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diff --git a/58173-0.txt b/58173-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0f36f01 --- /dev/null +++ b/58173-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9373 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 58173 *** + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 58173-h.htm or 58173-h.zip: + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/58173/58173-h/58173-h.htm) + or + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/58173/58173-h.zip) + + + Images of the original pages are available through + Internet Archive. See + https://archive.org/details/greatinvasionof00erckiala + + + + + +[Illustration: MM. ERCKMANN-CHATRIAN.] + + +THE GREAT INVASION OF 1813-14; + +Or, + +After Leipzig. + +by + +MM. ERCKMANN-CHATRIAN, + +Authors of "Waterloo," "The Conscript," "The Blockade," &c. + +Being +a Story of the Entry of the Allied Forces +into Alsace and Lorraine, and Their March +upon Paris after the Battle of +Leipzig, Called the Battle of +the Kings and Nations. + + + + + + +Ward, Lock and Co. +London: Warwick House, Salisbury Square, E.C. +New York: Bond Street. + + +[Illustration] + + + + +THE + +GREAT INVASION; + +OR + +AFTER LEIPZIG. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + +If you would like to know the story of the Great Invasion of 1814, just +as it was told me by the old huntsman, Frantz du Hengst, you must come +with me to the village of Charmes, in that province of France called +the Vosges. About thirty little houses, with stuccoed fronts, and their +roofs covered with dark green moss, are dotted along the borders of +the Sarre; you can see their gables round which the ivy creeps and +the honeysuckle twines--the honeysuckle withered now, for winter is +near--the beehives closed with wisps of straw, the little gardens, the +wooden palings, the hedge-rows that divide them from each other. To +the left, on a high mountain, stand the ruins of the ancient castle +of Falkenstein, destroyed two hundred years ago by the Swedes. It is +now nothing but a heap of ruins, over-run with brambles and weeds. The +approach to it is by an old, worn pathway, called a _schlitte_[1] road, +of which you can catch a glimpse through the fir-trees. To the right, +on the hillside, is seen the farm of Bois-de-Chênes, a large building, +with granaries, stables, and outhouses, the flat roof weighted with +huge stones to resist the keen north wind. Cows are grazing on the +common, and a few goats are climbing the steep rocks. + +All is calm and silent. + +Some children, in drawers made of a sort of gray cloth, their heads +and feet bare, are warming themselves round their little fires on the +outskirts of the wood. If you watch the light blue columns of smoke as +they disperse in the air, or hang motionless in white and gray clouds +over the valley, you will discover behind these clouds the barren tops +of the Grosmann and the Donon. + +How, you must know that the last house of the village, whose square +front is pierced by two glazed casements, and whose low door opens +on to the muddy street, belonged in 1813 to Jean-Claude Hullin, an +old volunteer of '92, but at that time a shoemaker in the village +of Charmes, and held in high esteem among the simple mountaineers. +Hullin was a short, stout, thick-set man, with gray eyes, thick lips, +a short nose, with a strongly-marked division at the end, and thick, +grayish eyebrows. He was a jovial, good-natured fellow, and didn't know +how to refuse anything to his daughter, Louise, a child whom he had +rescued from a troop of those wretched _heimatshlos_--half-tinkers, +half-blacksmiths[2]--who travel from village to village, soldering +saucepans, melting spoons, and mending broken crockery. He looked upon +her as his own daughter, and had completely forgotten that she was not +of his blood. + +Besides Louise, the worthy man had other objects of affection. +He loved, above all, his cousin, the old mistress of the farm of +Bois-de-Chênes, Catherine Lefévre, and her son, Gaspard, drawn in that +year's conscription, a handsome young fellow, betrothed to Louise, and +whose return at the end of the campaign was anxiously expected by all +the family. + +Hullin always dwelt proudly on the memory of his campaigns of +Sambro-et-Meuse, of Italy, and Egypt. Sometimes of an evening, when +his day's work was done, he would set off to the great saw-works at +Valtin, formed of the trunks of trees still covered with their bark, +and which you can perceive down below there at the bottom of the gorge. +There, seated