was in harbour on which
+we were ordered to embark for transportation home--that is, to the
+legionaries' home, the wastes and sands of Northern Africa. Yet to us
+these very places seemed like heaven compared with Tonquin: we were
+all tired of the harassing warfare, the starvation, the marches, and
+the constant watchfulness. It was fated that I should not return in
+this vessel, as, only two days before it sailed, I had to go into the
+military hospital, a place dreaded above all others by soldiers. There
+I lay with an attack of fever, but my naturally strong constitution
+shook this off, and in a few weeks I was ready to embark in a hospital
+ship, with a few hundred others of all ranks and regiments, for
+Marseilles. I had a relapse while in the Red Sea, and thought for the
+first time that there was no longer hope for me. What made it worse was
+that every day a dead body went overboard, and, though the officials
+tried to keep this fact from us, sick men are too clever and too
+suspicious to be easily imposed upon. One morning I saw the cot near
+me empty--a poor marine fusilier had occupied it the day before. I had
+known that he was sinking rapidly, but still the fact of his death gave
+me a great shock. I got up with difficulty from my couch and made my
+way on hands and knees to the companion-ladder, ascended this in the
+same posture, and at length gained the deck unperceived. I felt the
+cool breeze of the Mediterranean on my face, and thanked Heaven that
+I was out of the horrors of Tonquin and the almost worse horrors of
+the Red Sea. I remember no more until I woke up to find myself back in
+my cot, with a couple of doctors and an orderly or two around me. The
+doctors spoke in a friendly way to me, and asked me why I had gone up
+to the deck. I said that I was restless, and scarcely knew what I was
+doing, but that the fresh breeze above had done me much good. They then
+said that very soon we should be at Marseilles and that I should be
+better off there. I thanked them, promised not to leave my cot again,
+and they withdrew. As they went, however, I overheard one say--so sharp
+are sick men's ears: "He will come up again, probably to-morrow." I
+wondered vaguely whether he doubted my word or whether he was merely
+alluding to my probable death, but after a time I thought of other
+things. I made no further attempt to go up on deck; even had I not
+promised to stay quietly below, I had not strength enough to climb the
+companion-way again.
+
+A few days after we arrived at Marseilles and were carefully
+transferred to a large hospital on land. There, I must admit, we
+received excellent treatment. Not only were the doctors and the
+orderlies kind and attentive, but the ladies of the town were also
+extremely good to us. Chaplains also came round the wards frequently,
+and, of all the places in which I have ever been, the military hospital
+at Marseilles was one of the best. I could thoroughly appreciate the
+kindness then, for my health came back quickly from the day I landed
+from the hospital ship.
+
+One day when I was allowed to get up and go to a convalescent ward for
+a few hours an orderly came into the room, in a great hurry apparently,
+and called out my name. I said:
+
+"Here I am. What do you want?"
+
+He replied: "Monsieur le général will be here soon."
+
+"Does he come to tell me that I have been appointed his aide-de-camp?"
+I inquired, laughing at my own little joke.
+
+"No, my fine fellow," cried a corporal of some line regiment in a
+corner; "he has come to ask you to be so kind as to marry his daughter,
+who has a fortune of only one hundred thousand francs."
+
+"Ah," said a cuirassier--I forget his rank, "the request is that our
+friend the sergeant-major will consent to act as the general's second
+in a duel with the Tsar of Russia."
+
+A chasseur believed that that was not true, as he had learned from a
+morning paper that I was to be ambassador to His Holiness the Pope,
+"who knows," he went on to say, "how moral and virtuous are the lives
+the legionaries lead, they being, in fact, monks in uniform." This
+settled the matter; nobody could invent a more improbable--let me say
+impossible--reason for the general's visit. I was asked continually
+afterwards how the Pope was. Did he still hold the idea of asking
+France to give him the sanctified legionaries as a new army? If we went
+to Rome, should we have to soldier with the Swiss and other guards?
+And a number of other questions were asked, all of which I answered
+to the best of my ability, trying in every case to give a "Roland for
+an Oliver," and often succeeding. I told the chasseur one day that
+the Pope would not take us of the Legion as his guards; he preferred
+the chasseurs: by converting them to decent practices he would gain
+greater glory in heaven. The cuirassier learned that His Holiness would
+soon send him the shield of faith--he already had the breastplate of
+caution. The cuirassier did not like this. He indignantly protested
+that he would rather fight in his shirt sleeves.
+
+"Very well," I answered. "Do as the Austrians do--take off your cuirass
+in time of war."
+
+He asked me how I knew that. I replied: "Easily enough. I have many
+Austrian comrades, but I have no French ones. We legionaries are
+seemingly in the French army, but not, in real truth, soldiers of it."
+Truth to tell, I was getting a little angry, because all wished to
+unite against the solitary soldier of the Legion in the room. I let the
+rest see that I was tired of their jokes, and afterwards they left me
+alone.
+
+Well, the general came in a short time into the room and called out my
+name and rank. I stepped forward and stood to attention.
+
+"You the sergeant-major?" he asked, in a tone of surprise.
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"Why, you are only a boy. How long have you been in the Legion?"
+
+I told him. Then he asked me a number of questions about my service, to
+all of which I answered clearly and respectfully.
+
+"You are a young sergeant-major--very young." And he turned to speak
+to a surgeon. Both looked at me often during this conversation. I
+maintained always the stiff, erect attitude of the soldier in front of
+his superior officer.
+
+"You have been recommended for the military medal," at last the general
+said.
+
+"Yes, sir; my captain told me that he would recommend me for the
+decoration."
+
+"The recommendation has been confirmed," said the general, "and I have
+come to give you the medal. I thought," he went on, "that I should
+meet a veteran, and I find a schoolboy."
+
+I said nothing; indeed, I did not know what to say.
+
+"It does not matter about your age or the length of your service," the
+general continued; "you have won rank and distinction, and I wish you a
+prosperous career."
+
+"Thanks, my general."
+
+"Is there anything you want?"
+
+"Yes, my general."
+
+"What is it?"
+
+"A Little Corporal to lead a schoolboy sergeant-major, that is all."
+
+He drew back and looked at me. A susurrus of approbation went through
+the room. Very little more was said. The general gave me the medal that
+I had won, paid me a compliment or two, and went away. But the story
+went round, and what would be hurtful to a Frenchman, who was at once
+soldier and citizen, was a cause of no offence in a legionary, who
+was only a soldier. But what I said was liked, and many a present I
+received afterwards. The French know that the legionary is a soldier
+pure and simple--well, not always pure, and very seldom simple--and
+they know that the soldier of the French army who gives up for life
+the clothes of the pékin and who dreams of nothing except fighting
+and promotion looks on Napoleon the Great as a terrestrial Archangel
+Michael. Him would we follow, him would we serve. God grant us
+another like him, and then----. And the legionaries understood, and
+wished as warmly as any Frenchman for the advent of another ideal
+restless man and restless man's idol. The Little Corporal when he
+was the great commander was bad, let us admit, to many, but he was
+never bad to the man who served him well. It was not birth or wealth
+that brought promotion under him but courage and devotion to duty.
+True, he made mistakes, and these great ones--the imprisonment of the
+Pope, the invasion of the white Tsar's frozen land, the too early
+return from Elba were such--but in his mistakes even he was colossal,
+unapproachable.
+
+It was after this visit and the receipt of the military medal that the
+jesting conversations began amongst us. However, I have told of them
+already, and there is no use in going back upon a told story. That does
+very well in conversation, especially when the glasses are filled and
+the pipes going merrily, but in writing it is of no account.
+
+Very soon after this I was strong enough, the surgeons said, to cross
+to Algeria. All the men whose acquaintance I had made were good enough
+to say that, though they were glad I was able to leave hospital, yet
+they were sorry to lose my companionship. I thanked them all, told them
+that I had had a pleasant time, and hoped to meet them again. In this I
+was sincere. I have very pleasant memories of the hospital, but all the
+same I wanted to get back to my own comrades.
+
+Shortly after the surgeons had put my name on the outgoing list I left
+the hospital for the troopship. I was brought to Oran, and there sent
+again to hospital, but only for a few days. Here I was treated very
+well indeed by those in charge, and I made a few casual acquaintances,
+whose comradeship helped very much to pass the dreary time of waiting
+until the principal surgeon should order me to be sent back to the
+regiment. I think they kept me longer than was absolutely necessary,
+and this for two reasons--my youth and the military medal. The surgeons
+were quite as curious as my hospital companions to hear my story, to
+learn all about my country and why I left it to join the Legion, how I
+liked the French service, and every other thing that they could think
+of. For the first time in my life I was made much of as a man of good
+service and tried valour; if I gave somewhat exaggerated accounts of
+the perils I had passed who can blame me? There was no sneering now
+at the Foreign Legion; oh no! we were in Algeria, _la patrie des
+légionnaires_.
+
+At last the surgeon-in-chief told me that I should soon leave the
+hospital. I thanked him for the information, and said that the only
+cause of regret at leaving was that I should leave so many good
+comrades behind.
+
+"Have you been well treated here, sergeant-major?" he asked.
+
+"Very well, sir; so well that I have lost the simple soldier's fear of
+the hospital."
+
+He laughed, and said: "I am glad. Take the advice of a friend, always
+seek the surgeon when you are ill or wounded. The old prejudice was, in
+its time, a just one; nowadays things are different."
+
+I promised that I would do so. At the same time even to-day I fear the
+surgeon's knife more than an enemy's bayonet or sword or even lance,
+and the lance is what the infantry man most dreads--that is, of course,
+of weapons. However, I have not since the day I left the hospital at
+Oran ever been the occupant of a bed in one, and I sincerely hope that
+I may never see, as a patient at least, the whitewashed wall of a
+hospital again.
+
+From Oran I was sent to the depot at Saida, where I remained for some
+time. I did ordinary duty there as sergeant-major of a company of
+recruits during the illness of the regular sub-officer, and so learned
+a good deal more of my new duties than I knew when leaving Tonquin. I
+was very glad of this, especially as the officers were very decent to
+me. I was a different man now--a sergeant-major without a moustache but
+with the military medal--from the young recruit who was sworn at and
+abused every day by the drill instructors. No swearing or abuse now,
+only compliments and flirtation and general friendliness. A happy time
+indeed, too happy to last, as I learned before I was many months older.
+
+I must now tell about my love and my sorrows and how I came to leave
+the Legion for ever. Truly, I cannot say that I am sorry; truly, I
+cannot say that I am glad. If the service of the legionary was a
+hard service, yet it had its consolations; if you did wrong nobody
+minded--that is, so long as you broke only the ten commandments. Of
+course, military regulations and the rules of our society were very
+different things; the first had to be kept if one did not wish for
+punishment, you had to respect the second, or else lose the respect of
+your associates, and though boycotting is a comparatively new word yet
+it denotes an old and universal practice.
+
+And now to tell of my _grande passion_, its course and its results, the
+story of which was at one time, and may be even still, a classic tale
+of the Legion.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+
+I left the depot one morning with a large party of recruits for a
+battalion in the inland parts of Algeria. We were about a hundred and
+eighty strong, and as a lieutenant was the only officer I ranked as
+second in command. We had two sergeants and eight or nine corporals
+to help to maintain discipline, but the men acted in a very good way
+on the march. I can recall no incident worth relating, but I remember
+one circumstance that made the march very pleasant. As the lieutenant
+had no brother officer to speak to and was naturally talkative, he
+had to associate very much with me. It must not be supposed that this
+diminished the respect in which I was bound to hold his rank; on the
+contrary, since he made the time pass agreeably for me, I felt more
+and more disposed to render him all outward signs of honour; and if
+I did address him as "my lieutenant" as we marched 20 paces ahead of
+the party, when others were within earshot I fell back on the more
+respectful "sir." I am sure he noted this, but he said nothing about
+it. This officer was a most entertaining talker; he was naturally
+clever, had received a good education, and was full of stories of Paris
+which were well worth hearing. He saw that I enjoyed his tales of life
+there, and thus had the best of all incentives to story-telling--a good
+listener. On the other hand, I told him more than he, as an officer,
+could learn of the Legion and the men who were in it. I did not trouble
+about the Alsatians and Lorrainers, who had enlisted solely to gain
+the rights of French citizens, but I let him know the life-history of
+more than one of the Russians, Austrians, Germans and Spaniards who
+filled our ranks. I did more. I allowed him to see the trend of thought
+in the corps; I told him of our traditions, our jealousies, our loves
+and our hates; by the time that we arrived at our goal he understood
+better than most officers the character of the men whom he would have
+under his command. So the lieutenant and the sergeant-major were good
+comrades.
+
+When we came to the battalion at the borders of the Great Desert the
+recruits were distributed amongst the companies, the sergeants and
+corporals were appointed to sections and squads, the lieutenant took
+the place of an officer who had died of fever, and so all were settled
+in the new battalion except myself. The commandant did not know what
+to do with me; he had enough sub-officers of my rank already, and
+yet he did not like to put me to any duties except those of the rank
+I held. This was on account of the military medal. If I had not had
+that, I should very soon have found myself acting as simple sergeant
+of a section. However, a way was found out of the difficulty--a way
+which led me into many sorrows--though these I have never regretted,
+counterbalanced as they were by so many joys.
+
+There was a woman in the place who kept a canteen. She always
+remained with this battalion, and where others might starve she waxed
+wealthy--that is, wealthy for a _cantinière_. Her husband had been a
+sergeant of the third company. He had fallen fighting bravely in an
+obscure skirmish at some desert village, and when he fell he left a
+wife and baby daughter to the care of his comrades. The story of the
+pair was never fully known. They were Italians, and both of evidently
+gentle birth. When I heard about them first I thought of a Romeo and
+a Juliet giving up all for love, leaving behind family animosities
+with family riches, and seeking security from all search in the safest
+retreat in the world--the "legion of the lost ones." All the men saw
+and admired the heroic self-sacrifice of the gently-nurtured lady who
+left all to follow the chosen one in such a career, and I am proud
+to be able to say that during her husband's life and after his death
+no man ever said in her hearing anything that would bring a blush to
+her cheeks; in her presence even the most hardened rascal put on the
+semblance of a gentleman. People say that even the best man has some
+fault or imperfection of nature. It may be so. At any rate even the
+worst man has some good, some respect for virtue and honour, even
+though he possesses them not himself.
+
+After the death of her husband the widow opened a small shop, in which
+she sold wine, tobacco, and other things that soldiers spend their
+money on. The officers of the battalion stocked this for her, but in
+a short time she was able to pay them back, and she insisted on their
+accepting the money though they did not at all desire repayment. The
+regimental convoys were allowed to bring her goods as she required
+them, and the legionaries of her dead husband's battalion loyally spent
+most of their scanty pay in her canteen.
+
+Whenever anyone received money from friends or relations in Europe
+her stock would be all cleared off at once, and so by the exercise of
+a little frugality she was able gradually to put by some money for
+the little daughter whom she idolised. At the time when I came to the
+battalion this girl was about fifteen years of age, slight, graceful,
+lively, bright-eyed, the pet of the battalion. Everyone jested freely
+with her, she jested freely with everybody, but no one ever thought of
+saying anything which her mother, a model of virtue, would not like to
+hear.
+
+I had been but two or three days in my new quarters when an alarm of
+fire was raised one night, and we all turned out promptly as the cry
+went around. There was no danger for us, as the huts were one-storeyed
+and did not contain more than a squad each, but there might be some for
+the officers, whose quarters were more elaborate, and who, of course,
+were more isolated. A dozen or a score of men in a hut will all get
+clear, because some at least will be aroused, and these can pull out
+their suffocating comrades; a single officer may be smothered in his
+bed before even the watchful sentry realises the outbreak. When I
+came out of my quarters, in shirt and drawers, I glanced around, and
+saw at once that all the cantonment was safe. Then I heard a cry from
+the direction of the main guard-house that the village was on fire,
+but this was afterwards proved to be false. I flung on my clothes
+hurriedly and ran to the guard-house, for I had no assigned place on
+the parade that was now rapidly forming on the parade-ground, not being
+sergeant-major of any company, and asked the sergeant of the guard
+where the fire was.
+
+"Madame's canteen," he replied; "twenty or thirty men have already gone
+to put it out."
+
+"May I go to help?" (Of course, though I was of higher rank, he was the
+man in charge of the guard, and could prevent me, if he wished, from
+going out.)
+
+"Certainly, my sergeant-major."
+
+"Thanks, comrade, thanks." And I ran out and went to the widow's
+canteen. There I found the whole a mass of flames, and I saw at a
+glance that there was no hope of saving even the smallest portion of
+the house or its contents, especially as there was a sad lack of water.
+I asked a man if the woman and the girl had been saved. He told me that
+the girl had discovered the fire and awakened her mother, that both had
+made good their escape, and that then the widow had run back to recover
+her little store of money, the hiding-place of which no one else knew.
+"Then," he went on, "the daughter tried to go into the blazing house to
+bring back her mother, but she was forcibly prevented by some soldiers,
+and one or two of the legionaries who tried to enter were driven
+back, severely burned, by the fire and smoke." The flames, indeed,
+were terrible, all the wine barrels and spirit casks were blazing
+fiercely; there was no hope of life for anyone in such a hell. The
+poor widow fell a victim to her desire to regain for her daughter the
+money she had hoarded with so much anxious care, and nothing remained
+of her except a few charred bones, which were reverently gathered up
+and decently interred on the morrow. As for the money, it must have
+been chiefly in paper, for very little metal could be found in the
+ashes, and so the poor daughter was left completely alone in the world,
+without relations, at least as far as she knew, without means, and with
+only the friendship and the pity of the battalion to look to for aid.
+
+The Italian girl was taken charge of by a sergeant's wife--one of
+those few noble women, few, I mean, comparatively speaking, who will
+go anywhere with their husbands, and who furnish in the most abandoned
+communities examples of unselfish heroism and exalted virtue, which
+make even men whose knowledge of the sex is confined to its most
+vicious members have some respect for purity and some doubts as to
+their favourite axiom: A man may be good, but a woman cannot be. The
+officers proposed that she should continue as _cantinière_ in place of
+her mother, and generously offered to put her in a position to do so.
+As for us sub-officers and simple soldiers, our duty was plain: as soon
+as she was in a new home and shop, to go there, and there only, with
+the constant copper, the occasional silver, the God-sent gold. She knew
+this, the officers knew it; we made no resolutions; and said scarcely
+anything about the matter amongst ourselves, but all understood that it
+would be bad for the legionary who bought his wine or brandy elsewhere.
+
+The commandant sent for the four sergeant-majors of the companies and
+for me, the supernumerary. He asked us how much it would cost to erect
+a new house. We said that it would cost nothing; the soldiers would
+build one in their spare time.
+
+"Very well, my friends, very well. How much will it cost to put in a
+new supply."
+
+We did not answer this at once, but after some time we all agreed that
+2000 francs would put in a fairly good stock--that is, if carriage cost
+nothing.
+
+"Oh, the carriage will be settled; I will see to that," said the
+commandant. "Now, sergeant-major," he went on, turning to me, "you have
+no company whose accounts you must make up, will you undertake to look
+after this business for Mademoiselle Julie?"
+
+"I will do my best, sir, in this matter if you wish it."
+
+"That will do," he replied; "you shall be sergeant-major of the canteen
+company. Is it not so?"
+
+Every other sergeant-major laughed at me. They were glad that I had
+been sent to some duty, for a sergeant-major with the military medal
+is not long employed as simple sergeant, and each man, so long as I
+was unemployed in my proper rank, would fear for himself and his own
+position. Thus I became sergeant-major responsible for a canteen and
+the curious crowd assembled there. Some time afterwards, when the new
+quarters had been built by the legionaries and the little stock of
+_eau-de-vie_, wine, tobacco, and cigars had arrived, there was a grand
+opening. All the men had been saving up for awhile, and more than half
+the stock was sold at a good profit on the first evening. The girl was
+asked to do nothing except to take the money; four men willingly acted
+as assistants, pouring out the wine and the _eau-de-vie_, and, indeed,
+now and then tasting them too, for "you must not muzzle the ox treading
+out the corn," nor ask a man to help others to good things without
+occasionally helping himself as well.