in the midst of the woodcutters, charcoal-burners, and +_schlitteurs_,[3] opposite the great fire made of sawdust and shavings, +and whilst the heavy wheel went for ever round, amid the never-ceasing +thunder of the mill-dam and the constant grinding of the saw, with +his elbow on his knee, and pipe in mouth, he would talk to them of +Hoche, of Kleber, and finally, of General Bonaparte, whom he had seen a +hundred times, and whose spare figure, piercing eyes, and eagle glance +he could paint to the very life. + +Such was Jean-Claude Hullin. + +He was a man of the old Gallic stock, loving extraordinary adventures +and hair-breadth 'scapes, but sticking to work from a principle of +duty, from year's end to year's end. + +As for Louise, that waif snatched from the travelling tinkers, she +had a slender, lithe figure, long delicate hands, eyes of so deep and +tender a blue that they went straight to the very bottom of your soul, +a complexion like snow, hair of a light straw colour, soft and fine +as silk, shoulders a little rounded like those of a kneeling maid +at prayer. Her innocent smile, her pensive brow, in short, her whole +presence reminded you of the old _lied_[4] of the minnesinger,[5] +Erhart, where he says, "I have beheld a ray of light; my eyes are +still dazzled with its brightness. Was it the moon's beam through the +foliage? Was it Aurora's smile in the depth of the woods? No; it was +the beautiful Edith, my love, who passed. I have seen her, and my eyes +are still dazzled." + +Louise dearly loved the fields, gardens, and flowers. In spring, the +first note of the lark caused her to shed tears of tender pleasure. +She delighted to watch the first opening of the blue-bells and +sweet-scented May that blossomed on the hillside; and eagerly awaited +the return of the swallows to build their snug little nests under the +eaves. She was still the child of a wandering race, only a little less +wild; but Hullin made excuses for everything; he understood her nature, +and would sometimes say, with a smile: + +"My poor Louise, if we had nothing to live on but what you bring +us--your pretty handfuls of wild flowers--we should be starved to death +in three days." + +Upon which she would throw her arms round his neck, and smile upon him +so sweetly that he would set contentedly to work again, saying: + +"Ah! What business have I to scold her? She's quite right; she loves +the sun and the green fields, poor child. Gaspard must work for two; +he'll have happiness enough for four. I don't pity him, not I. There's +plenty of women to work, and it does not improve their looks: but women +who love and are kind to you--what a chance to meet with one--what a +chance!" + +Thus reasoned the worthy man, and days, weeks, and months went by in +the near prospect of Gaspard's return. + +Gaspard's mother, widow Lefévre, a woman of marvellous industry and +energy, shared Hullin's ideas on the subject of Louise. "I," she would +say, "only want a daughter who will love us; I don't want her to meddle +with my housekeeping. Only let her make herself happy! You'll not +disagree with me, will you, Louise?" + +And then the two would fall to kissing and hugging each other! + +But still Gaspard did not return, and for the last two months no news +had been heard of him. + +Now on a certain day, towards the middle of the month of December, +1813, between three and four o'clock in the afternoon, Hullin, squatted +on his bench, was busily engaged in finishing off a pair of iron-bound +sabots for the wood-cutter, Rochart. Louise had just placed a little +earthen pipkin on the brazen stove, the fire in which was crackling +and roaring with a plaintive sound, while the old clock marked the +seconds with its monotonous tick. Outside, all along the street, were +to be seen pools of water covered with a thin white coating of ice, +showing that winter was near at hand. At intervals was heard the sound +of thick sabots on the hard ground, and then a felt hat, a hood, or a +white cap would go by, and all would be still again, the silence only +broken by the gentle hum of Louise's spinning-wheel, and the singing +of the _marmite_ on the stove. This had lasted for about two hours, +when Hullin, happening to cast a glance through the little glazed +window-panes, suddenly left off working, and remained staring with his +eyes wide open as if struck by an unusual sight. + +In fact, at the turning of the street, just opposite the inn of the +"Three Pigeons," there was seen coming, in the midst of a troop of +urchins, whistling, hooting, leaping, and yelling--"The King of +Diamonds! the King of Diamonds!"