+
+One of them took so much brandy that I had to turn him out, a couple
+of comrades brought him away to his hut, and nothing was said about
+it, as the poor little _cantinière_ begged him off with tears in her
+eyes. Just as things were becoming almost too lively the commandant and
+the other officers came down and entered the little shop. The first
+intimation we inside had of their arrival was the silence of the men
+who were laughing, singing, and carousing outside. The commandant put
+down a couple of gold pieces and asked for two bottles of wine. He and
+the others took each a sip of this and wished mademoiselle a prosperous
+business. Then the commandant gave me a strong hint that enough of
+business had been done for that day, and I promptly shut up shop after
+his departure. When all had left Giulia and I counted the money. We
+had a little gold, a good deal of silver, and a great quantity of
+copper--altogether over fourteen hundred francs. I congratulated her
+upon the successful evening's trading, and then we went to reckon up
+the supply still left. We found that at the same rate of sale the
+two thousand francs would be changed into at least two thousand six
+hundred, and that surely was excellent profit in an out-of-the-way camp
+of legionaries where money was rather scarce.
+
+Then Giulia asked me to take a glass of wine and a cigar. I did not
+refuse. What legionary, what man, indeed, would, when pressed by so
+lovely a girl? Of late I had seen her constantly, as my management
+of her affairs and my continual reports about the progress of her
+new house brought me daily into her society. We always got on well
+together--fifteen and seventeen don't usually fall out--and my rank and
+medal brought me favour in her eyes. Moreover, I was very respectful in
+my words and demeanour. I pitied her misfortune, and my pity was not
+lessened by the sight of her beauty, and, before I had been three days
+attending to her affairs, I took more interest in them than I could by
+any chance take in the accounts of a company. We were very good friends
+and companions, but there was not a hint, not a suspicion, of love
+on either side. She was pretty and in trouble, and, therefore, had my
+sympathy. I was kind and attentive to her, and she was grateful. _Voilà
+tout!_
+
+Before I drank the wine I made her put her lips to the glass, which she
+did, prettily and with a blush.
+
+"You must never ask me to do that again," she said.
+
+"Why, it is the custom of the Legion, ma camarade," I replied. "You are
+now a legionary; surely you will do as your good comrades do?"
+
+"Well, at least not in the presence of others."
+
+"Very well," I answered; "but always when we are alone?"
+
+"Yes," she whispered; "when we are alone. I trust you." And she put her
+little hand out to me. I took it, and by a sudden impulse kissed it.
+
+"You may always trust me," I said--"always."
+
+A question now arose as to the disposal of the money. There was no
+danger from natives, as the new house was inside the lines; there was
+not much, indeed, from soldiers, as there were sentries near. At the
+same time I told Giulia that it would be safer to transfer it to some
+other place. "Can you not," I suggested, "take it to the woman in whose
+quarters you live?"
+
+"No, no," she replied; "I will take some to give to her--she has been
+very good to me--but you are in charge, you must keep the greater part."
+
+"I?" I said in astonishment.
+
+"Yes; if you do not, I will leave it here."
+
+"But, Mademoiselle Julie, there are very bad men in every battalion,
+and someone may break in and steal all."
+
+"Let the sentinels keep watch."
+
+"Ah! a sentinel may be glad to get half."
+
+"I do not care; you are my sergeant-major"--as she said this a rosy
+flush came up over neck and face and ears--"and it is your duty to keep
+my money for me. Besides, did I not say that I trust you?"
+
+In the end I had to take twelve hundred francs, though with many
+misgivings. Giulia told me that she would give two hundred to the
+sergeant's wife, the rest she would keep herself. Then we locked up
+the place and departed to our separate quarters, after having made an
+appointment to meet in the morning, to inspect the stores and see if
+anything had been touched during the night. Giulia wanted me to take
+the keys as well as the money, but this I refused to do.
+
+I could scarcely sleep that night on account of the money. I occupied
+a small room in a long, low-roofed building, given up to the
+accommodation of sergeants whose domestic arrangements did not include
+a woman. I barricaded the door, put a glass on the window, so that
+anyone trying to enter that way might knock it down on a tin basin
+placed just below, and put a naked bayonet and the box containing the
+money under my pillow. For all these precautions I spent a wakeful
+night, and rose in the morning, restless, anxious, and unrefreshed.
+After the morning coffee I felt better, and laughed to myself at my
+fears of the night. Who would take the money? surely not one of the
+sergeants. I did not, I could not, suspect them, but I certainly should
+not like to trust every man in the battalion; the Legion contains more
+than a due percentage of desperate ruffians, and our battalion had its
+fair share of the bad ones.
+
+As I went across the parade-ground to keep my appointment with Giulia
+at the door of the canteen I met the captain of my company, or at least
+of the company to which I was attached, though I seldom paraded with
+it. He noticed the box and asked me what it contained. When I told him
+he laughed, and said that many a man would be pleased to be so trusted,
+especially by so beautiful a girl as Mademoiselle la Cantinière. I
+answered that the trust was pleasant but the responsibility too great;
+I did not wish to have the safe keeping of twelve hundred francs.
+"You cannot help it now, my sergeant-major of the canteen, you must
+undertake all the duties of your position." Then he told me to present
+his compliments to Mademoiselle Julie, and went away.
+
+I met Giulia at the door. She looked annoyed at having to wait, but
+when I made her acquainted with the delay caused by meeting the captain
+her face cleared.
+
+"I thought, mon ami," she said, "that you had forgotten your duty."
+
+"That might be possible; but, Mademoiselle Julie, how could I forget
+you?"
+
+She curtsied at the compliment, and I noticed the grace of her figure,
+the beauty of its curves, the wonderful arch of the instep; and I
+must have looked my admiration, for when she lifted her eyes to meet
+mine, again the rosy flush came up over her neck and cheeks. "Let us
+see that all is right within," she said, and opened the door. When we
+were inside we saw at a glance that everything was as we had left it
+on the previous evening. "Now let us count the money," I said. In a
+second Giulia flew into a rage, she stamped her foot upon the ground,
+she cried out that I wished to insult her, that I thought her mean
+and suspicious, and finally burst into tears. I laid my hand upon her
+arm and wished to know what had vexed her; she flung it off with an
+indignant gesture and bade me go away. I was thunderstruck. I could
+not tell how I had offended, and was beginning to feel aggrieved. Why
+should I be told that I had insulted her whom I would not pain for
+all the world? The more I thought of my conduct towards her, the less
+reason I could see for her anger and tears. I was wise enough, however,
+to let her have her cry out: when she had done with weeping she would
+be reasonable. I was not mistaken.
+
+When she had dried her tears, I asked how I had offended her. She
+looked, calmly enough now, at me, and said: "Did I not tell you
+yesterday that I trusted you?"
+
+"Yes," I replied.
+
+"And yet to-day you ask that I should count the money. How can I do so
+and trust?"
+
+I took off my kepi, bowed, and said: "Pardon me, I was wrong."
+
+"You will never offend me again?"
+
+"Never. And you, you will forgive?"
+
+"Yes; once, but not a second time."
+
+Again she gave me her hand, again I kissed it, then she put her hands
+upon my shoulders, and said: "My dear friend, if I did not trust you
+more than you think, I would not be alone with you here."
+
+She asked me to take a glass of wine, voluntarily put the glass to her
+lips, and then handed it to me. I deliberately turned it round, so
+that my lips should touch where hers had touched, and drained it to
+the bottom, looking the while over it at Giulia. She smiled and looked
+pleased, and then turned away to get some cigars. I had more sense than
+to offer money. I took the cigars, and said:
+
+"You are a good comrade, Giulia."
+
+It was the first time I had called her by her name. She hesitated a
+little, and then answered:
+
+"And you too, you will be a good comrade, will you not, Jean?"
+
+"Oui, ma belle." And I bit off the end of a cigar, while she struck a
+match to light it for me.
+
+Just as I began to smoke there came a knock at the door. I shouted out
+"Entrez," and the commandant came in. I put down the cigar and stood to
+attention.
+
+"Everything goes well, is it not?" he asked.
+
+"Yes, monsieur le commandant," Giulia replied; "I can soon repay some
+of the money advanced by you and the other officers."
+
+"No, my child," the commandant said; "you are the daughter of the
+regiment now. The battalion must be father and mother to you; we cannot
+accept repayment."
+
+"But my mother paid back the money given to her by the officers."
+
+"Yes, my dear child; but your mother was not born in the regiment,
+and though we lent to her we give to you. We gave it, indeed, and did
+not expect to be repaid. I was a sub-lieutenant then, and I remember
+all. She insisted, and we were compelled to accept. With you it is
+different; we will insist, and you must not refuse. How do you like the
+sergeant-major of the canteen?" he went on. We all laughed at the queer
+title; no one had ever heard of such a rank.
+
+"Very well, monsieur le commandant."
+
+"Yes, yes; I think he will be good; if he is not, tell me." With that
+he went away.
+
+"I must be good, Giulia?" I said, as I lit the cigar again.
+
+"Yes; very good, my comrade; you must never offend me again."
+
+"Ah! you do not forget--perhaps you will never forget--and then, what
+is the good of being forgiven?"
+
+"I will forget; yes, I will never remember, unless you force me to."
+
+I promised that I should never offend her again, and she smiled and
+said that she believed me.
+
+"Nobody will enter here during the day," I told her, "and I will leave
+the box here; if I do not I must carry it everywhere with me, and that
+will be inconvenient."
+
+Giulia asked me why I should carry it about with me, and I told her
+that I should have no peace or ease of mind while it was out of my
+sight unless it was in the canteen, which was near so many sentinels.
+I also mentioned my fears for its safety the previous night and the
+precautions that I had taken. She was very sorry that I had been so
+restless, and advised me to leave it in future in the canteen. To this
+I demurred. I told her that if the box were there, I should be getting
+up at all hours of the night to come and look at the place, and perhaps
+I might be shot by a sentry. "But can we not find a hiding-place--some
+place that nobody could find even in broad daylight?" The idea struck
+me as a good one. We searched in all directions, and finally decided on
+an empty box half-full of straw that had contained bottles. By leaving
+this, of course, without the money, in full view of everybody during
+the day, no man who might enter at night would dream of searching it.
+Then I proposed that we should put only the money there every evening
+and that I should take away the empty box.
+
+"No, my friend, you shall not. Something might happen if the bad ones
+thought that the box was full; better lose the money than a good
+friend's life."
+
+"As it pleases you, my comrade; I will obey orders, then I cannot
+offend."
+
+That evening the canteen did a good trade, so good, indeed, that
+we--that is, Giulia and I--determined on sending for more wine and
+_eau-de-vie_. I went to the commandant in the morning and told him how
+affairs stood. He was glad to hear my report, and ordered me to make
+out the order and give it to him to be forwarded. I brought him the
+written order to a merchant in Oran and handed over eighteen hundred
+francs in cash. He had the money counted by a clerk, and then told me
+that he would see that Mademoiselle Julie's order and money were safely
+transmitted. I saluted and went away.
+
+As day after day passed Giulia and I became all the better friends. We
+openly showed our liking for each other. We were constantly meeting,
+sometimes by accident it is true, but oftener by unexpressed design,
+and, whenever we met, we always stopped to speak. I, being unattached
+to any company for battalion duties, had plenty of time on my hands;
+Giulia, of course, had nothing to do until evening, as I took good care
+that her place was swept and cleaned every morning by legionaries,
+who were only too glad to do this work for a glass of brandy and an
+ounce of tobacco apiece; thus we, as it were, could not help meeting
+so frequently. The others noticed and said nothing; it was tacitly
+understood at the time through the battalion that we were lovers, and
+yet we had never even spoken of love, and I had kissed her hand only
+twice. We were happy together, and that, for the moment, was enough for
+both.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+
+When Giulia and I met next morning at the canteen we found money and
+goods untouched. She did not ask me to take a glass of wine this time
+but filled it out, put it to her lips, and gave it to me. I drank the
+wine, lit a cigar, and asked her if she had any orders. We laughed at
+this, then she in her pretty way insisted that I was the sub-officer
+in charge and that her duty was to listen and obey, mine to command.
+I objected, saying that the lady's wishes had to be considered first.
+A good deal of harmless chat followed. I smoked the cigar, she deftly
+rolled a cigarette and lit it from my cigar, our faces were close
+together, and I told her it was well that cigarette and cigar were
+between us and also kept our lips engaged. But this was all fun, we
+had nothing to do; the men of the battalion, at least three companies
+of them, were out marching with knapsacks and pouches full, the fourth
+company was up to its eyes in work, some on guard, some cooking, some
+doing the necessary duties of a camp; I honestly believe that we two
+were the only idle, careless ones in the cantonment.
+
+As she flung away the end of a cigarette she said: "I have resolved to
+live here after a few days."
+
+"What!" I cried, "you to stay here alone, beautiful and with money?"
+
+She smiled back, as it were triumphantly, and replied:
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"But you are beautiful."
+
+"Thanks, my comrade."
+
+"And there will always be money in the house."
+
+"It is true."
+
+"And beauty and money, what will they not tempt men to do?"
+
+"I shall have a protector."
+
+This was a blow to me, and she must have seen it, for she said quickly,
+putting her hand on my arm, that the sergeant and his wife whom she had
+been staying with since her mother's death would keep house for her.
+
+"Oh," I cried, "I am so glad and I was so sorry."
+
+"I trust you, Jean," she answered; "will you not trust me?" I was not
+allowed to reply; she put a pretty finger on my lips, and said:
+
+"Yes, I know you trust me; why say to me what I know?"
+
+What pleasant days we had together! What fun and jesting and pretended
+rebukes! When the sergeant and his wife were installed in one of the
+rooms over the canteen, I used to stay until the call went for "Out
+lights," and then I groped my way in the darkness back to my quarters,
+challenged by every sentry on the road. Soon the battalion got to
+understand that _le jeune_ was always to be found going to his quarters
+at a certain hour, and the sentries used to look out especially for me.
+I, of course, had to answer their challenges and to give my reason for
+being out at night. I always said:
+
+"Visiting Sergeant M----." As I passed the scoundrels used to say:
+"Sergeant M----, is he married? Has Madame M---- a friend at her
+house?" And I dared not say anything in reply, because if I did all the
+battalion would be laughing at me and somebody else next day.
+
+You must not think that the men wished to hurt anyone's feelings. No;
+bad as they were, forgetful as they were of the ten commandments,
+they had no intention, not even the slightest, of offending Giulia or
+me. Giulia was the pet. Many envied me, I am sure, but they envied me
+because they thought things; had they known that Giulia and I were
+merely good friends, good comrades, and that no word of love had ever
+been said by either of us they would have laughed, and said: "Oh, boy
+and girl to-day, lover and mistress to-morrow," but that was because,
+with a lingering taste for good, they had quite given up expecting it
+here or hereafter. One thing I must say, the legionaries were very
+quiet in the canteen. They called for their drinks and went outside at
+once, and there smoked, drank, and sang as best pleased each. Sometimes
+a man would have no money and would wish for a drink in the morning or
+a pipeful of tobacco at night. He came to me, and said:
+
+"I want it, my sergeant-major; will you give it me?"
+
+"I can't give it," I used to say, "but I'll ask for it for you, and if
+you don't pay when you have money I shall have to pay instead and I'll
+never ask for you again."
+
+They did not always pay, but that was because a man's money was
+stopped--he was in hospital, perhaps, or in jail--but Giulia and I
+never minded that; the men who could pay did.
+
+To say the truth, no battalion in the world was so good or so
+comfortable as ours at that time. The men never drank out of the lines,
+therefore those who went too far could be easily carried away to bed.
+There was very little fighting, for no man, indeed, would strike a blow
+in Mademoiselle Julie's canteen, and if a blow is not struck soon,
+soldiers forgive and forget easily; moreover, if a man had no money he
+could get his bit of tobacco and, perhaps, his glass of _eau-de-vie_
+without begging for it. Giulia never wrote down the name of a man she
+gave credit to; she said always: "It is not my honour, but yours, that
+is at stake." That phrase with us was worth all the ledgers in the
+world.
+
+One evening I was sitting on the edge of the counter talking about
+something or other to a corporal who had dropped in for a glass of
+wine and had asked me to join him in the drink. In spite of the
+difference in rank I consented, for I knew quite well that the social
+position that the corporal used to hold was very much higher than my
+own; as a matter of fact, the man had at one time a commission in the
+British army, and his father draws to this very day a big pension
+from the British Government But that is by the way. As we chatted
+Giulia listened and was interested; we spoke of some affairs of the
+battalion, and Giulia knew as much as we did of such things. We three
+were the only persons in the canteen. I had just told Giulia to refill
+the glasses, and she was about doing so when a man entered, a simple
+soldier. I did not know him at the time; I found out afterwards
+that he was a Hessian and bore the reputation of being taciturn and
+unsociable, thereby rendering himself an object of dislike to all. He
+called for a glass of brandy and drank it, then for another, which he
+sipped slowly, and tried to enter into conversation with Giulia. The
+corporal and I resumed the conversation interrupted by the Hessian's
+entrance, and Giulia evidently preferred to listen to us rather than
+to the new-comer. As he noted this he became rather angry, and made
+some remark about his money being as good as another's, and that
+canteen girls should be obliging to all customers. Giulia, who had a
+hot temper, told him at once to finish his drink and to take himself
+and his money elsewhere. The Hessian drank his brandy, and as he was
+leaving said that she knew the difference between a simple soldier
+and a sergeant-major, and if someone had no chevrons on his sleeve he
+would soon be taught that it was unmannerly to sit on a counter in the
+presence of a lady. My temper had been gradually rising and this was
+too much for me. I jumped down from the counter, took off my belt and
+bayonet, which I handed to Giulia, stripped off my tunic, and told the
+scamp that there were no chevrons on my shirt. He was astonished, and
+almost before he could put himself on his defence I had given him in
+quick succession right and left fists in the eyes. I followed up the
+attack vigorously, and in less than three minutes all the insolence
+was taken out of him and he begged for mercy. Then I kicked him out of
+the canteen and told him never again to enter it, put on my tunic and
+sat down, this time on a chair.
+
+"I must apologise," I said to Giulia; "I should not have sat on
+the counter; in one sense he was right. I will not ask pardon for
+quarrelling, for he offended you too."
+
+"You may sit where you like, my sergeant-major," Giulia replied; "I
+shall not be offended."
+
+"But I should not sit on the counter."
+
+"Sit where you wish," she repeated; "I shall be satisfied."
+
+"Même sur vos genoux, mademoiselle," said the English corporal, with a
+smile. Giulia blushed, laughed, and shook her head.
+
+I may finish here about the Hessian. The story was told by him that I
+had committed an unprovoked assault When the commandant heard this,
+he sent for me. I told the truth, and my version of the affair was
+corroborated by Giulia and the corporal. The commandant would take no
+official notice of the affair, but he privately admonished me that it
+was very wrong to take off my belt and tunic. "You should not have
+undressed, even partially," he said, "in the presence of a lady and an
+inferior." But he gave me no blame for the beating I gave the Hessian.
+
+Here I must explain the military meaning of being undressed. If a
+man is on duty and wearing a belt and bayonet, he is undressed if he
+takes them off. Should he be supposed to wear white trousers and white
+gaiters, he is undressed if he wears red trousers with black leggings.
+So one can understand that, when the commandant admonished me for being
+undressed in the presence of Giulia and the corporal, he referred
+quite as much to the taking off of my belt and bayonet as he did to
+the taking off of my coat. Soldiers have to be very particular about
+their clothing and equipments; this is quite right, as it tends to good
+discipline and order.
+
+When the canteen closed for the evening Giulia and I smoked our
+cigarettes as usual, while I sipped my glass of wine. We were
+rather silent, for I was thinking of the quarrel and its probable
+consequences; what Giulia thought of I cannot tell. At last I finished
+my cigarette, carefully extinguished the end for fear of fire, and
+drained my glass. I rose to go. Instead of shaking hands with me across
+the counter--for she had been sitting inside all the time, whilst I
+occupied a seat outside--Giulia came round to where I was and for the
+first time asked me what I thought would happen.
+
+"Oh, nothing, nothing," I replied; "what can happen? I had to do as I
+did; I surely could not allow any man to misconduct himself here?"
+
+"Yes, yes; but you took off your belt and tunic."
+
+"Oh, that will never be mentioned; why should the scoundrel talk of
+that?"
+
+"Yes; but he will talk of it, and there will be trouble--trouble for
+you on my account."
+
+"Well, if there is to be trouble for me I shall not mind it, since it
+will be on your account; were it on account of any other I should be
+vexed."
+
+"But you may lose your rank," she insisted.
+
+"I shall not mind, so long as they leave me on duty in the canteen."
+
+"But they may not leave you here; another may come."
+
+"That is true," I answered, "and that is the only thing I am afraid of."
+
+"You would like to stay here with me?" said Giulia, blushing as she
+spoke.
+
+"Always, always with you," I replied, and, putting my kepi on the
+counter, I took her in my arms and kissed her full upon the lips.
+
+Then we forgot all about the Hessian and thought only about ourselves.
+I have no mind to write all about our love story; people who have loved
+will understand, and those poor wretches who have never known what it
+is to love passionately and to be as passionately loved could never
+comprehend, were I to write till Doomsday about Giulia and myself.
+
+At last the time came for parting. Giulia told me that she should not
+sleep for thinking of what might happen as a result of the quarrel, but
+I succeeded in calming her fears. "Trust me," I told her; "I took the
+wisest course, though I did not think of that at the time. If I had
+allowed the rascal to go away unpunished, the commandant would call me
+a coward and say that I was unworthy to wear the military medal, and
+all the officers and men would agree with him. Now the worst that can
+be said is that I lost my temper and forgot my rank. Even that too will
+be pardoned, since they will easily see that I could not allow myself
+to be insulted in your presence without taking instant vengeance for
+the affront." She grew more composed as I spoke, and I felt more at
+ease; in comforting Giulia I comforted myself.
+
+I did not get the message that the commandant wished to see me until
+about three o'clock in the afternoon of the next day. All the morning I
+had enough to do to prevent Giulia from breaking down; her eyes showed
+that she had spent a restless night, a night of tears, but as the
+morning wore on she almost forgot her anxiety in my cheering words and
+more than cheering kisses. When a sergeant told me that I was wanted at
+the officers' quarters Giulia broke down completely. I kissed her once
+more, bade her be of good courage, and gave her over to the sergeant's
+wife, whose kindness and tender sympathy were of inestimable value to
+us both. The sergeant's wife was a good woman and deserved a better
+fate than that which was her lot afterwards; but then, what will you?
+It is only the good who suffer in this world; the bad are always to be
+found at the top of the wheel.
+
+Well, the commandant received me as I have already told, and after a
+kind admonition--how kind these officers that men fear so much can be
+when they like!--sent me away. I saluted, turned, walked a pace or
+two, and then set off running at the top of my speed to the canteen. I
+burst in the door, ran up the stairs, taking three steps at a time, and
+bounded with a loud cry of joy into the room where Giulia was weeping.
+I could say nothing, nothing intelligible at all events, but Giulia
+understood. So did the sergeant's wife, for she discreetly went away
+and left us to ourselves and our happiness.
+
+Things went on badly for the Hessian. He was always an ill-liked
+comrade, but this last affair was too bad indeed. All sympathised with
+Giulia and myself, and the sympathy was not merely on account of the
+chance a man had of getting tobacco and a glass of spirits when his
+pockets were empty. Oh no; the legionaries were glad that they could
+get a little credit, but then they always paid--that is, all paid
+except the poor devils whose money was stopped for some reason or
+other--and they were pleased with the canteen, pleased with Giulia, who
+had been born in the battalion, and I think they were not discontented
+on account of my position, for was not I a legionary like themselves?
+So the Hessian was not spoken to, or only spoken to to be cursed; if
+he replied he was beaten; if he complained, there were plenty to prove
+that he was a bad comrade and that it was impossible to soldier with
+him, and, unfortunately for himself, he had been known as an unsociable
+fellow for a long time. The end was that he volunteered for Tonquin,
+where there were some of ours still, and his captain was by no means
+sorry to be rid of him, for one can never know what may occur when a
+man is deservedly unpopular in the Legion and has not grace or tact
+enough to get back to favour with his comrades.
+
+As for Giulia and me, life was idyllic. We did not mind the laughing
+jests of our comrades; they never went too far. There was a leaven of
+the gentleman in the battalion, and this leaven leavened all the mass.
+Then the really bad ones were afraid; the example of the Hessian was
+too fresh in their minds. But, indeed, all were kind and agreeable.
+That Giulia and I should be lovers had been obvious to all others long
+before we ourselves thought of being such to one another, and when
+the legionaries noticed that she lived for me alone, just as all my
+thoughts were alone hers, they kept their coarse jokes to themselves
+and were as polite to us as if we were far higher than they in social
+position. Some of the songs were not of a moral kind, but as the
+evening concert always took place outside the canteen Giulia was not
+supposed to hear, and, indeed, when she did hear she did not always
+understand. When she did comprehend she said nothing; one cannot be a
+_cantinière_ in the Legion and a prude.
+
+At this time Giulia and I were always together. Certainly while the
+canteen was open I was outside the counter, often making one of a
+party of sergeants who came to drink in comrade-like fashion with one
+another; at other times merely going around to see that there was no
+disorder--well, no more disorder and abandonment than are reasonable
+in a canteen where belts are off and tongues wag freely. I very seldom
+had any trouble, most of the legionaries kept within bounds, and those
+who felt disposed to give a loose rein to the desire of ardent spirits
+were prevented from doing so by a constant lack of money. Sometimes,
+however, when some Russian or Prussian or Austrian had received money
+from Europe there was a little danger of a free fight, and I, who had
+been in the encounter at Three Fountains, did not like these things.
+I had told Giulia about that trouble and she was just as concerned as
+I, but she was concerned for my safety and my rank, while I was anxious
+about her shop and herself. Any man can start a row--oh, it is quite
+easy, I assure you--but it is not every man that can stop one. Besides,
+I remembered how the huts were torn down at Three Fountains and the
+Russian's advice to the old soldier sutler: "Take your goods and madame
+away." The advice about madame seemed especially applicable to Giulia,
+and yet I knew she would stay by me, and it was my duty to stay by the
+canteen.
+
+One day the English corporal whom I have mentioned came to the canteen
+and asked Giulia to take care of some money for him. Giulia refused
+point-blank, but said that he might speak to me. When I learned what
+he wished me to do I at once saw the reasonableness of the request,
+inasmuch as no man would like to keep so large a sum of money as
+the corporal had in his own possession in a hut. The Englishman had
+just received from home a Bank of England note for £100, and many a
+simple soldier would kill him for such a sum. But, one may object,
+how negociate such a billet in such a place? Oh, no one could do that
+except the owner, or someone like Giulia, who would change it for
+him in the regular way of business; but many a man was nearing the
+end of his five years' service, and a Bank of England note could be
+easily hidden for a time and in the end changed in Paris. One hundred
+pounds!--twenty-five hundred francs!--why, it was a fortune.
+
+I said that I would take the note and give him a receipt for it, and
+that, as he drew money from Mademoiselle Julie, he could give receipts
+until the full amount was withdrawn. He thanked me, gave me the note,
+took a receipt, and immediately applied to Giulia in my presence for
+a hundred francs. She gave him the money at my request and he gave me
+an acknowledgment. That evening his squad was merry; he had given
+them fifty francs to spend, the other fifty he spent with his brother
+corporals.
+
+On the following day he asked me about the stock in the canteen. I told
+him that there was not at the time enough to justify him in giving a
+spree to a section, but that in less than a week he could stand treat
+to the battalion if he liked.
+
+"Oh no; not the battalion, only the company."
+
+"I understand," said I; "I know that you cannot go outside your own
+company, but I spoke of the battalion merely to show you Mademoiselle
+Julie's resources."
+
+"I see," the corporal replied; "well, tell me when you are ready, and
+my comrades shall enjoy an evening's carouse."
+
+Let me now tell about the money. Of course, it was Giulia's, not
+mine, and she kept it in her money box, which was snugly hidden in
+her own room in a place that no one knew of except ourselves. Even
+the sergeant's wife did not know it. She never entered Giulia's room
+except on invitation. Giulia herself kept the place as it ought to be,
+sweeping it, dusting the furniture, and having everything as neat and
+clean as it could be in a palace. Once a week she gave me the key. I
+went there with a couple of privates--of course, she then took the box
+away--the legionaries with me removed everything to another place and
+washed out the room and left it with windows and door open for a couple
+of hours. They then returned, replaced the furniture, got a couple of
+drinks, a couple of cigars and a franc, and went away satisfied. But
+this is mere domestic economy.
+
+Giulia also kept the receipt for the hundred francs. But, one will say,
+why not transact the business without troubling me? Well, the amount
+was so large and the money was so strange that she wished me to settle
+everything for her, as I was, in her opinion, the one man in the world
+who knew everything and was always right. Again, she knew how much I
+prized her trust, and so was glad to pay me a delicate compliment.
+Moreover, we were so closely united to each other now that it would
+seem to so gentle and confiding, yet high-spirited a girl as she was
+a breach of faith for her to engage in such a transaction without my
+knowledge and consent. Yet when I asked Giulia why she had not taken
+the money from the corporal at once, she only answered: "I don't know;
+but I would not." Then she kissed me, and said: "I will never take
+anything, unless you know about it and are satisfied."
+
+What a sum of happiness the events, even the very words, of our lives
+made at this time! Ah, well! the sum was soon to be added up, and the
+total not exceeded, for ever.
+
+About five days after my last conversation with the English corporal
+the new stock arrived. It had cost altogether about two thousand
+francs, and we--that is, Guilia and I--were sure to make at least five
+or six hundred francs profit. When we ordered the stuff we expected
+that it would last for some time, but now, knowing the corporal's
+resources and intention, we settled that it would all be sold within a
+week. We were not disappointed; in fact, the day after it arrived we
+had to send an order for a similar quantity to our agent at Oran.
+
+"I see that the new goods have arrived," said the Englishman to me as I
+met him on the parade-ground.
+
+"Yes," I replied. "I have been looking for you. If you tell me now how
+much you want I can get it, and you can write out the receipt."
+
+"Thanks, my sergeant-major; but you are a man of experience in these
+things. You were at Three Fountains; is it not so?"
+
+"Yes," I answered, laughing.
+
+"Then will you tell me how much I ought to have for the entertainment
+of my company?"
+
+"Oh, five hundred francs will do well, but seven or eight hundred will
+really be a generous amount to spend."
+
+"Let me be very generous then; get me a thousand."
+
+"Very well; but remember there will be change left. Let your squad
+understand that they will have the spending of that, so shall you have
+sentries guarding your sleep."
+
+"You are right, my sergeant-major, you are right; I am obliged to you
+for the hint. Will not Mademoiselle Julie give us a glass of wine, so
+that we may clink our glasses together?"
+
+"Oh, certainly. Nobody amongst the officers troubles about the canteen.
+One can generally get a glass of _eau-de-vie_ or _vin ordinaire_ at any
+reasonable hour. The commandant knows that no man is given more than he
+can safely bear, and what is the use of being strict in such a place as
+this?"
+
+The corporal knew this. If a man wanted a drink at any hour when the
+canteen was supposed to be shut, he could speak to me and I could get
+it for him. He did not, however, enter the canteen; he had to take it,
+and that quickly, at a window at the back. As a rule, men only wanted a
+glass of brandy in the morning--about half-a-dozen at most; these were
+the men who had had too much drink the evening before and who possessed
+or borrowed the necessary coppers in the morning.
+
+As the English corporal and I took our drinks together at the little
+window, I told him the true story of Three Fountains. Giulia listened
+with interest, though she had heard all about it before. Once I asked
+her to refill the glasses. She said: "Do not continue until I return; I
+wish to hear it all again." Of course, I waited for her return and then
+proceeded with my tale. When I had finished, I said that I hoped there
+would not be any such work here.
+
+"Oh no," replied the corporal; "not if I can help it."
+
+"You must not make them drunk," said Giulia.
+
+"No, no, Madame Julie; I give you my word of honour."
+
+It was the first time that she had been addressed as madame. She
+blushed a rosy red, turned her head aside for a moment, and gave me one
+swift glance of----Oh, I knew well what it meant and how it pleased me,
+but I will say no more. The corporal was a gentleman and went away at
+once. He finished his drink, raised his kepi, and said adieu.
+
+There was a good deal of boisterous mirth that evening at the canteen
+and around it. A couple of men did strike each other, but before any
+serious damage was done, I had both under guard and on the road to the
+guard-room. The rest took the hint; they saw that fighting meant loss
+of the drink and fun of the evening, and a night in the guard-room
+and punishment in the morning. A few men who were evidently overcome,
+or nearly so, by the effects of the liquor were carried away to bed
+by their comrades, and, taken all in all, the evening passed away
+satisfactorily. Next morning, however, nearly a hundred men turned up
+for _eau-de-vie_, and all had money. The corporal had been judiciously
+generous; everyone was pleased.
+
+The Englishman gave one more spree, three nights after, to his company,
+but this second one did not cost him more than four hundred francs.
+Then he spent two hundred francs one evening with his section; what was
+left was kept for his squad. In acting as he did he followed the custom
+of the Legion, but I have already said enough about that.
+
+As he was drawing the last fifty francs I said to him in Giulia's
+presence.
+
+"Monsieur le caporal, you have spent your money as it should be spent,
+but it may be a long time until you are rich again. Do not hesitate
+if you want a litre of wine or some brandy or tobacco and have no
+money. There has been a great profit in a short time; whenever you feel
+inclined come and have your share of it."
+
+"Yes," said Giulia; "you will be always welcome, whether your pockets
+are full or empty."
+
+"I thank you both," the Englishman replied, "and I like and respect you
+too much not to take advantage now and then of your generous offer."
+
+"Come as often as you like," I said; "you will always find a welcome,
+and that not merely on account of the profit."
+
+"Yes," said Giulia; "that is true."
+
+"I will come," the corporal answered, "but not very often; such a
+welcome is too good to be worn out." He lifted his kepi to Giulia,
+bowed, and went away.
+
+He did not come very often without money, only now and then, as he had
+said, but, you see, he was very proud.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+
+Soon afterwards some important changes took place in the battalion.
+We were ordered to prepare a draft of four hundred officers and men
+for the East, and in lieu of these we received a corresponding number
+of recruits and veterans sent home. The changes in the officers were
+many, for, in addition to those who went as a matter of course with
+the draft, others volunteered for foreign service and were accepted.
+As far as I was concerned, the officer most to be regretted was the
+adjutant. The man who went was always kind and had ever a pleasant word
+for Giulia and for me; the one who replaced him was destined to be our
+greatest enemy. We could not guess this at the time, and naturally
+thought that all things would go on as usual, but it was not long
+before we were cruelly undeceived.
+
+The new adjutant was a stout, thick-set man of about thirty-five years.
+He had seen a good deal of service both in Algeria and Tonquin, and was
+undoubtedly a very smart soldier and a most capable man for performing
+the duties of his rank. That is all one can say in his favour. He
+was harsh, even tyrannical; he never spared a man's feelings, and
+his tongue could cut like a whip-lash. All the legionaries, from
+sergeant-major down to simple soldier, feared and hated him; before he
+had been in the battalion a fortnight we, who had been the most joyous
+and careless fellows on earth, every man pleased with himself and with
+his comrades, became the most sullen and dogged lot in the world. There
+was just as much drinking as ever, but the singing, the _camaraderie_,
+the easy give-and-take feeling that used to prevail, were all gone.
+Moreover, the men drank more brandy and less wine, and, as I pointed
+this out to Giulia, I said:
+
+"Carissima, there will be bad work soon; somebody's blood will flow,
+and then there will be an execution."
+
+She shuddered as she replied: "How I wish that that bad man were sent
+away! Before he came we were all happy, now I, even I, am gloomy and
+troubled; I am oppressed by some foreboding that I cannot understand."
+
+I could enter into her feelings, for I too had anxious thoughts, not
+for Giulia or myself, indeed, but for the other legionaries. I felt
+that an outbreak of some kind would occur, but the chief trouble was
+to persuade myself that it would be merely a rash act on the part of
+one man, who would free all from tyranny and take the punishment by
+himself, but as the days wore on I, who knew the Legion by heart,
+could see that there was a far greater chance of a number of men being
+concerned in the _émeute_. One thing delayed action, the newcomers and
+the rest had not sufficiently fraternised--four hundred strangers are
+too many for any battalion to assimilate quickly.
+
+One morning half-a-dozen men were having a nip of brandy each at a
+little window at the back of the canteen; I was standing a little
+apart, and Giulia was passing out the glasses. Suddenly the new
+adjutant came round the corner and sternly asked the meaning of giving
+out drink at such an hour. Nobody could reply. We all knew that the
+commandant winked at the business, we all knew too that the canteen
+should not be open at that time, but then no harm had ever come of it,
+no man ever got more that one _petite verre_, and surely that would
+rather help a man than hurt him if he wanted it. But how could I, the
+one chiefly addressed, say all that? Oh no; I had to be silent and
+take my abuse as best I could, and truly the adjutant was abusive. He
+was still speaking like a brute when Giulia, with flushed cheeks and
+sparkling eyes, broke in, and said:
+
+"The sergeant-major has nothing to do with it, it is I alone who am to
+blame."
+
+The adjutant saluted her politely and replied that he understood that
+I was in military charge of the canteen, but, even had I nothing to
+do with it, I was acting in a most disgraceful fashion when I allowed
+these pigs to get drunk so early in the morning.
+
+"The soldiers are not pigs," answered Giulia, "and they are not drunk;
+no man ever gets more than a _petite verre_ at this hour."
+
+"Then it is usual to supply drink so soon," the scoundrel said; "ah!
+the commandant must hear of this."
+
+Then he took my belt and bayonet and sent me to my own room, to remain
+there under arrest; as for the others, he merely wrote down their names
+and ordered them away. When they had gone--it was long afterwards that
+I learnt this--he tried to begin a conversation with Giulia, but he had
+scarcely uttered an endearing word when she put down the window and
+walked away. She was right, and the scoundrel was wrong, but he made
+her and me suffer for it.
+
+Just as I was expecting my morning coffee, I heard a tap at the door,
+and cried "Come in." Giulia entered carrying a tray with coffee and
+rolls and butter. I took the tray from her and put it on the floor.
+There was no table, of course; in a bachelor sergeant's room nothing,
+indeed, but the camp-bed and a shelf or two for my equipments. Then I
+kissed her, and said:
+
+"You spoke bravely this morning; I am glad of it I should like to say
+what you said, but they would punish me."
+
+"Are you pleased?" she asked.
+
+"Yes, carissima mia; and all the battalion will be pleased when they
+hear about it."
+
+"I do not care about the battalion if you are content."
+
+"Yes, yes, ma belle; I am very content. Is he not a rascal?"
+
+"Oh," said Giulia, "I hate him; all the trouble comes from him;
+somebody must kill him or we shall never again have peace."
+
+"Somebody will kill him," I answered; "you may rest assured of that."
+
+"But not you, not you," she cried; "promise me, not you."
+
+"Certainly not," I replied; "why should I kill him when there are so
+many others who have more grievances than I? Moreover, I have no desire
+to be shot; I am too happy here with you to wish to leave you. Heaven
+for me is here."
+
+She was satisfied with this, and insisted on my tasting the coffee.
+
+"Is it nice?" she asked.
+
+I smiled, and said that it was very nice.
+
+"Does it taste well?"
+
+"Oh yes; I never drank any coffee I liked so well."
+
+The truth is, Giulia had put a glass of _eau-de-vie_ into the coffee,
+and I felt that I wanted it after the scene in the morning. How kind,
+how thoughtful she was! I told her so over and over again before she
+left, and when she did go, she said with a pretty way of command that
+she had:
+
+"Expect me in an hour, and do not lose your temper with anyone until I
+come back; there is trouble enough already."
+
+I promised and she went away.
+
+Giulia, as she had promised, came back in an hour. She brought me a
+little wine, for she knew that very soon I should be in front of the
+commandant, and a glass of wine does summon up one's courage. A glass
+of wine before an interview, a glass of brandy before a battle--that is
+sound sense. Very soon a couple of soldiers of my own rank came for
+me. I gave them the remainder of the liquor, and they were very pleased.
+
+"I hope you won't get into serious trouble," said the Alsatian.
+
+"Not at all," chimed in the Spaniard; "he'll get off, but there must be
+no more drinking out of hours."
+
+"I will take care of that," said Giulia; "will you tell your
+companies?" They promised to do so, and we three went away, I in the
+centre without belt or bayonet, and Giulia followed, after locking
+the door of my room. When we came before the commandant one of the
+escort took off my kepi. The adjutant was present, looking as stiff
+and unimpressionable as a block of wood. When the accusation was read
+out I was asked if I had anything to say. I replied that I had not.
+The commandant considered and considered and considered. He walked up
+and down for a few moments, then stood still for a second or two, and
+resumed his walk. After about five minutes he said:
+
+"You are young, you have the military medal; I do not like to punish
+you." Here the adjutant interposed and asked permission to make a
+statement. When this was granted, he raked up the whole story of the
+quarrel at Three Fountains, as if everyone did not know about it. He
+laid stress upon the fact that I had been one of the ringleaders in
+that affair, and ended by asking was such an one as I fit to look after
+a canteen. Then the commandant said:
+
+"When you came first to the battalion there was a sergeant-major in
+every company, and I could not find a place for you. Most commandants
+would have made you simple sergeant of a section. Will you now consent
+to give up one chevron and become sergeant? If you do, I will say no
+more about this affair." I jumped at the offer, the more readily as
+nothing was said about taking me from the society of Giulia.
+
+"Very well," said the commandant; "present yourself here to-morrow
+morning with only one chevron on your sleeve."
+
+My kepi, belt and bayonet were returned to me. Having put them on, I
+saluted and walked away a free man again.
+
+Giulia was waiting for me a short distance off. I told her all about
+the matter as we walked towards my quarters. When we arrived there I
+said:
+
+"Get your scissors and cut off the chevron."
+
+"No, no," she cried; "I will never cut it off."
+
+"Then give me your scissors and I will do it."
+
+But she would not give her scissors for that purpose. So I had to take
+off my tunic, and with the point of a little Spanish knife which I used
+for cutting tobacco--these Spanish knives are very handy little things,
+for one cannot always wear a bayonet, and one never knows how trouble
+may arise--I ripped the upper chevron from my sleeve. I laid it on my
+camp-bed. Giulia took it, kissed it, and put it in her bosom.
+
+"I would not cut it off," she said, "but I will sew it on again, when
+the time comes." That time never came.
+
+Giulia went away to see about some things in the canteen. In less than
+five minutes she was back again, looking as angry as a tigress at bay.
+When she grew a little composed, she told me that the sergeant who
+stayed with his wife in the room over the bar had been appointed to
+the charge of the place and that I was to be assigned to his section
+in No. 4 Company in the morning. This was most unpleasant news, but I
+comforted her by saying that it really made no difference, except that
+I could not now go to see her at the canteen except during the hours
+when it was open, but that I should do my best to see her as often as
+possible outside duty hours. "They cannot separate us anyway," I said;
+"you are all in all to me and I am all in all to you." So she relieved
+her sorrow by a good cry, and then sat, quite quiet, on my lap. After
+all, the great thing was that nobody could part us altogether.
+
+Next morning things turned out as Giulia had said. I was posted for
+duty to the first section of No. 4 Company instead of the sergeant
+whose wife had given shelter and protection to Giulia after her
+mother's death, and he was assigned to look after the canteen. I very
+soon fell into the routine duties of a sergeant. The section was handed
+over to me in first-class order and temperament save for one thing--the
+soldiers were discontented with the tyranny of the adjutant. This did
+not affect me much, as they were more or less inclined to look upon me
+as a martyr, and my reduction in rank was a fresh source of ill-humour,
+showing, as it did, another proof of the mischievous malevolence of
+the adjutant. I took, or pretended to take, the matter easily. I did
+my duty as it should be done during what one may call business hours,
+but when the work of the day was over I was good comrade to all. It was
+lucky that I made so many friends at the time; I wanted them--every
+one--very soon.
+
+While I was acting as sergeant, the adjutant made several attempts
+to get into the good graces of Giulia, but she repulsed him on every
+occasion. At last he asked her point-blank why she would not even
+acknowledge his salute, and she told him bluntly that she disliked him
+and that she wished him in Tonquin or in his grave--anywhere, so long
+as he was out of the battalion. Now Giulia was passionate even for an
+Italian, and as she spoke she raised her voice, unthinkingly, indeed,
+and some soldiers going with a corporal to relieve the sentries heard
+what she said as they passed by. The adjutant saw that they heard; he
+knew that he was hated by all, and he felt that in a couple of hours
+the whole battalion would be secretly enjoying his rebuff. With a curse
+he turned on his heel. Afterwards he neglected Giulia but paid more
+than enough of attention to me. He cursed me openly on parade, he found
+fault with every man in my section, not a buckle was bright, not a
+strap was clean, the greatcoats were badly folded, the bayonets were
+dull and the rifles were foul. In short, every fault that a man can
+find was found by him, but, be it well understood, only in the absence
+of the captain and other officers of the company. When the adjutant had
+charge of the parade and the sergeants commanded the companies, then
+the men of my section knew that a bad quarter of an hour awaited them.
+The other legionaries noted this too. They were glad, because it was
+quite obvious now that the majority of the battalion might endure the
+adjutant's harshness patiently, for were not the men of No. 1 section
+of No. 4 Company the really aggrieved ones? It was tacitly understood
+in the battalion that the avenger would come from us.
+
+All this time Giulia and I met every afternoon just before the opening
+of the canteen, and afterwards for ten minutes or so when the canteen
+was closed for the day. While the place was open I was always to be
+found there, unless I was on guard or had some duty to perform that
+kept me away. The other sergeants had easy lives. Every extra piece
+of work was passed on to me by the adjutant, and let me say here that
+the adjutant is the worst enemy a sub-officer can have. It's bad to
+be disliked by the commandant, because he will block promotion; the
+captain's enmity is hard to bear, because he can snarl three or four
+times a day; but the adjutant can play the very devil with a man in a
+thousand ways. Imagine asking a man who has made a slight mistake in
+making out the orders of the day:
+
+"Can you read and write?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"Well," comes the reply before more than a hundred soldiers, "take
+care in future to read and write correctly. Go back to your place, you
+stupid pig."
+
+And as the man departs he is suddenly ordered to halt and face
+right-about, and then asked:
+
+"Who promoted you sergeant?" And before he has time to answer, the
+remark is made, loudly enough to be over all the parade:
+
+"There is not a man in the camp less fitted to wear the gold chevron
+than you. To your place, rascal!"
+
+If Giulia happened to be passing through the parade ground it was
+worse. The abuse I received--and remember there is no redress in the
+Legion unless one settles matters for himself with an unexpected bullet
+or bayonet-thrust, and then there will be an execution--the abuse, I
+say, that I received made my blood often almost boil with rage. I could
+not have endured it but for the sweet company of Giulia; with her in
+the evening I forgot the wrongs and insults of the day. Truly there
+is no solace for a troubled spirit like the society of the loving and
+beloved one; her sweet sympathy more than makes up for all.
+
+The sergeant of No. 2 section of my Company was a German Pole, a
+good-humoured fellow, ready for any fun, except when the adjutant's
+eyes were fixed upon him, but withal a good soldier. His time was
+nearly up, and he meant to go to Paris, and there make a living
+somehow, when he should be at last done with the Foreign Legion. He and
+I were on very friendly terms, and, indeed, I was oftener with him than
+with any other sergeant of the corps. One evening--it was almost his
+last evening with us--he drank more than was good for him, and awoke in
+the morning with a headache and a sick stomach. I saw that he could not
+drink his morning coffee, and asked him if he would not like a glass of
+_eau-de-vie_.
+
+"Yes," he replied; "but one cannot get that now, this cursed adjutant
+has spoiled all."
+
+"Never mind," I answered, "I will get it for you."
+
+"Take care, my comrade, you will get into more trouble, and are not
+things bad enough with you already?"
+
+"So bad," I said, "that they cannot be worse." And I took my kepi and
+sallied forth. As luck would have it Giulia was sitting at the open
+window of her bedroom, and when I beckoned to her she came out on the
+cantonment square to meet me. I told her that a poor devil was ill and
+wanted some brandy.
+
+"All right," she said, "I will get some and give it to you at your own
+quarters."
+
+I returned, told the Pole that he should soon receive some medicine,
+and waited for Giulia at the door. Now either the adjutant must have
+observed all this, or some scoundrel must have told him about it, for
+just as I turned into the bachelor sergeants' quarters with the drink
+and Giulia went away again towards the canteen, the adjutant came
+running up at the top of his speed, crying out: "Halt, halt, sergeant;
+what have you got there?" I was forced to deliver up the little flask.
+He uncorked it, smelled, and said:
+
+"Very well, very well, consider yourself a prisoner. Ah, Mademoiselle
+Giulia," he went on, "what excuse can your lover make now?"
+
+"Go away, Giulia," I said.
+
+"Silence; to your room, rascal!" roared the angry adjutant.
+
+"Good-bye, my well-beloved," said Giulia. "Out of my way, pig" (this to
+the adjutant). And she walked across the square with the air and tread
+of an empress.
+
+The adjutant gnashed his teeth and bit his moustache with rage; he
+hissed rather than said to me:
+
+"You, rascal, shall pay for this, and this payment, understand well,
+is only the first; others are sure to come afterwards." I turned on my
+heel and entered my apartment.
+
+The Pole was very sorry, and would, I believe, have told about his part
+in the affair, but I pointed out, as others also did, that there was
+no use in his getting into trouble, as by so doing he could not help
+me in the least. Everyone saw quite plainly that I should certainly
+be reduced to the rank of corporal, if not lower, and all were, or
+professed to be, sorry for my misfortune. To cut the tale short, I may
+as well say at once that I got my choice of resigning my position as
+sergeant of a section and becoming a mere corporal of a squad or of
+going before a court-martial. Of course I resigned, for the offence
+of obtaining liquor at a wrong hour after the previous warning could
+not be overlooked, and, as likely as not, a court-martial might send
+me back to the ranks, a thing I had no desire for. The first time I
+passed the adjutant with the two red chevrons on my sleeve instead of
+the single gold one he smiled with an unholy joy, but the smile changed
+to a scowl as he saw the kiss of welcome that I received from Giulia at
+the door of the canteen.
+
+It was well for all the other squads in the section that I was
+reduced. They were now treated not worse, certainly, than the rest of
+the legionaries, but my little squad of sixteen men had to bear the
+brunt of the adjutant's anger. I was very concerned at this, and told
+Giulia. She--clever and good girl--at once found out a means of in part
+compensating them, but she did not tell me, and she strictly warned
+them not to tell me either. They--poor devils--were only too glad to
+keep her counsel, and it was by a mere accident that I learned the
+truth afterwards. Her plan was this: She told the men of my squad that
+they could come to the canteen with or without money and that they need
+not be afraid of a refusal on her part to supply them, as far as they
+could reasonably expect, with drink and tobacco. Now a legionary will
+stand a good deal of abuse during the day if he knows that brandy and
+other comforts await him for nothing in the evening; and, moreover, it
+was evident to all that no one was especially aimed at except me, and
+that, when No. 7, let us say, of the squad was told that he was a dirty
+pig, he was merely getting the benefit of remarks that were really
+meant for me. When the adjutant had done abusing the men one by one he
+gathered, as it were, all the abuse together and hurled it at my head,
+and often those rough legionaries, smarting as they were under their
+own vexations, used to feel for me more than for themselves. I said
+to them one day after the devil had left the hut, where he had kicked
+about our equipments, swearing that we did not know the meaning of good
+order, that I would never report any man for anything: "No matter how
+bad we may be," I continued, "we are abused and sworn at. We are all
+punished for the evil we do and the evil that we don't even think of."
+
+"I hope," said a simple soldier, a Sicilian, "that the devil will be
+dead soon."
+
+He looked significantly at me, and then at the others, but, as I said
+nothing, the implied proposal went by the board. But we all began to
+think seriously from that day forth.
+
+Many a stolen interview I had with Giulia when all in the cantonments
+were asleep. I could rarely see her now, for the adjutant found me
+plenty of work for my leisure time, and I took care to be in the hut
+every evening lest there should be a fight amongst the comrades of the
+squad. One must not imagine that they were bad comrades to one another.
+On the contrary, they were very good indeed, but when men are angry at
+being abused and sworn at without cause and without mercy they will
+easily quarrel among themselves. So I watched the squad carefully,
+and more than once stopped a dispute that might have suddenly led to
+a general fight, and very soon the simple soldiers saw that I was
+taking care of them for their sakes as well as for my own. At first
+they were inclined to resent this, but common-sense prevailed, and they
+acknowledged--tacitly only, of course--that I was in the right.
+
+One night about twelve o'clock I was speaking to Giulia at the little
+window at the back of the canteen. We had been talking for half-an-hour
+of various matters and the time had passed quickly for both. I was
+about kissing her good-night when I heard a step behind me. In a second
+I was out of Giulia's arms and had faced about. Instinctively my hand
+sought my left side, where the bayonet was.
+
+"Who is there?" said the well-known voice of the adjutant.
+
+"Caporal Le Poer de la quatrième compagnie, monsieur," I replied.
+
+"What are you doing here? Why are you not with your squad? Who is in
+charge at the hut?"
+
+I said nothing, for I had nothing to say. I almost felt the chevrons
+take flight from my arm. I had sense enough, however, to take my hand
+from the hilt of the bayonet. Things were bad enough as they were.
+
+The adjutant marched me to where a sentinel was on duty. He gave me
+in charge to this man and went to the guard-hut. Very soon a corporal
+and two men of the guard arrived, and I was taken to the prisoners'
+quarters, to rest as well as I could on a plank bed until morning. When
+I was brought before the commandant the charges were read out against
+me of having been absent without leave or necessity from the hut where
+my squad lay, of having left no one in charge while I was away, and of
+going to the canteen in the middle of the night. The commandant looked
+very serious, and, I daresay, so did I. What I had done was good to
+do, but bad to be charged with doing. Any other officer coming upon me
+as the adjutant had come would have passed on and not minded; even the
+commandant, I am sure, would pretend not to see. But when the charge
+was made and its truth admitted, then discipline compelled that proper
+notice should be taken of it. I was not sent before a court-martial.
+I was permitted to resign both chevrons, and so I went back to my
+company a simple soldier of the second class.
+
+I said to Giulia as we talked that evening at the end of the counter in
+the canteen--the other legionaries, I must mention, were decent enough
+to keep out of earshot--that I should be very careful now, as I had no
+more chevrons to lose, and an ugly punishment was sure to follow the
+next charge. "But for you, carissima," I went on, "I should volunteer
+again for Tonquin." Giulia at this began to weep quietly, but I soon
+reassured her. I told her that I would never go anywhere willingly
+unless she came with me, and then she quickly dried her tears.
+
+"You must take good care, Jean, of everything, and above all things,
+you must never allow yourself to lose your temper. Yes," she continued,
+"no matter what is said to you, no matter how hard it may be to bear,
+control yourself and all will be well. Come every evening, and I will
+comfort you for all the troubles and insults of the day."
+
+I promised faithfully to follow her advice, and though oftentimes it
+was hard to keep my temper, yet the remembrance of my promise and the
+thought that every minute that passed brought the time of our next
+meeting nearer made me feel, if not supremely happy, at least well
+content to endure with outward equanimity the curses, epithets and
+abuse that were my daily lot. I had one other consoling thought, some
+day surely the devil would be struck down by an irritated man, and he
+would in all probability be taken away in the midst of his sins. That
+was the constant prayer of the legionaries of the battalion. May he
+die, and die soon, and may he go safely home to his father, who is in
+hell.
+
+Now that I was as low as I could be in the Legion, the adjutant,
+sergeants and corporals led me a terrible life. There was no work too
+hard or too dirty for me; I did twice as much camp-cleaning as any
+other; my spare time was encroached upon; and I found myself almost
+every night a prisoner in the guard-house. The adjutant had the right
+of making me what one may call a prisoner at large for a week, and
+longer, at a time. All he had to do was to pretend to find fault with
+me for laziness, though I was an active soldier; for dirt, though I
+was a clean one; for carelessness, though I, for my own sake as well
+as for Giulia's, was the most careful soldier in the battalion. Then,
+when all the day's duties were over I could not go, as others went, to
+the canteen. I had to report myself at the guard-room and enter the
+prisoners' quarters, where I might stretch myself on the plank bed in
+the clothes which I had worn all the day, until the call went next
+morning to summon me to another dreary round of hard work and hurtful
+words. No one must wonder that the sergeants and corporals ill-treated
+me; the adjutant would have ill-treated them, if they had shown me any
+signs of favour or even of fair-play. Moreover, it's the way of the
+world to kick the man that's down, and human nature is the same in the
+Legion as elsewhere.
+
+I should have become quite reckless but for the love and kindly
+sympathy of Giulia. With her I almost forgot my sorrows, and the firm
+assurance I had that nothing could lower me in her eyes, and that
+no man in all the world could steal her heart from me, was my great
+safeguard in the moments, and they were many, of temptation. The rest
+of the legionaries watched with interest the conduct of the adjutant;
+they felt that some time or other the crisis would arrive; it was
+agreed on all sides that I was the predestined avenger.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+
+Though I did my best to keep out of trouble, still I could not help
+now and then breaking the regulations. Other soldiers broke them far
+oftener than I, but I knew quite well that the sergeants and corporals
+were all watching me in order to bring me up before the commandant on
+some charge or other, and so curry favour with the dreaded adjutant.
+Now it would not be fair to blame them for this, every sub-officer
+naturally preferred that the simple soldier should get into trouble
+rather than himself; and, moreover, the man who could get me punishment
+was sure to be left alone by the tyrant of the battalion. I certainly
+felt a bit sore about it at times, and Giulia, to whom I communicated
+my suspicions, was very angry indeed.
+
+The first serious affair in which I was involved, as a simple soldier,
+occurred one evening in the hut where my squad lay. I was not a
+prisoner at large at the time, and so had not to go to the guard-hut,
+report myself for the night, and then take up my quarters in the cells
+where the prisoners were kept under guard. As I sat on the edge of my
+bed-cot, smoking and thinking, an Austrian came in, evidently under
+the influence of drink. This man was as pleasant a companion as one
+could wish for when sober, but when drunk--he was not often so, I must
+confess--his disposition underwent a change; he became violent, abusive
+and quarrelsome. The first person he laid eyes on when he passed the
+door was myself, and towards me he accordingly staggered. I cannot
+recall what he said first, but I know that I was angry and returned
+a very sharp answer. He then began to curse and revile me, and I am
+afraid that my language in reply was as "frequent and painful and free"
+as his. The corporal of the squad came in as we were warming to our
+work and saw how matters were going. He left the hut at once, and,
+mean hound that he was, listened just outside the door. Very soon he
+returned, and, ordering some other soldiers to arrest us, marched us
+both to the guard hut, and left us there for the night in charge of
+the sergeant of the guard. In the morning the Austrian, who had slept
+off the effects of the drink, was very sorry. I told him that it was a
+pity he had not fallen out with someone else, as I was certain to get a
+heavy sentence.
+
+"You know," I went on, "the corporal will put the affair in as bad a
+light as possible for me, because by doing so he will have the adjutant
+as his good friend; and, besides, I have been up before the commandant
+so often of late and have been reduced in rank so much that he will
+consider me a soldier of very bad character and will punish me as such.
+In any case you are a soldier of the first class, and at most he can
+only take away your chevron."
+
+"That is true, my comrade; I am very sorry, that cursed brandy made a
+fool of me."
+
+"Well, it can't be helped now," I said; "I bear no malice."
+
+"Thanks, my friend, thanks," the Austrian replied; "but Mademoiselle
+Julie, she will never forgive me."
+
+"So much the better," I told him; "then you will get no more brandy,
+and so will keep out of prison." He sighed heavily and said no more: I
+could see that he was really sorry at last.
+
+At the usual hour all the prisoners made their appearance before the
+commandant. The Austrian and I were the last to be tried, and we could
+see that our judge was in bad humour that morning and unsparing of
+abuse and punishment alike. When our turn came we presented ourselves
+before him, bareheaded, without belts, and guarded by an armed escort.
+When the charge had been read out the corporal and some men gave
+evidence in support of it, and we were asked, the Austrian first, as he
+was a soldier of the first class, what we had to say in reply. Neither
+could say anything, and truly, unless we had a very good defence
+indeed, it was best to say nothing, for the commandant, a good man in
+many ways, was very short-tempered, and was evidently in a rage that
+morning. The Austrian was condemned to lose his chevron, and then the
+officer turned to deal with me.
+
+"You have been here often of late," he said, very mildly to all
+appearance, but I knew what that sudden mildness meant. I said nothing.
+
+"Can you not speak?" he almost roared.
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"You have been here often, very often--too often; is it not so?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"Do you think that I have nothing to do except to listen to complaints
+against you?" Again he spoke very quietly.
+
+"No, sir."
+
+"Then why are you here almost every day?"
+
+"I cannot avoid it, sir."
+
+"Well, well, it is necessary that you learn a lesson. Four hours _en
+crapaudine_. Remember, remember well, not to appear here again soon."
+
+Now I have already described this punishment, and have said something
+about its effects, as I heard about them from others, and as I saw men
+when they were put in it, but I was now for the first time to feel them
+for myself. The adjutant did a very mean thing, and many men who would
+not mind seeing me _en crapaudine_, not through any dislike of me but
+simply because they were used to the sight of prisoners so placed,
+severely blamed him for it, and blamed him the more severely as they
+felt that this new system of punishment might become the custom of the
+battalion. Everyone feared for himself, one may say.
+
+Now it was usual to keep a soldier sentenced to this discipline in the
+guard-hut until the great heat of the day had passed and then to put
+him in a certain portion of the parade-ground trussed up like a dead
+fowl. The adjutant, however, did not allow this to be done with me. He
+came down to the guard-hut a little before noon, had me taken from the
+cells to the place of punishment, and there, my ankles being fastened
+together and my hands manacled behind my back, I was forced upon my
+knees, my body pressed back until the centres of both pairs of irons
+were joined as closely together as possible, and so every joint of my
+body put upon the rack. But this was not all. When I was safely _en
+crapaudine_ the brute knocked my kepi off with his stick, and so I was
+left in a posture of agony, exposed with bare head to all the torturing
+rays of an African sun. Now one can understand why my comrades were
+indignant; now one can see why they dreaded punishment in the noonday
+hours, for even if the kepi were left on a man's head, he would in all
+likelihood cast it off by his own struggles, and be sure, be very sure,
+that no one would dare to approach to replace it. It was replaced for
+me, I grant, and replaced more than once, and other things were done
+that helped me in some sort to bear my punishment, but Giulia was not
+amenable to military law as we others were, and even the adjutant dared
+not fall out openly with her, for all Frenchmen, including even the
+commandant, naturally side with the woman in a quarrel, especially when
+the woman is _figlia del reggimento_.
+
+I was not long _en crapaudine_ before I realised to the full the awful
+agony that men endure when they are truly and literally on the rack.
+Pains were quickly felt by me at the knees and at the ankles and at the
+wrists. My hands, forced backwards into an unnatural position, dragged
+heavily upon my neck, and the pain, beginning there, travelled down
+gradually to the shoulder-joints, so that from neck to ankles there was
+not a joint without its share of torment. Soon afterwards the small
+of my back became involved in the general dislocation, and then it
+seemed to me as if a heavy weight had been placed upon my abdomen and
+was squeezing the lower part of my body out of all proportion. Then
+a tight band, as it were, was fastened on my chest; I seemed to feel
+my ribs crushed in upon my heart, my breath came and went quickly,
+and, to complete the agony, my forehead began to feel constricted,
+and shooting pains ran from temple to temple, as if some demon from
+the lower regions were thrusting and thrusting and thrusting again a
+red-hot knife through my brain. At this time I must have begun to cry
+out, or at least to groan, for I was suddenly aware of a rough hand
+grasping me by the head and another pulling down my underjaw, some hard
+substance was shoved into my mouth, and in spite of all the pain that I
+was enduring my senses for a moment came back fully to me. I knew that
+I was gagged and that the first part of my punishment was over, for men
+generally drift into insensibility when the gag is applied; there will
+be an occasional lifting of the eyelids, a spasmodic shaking of the
+head, and that is all.
+
+I learned afterwards that Giulia had replaced my kepi more than once,
+and had even bathed my temples and forehead with cold water, but she
+was not allowed to remove the gag, though she begged and prayed that
+it might be taken away. The adjutant had wisdom enough to keep away;
+it was well known that Giulia, for her own protection in so strange a
+society, so remote too from civilisation, always carried a knife about
+her person, and very often a dainty little five-chambered revolver that
+would certainly kill at near range. But for all that he saw that I was
+bound and gagged to the last minute of the four hours, and the sergeant
+of the guard, as well as the sentry who stood near, knew very well the
+consequences of yielding to Giulia's prayers and entreaties.
+
+"Oh no; anything in reason, Mademoiselle Julie; but you know as well as
+a _vieux soldat_ that we cannot disobey our orders. Disobedience on our
+part would injure us and not save your lover in the least."
+
+Giulia understood, and could only weep and pray that the time might fly
+with eagle wings. Alas! for her, even more than for me, time, had only
+leaden feet that afternoon in the little cantonment near the desert,
+and, worst of all, the sun blazed furiously in a cloudless sky.
+
+At long last the fourth hour came to an end. Quickly the gag was
+withdrawn from my mouth, the irons were taken from my limbs, and I was
+lifted up to my feet But I could not stand, I staggered and almost
+fell; Giulia was not strong enough to hold me up, but the sergeant
+caught me at the other side, and both lowered my body gently to the
+ground. One could easily see that it was impossible for me to reach
+without help the hut where my squad lived, and some legionaries who
+had been looking on with interest at the scene--poor devils, not one
+of them could tell when his own turn might come--came across from
+where they were standing and volunteered to carry me to my cot. Giulia
+gratefully accepted this offer, and I was borne as tenderly as possible
+to my hut. There some of my own squad took me, undressed me, and put me
+to bed, and left the hut to Giulia and myself. Giulia managed to get
+me to drink some brandy and water, and I gradually felt better, but as
+my senses returned I became more and more conscious of the awful pain
+in every joint of my body. There was but one thing to set me right
+again--rest, absolute, complete rest, rest without stir of limb, for
+every time I ever so slightly moved a terrible stabbing pain ran right
+from the part I moved through all my body.
+
+That evening the canteen was kept open during the usual hours by the
+wife of the sergeant who had replaced me in military charge of it.
+Giulia would not leave me, and in some degree to make up for keeping
+the others out of their hut, she gave money to those of the squad who
+had not given evidence against me. The corporal got none, neither did
+the Austrian; as for two or three others who had been summoned as
+witnesses before the commandant, they got merely angry words, mixed
+with contemptuous epithets. They did not stand this long. They left
+the hut as quickly as possible and kept away until nightfall, when an
+unpleasant surprise awaited them and the other comrades of the squad.
+It seems that Giulia went away for a short time while I was sleeping
+and made certain preparations for spending the night in the hut.
+Consequently, when the corporal and the soldiers assembled outside and
+called to Giulia that all lights would soon have to be put out, she
+told them plainly that the lights would not be put out in that place,
+that she had candles enough to last until morning, and that she meant
+to allow no man to enter for the night.
+
+"I stay here," she told them, "for the sake of my lover. I will keep
+you out for the sake of my good name. I have three loaded revolvers and
+plenty of spare cartridges, if any one of you should attempt to enter,
+I will kill him."
+
+They tried to persuade her to go to her own quarters; they promised
+that they would take turn about to watch me; all was of no use. At
+last the corporal went and told the adjutant. The latter saw no way of
+settling the matter, knowing full well that he would receive a bullet
+rather than a word from Giulia, so he wisely resolved to tell the
+commandant of the affair. The commandant, in good humour by this time,
+only laughed and said that he would see about it. So he came across,
+and, rapping at the door, asked Giulia for the privilege of entering.
+Giulia opened the door, the commandant saluted her with his customary
+courtesy, and then inquired for me. I answered for myself, and with
+deliberate malice I told him that the four hours _en crapaudine_
+would have been easily endured if I had undergone the punishment in
+the evening, as was usual, but that the heat of the sun had hurt me
+severely, especially as the adjutant had knocked my kepi off with his
+stick. The commandant was indignant; he was only like all officers, who
+don't care what men suffer so long as the sufferings are not intruded
+upon their notice, but who, on hearing a specific case of unfair play,
+will virtuously condemn somebody and then forget all about the affair.
+That's the way in every army in the world; Sergeant X speaks harshly to
+Private Y to-day, the captain overhears, and speaks still more harshly
+to the sergeant for his abuse of the private; next day Private A, who
+has been soundly rated by Corporal B, seeks redress, and is told at
+once that he did not get half enough and that if he can only carry
+foolish complaints to his captain, as a little girl to her mother, he
+has no right to wear a uniform--he should rather wear a petticoat. Yes;
+officers are inconsistent in their conduct to the soldiers, so are rich
+people in their conduct to the poor: one day in the week kindness;
+six days in the week ugly names and cutting words and, worst of all,
+unveiled contempt.
+
+Well, the commandant said that he would speak to the adjutant in the
+morning, and--I may as well finish with this now--he kept his word, and
+gave the brute as straightforward, pointed, and condensed a reproof as
+a superior officer ever gave to an inferior. He did it before witnesses
+of all ranks, and so the story was told through all the battalion, and
+even those who had no money were happy that day.
+
+When the commandant volunteered to escort Giulia to her abode she
+refused point-blank.
+
+"I will stay here," she said, "all the night, and I will fire on any
+man that tries to enter."
+
+The commandant, pretty experienced--as most officers are--in the ways
+of women, saw that she had quite made up her mind, and, shrugging his
+shoulders, said: "Very well; but let the men take their greatcoats and
+blankets away."
+
+"Yes; but you, monsieur le commandant, will wait till all have
+departed."
+
+"But yes, but yes." And he went to the door and told the men that they
+were to come in, take their coats and blankets, and leave the hut at
+once. Afterwards he would dispose of them for the night. He managed
+well enough by dividing them amongst the neighbouring huts, where the
+poor, evicted fellows made each man his bed as best he could upon the
+ground. Then he told the sergeant of the guard that the lights in my
+hut were not to be taken notice of by the sentries, and went home to
+bed, proudly happy in the consciousness of having acted kindly towards
+people, for all of whom--Giulia, of course, excepted--he felt the most
+supreme contempt when they were not on active service. You must know
+that in front of the enemy we legionaries were always addressed as "mes
+enfants," at all other times any ugly name was good enough for us.
+
+Giulia insisted on my staying in bed all next day, and no one said a
+word about it. In the early forenoon the lieutenant--with whom I got
+on so well in the march to the cantonment and who was now in charge
+of the company during the illness of the captain--came and spoke very
+sympathetically to us both. He said nothing about the lecture read
+by the commandant to the adjutant, rightly judging that there were
+many who would be very glad to give us all the news about that. As
+he was going away he said something to the corporal who was standing
+near the door. After the officer's departure the sub-officer told me
+that I might stay in bed another day if I liked. I thanked him, but
+declined. The fact is, I knew my comrades were anxious to get back
+to their quarters, as they were sure to be anything but comfortable
+divided amongst so many squads. Consequently, I told Giulia that
+evening that I was nearly myself again, and I asked her to bring across
+a couple of bottles of _eau-de-vie_, so that we might make some amends
+to the others for their eviction. Giulia brought more than I had asked
+for. She carried across from the canteen two bottles of brandy, three
+of wine, and a couple of pounds of tobacco. When the others saw the
+bottles and the packages they were more than satisfied; they drank her
+health that night, and swore often, and with vehemence, that they would
+all willingly die for her. What children soldiers are, and how easily
+they are pleased!
+
+After this I had a fairly easy time for a few weeks. But I had become
+rather reckless now, and all Giulia's powers of persuasion were needed
+to prevent me from breaking down into a careless, slovenly soldier.
+What is the good, I often thought, of cleaning equipments when I
+shall be abused just as much as if they were really dirty? Where is
+the use of springing smartly at the word of command when I shall be
+called a lazy rascal and a stupid fool? What matters it whether I am
+idle or hardworking when I get the same reward every time? Since I am
+to be abused and punished let me at least deserve the abuse and the
+punishment, then I shall be more content. But Giulia would not hear
+of this. She was determined that I should continue to be a clean,
+careful, active soldier. She had a wonderful fund of hope, and she had
+one argument that I could not withstand. "Yes, yes, it is hard," she
+would say; "but remember, when you begin to deserve trouble, I shall
+begin to deserve it too." Now, though I could easily be reckless on
+my own account, I could not find it in my heart to be reckless when
+Giulia was certain to share the consequences along with me. She was too
+good, too true, too loving to be drawn by me, who loved her so much,
+into any rashness which would end bitterly for us both--more bitterly,
+I fancied, for her, who would survive, than for me, whose troubles
+would soon be over. Nevertheless, I grew more and more morose every
+day. True, I was never morose in Giulia's society, but in the hut I
+was not a pleasant companion, and I am afraid that my comrades left me
+more and more to myself every day. The corporal did not seem to watch
+me any longer. I fancy he was getting to be a little afraid. He, as
+well as the rest, saw that it would take very little to make me lose
+my temper altogether. And when a desperate legionary, his mind full of
+real--as mine were--or fancied wrongs, does break out, he is more like
+the Malay who runs amok than the European who strikes a blow or two
+and then is carried--kicking, striking, biting, and cursing--to the
+guard-house. Another reason that the corporal had for not interfering
+with me was this, the other legionaries were not indignant with me for
+my moroseness and want of good-fellowship. Now, as a rule, the man
+who keeps aloof from the rest of his squad has a bad time. Men will
+not allow themselves and their society to be flouted by another not a
+bit better, not a bit higher, than themselves. In the Legion all are
+equal--the ex-prince and the ex-pauper, the man of good character and
+the man of bad. But when the men of a squad see that a comrade is in
+bad temper with his superiors and recognise that he has reason, then
+they will not mind aloofness or sharp answers or ugly words. On the
+contrary, they will sympathise, never knowing when their own turns
+may come for ill-treatment. So the corporal, seeing that the men were
+quite satisfied that I should live my life to myself and felt sympathy
+and not anger on account of my conduct, wisely left me alone. There
+were many ugly stories current in the Legion of what had been done by
+men driven to desperation, and, be it well understood, the sub-officer
+valued his chevrons a good deal less than he valued his life.
+
+I got myself into trouble more than once about this time, but I was
+never afterwards put _en crapaudine_. Twice I was buried up to the
+neck in the ground, or rather once to the waist and once to the neck.
+This was called putting a man _en silo_. It was a hard punishment, but
+not to be compared with the other. The worst of it was that one felt
+as if heavy weights were pressing him at all points, but this feeling
+of pressure was nothing compared to the straining and racking of the
+joints when one was _en crapaudine_. A good proof of this is that I was
+never gagged when _en silo_. I could easily enough stand it without a
+cry. It is of no account now why I was thus punished. I freely admit
+that the commandant was quite justified in making me suffer for my
+offences, but it must be remembered to my credit that there would
+have been no offences if I had been left alone. Ill-treatment made me
+act foolishly, that is the first point; I paid for my folly, that is
+the second; the third is, when a punishment is over the offence that
+entailed it ought to be forgotten.
+
+I was now, to all intents and purposes, a man apart from his fellows.
+The other legionaries watched me curiously. They wondered, I fancy,
+how long I should stand the strain and how the certain result would
+actually come about. The adjutant was just as tyrannical as ever to
+the men of the battalion; he distributed his curses and abuse with
+perfect impartiality, but no one minded now. The officers were the
+only ones who did not understand, though they, doubtless, had heard
+of many tragedies in the Legion, yet they seemed to have forgotten
+all: officers really care only for their own pleasure and comfort,
+and every one of them, from commandant down to sub-lieutenant, felt
+quite satisfied so long as there was an appearance of good order and
+discipline. If I were an officer, I should remember that a troublesome,
+riotous battalion seldom furnishes materials for a tragedy; a quiet,
+well-behaved one, where the men speak in drawing-room tones and seem
+to be always looking out for something, has more elements of danger in
+it. In the Indian Mutiny it was the good soldier who gave the most
+trouble and took the biggest share of the beating; he mutinied because
+his conscience drove him to it, and his conscience would not allow him
+to surrender. When a bad soldier mutinies, any hound is good enough to
+bite him, and once bitten, he hands in his gun. To put the matter in a
+nutshell: the battalion was too good; it was so quiet and calm that any
+man of observation might see that there was something ugly underneath.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+
+One day as I was crossing the parade-ground I saw the adjutant stop
+Giulia, who was coming to meet me, and speak, as I thought, earnestly
+to her. I knew that he admired her and that a good deal of my troubles
+arose from her avowed preference for me, but my mind was quite easy
+on that score. Dozens of men in the battalion would be very glad to
+replace me in her favour, but all were aware that she was true as
+steel, and though this knowledge probably made many more envious of
+my good fortune yet it certainly kept them from annoying Giulia with
+unavailing protestations of love. Indeed, Giulia and I often laughed
+together when a legionary after a second or third glass of _eau-de-vie_
+looked longingly at her for a moment and then sighed with love and
+liquor. At first she used playfully to resent my allusions to her
+conquests, but as soon as she understood my absolute faith in her
+constancy she entered into the spirit of badinage quite as freely as
+I. I never jested about the adjutant. When we spoke of him we were
+both angry--I for my disgrace and punishment, Giulia because at the
+time she understood better than I did the reason of his severity. Many
+times she told me that he had spoken in a more than friendly manner
+to her, but she always added that her answers were not the answers he
+wished for, and I had often heard from my comrades of scenes at or near
+the canteen when she spoke her mind openly to him and made him feel
+that worst of all tortures to a man of sensitive mind--words of utter
+contempt from the woman he adores. What must have made things worse for
+the adjutant was that he knew, as the others did, that his repulses
+were deserved, and the officer was especially punished in this--that
+the whole battalion rejoiced in his discomfiture, and men repeated over
+and over again in hut and guard-house and canteen the very expressions
+with which Giulia had cut him to the heart. I had never questioned her
+closely about his behaviour and attempts at love-making--I thought of
+him as an enemy, not as a rival--but when I saw him so deliberately
+stop Giulia as she was approaching me I resolved to ask her, not out of
+jealousy, be it well understood, but out of curiosity, what he had to
+say so important that he laid his hand upon her arm to detain her.
+
+I could not speak to Giulia that day about this, as very soon after
+the adjutant had stopped her on the parade-ground I was sent on some
+duty or other that kept me busy until the canteen was opened, and then
+there was no chance of private conversation. Next day was Sunday, and
+I then could be with her for at least a couple of hours, so that I did
+not mind the delay. While I was in the canteen that Saturday evening,
+drinking a glass of wine with a couple of Alsatians, I asked Giulia
+to meet me at the main gate on the following day. She, of course,
+consented; my asking was only a matter of form, a compliment to the
+girl. She told me that she would bring a flask of wine and that she
+would also have a packet of cigarettes and a few cigars.
+
+"Why do you tell me that, Giulia?" I asked. "When you bring me any
+present I accept and thank you, but you know I want nothing but your
+comradeship and your love."
+
+"I know well," she replied; "but I want you to come out of the
+cantonment with me to-morrow. I want to tell you many things, and we
+shall be away for a long time. If I am not back in time to open the
+canteen the sergeant's wife will open it for the soldiers. But you
+and I, we must talk long and earnestly to-morrow. Confide in me as I
+confide in you. I am true--I shall always be so--and you, I know, will
+be true as well."
+
+To this I could answer nothing except that I loved her better than my
+life; that I trusted her more than any man had ever trusted woman; and
+that I was her own, her very own, for ever.
+
+When we met next day at the main-guard Giulia, as she had promised,
+had a little parcel that made the sergeant of the guard, the sentry on
+duty, and the other legionaries lounging about, consider me a happy man
+in spite of all my misfortunes. I could see that, and I own it gave me
+pleasure. The lowest, as well as the highest, desires to inspire envy
+in the hearts of others. So long as they think him especially favoured,
+the sorrows and troubles, which he alone knows of and feels, seem to
+diminish, even almost to disappear. But I had more than the envy of my
+comrades to console me; Giulia, happy and smiling, came towards me as
+I approached, and the sight of her happiness at meeting me was more
+than enough to make me forget all my disgrace, all my punishment, the
+hard words which came as regularly as the bugle went for parade, the
+extra toil that I was condemned to as the tyrant's enemy, and all the
+incidental annoyances that were sure to come to one whom his fellows
+had already named "Pas de chance." Yes; that, as I now remember it, was
+the last of the happy moments. It seemed as if the gods were giving us
+an overtaste of happiness before the time of anger, strife, and utter
+wretchedness opened on our lives.
+
+We passed out together through the gate, Giulia in her smartest dress,
+and I in the regulation Sunday attire, with belt and bayonet and
+gloves. In Europe people put on silk hats and frock coats on Sundays;
+we of the Legion merely wore gloves and bayonets, but even with these
+small additions to our usual costume we felt extra dressed. It was a
+warm day--that is, warm even for Algeria--and we walked rather slowly
+along. Once we passed through the gate I took the little parcel from
+Giulia, saying, with a happy smile: "I am robbing you ma belle."
+
+"You cannot rob me of anything," she replied, "since all I have is
+yours."
+
+Then I kissed her, forgetting all about the legionaries of the guard
+who were lounging about the gate. How they must have envied me, my good
+comrades.
+
+We did not go far from the cantonment, merely about a quarter of a
+mile, to a place where we had spent many a pleasant hour together on
+former Sundays. It was not an ideal resting-place. It was certainly
+not a meadow pied with daisies, with a murmuring rivulet at hand, but
+there really was a little shelter, for a fairly big rock overhung the
+spot, and in the lee of this one could somewhat escape the fierce heat
+of the sun. None of the other soldiers came near it on Sundays. They
+would, of course, have no hesitation in disturbing me, but Giulia the
+imperious, Giulia who could refuse the blessed liquor even to a rich
+man if she wished, was not to be offended. A couple of legionaries,
+a Spaniard and a Greek, had on one occasion posted themselves in a
+position whence they could watch our love-making, and had carried
+back a report to their comrades that Giulia and me were not so much
+in love as people thought, and it was only two days afterwards, when
+they entered the canteen together and were sternly ordered out of it,
+that they found out that we had discovered them and would not provide
+amusement for spies. The other soldiers had no sympathy with either
+Greek or Spaniard, and so the corps could boast, as I told them one
+day, of at least two men who did not drink. It is all very well to
+be a teetotaller from choice, but to be one from necessity is a very
+different thing, especially to a soldier. And the lesson Giulia taught
+by refusing even a glass of _vin ordinaire_ to the precious pair
+made all the rest desirous of leaving us our chosen resting-place to
+ourselves.
+
+When we arrived and sat down Giulia took the little parcel from me
+and opened it. There were three or four cigars, a couple of dozen
+cigarettes, and a pint bottle of wine. Some sweets were also there, but
+I left these for Giulia.
+
+"Very well," I said, "this is a real feast. We can live here for at
+least four hours with such supplies."
+
+"Is it not good?" she asked.
+
+"Very good," I told her; "you grow kinder every day; but I too have a
+little surprise for you, carissima."
+
+"What! a surprise for me? What is it?" And she laid her pretty little
+hand upon my arm.
+
+I bade her shut her eyes, and when she did so, I clasped a silver
+bracelet on her wrist--it had cost me more than two months' pay--and
+was amply rewarded for my gift by the childish joy she showed when she
+beheld it. How happy we were that Sunday!
+
+But this story has little to do with happiness now that it approaches
+the end. When we had taken a little of the wine and were quietly
+enjoying our cigarettes I asked Giulia what the adjutant had said to
+her on the previous day.
+
+"I will tell you all now," she said to me. "I can no longer keep it
+from you, though I do not wish to give you pain. You have always
+trusted me, as I have trusted you. Is it not so, dearest?"
+
+"But yes," I answered; "no one could doubt you; you are too good
+and too true. Why, even the worst man in the battalion knows and
+acknowledges that."
+
+"I am well content," Giulia said to me; "you have not erred. I have
+always been faithful, and I will be faithful for ever. But I cannot
+prevent anyone, not even the man I hate most, from loving me, and
+things have come to such a pass now that it is only right that you
+should know all."
+
+Thereupon, seeing that the poor girl was in great distress, I flung
+away my cigarette, and taking hers from between her fingers flung it
+away too. Then I kissed her, and keeping her very closely in my arms,
+said:
+
+"Tell me everything; but I must tell you one thing first: I am quite
+sure that, no matter what troubles we may have endured or may have to
+endure, neither will ever grieve the other by want of love or want of
+trust."
+
+She sobbed for a moment quietly on my breast, and then began:
+
+"It is all because of that adjutant--that devil who will not allow
+anyone to be happy. He has always, since he came to the cantonment,
+desired to take me for himself, and whenever he came with his
+unwished-for proposals I insulted him and drove him away. Then he
+threatened that he would take vengeance on you, and I warned you to
+be on your guard. In spite of all he injured you and nearly broke my
+heart, but I constantly hoped that he might leave the battalion with
+the next draft. The draft has gone and he remains; there will be no
+new draft for months, and what hope is left now? When he stopped me
+on the parade yesterday it was to renew his unwelcome proposals, but
+this time he asked me to be his wife. I was angry, and told him that,
+were he even President of the Republic, I would neither let him kiss
+me as lover nor wed me as husband, and that, no matter what rank he
+might win, he would always remain the same--a tyrant to those beneath
+him, and a tyrant, I believed, was only slightly better than a slave.
+Then he swore with vehemence that he would have you shot before a
+month was over, and that is why I tell you." At this point she wept,
+and could not be comforted for a long time. When she became somewhat
+calm, I told her that now we knew the adjutant's intentions we could
+do at least something to prevent their realisation, and that, in any
+case, if the affair should come to the worst it would be easy enough
+to have a little satisfaction before being punished. This did not seem
+very comforting, but it was the best I could say. My mind was at the
+time even more full of hate of the adjutant than love of Giulia, and I
+think she must have noticed this, for she tried to turn my thoughts in
+a pleasanter direction. Almost in a moment she, who had but a moment
+before been hopeless and comfortless, dried her tears, smiled bravely
+into my eyes, and told me I thought more of my anger than of her
+love. I put aside at once all emotions save those of tenderness and
+affection, I petted and caressed her, I told her over and over again
+what women never tire of hearing: _Je t'aime, je t'aime, je t'aime_.
+If you can say "I love you" to a woman, and she feels that you say it
+with truth, you have made the most eloquent speech in the world to her
+ears--that is, be it well understood, if she is inclined to say the
+same words to you. If she cannot respond, why! say good-bye and forget
+her. He is only a fool who cannot, even though it hurts, give up a love
+that meets with no response.
+
+But there was no danger of lack of response on Giulia's part. In a
+pretty mixture of Italian, French, and English that we had taught each
+other she gave me assurances that were not the less valued because
+they were repetitions of ones that I had received from her many times
+before, and that fell upon my ears all the more pleasantly that I well
+knew them to be absolutely true. There can be no mistaking the love or
+the hate of an Italian girl; the Southern warmth shows itself in both.
+As I had experience of one, so the adjutant had sorely felt the other.
+
+While we were thus creating happiness for each other, a harsh voice
+fell upon our ears. It was the adjutant's. I stood up and faced round
+to meet him, all thoughts of love had now disappeared, only hatred of
+the tyrant filled my heart. I remembered the many insults, the unfair
+surprises, the more than devilish ingenuity with which he had hounded
+me down. I thought of my former rank and contrasted it in my mind
+with my then lowly condition; I remembered my lost chevrons, my lost
+pay, my lost position, my lost chance of promotion, my lost friends,
+for what sergeant could associate with the reduced sub-officer in the
+ranks! I thought of Giulia's sorrows, her wakeful nights when she
+knew that I was tossing uneasily on a plank bed, her anxiety as the
+hour approached for my trial, her fear of some terrible result, the
+insulting proposals that she was compelled to hear and of which she
+dared not speak, and as all these thoughts surged through my brain I
+saw no adjutant, no superior officer of mine, but a man-wolf, a demon
+incarnate hot from hell. Yet I was outwardly calm; I said no word, nor
+for some moments did he speak, but I felt that the crisis had come at
+last. I was glad that we three were quite alone; the thought flashed
+upon my mind that it was Sunday, and that day I wore my bayonet.
+
+At last he spoke: "Will mademoiselle kindly go away and permit me to
+speak alone to the soldier?"
+
+"No," Giulia replied; "I will stay. Why have you come here?"
+
+"I came," said the adjutant, speaking very slowly and impressively, all
+the while looking hard at me, "to make a proposition to this man."
+
+"I can guess your proposition," I replied, stopping Giulia with a
+gesture, "and I give you the same answer as Mademoiselle Julie has
+already given. She does not give me up; I do not give up her. Did you
+think," and I spoke with deliberation equal to his, "that I would allow
+my darling to purchase an easy life and also promotion for me by giving
+you even one kiss, even one glance of favour! No," I went on, "Giulia's
+kisses and caresses and words of love are for me and for me alone; get
+some woman of the camp--she will be good enough for you."
+
+The adjutant controlled himself with an effort. After a short delay, in
+which, I presume, he determined to make one attempt more to gain his
+object, for his desire was greater than his hate, he said:
+
+"I have offered to marry her; you are not in a position to do so. When
+we are married I will get leave of absence and we will go away, and
+while away from the battalion I can arrange a transfer; then we shall
+never meet again. If she comes away with me as my wife, I will take
+care that she has a happy and comfortable life; if she does not marry
+me, and I ask her now for the last time, she cannot be happy here, for
+I will see that you at least will not be long her lover." Then, turning
+to Giulia, he went on: "If you really love him, save him now."
+
+He held out his hands appealingly to her. As he stood so exposed I
+struck his cheek fair and full with the back of my right hand.
+
+"Your answer, dog," I cried.
+
+With an angry indrawing of his breath he turned to me, and his right
+hand felt for his sword. It was half out of the scabbard when I plucked
+my bayonet from its sheath, and driving it straight forward I pierced
+his right arm as it lay across his body. He did not let go his hold of
+the sword hilt in spite of the wound, but drew the sword and raised it
+to cut me down. As his right arm went up I pushed it back with my left
+hand and, coming to close quarters, plunged my bayonet into his body.
+He reeled, and again I drove my weapon home. He staggered away from me,
+and before I could get close enough to repeat the thrust fell heavily
+upon his back. He lay quite still. I mechanically wiped my bayonet
+clean, and then said to Giulia:
+
+"I could not help it; he would have killed me if he could."
+
+Giulia said nothing, but when I had put up my side-arm she came to
+me and, putting her dear arms round my neck, wept bitter tears of
+anticipation upon my breast.
+
+There was nothing to be done except to go back to camp and wait for
+what might happen. Neither of us spoke of the result that each
+felt was certain. Though we were resolved to say nothing about the
+affair yet we made no attempt to divert suspicion from ourselves. The
+half-smoked cigarettes, the half-empty bottle, the paper and twine of
+the parcel, all were left behind in close proximity to the body of the
+adjutant. As we walked slowly back Giulia suddenly halted and faced me.
+
+"They will kill you," she said.
+
+"I think so," I answered.
+
+"And I, I will not live when you are gone."
+
+I pleaded with her for her own life. I used all the arguments I could
+think of about the wickedness of self-destruction; nought was of avail.
+
+"But, carissima mia, your father was killed in battle, and your mother,
+who loved him fondly, did not kill herself."
+
+"Ah, mon Jean, I was born at the time. Her baby made her live."
+
+"And Giulia,"--I took her in my arms and kissed her,--"do you not
+understand? Is it not so?" She broke down into a flood of tears.
+
+"O Jean, Jean, I must live, I must live, even though one half of my
+life goes out with you."
+
+I caressed and comforted her--we were in full view of the gate, but we
+minded not. She grew calm at last, and looked at me with a new look
+in her eyes--a look that I had seen but once before, when the English
+corporal had called her madame, but then it meant rather bashful hope
+and half-afraid longing, now it showed knowledge and certainty and free
+confession.
+
+"I am very happy now," I told her as we approached the gate where the
+men relieved from duty as sentinels were standing. "I care not now
+what may happen to myself, and for you half, and more than half, of
+my anxiety has left me. There is only, one thing that I must do now,
+I must look for Père Michel at once. You will go to your quarters; he
+will come with me there. Tell the sergeant and his wife to expect us.
+Do not be afraid, they will not be surprised."
+
+Giulia said nothing in reply; a closer clinging to my arm, one quick
+glance, a sudden heaving of the breast, these told me more than any
+words could tell.
+
+We separated just inside the gate, Giulia going at once to her
+quarters, while I went towards the officers' building to find the
+chaplain. I saw him at once, and told him the more important facts on
+the spot; he shook his head, and told me that there was but one way
+to make reparation. He said that Giulia and I should both confess our
+sins, but I said:
+
+"No; marry us now or marry us never."
+
+Anxious to do his best, and knowing full well that many in the
+battalion were worse than I--he did not know about the adjutant's fate
+at the time, as I took care to keep that to myself--he yielded to my
+entreaties and went with me to the canteen. There we were married,
+the sergeant and his wife acting as witnesses. The good priest, he
+was a good and brave man, gave us some advice; he told us that he
+would always remember us in his prayers, and went away. Then the
+sergeant said: "I suppose there will be great rejoicing in the camp
+this evening," and looked astonished when Giulia utterly broke down.
+His wife drew him away, and we were alone together, the most utterly
+wretched bride and bridegroom that the world has ever seen. Giulia said
+to me:
+
+"You are mine, all mine now; when they seek you they must find you
+here." I dreaded the effect of my arrest in her presence, but she
+insisted.
+
+"I will show good courage, I will not give way to grief," she answered.
+"You shall see, and you shall not be ashamed."
+
+After that we sat together on the side of the little bed. We said
+little, but our hearts were bursting; there had never been so perfect,
+so complete, so unutterable a sympathy between us. We knew then, as
+we never did, and never could, know before, the intense sweetness of
+love, which only exquisite anguish can bring forth.
+
+After some time--I know not, nor shall ever know, how long--we heard
+the dull sound of a rifle butt upon the door below. It was quickly
+opened, and through the raised window we heard the words: "Is
+Mademoiselle Julie within?"
+
+"No; but Madame Julie is," replied the sergeant, with a laugh.
+
+"Is she alone?"
+
+"No; her husband is with her."
+
+"Ah, we want him; we must enter."
+
+Giulia pressed more closely to my side. In a moment the rifle butt
+sounded on our door. "Entrez," I called out. The door was flung open
+and a sergeant appeared, two soldiers peering curiously over his
+shoulders.
+
+"You are my prisoner."
+
+"Very well, my sergeant; pardon me for a moment."
+
+Then to Giulia: "My darling, I must obey orders."
+
+Giulia said nothing. I kissed her, said: "Be of good courage," and
+walked to the door.
+
+As the soldiers placed themselves one at each side I heard a loud cry.
+I would have turned back, but I was pushed headlong down the stairs.
+There was no use in resisting, so I went quietly to the guard-house,
+with an awful fear at my heart for my poor love in her agony and
+loneliness. As I entered the prison I heard a legionary of the guard
+say to his comrades:
+
+"I knew how it would be; yes, long ago."
+
+That night I slept little. The hard plank was nothing, I was used to
+that; the death of the adjutant was nothing in itself, for had he not
+deserved it? Its consequences, as far as they affected me, I could take
+without flinching, but the thought of Giulia, of her future, in which
+nought was certain save hopelessness and the sense of utter loss, made
+me wakeful and anxious through the silent hours. Three legionaries
+confined for some offence were my companions in the cell. They knew
+nothing of the affair, and when I was suddenly pushed through the
+door by the sergeant of the guard, these men eagerly asked what new
+misfortune was mine.
+
+"Can you not guess?" I answered.
+
+They looked at one another, the same thought was in the minds of all.
+The Sicilian said:
+
+"You have done it! Yes, I knew you would. I am glad that he is gone,
+yet I am sorry for you, and still more sorry--" He stopped and shook
+his head.
+
+"Yes," said a Pole; "that is the way, it is the woman always that
+suffers most."
+
+The third, a Frenchman by birth, who found it better to be a Lorrainer
+in the Legion than to serve in his proper regiment in France, was the
+last to speak.
+
+"It is done now, and we shall all be grieved at the loss of a good
+comrade, but the battalion will be happy once more. I salute," he
+continued, taking off his kepi, "the hero who has freed us from
+slavery."
+
+We were silent for a time. Then the Frenchman asked me how it happened.
+
+"I struck him, he drew his sword, and then I gave him my bayonet, voilà
+tout!"
+
+"How often?"
+
+"Three times."
+
+"Very well," said the Sicilian; "then it must be all right. It is all
+right; the battalion must have a new adjutant now."
+
+I refused my soup when it came and the Frenchman offered me his.
+
+"If I cannot take my own, why yours?" I asked angrily.
+
+"Mine is not soup, it is something better." It was, and I gladly took
+it. He had wine instead of soup. This was wrong, but a good comrade who
+has money can do a kindness to a prisoner. But he must be a very good
+comrade, and he must have more than enough to buy the wine.
+
+They saw that I was disinclined for much speaking, and they went away
+to the other end of the cell. There they spoke and gesticulated freely.
+Yet very seldom did a word reach me; their voices were low, their heads
+close together, but I noted, half abstractedly as it were, the quick
+action of the shoulders, the eager motion of the hands. After some time
+they stopped the conversation and sat or lay down on the rough planks
+that served for beds. No other prisoners came in that night; sergeants
+and corporals were not thinking of making arrests, and the soldiers
+were too busy talking about the affair to quarrel. Yet there were many
+besides Giulia and me who were sorry for what would surely happen: the
+quick court-martial, and then the volley at the open grave.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+
+Next morning the preliminary investigation was held by the commandant.
+He finished with all other work first, and then directed that I should
+be brought before him. I knew this, because the others were taken away
+to stand their trial, and I was left behind. When I was in his presence
+I saluted, and the commandant said with soldierly directness:
+
+"The adjutant is dead; you are charged with killing him; have you
+anything to say?"
+
+"Only this, sir," I replied, "he insulted me, then he insulted
+Mademoiselle Julie, who is now my wife; I struck him, he drew his
+sword, and I my bayonet. I was the quicker of the two, and wounded him;
+then he raised his sword to cut me down, and I repeated the blow."
+
+"But there were three wounds; is it not so?" he said to the surgeon.
+
+"Yes, monsieur le commandant."
+
+"How do you explain the third wound?"
+
+"Two," I answered, "were in self-defence, the third, sir, in passion."
+
+"Ah; and how in self-defence?"
+
+"The first, sir, on the arm as he drew his sword; the second on the
+body as he lifted it to strike; the third, sir, on the body in the
+anger of the moment."
+
+"That will do," said the officer; "as the general is arriving to-day
+I will lay the matter before him. But I warn you, prepare for a
+court-martial and its result."
+
+I saluted, and was led away.
+
+There is no need to go through the preliminaries. The general received
+the same information from me as the commandant had got, and at once
+ordered a board of officers to try me for the offence.
+
+"They will not have much difficulty in deciding, as the accused
+confesses his crime, so I will wait here to confirm the finding," he
+said to the commandant.
+
+I heard this as I was facing about with the escort to return to the
+guard-house, and the last vestige of hope disappeared.
+
+I gave no further evidence before the court-martial than I had already
+given to the commandant. I did not like to speak of the adjutant's
+animosity towards me, as that and its consequences would supply a
+motive for my act, and that I did not wish to impress upon their minds.
+Better let them think it was sudden, as, indeed, it was in one way,
+than deliberate and led up to by his own fault, as it was in another.
+One must understand that, but for my resentment and sense of wrong and
+oft-thought desire of his death, I should not have killed him; and one
+must also know that, were he passing quietly by, I should not have
+rushed upon him with my bayonet. My feelings were due to the injuries
+and insults he had heaped upon me; my sudden action to his threat about
+my life to Giulia, repeated, as it was, to me.
+
+The result of the court-martial was that I was acquitted of the
+killing, as that was done in self-defence, but found guilty of striking
+my superior officer, and for that sentenced to be shot. This was duly
+confirmed, read out on general parade, and the execution was set for
+the following morning at eight o'clock. As I heard the words read
+out, standing bareheaded, without a belt, between two soldiers with
+loaded rifles and fixed bayonets, I felt that my last sun would set
+that night. Little I guessed of what would be accomplished by the
+wit and courage of a loving woman, by the unselfish chivalry of two
+legionaries, who had gone separately to Giulia, neither knowing of the
+other's design, and offered to help her and her husband, even at the
+risk of their lives. And yet both these men made light of their action
+at the time, and, were they in the land of the living to-day, would
+surely only claim the credit of having stood by a comrade in trouble
+and a woman in distress. They were the English corporal, whom I have
+already mentioned, and an Irishman--a simple soldier--let us call him
+Mac. When Giulia thanked the corporal he told her that, as he had lost
+his honour long ago, it did not matter if he lost his life now.
+
+"Surely not your honour?" she queried.
+
+"Well, I think not, indeed, but the world, unfortunately, does not
+agree with me."
+
+Mac said he could not do less than try to rescue me,--"il est mon
+pays, n'est ce pas?"--and he, because he was an Irishman, could always
+get what he wished in the canteen. I did not know this. I found out,
+however, that Giulia often gave Mac, the only other Irishman in the
+battalion, brandy and wine and tobacco without payment, as he was my
+countryman, and I do not blame the poor devil for accepting, for he was
+always in trouble, his pay was constantly stopped, and a soldier can do
+easily without his dinner, but is ripe for mischief if he is deprived
+of his glass and of his pipe. Well, she did not lose in the end, as he
+said--but that must come in its own place.
+
+Now the Englishman was corporal of the guard that night. I did not know
+anything definite about the plan for my escape, for when Giulia visited
+me at about six o'clock in the evening all she could tell me was to
+hope, to watch, and to be ready. I needed little advice about the last
+two matters; as for hoping, that was almost impossible. About eight
+o'clock the corporal visited me, as a matter of duty, to see that all
+was right. He ordered me, in a loud, rough voice, to get up from where
+I lay. As I stood in front of him he whispered: "After midnight," and
+departed.
+
+At about twenty minutes past twelve I heard a low voice calling to me
+at the window. This I had left open, so that there might be a means
+of communication if anyone could get to the other side. I had not
+much expectation of this, as a sentry was posted just there, and no
+legionary, I thought, would be such a fool as to risk punishment by
+permitting even Giulia to speak to me. When I went to the window I
+found Mac outside.
+
+"Hurry, hurry," he said; "we must get these bars out quickly. We can
+lose no time if we are to succeed."
+
+Now there were two iron bars fixed vertically in the mud of which the
+wall was built, and Mac, giving me a bayonet, told me to clear the
+lower end of one, while he cleared the lower end of the other. We
+said nothing more. We worked with a will. In a short time the ends
+were free, and then Mac, a powerful man, pulled the bars out, so that
+I could just squeeze my body through. I had, however, to take off my
+tunic to do so, and I passed this out first. When I got out I saw a
+body on the ground.
+
+"You have his bayonet," said Mac, "take his rifle and belt as well."
+
+The man lay quite motionless. I took his belt and put it on and then
+possessed myself of the rifle. I felt happy enough now. Now they could
+not shoot me like a dog; I could at least die fighting.
+
+"Wait a moment," said Mac.
+
+In a few minutes we heard the door of the guard-house opening, and then
+the voice of the corporal telling the sentinel in front that he would
+return in a quarter of an hour. The corporal came round to where we
+stood. He had his rifle, bayonet, and ammunition. He said:
+
+"Is it all right?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Are you armed?"
+
+"Yes, both; he has the sentry's weapons."
+
+"Very good; let us go. When we are at a safe distance from the
+guard-house we shall pretend to be a visiting patrol."
+
+In this way we passed the sentries at a distance from the main-guard
+and marched boldly along till we came to where a native cavalryman was
+on duty near the horses. He challenged, and received a satisfactory
+reply. As we passed him the corporal halted us, and ordered me to hold
+his rifle for a moment. I took it, and before I or the cavalry-guard
+could understand the Englishman had the latter by the throat. Mac laid
+down his rifle and seized the unfortunate fellow's arms, and in a few
+moments he was a corpse.
+
+"Now," said the corporal to me, "you get the woman, we will get ready
+the horses."
+
+"Where is she?" I asked.
+
+"Some place over there." And he pointed with his hand.
+
+I went in the direction pointed out and soon met Giulia. She had been
+easily able to follow us, for our steady tramp could be heard at some
+distance. We made no attempt to conceal our movements; we were to all
+appearance a visiting patrol. As I came to her side I whispered: "It
+goes very well, carissima. The others are getting out the horses."
+
+Giulia flung herself into my arms. I snatched a kiss and led her to
+where Mac and the Englishman were busy. They had two horses already
+out, and were saddling them with all despatch. One must understand that
+the saddles and bridles are always kept near the chargers, especially
+in a place where at any moment a raid from the desert may have to be
+repelled. Soon four horses were ready, and then we all mounted and rode
+slowly towards a gate at the rear of the camp, where a single sentinel
+was posted. This man, luckily for us, was a Turco. When the corporal
+replied to his challenge and told him that we were officers he believed
+the story. Then the Englishman and I dismounted, taking only our
+bayonets, and approached the gate. The sentry protested against our
+opening this, but I got behind him and flung my hands about his neck.
+At the same moment the corporal wrenched away the rifle and bayonet and
+buried his own steel in the Turco's heart.
+
+We opened the gate as quickly and quietly as possible and went out. For
+ten minutes we walked our horses slowly and almost noiselessly away
+from the camp. Then we headed due south after a short consultation--the
+corporal leading, Giulia and I following, Mac bringing up the rear.
+We were now going straight for the Great Desert, where alone there
+was hope of safety. Had we gone north towards the Mediterranean, our
+freedom would not be worth twenty-four hours' purchase. As it was, we
+had a good chance of getting safely away from French pursuit, for our
+post lay at the extreme south of French territory in that part. But in
+the desert what were we to do? We did not know--we did not think about
+that. All our energies and thoughts were directed to getting clear
+away from the French and native cavalry. We knew that the escape would
+be soon discovered, but we fancied that no pursuit would be attempted
+until dawn, and it was our business to travel as far as we could from
+the cantonment in the short time that we had at our disposal. Moreover,
+if we could only put a fair distance between ourselves and our pursuers
+there was every likelihood that they would never catch up with us,
+because the native horsemen would not care to go too far into the
+desert, for they would get little quarter from the Arabs who infest it.
+Why, they would be killed for the sake of their horses, equipments,
+and arms, and the wild Arab does not fear the native levies as he does
+the Frenchmen, for two reasons--in the first place, the Arab is quite
+as good a fighting man, and he knows it, as the other African; in the
+second, it is only the white soldiers whose weapons kill from afar. As
+for us, we had to venture into the desert, as I have already said. We
+wanted, to use another phrase of mine, to get from the fire to the
+frying-pan--_du feu à la poêle_.
+
+We kept steadily forward until the sun came up in the east with
+his usual suddenness. Then we halted, and began to consider our
+position. At best it was a bad one. We were four, with four horses;
+for ourselves, we had only a haversack of food and a flask of brandy
+that Giulia had been thoughtful enough to bring, for our horses we had
+nothing. As far as fighting power went we were better off, as we had
+three good rifles--_fusils Gras_ we called them--and eighty rounds of
+ball cartridge per man. We had bayonets as well, and Giulia had a pair
+of revolvers and a stiletto, so that, given a fair chance, we were good
+enough for a dozen enemies. One must remember that we were desperate;
+nothing could be gained by surrendering to Frenchmen, since our lives
+were now forfeit; with a woman in the party we could not surrender to
+Arabs.
+
+The English corporal, Mac and I, spoke in English.
+
+"I want you to promise one thing," I said to them: "if two go down, let
+the third kill my wife."
+
+"Oh, that's understood," said the Englishman.
+
+"I hope it may not be my lot," said Mac, "but I'll do it all the same."
+
+"Now," said the corporal, "we must go farther south and chance meeting
+with the Arabs. I don't know," he went on, "whether I am anxious to
+meet any or not. If we don't meet any we shall probably miss the wells;
+if we do meet them there will be a fight."
+
+"It is better to fight," said Mac, "than to die of thirst in the
+desert."
+
+"I think so too," I said.
+
+"Well," asked the corporal, "shall we go straight on at top speed or
+rest?"
+
+"Let us go on," I advised; "let us press on as far as we can, then if
+we meet any Arabs, or if the spahis ride up to us, we can halt and
+fight. Remember, without food or water for our horses we cannot run,
+we cannot make even a running fight; it must be a standing fight to a
+finish."
+
+The Englishman and Mac agreed with me, and before we started again I
+said to Giulia in their hearing:
+
+"N'aie pas peur, ma bien chère, tu ne seras pas prisonnière, plutôt tu
+seras tuée par le dernier protecteur."
+
+"Je suis bien content," she replied, and, bowing prettily to the
+others, she murmured a word of thanks.
+
+We rode on for about two hours, and then halted to rest our horses and
+to eat a little of Giulia's provisions. We did not drink, as brandy
+is not a good thing when one has nothing else. If we could only get
+our usual morning coffee we should have had a nip apiece, but we who
+had soldiered in Algeria and other hot climates were too sensible to
+touch fire-water without anything to qualify it and with the certainty
+of a hot day's march before us. After eating and smoking we got back
+into our saddles and rode on until the heat of the sun made us again
+halt for our own sakes as well as on account of our animals. In spite
+of our discomfort we felt fairly happy; we had made a good morning's
+march since the sun appeared, and though we had done very little in the
+darkness, yet we believed ourselves to be safe enough from pursuit.
+After a couple of hours' rest we resolved, in spite of the heat, to
+press on again, and, going rather slowly, we and our horses were not
+too hard pressed. About four o'clock in the afternoon we again halted,
+this time for about an hour, and then, as our horses did not seem to
+suffer overmuch from the want of food and water--they were desert
+horses, one must remember--we again mounted and continued our journey
+to the south.
+
+It was, I should say, a little past five o'clock in the afternoon when
+Mac, who had halted for a moment to look to the north, shouted to
+us that the spahis were coming. We turned, and saw, a long distance
+away, for the atmosphere was very clear, a party of mounted soldiers
+advancing on our tracks. There was no use in tiring our horses and
+ourselves by an attempted flight; we understood quite plainly that the
+native cavalrymen were certain to overtake us, and it was just as well
+to await them where we stood. We dismounted, hobbled our horses, and
+came together for consultation. The corporal said:
+
+"We must stand at least ten paces apart from one another, unless they
+charge; in that case we must stand back to back."
+
+"Give your orders, corporal," I said, "and we will obey."
+
+"Yes," assented Mac; "there must be a commanding officer in every
+battle."
+
+"Very good," said the corporal. "You, Mac, go ten paces to the right;
+you stay here, mademoiselle; you"--this to me--"go ten paces farther to
+the left; and I place myself at the extreme left, so we shall offer bad
+targets, especially for cavalry."
+
+When we had ranged ourselves as ordered our enemies were close enough
+for us to note their numbers; they were a dozen in all.
+
+"Why," shouted Mac, "it's only a corporal's squad; we're a corporal's
+squad ourselves, boys, and we're whites."
+
+"As soon as you think you can hit a man or horse fire," commanded the
+corporal.
+
+In a moment or two I heard a report on the right. Mac, one of the best
+shots in our old battalion, had fired, and the result was of good omen.
+A horse fell heavily in the advance, pitching his rider forward, a
+second stumbled over the first, staggered to the left, and brought down
+a third. We cheered as we saw this, and the rest of the little troop
+pulled up for a moment. As they did so the corporal and I fired. A man
+tumbled out of his saddle on their right; in the centre a horse, mad
+with the sudden shock and the pain of the bullet, suddenly ran away
+with its rider. They passed not more than fifty yards to our right,
+and Mac's rifle spoke again: the spahi flung up his hands and fell
+forward on his horse's neck.
+
+"Well done, Mac," I shouted out, "we can easily whip them now."
+
+As I spoke I dropped on one knee and levelled my rifle at the little
+knot of men and horses. The corporal and I fired almost together, and
+though no man or horse fell, yet we felt certain that some damage was
+done. We knew quite well, as every soldier knows, that a wounded horse
+will not always fall and that an Arab will sit in his saddle with more
+than one bullet in his body. One result our fire had, it caused the
+spahis to withdraw out of range, and this gave us a respite. One will
+ask: Why did not the cavalry return our fire? Well, it would do them no
+good. Our weapons killed at a much longer range than theirs; for two
+reasons--first, the rifle always carries farther than the carbine; and,
+second, our weapons were of later pattern and, therefore, better than
+theirs.
+
+We could now reckon up our successes. To Mac's first shot three horses
+and three men had fallen; of these two horses and one man remained
+on the ground. My first shot had sent a horse careering madly over
+the desert, and Mac's second had put his rider out of the fight. The
+corporal had also brought down a man, but this fellow had been carried
+away by his comrades. As for the last shots, there was no apparent
+result, but we believed that some damage had been done by them. Anyway
+three men and three horses were accounted for, and we who had driven
+back a dozen spahis had no fear of only nine, though we were not
+such fools as to imagine that these hot-blooded Arabs were more than
+temporarily discomfited by our success.
+
+Very soon the Arabs again advanced, but in a different fashion. Instead
+of now coming forward in a bunch they separated widely over the plain,
+so as to form a great half-circle in our front and our flanks.
+
+"Don't throw away a shot," commanded the corporal. And then, hesitating
+for a moment, he continued: "Let us draw closer together--this is the
+grand attack--if they don't come home now in their charge, they will
+never do it."
+
+We all closed in on Giulia; we formed a lozenge or diamond in array.
+I looked straight towards the north, the corporal to the west, Mac to
+the east, and Giulia was just at my back, but looking past me at the
+quickly-moving spahis. Our bayonets were fixed. Suddenly one of the
+spahis, the corporal, I suppose, uttered a loud cry and charged. All
+the rest followed his example, and in a moment the nine were within
+long range. We fired and loaded, fired again and loaded again. I cannot
+say how often this occurred, but I saw a horse fall in my front to my
+second bullet, and soon afterwards I knew that two men at least were
+charging home. As they came with levelled lances I heard the corporal
+say:
+
+"Mine are settled; I'm with you; Mac's all right; come out and meet
+them."
+
+We went out together; as we did the corporal commanded:
+
+"Go to the right; shoot your man if you can, if not, use your bayonet."
+
+I fired and missed. I met the lowered lance with my bayonet, and, like
+a fool, turned it up; the spahi let it go and swung the heavy butt
+downwards and to his right rear. I could not avoid the blow; it took
+me fairly on the breast, sending me to the ground. As he pulled at
+the reins to get his charger back I heard a sharp report, followed by
+another: my enemy collapsed and fell. As I rose painfully to my feet,
+feeling as if a ton weight were laid upon my chest, Giulia caught me in
+her arms and asked with anxiety if I were hurt. "Not much," I answered:
+"but where are the others?" I saw Mac a few paces away aiming at a
+retiring spahi; turning round I saw the English corporal wiping his
+bayonet; near him lay a dead soldier. On the plain at various distances
+lay men and horses; farther off than these the remains of the spahis
+had assembled--one mounted and three dismounted men.
+
+"What happened to you, mon camarade?" said the corporal.
+
+"Oh," I replied, "like a fool I turned the lance up instead of down; he
+then struck me with the butt, and Giulia shot him just in time to save
+me."
+
+"It seems to me," said the corporal, speaking in French, "that Madame
+Julie is always saving your life."
+
+"Yes," I replied, smiling; "and I would rather owe it to her than to
+anyone else."
+
+We were now quite satisfied. It was absolutely impossible for the four
+survivors to attack us with any hope of success owing to our weapons.
+They were quite aware of this; in fact, they were in difficulties now,
+for the question arose for them: How were they to get back to the
+cantonment? Their horses were dead or wounded, for all we knew the men
+might be wounded as well, and the spahis could not by any chance like
+the prospect of meeting in the desert any of their co-religionists who
+had remained unsubdued.
+
+One thing we had to do, and do quickly. This was to get away as far
+as possible from the remnants of the spahis. If we remained in their
+vicinity until darkness came we should lose all the advantage of our
+superior weapons, and we were well aware that the native troops are
+daring and skilful fighters with cold steel. Moreover, it is the Arab
+nature to lust for vengeance, especially on Christians, though our
+Christianity was of a rather shadowy nature, more than to love even
+his life, and these men had sufficient reason to hate us. Accordingly
+we mounted and turned our weary horses' heads again towards the south,
+going at an easy pace, and now and again looking back to see if there
+were new pursuers on our track. When we had gone some distance and
+had lost sight of the defeated spahis, the corporal said: "Let us turn
+to the right; if new men have come up to the others, they will go due
+south." The advice seemed good, so we went westwards for about two
+hours, and then halted to rest ourselves and our horses. We were very
+thirsty now, but Mac told us to our great delight that he had taken two
+water bottles from dead spahis.
+
+"Why did you not tell us before?" asked the corporal.
+
+"I thought it best to wait, and, besides," he answered, "I was thinking
+more about pursuit than about even the water."
+
+We very soon half emptied one, Giulia getting the first and largest
+drink, and then we poured into this bottle the contents of the spirit
+flask that Giulia had brought.
+
+"Now, madame," said the corporal, "you shall have the bottle of water
+for yourself, we will be satisfied with the other."
+
+This was a very good arrangement. Giulia did not like _eau-de-vie_ and
+we did; moreover, Giulia wanted more liquid in the desert than three
+veteran campaigners.
+
+At about two o'clock in the morning we set out again, and travelled
+very slowly in a south-westerly direction. Our horses were beginning
+to show signs of failing, and we eagerly scanned the desert all around
+us after the sun had risen to try to discover signs of an oasis or
+even of a caravan. Our steeds would soon give up the struggle, that we
+knew, and we could scarcely hope to keep it up on foot for more than
+twenty-four hours. Now one must not imagine that we were hopeless.
+On the contrary, we felt that fortune, having befriended us so long,
+would not now abandon us. We thought of the difficulties surmounted
+in the escape and of the good fight which we had made against our
+pursuers, and with such recent memories our spirits could not be cast
+down. We had a little food, a little drink, good weapons, and enough of
+ammunition. We knew that every man could trust his comrades, and so,
+while our horses lasted, and for at least a day afterwards, we could
+laugh at Fate.
+
+So we jogged along for some time after dawn, rested for an hour, and
+then pushed on again. About midway between sunrise and noon Mac, whose
+eyes were as keen as a vulture's, cried out:
+
+"At last, boys, at last; look yonder."
+
+We looked, and saw a slowly-moving object. There was no doubt about
+what it was, our path would soon intersect that of a caravan. When
+the parties met one of two things would be our portion--safety or
+death--for, if we could not get water and food in hospitable fashion,
+we had no resource but to fight for them, and desert fights are
+serious.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII
+
+
+I said to the Englishman:
+
+"Let us halt, eat, and drink; we shall then be better able to fight, if
+fighting should be necessary."
+
+"That is right," replied the corporal; "we will finish all our
+provisions and all the water, even madame's."
+
+"Yes," I said; "we shall soon have as much as we need, or we shall need
+nothing."
+
+We dismounted, divided the scanty remains of the food into four equal
+portions, and all ate slowly and enjoyingly. Then we drank all the
+water left in Giulia's bottle, sharing it as fairly as we could when we
+had no measure and had to guess at the total amount and then at each
+one's share. As for the little stock of brandy and water, that, on
+Mac's suggestion, was to be kept until we were nearer the caravan and,
+therefore, nearer the fight that might ensue. Giulia would take none,
+but we others were very glad we had it, not that we wanted brandy to
+nerve us for the fray, but a little does one no harm just before the
+beginning of an engagement. After the meal we filled our pipes and lit
+them with one of the few matches that Mac had in his pockets when we
+came away from the cantonment, then we mounted again, and rode slowly
+towards the point where we had resolved to strike the path of the
+caravan.
+
+As we went along we observed that it was not a large company, and this
+made us naturally glad. We only hoped now that there might be many
+women and children and slaves; if so, our chances of success either
+by fair means or by foul would be vastly increased. Very soon we saw
+a couple of camels with riders coming towards us, and we knew that we
+had been observed and that our friends of the caravan were curious to
+find out the meaning of our little party traversing the desert. The
+camelmen rode up to within easy range, but it was not our business to
+begin a fight. We did not even call out to them; it was better, as the
+corporal said, to let them go back and report, and then we should see
+what the main body would do. When the Arabs, for such they evidently
+were, had observed us closely for some minutes they turned and rode
+back upon their comrades. These had halted, and as we were now in full
+view we halted too. As we dismounted the corporal said:
+
+"Now for the last drink."
+
+"Not the last, I hope," said Mac.
+
+"Oh, who the devil knows and who the devil cares?" answered the
+Englishman. Then, as if ashamed of showing any emotion, he went on: "I
+beg your pardon, I could not help speaking so hastily just now; I am
+irritable, but I promise you I shall be cool enough in the fight."
+
+"Oh, it's all right," replied Mac; "I've often been a bit hasty myself."
+
+Giulia, scarcely understanding, looked at me with a puzzled air. When I
+smiled at her she smiled back at me, her confidence restored.
+
+When we had drunk the brandy and water I asked the corporal whether or
+not we should fight the desert Arabs as we had fought the spahis.
+
+"Certainly yes," he replied; "we did well in the rehearsal, may we not
+hope to do even better now?"
+
+"I think so," I answered; "you see it is no longer a plan; it is now,
+as it were, a piece of drill that we have learned."
+
+"Yes," said Mac; "we can go through it now as a soldier goes through
+the bayonet exercise; yes, let us fight as we fought before."
+
+"If the battle does not go well," said Giulia, "you must not forget
+me."
+
+"But no," I answered her, "but no; that is the one thing that we others
+are always thinking about. You must be saved, even though safety lay
+only in death."
+
+"But the work must be done thoroughly," she insisted.
+
+"Madame need not fear," said the corporal, speaking in a low voice;
+"even were I in my death agony, I should have strength enough left to
+kill."
+
+"So should I," said Mac, "but I'd be sorry all the same." I was about
+to speak, but Giulia put her finger on my lips, and said:
+
+"I am well content, I am almost happy."
+
+Very soon a number of men, some on camels, others on horses, rode out
+from the caravan towards us. Our horses were hobbled, as we preferred
+to fight on foot. We were infantrymen by training, and, even had we
+been of the cavalry, we could get no good from our chargers after the
+long journey without food or water. When we ranged ourselves in open
+order the oncoming Arabs halted, and evidently consulted together.
+After a few moments of deliberation they divided into two parties, each
+about half-a-dozen strong, and prepared to attack us on both flanks.
+When the party on the right came within long range Mac called out:
+
+"Am I to fire, corporal?"
+
+"Yes; when you think you can hit man or camel or horse," replied the
+Englishman.
+
+Almost immediately afterwards Mac fired, but no result seemed to follow
+the shot. He fired a second time, and brought down a man who was riding
+on a camel somewhat in advance of the others, brandishing a lance. A
+hurried volley came towards us now, but the range was too great for
+their guns, and we did not even hear the whistle of the bullets. The
+corporal and I had already begun to fire on the party approaching our
+left, and very soon a hot fusilade was going on. Luckily for us our
+opponents did not attempt to charge; they foolishly depended on their
+fire arms, with the result that we had emptied three saddles before
+their bullets began to hiss past our ears. When at last their bullets
+began to be unpleasantly perceptible the nearest Arab was full 300
+yards away, and not one of us had been touched. We were now warming to
+the work, and at such a range in so clear an atmosphere it was easy for
+our rifles to tell. Not more than a dozen shots had whizzed past our
+heads when the Arabs were forced to retire, leaving five men on the
+plain, while two camels sprawling on the ground and two horses standing
+shivering with hanging heads told us that the animals had suffered as
+well as the men. As the Arabs galloped away we fired once or twice at
+their backs, but it is very hard for a soldier to hit a horse or a man
+going away from him.
+
+We came together for a council of war. We at length decided to give
+them half-an-hour to recommence the attack; if they did not assail us
+again within that time, or if they should continue their journey, we
+were then to assault the caravan. The plain fact was that we had to get
+possession of the caravan; if we did not, our horses would fail, and
+we, on foot in the desert, should have no chance of saving our lives.
+Moreover, we felt justified in acting as highway robbers, for the Arabs
+had deliberately halted, and then sallied forth to take our lives,
+so as to possess themselves of our horses and arms. For me there was
+another thought: if the fight had gone against us, as it might easily
+have done if the Arabs had had sense enough to scatter and then to come
+straight home in a charge, Giulia would have had to die. There was no
+other resource. We Europeans could not endure the thought that a woman
+of our own blood, of our own colour, of our own ideas, should become
+the slave of a Bedouin of the desert.
+
+We did not have to wait long. Ten men, five on camels, five on
+horseback, rode out from the caravan and started in a headlong charge
+against us. They began to gallop at a very long distance off, and this
+was lucky for us, for when the horses arrived at our position they were
+quite blown. Our rifles spoke quickly and well. There was no aiming at
+individuals, all we tried to do was to put as many bullets as we could
+into the moving mass before it could reach our bayonets. We were in
+close order now, with Giulia in the rear. In spite of all our efforts
+the Arabs reached the spot where we were, but neither horse nor camel
+would come upon the steel. All swerved aside, and the Arabs, firing
+from the backs of their animals, tried to shoot us down. But our rifles
+were better, far better, and we were steady as rocks upon the ground.
+Moreover, Giulia's revolvers were emptied, all save one chamber, and
+that was kept for herself. I cannot tell about my comrades, except that
+each did his duty, but I can tell what happened to myself. An Arab
+mounted on a camel tried to reach me with his spear; I lunged at his
+camel's snout, and got my bayonet well home. The terrified animal drew
+back, and as it did so I shot its rider dead. A second Arab, who had
+dismounted, or whose horse had been shot, came at me with a scimitar.
+But it was of no use; the long rifle and bayonet got in twice--once, as
+I had been taught long before, on the face, the second time full in the
+region of the heart. That ended my fighting for the day. The attack was
+over. One Arab was galloping away, but not so fast that a bullet from
+Mac's rifle could not reach him; two or three wounded who were trying
+to go off were soon settled by the English corporal and myself. We had
+no mercy in our hearts; they would not give us quarter, and we would
+give none to them. Not a man of the ten who attacked us escaped, and
+had a hundred others been in our power at the time we should have slain
+them all.
+
+It was now our turn to attack. We mounted our horses, having first
+freed them from their hobbles, and advanced as quickly as the poor
+brutes could move towards the place where the caravan lay. When we
+came within about 500 yards of it three or four Arabs opened fire. Mac
+and the English corporal dismounted and returned the fire with success.
+After a few shots two of the Arabs fell, and then the shooting ceased.
+An old man, evidently a sheik, came forward with his hands raised above
+his head and spoke to us in Arabic. The corporal knew a few words of
+the language, and told him that we wanted water and food. When the
+sheik heard this he offered us all that the caravan had of what we
+required, and begged us to spare the lives of all who surrendered.
+This we promised to do, and in a quarter of an hour we were furnished
+with four fresh saddle-horses and two others for burden, with enough
+of food to last a fortnight, and a fair supply of water. We left the
+horses that had hitherto borne us to the beaten party; they were worn
+out, and, besides, they bore the stamp of the French Government. We
+took clothing also from four of the dead men, and afterwards found an
+opportunity of changing our uniform--of course, only kepi, tunic, and
+trousers--for an attire more befitting the desert and, therefore, less
+noticeable in it. Even Giulia, the while we turned our backs, put on an
+Arab dress, and many merry compliments we paid her about it.
+
+When we left the caravan we pushed south at full speed for
+half-an-hour. Then turning to the west we went on at a fairly quick
+pace for more than two hours. As we might by that time consider that we
+had reached a place of comparative safety we halted for a rest. We had
+made a good meal of dates, bread and water after seizing the caravan,
+and so felt no hunger, but we soldiers--pretended Arabs I suppose we
+ought to call ourselves now--were glad to fill our pipes and talk over
+the two excellent fights we had made, for liberty first, and then for
+life. But we did not halt long; we had still to go farther west, and
+then to turn our horses' heads north for Morocco. This dangerous way
+through savage Sahara and almost as savage Morocco was for us the one
+way of escape, the one way of safety, the one way that would bring
+us back to civilisation and to happiness. Yet, dangerous as it was,
+we were filled with high hopes of success. All our undertakings had
+prospered, somehow or other; each one felt that there was no danger in
+the world that he and his good comrades could not overcome. And I am
+the sole survivor--but why should I anticipate?
+
+For three days we travelled due west, caring our horses and sparing
+our supplies. Then we came upon an oasis, at which we refilled our
+water bottles. Luckily, there was not a soul at it or in sight, for we
+had no desire, now that we were sufficiently well equipped with all
+that we wanted, to try conclusions again with the fighting men of the
+desert. Our only wish at the time was to travel without attracting the
+observation of any. Then we turned towards the north-west and went
+slowly and cautiously along. We knew that soon we should be in the
+land of the Moors, but we were not so foolish as to believe that we
+should find a settled government there. We were quite well aware that
+most of the tribes south of the Atlas Mountains yield obedience only
+to their own chiefs, but we had no fear of the agricultural people.
+The only ones likely to attack us were the nomadic Arabs, and most
+of these would be left behind by us along with the desert. One must
+remember that in the Sahara there is but one law, the law of force, the
+plunderer of to-day is often the plundered of to-morrow. Where all are
+robbers, robbery is no reproach. In Morocco, however, even south of the
+Atlas Mountains, people have settled down in villages, poor and dirty
+it is true, but still homes. Where men have houses, ploughs, and oxen
+they begin to be civilised, and one may generally pass along without
+molestation. One must pay his way, of course, and we had money enough
+to do that, as Giulia had taken all her savings with her. True, our
+money might excite their cupidity, but then we need never show much
+at a time, and we presented all the appearance of a party that could
+defend its possessions. The English corporal and Mac did look really
+formidable; their beards had not been shaved since we came away, and I
+in fun nicknamed Mac the "hirsute tiger" and the corporal the "shaggy
+lion." They laughed at the names and at one another, and when the jest
+was explained to Giulia she laughed too, but not, as I noticed, with
+the same heartiness as of old. Poor girl! she was not at all well. Her
+strength was reduced, and the troubles, the anxieties, the privations
+of her life in the desert, following upon her agony before and during
+my trial, were beginning to tell seriously upon her, and I could do
+nothing to spare her in the least!
+
+As we were riding along together one day the corporal said--in English,
+so that Giulia might not understand:
+
+"It is all very well for you, Jean--you ought to be happy because you
+have escaped death--but what are Mac and I to do if we ever escape from
+the desert?"
+
+I did not say anything in reply, but Mac spoke.
+
+"I am satisfied if I can get home to Ireland once more; once there I
+will think twice before again becoming an exile."
+
+"Very good," answered the corporal; "but I have no home to go to."
+
+"Can you not go to the United States," I asked, "and make a new home
+there?"
+
+"Yes, yes, I have thought of that; but----"
+
+He said no more, and we all rode silently on for a time.
+
+That night, when Mac called me for my turn of guard, he said:
+
+"Did you notice how queer the corporal was to-day?"
+
+"Oh yes; and so did Giulia. She asked me if there was anything wrong,
+and I knew not what to tell her."
+
+"Ma foi," said Mac, "I see trouble ahead. Believe me, there will be at
+least one more fight, and 'twill be for the corporal's satisfaction
+this time."
+
+"I can't help it," I replied; "he fought for me, and if he wants me
+I'll fight for him."
+
+"So will I," answered Mac. "Good night."
+
+About two days afterwards we came to a little village, and boldly
+demanded food, water and lodging. We promised to pay for all we got,
+but we took care to drive a hard bargain, so that they might think us
+poorer than we were. People will tell you about Arabian and Moorish and
+Turkish hospitality, but then these have never been with Arabs or Moors
+or Turks; if they had been, they would know that such hospitality has
+its price and that the price is limited by two things only--the wealth
+and the cunning of the purchaser. Of course, we kept the usual watches
+that night; we thought we were safe, but one can never be safe enough.
+
+Next morning we got ready to depart. Giulia, Mac, and I had gone
+slightly in advance, Mac and I leading the horses that carried our
+supplies. The corporal was last. Suddenly we heard a woman's cry, then
+a loud oath and a shriek, and, looking back, we saw the Englishman
+lifting an Arab, or rather a Berber, woman to his saddle. Just as he
+succeeded a native rushed at him with a spear and stabbed him twice
+in the side. The corporal let go his hold of the woman and tried to
+unsling his rifle, but was unable to do so before the Berber thrust
+at him again, and brought him heavily to the ground. I had meanwhile
+dropped the bridle of the horse that I was leading and turned back.
+My rifle was unslung in a moment, and I fired at almost point-blank
+range at the Berber, just as he was preparing to drive his weapon home
+again in the body of my prostrate comrade. He flung up his arms and
+stumbled forward, tripping over the corporal. I rode back to help the
+Englishman, but it was too late; he was dead. Meanwhile shots began to
+fly round us; all the villagers were aroused by the outcry and the
+report of my rifle. Mac shouted to me to come away; there was no hope
+save in instant flight. I turned again, and regained Giulia's side,
+only to find that the pack-horses had stampeded. Mac fired at the crowd
+of natives, with what success I know not, and then the three of us
+galloped away at top speed, followed as we went by a dropping fire.
+
+When we had got about half-a-mile from the village we looked back,
+and saw we were pursued. Six or eight Berbers were on our trail, and
+were evidently determined to take vengeance on us for the corporal's
+rashness. Our horses were quite fresh, and we pushed on, as it would
+not do to fight too near their village, for then they might be so
+reinforced that all hope of success on our part would disappear. If we
+could only get the half-dozen or so that followed us sufficiently far
+away we could enter into a fight with confidence. We had the European's
+usual contempt for savages, and our two previous fights had given us
+a wonderful amount of faith in ourselves and our weapons. True our
+fighting power had been much diminished by the death of the Englishman,
+for the loss of one rifle was serious in so small a band; but, even
+so, Mac and I were quite sure that we could first stall off the grand
+attack, and then inflict such damage on our opponents that they, or
+what was left of them, would be glad enough to retire.
+
+We had gone thus about five or six miles when Mac called to Giulia and
+me to pull up. "No," I shouted; "let us press on a little farther."
+Mac shook his head. I saw that he was very pale; the fear that another
+comrade was passing away took instant possession of my heart. When we
+halted the pursuing Berbers were not more than half-a-mile away; they
+were six in number, and kept close together.
+
+"What is wrong?" I asked.
+
+"I was hurt," Mac replied, "in the firing at the village, and I could
+not go farther at that pace."
+
+"Where did you get it?"
+
+"In the right side." And he held his hands pressed upon his body just
+above the right groin.
+
+"It is all right," he went on. "I can get through this fight, but
+after----" He stopped, smiled feebly, and shook his head. In a moment I
+had taken off his belt, opened his clothes, and looked for the wound.
+It was a small one, just a little hole in the side, with scarcely any
+outflow of blood. This made me serious. I had often seen similar ones,
+and I knew, as all soldiers do, that the wound that does not bleed
+outwardly bleeds inwardly, and is the most dangerous for the sufferer
+and the most difficult for the surgeon.
+
+"Never mind," said Mac; "you can do nothing--at least you cannot until
+we have beaten off these rascals. Do not weep, petite," he said to
+Giulia; "I now repay you for all your kindness to me when my pay was
+stopped."
+
+This only made Giulia weep all the more. Poor girl, it was for her a
+morning of tribulation.
+
+But the work had to be done. We all lay down close together, and as
+soon as the Berbers came within easy range Mac and I opened fire.
+The fight was like both the others, except that these Berbers, being
+village-bred agriculturists, did not try to charge us with so much
+resolution as either the spahis or the Bedouins. They fired upon us for
+some time, but Mac and I were too well armed to mind much the popping
+of their guns, and when we had shot three men and a couple of horses
+the survivors withdrew. Then Mac insisted that we should mount and go
+forward again, because, as he truly said, if others came up they might
+attack us in that place, but the sight of their dead comrades would
+scarcely impel them to pursue. Giulia and I could not deny this. It was
+apparent that the best chance of safety lay in leaving the field to
+the dead and making good our retreat before the Berbers learned that
+another man of ours had been placed _hors de combat_. Nevertheless, it
+was with heavy hearts that we remounted. It pained Giulia and myself to
+see the changed look in our good comrade's eyes; his forced smile made
+us sad, for the thought crossed our minds that soon we should be alone
+together in a savage land, without a friend, and almost without hope.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV
+
+
+We struggled on together for about half-an-hour. Then Mac said that
+he could go no farther, and Giulia and I lifted him out of the saddle
+and placed him tenderly on the ground. I asked him if he were in much
+pain; he said that he felt very little, but that his lower limbs were
+becoming numbed.
+
+"The end cannot be far off," he went on, "and, when I am gone, take my
+rifle and cartridges, and put as great a distance as possible between
+yourselves and the Berbers."
+
+"Do not think of us," I replied, "think of yourself; you have but a
+short time to make your peace with God."
+
+He said nothing to me, but I saw his lips moving in quiet prayer. After
+some time he said:
+
+"Good-bye, my good comrades; it is nearly over."
+
+Giulia was weeping, and there were tears also in my eyes. I pressed his
+hand, and Giulia, bending down, kissed him on the forehead. A moment
+after he ejaculated: "O Lord, have mercy." And at the words his gallant
+spirit passed away.
+
+We were now lonely indeed. In one morning Giulia and I had lost our
+two companions--the two men who did not hesitate to risk their lives,
+as they used to put it, for the comrade in trouble and the woman in
+distress. The outlook that had been so favourable the day before was
+now dark and gloomy. Two-thirds of our fighting strength had gone; but
+that was not the worst: we missed even more the ruined Englishman's
+stern manner and stout heart, the laughing Irishman's constant wit on
+the march and steady earnestness in the fight. Both were good friends,
+of totally different natures, yet equally sympathetic; each made up
+for what the other lacked. One never minded the gloom that too often
+sat upon the corporal's brow in listening to the ceaseless jesting and
+careless laughter of the simple soldier; and when the fight came one
+felt that Mac would care, and care well, for his share of it, but that
+the Englishman, while working as a fighting man, was planning as our
+chief.
+
+People will say: Oh, but you were once sergeant-major, and why did
+not you command rather than the corporal? Well, for two good reasons.
+First, if I had once been sergeant-major, he had once been captain.
+Second, somebody had to be close to Giulia in every fight, for reasons
+that may be guessed--and who had a better right to be at her side than
+I?
+
+There was no time for us to bury poor Mac, even had I pick and shovel
+for the work. Anyway, no soldier thinks much about where his body will
+lie after death: no grave at all is as good as a place in a trench
+where hundreds of others are pressing and crowding around. When you
+have once seen a battlefield grave, where three or four hundred lie
+like sardines in a tin, you will find little, if indeed any, poetry in
+the words "God's acre." Not that the burial party should be blamed, be
+it well understood. Oh no! they must think of the living, especially
+the wounded, and in a hot climate quick burial is the only thing to
+prevent a pestilence of the sun.
+
+Giulia and I managed to go about twelve kilometres farther on our road
+that day. I did not want to go so far, but she insisted. She knew,
+as I did, that she was not in a fit state to travel such a distance;
+but some fear of the Berbers who had killed our comrades had taken
+possession of her heart, and she would not, nay, she could not, rest
+until we were quite safe from further pursuit. But she could not hold
+out very long; at last even to sit her horse when going at a mere
+walking pace was too much for her strength, and she was compelled to
+yield to my entreaties and to dismount and rest. Poor girl! she was
+very nervous and excited. Even the struggles that ended in complete
+success had tried her too much, and now she felt with tenfold anxiety
+and apprehension the death of the two loyal, brave, and generous
+comrades who had been so suddenly lost. And a woman always feels the
+loss of a friend more than a man does, because a man can easily get
+another, but a women must be always suspicious of those who tender her
+friendship, lest there be poison in the gift.
+
+That night we could set no guard. Both of us were weary in spirit and
+in body. There was no one to relieve me if I watched, and Giulia could
+not rest unless I was so near that her hand could always touch me. I
+thought of a plan: it was to picket the horses so that there should
+be no danger of losing them, and then to withdraw about four hundred
+yards from the spot where they were placed. The horses might attract
+enemies in the night, but if we were some distance away, we ought to
+be in comparative safety. Giulia assented; and when I had settled the
+horses for the night I helped her to a spot a good distance from them,
+and after a little interval, during which Giulia wept and I comforted
+her as best I could, we lay down to rest in the desert side by side. As
+I was sleeping, as a soldier sleeps who has learned to rest with aching
+body or even with aching heart, Giulia clasped me by the shoulder, and
+brought me back to active thought and life.
+
+"What! is there an attack?" And I tried for my rifle in the dark.
+
+"No, no! oh no! it is not that. I am ill; oh, what shall I do!"
+
+But I will not tell the story. The night wore on, and when dawn came
+it was only to show me that the best of all my comrades, the comrade
+who made life happy and a thing of joy, the woman who had loved and
+trusted, ever true, ever unchanging, was about to pass out of my life
+for ever. The end came shortly after the dawn. It was quiet, for poor
+Giulia was worn out with all that she had gone through, and, when all
+was over, Arab or Berber or robber of the road might take my life, and
+I should not resist. What was the good of life since I had lost my love?
+
+All that day I stayed quietly by the dead body of my dear one. I forgot
+the horses; I forgot the danger of attack; I forgot all things save
+that I was at last alone, really alone, in the world. I thought of
+those whom I had loved and lost--Nicholas the Russian, the English
+corporal, Mac; but every moment my thoughts reverted to the greatest
+loss of all--the loss of her whose corpse, pale and bloodless, it is
+true, but with an indefinable beauty of feature and expression, lay
+quiet and still upon the sand.
+
+In the evening I dug a grave with my bayonet, and gently, tenderly,
+laid there to rest the remains of her who had loved me with so great a
+love.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+There is little more to be said. I had no difficulty in making my way
+to Tangier. I was not molested, nor did I molest anyone. The only
+thought in my mind was to get as far away as possible from Africa--the
+land for me of so many chances and changes, of exquisite love and still
+more exquisite sorrow. I was hopeless, heartless, not in the sense that
+I was heartless to others--I was heartless only for myself.
+
+From Tangier I crossed to Spain, and there found a relation at
+Salamanca--one of those men who, studying for the priesthood, choose
+the foreign colleges rather than Maynooth. He helped me with money to
+reach Ireland, but from him, as from all others, I kept the true story,
+the story, I may now say, of "twenty golden years ago."
+
+
+
+
+THE RIVERSIDE PRESS LIMITED, EDINBURGH.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's A Modern Legionary, by John Patrick Le Poer
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 59084 ***