--there was seen coming, I say, the +strangest figure it is possible to imagine. Just picture to yourself a +man with red hair and beard, a grave face, sullen eye, straight nose, +his eyebrows joined in the middle of his forehead, a circlet of tin on +his head; a long-haired, iron-gray sheepskin floating from his back, +the two fore-paws of which formed the fastening around his neck; a +number of little copper crosses hanging like charms on his breast; his +legs encased in a sort of drawers made of gray cloth, fastened above +the ankle, and his feet bare. An enormous raven, his coal-black wings +relieved by a few feathers of dazzling whiteness, was perched upon his +shoulder. At first sight of him, and his stately presence, you would +have thought him one of those ancient Merovingian kings depicted in the +paintings of Montbéliard; he held in his left hand a short thick stick, +cut in the form of a sceptre, and with his right hand he made fantastic +gestures, raising his finger to heaven, and seeming to address his +suite. + +Every door flew open as he passed--curious faces were pressed against +every window-pane. Some old women, from the outer steps of the doors, +called to the madman, who did not deign to turn aside his head; others +came down into the street, and tried to bar his way, but he, with head +erect and raised eyebrow, with a gesture and a word, forced them to +stand aside. + +"See," said Hullin, "here is Yégof. I did not expect to see him again +this winter. It is not his usual custom. What the devil can bring him +back in such weather as this?" + +And Louise, laying down her distaff, ran hastily out to look at the +"King of Diamonds." The arrival of the fool Yégof at the beginning of +winter was quite an event; some were delighted at it, hoping to keep +him and make him tell stories of his fortune and glories, by the inn +firesides; others, and especially the women, felt a sort of uneasiness, +for madmen, as everybody knows, have dealings with the world of +spirits; they know the past and the future, and are inspired by God; +the only thing is to be able to understand them, their words having +always two meanings--one common, for vulgar people, the other deep, for +refined and cultivated minds. + +And this fool besides, had, above all others, really extraordinary and +sublime ideas. No one knew either where he came from, where he went, or +what he wanted; for Yégof wandered about the country like a troubled +spirit; he would talk of races now extinct, and claimed to be himself +Emperor of Austrasia, Polynesia, and other places. Large volumes might +have been written about his castles, his palaces, and his strongholds; +he knew the numbers, situation, and architecture of them all, and +celebrated their grandeur, beauty, and riches with a simple and modest +air. He would speak of his stables, his hunting exploits, the officers +of his crown, his ministers, his counsellors, the superintendents of +his provinces; he never mistook their names or their rank, but he +complained bitterly of having been dethroned by the accursed race, and +the old midwife, Sapience Coquelin, every time she heard him groaning +over this subject, would shed a shower of tears, as would many others +too. Then he, pointing with his finger to heaven, would exclaim: + +"Oh! women! oh, women! remember! The hour is near. The spirit of +darkness flies. The old race--the masters of your masters--advance like +the waves of the sea!" + +And every spring he was in the habit of making a tour among the old +owls' nests--those antique ruins that crown the wooded summits of the +Vosges, Nideck, Geroldseck, Lutzelbourg, Turkestein, saying that he was +going to visit his fiefs, and talking of re-establishing the ancient +splendour of his States, and bringing back his revolted subjects into +slavery, with the help of the grand Golo, his cousin. + +Jean-Claude Hullin used to laugh at these things, not having a mind +high enough to enter into the invisible spheres; but they had a great +effect upon Louise; above all, when the great raven flapped his wings, +and uttered his hoarse croak. + +Yégof was coming down the street without stopping anywhere, and Louise, +quite in a fright at seeing that he was fixing his eyes upon their +little house, said hastily: + +"Papa Jean-Claude, I think he is coming here." + +"Very likely," was Jean Hullin's reply. "The poor fellow must be in +great want of a pair of strong sabots, now the cold weather is coming, +and if he asks me, I should find it hard to refuse him." + +"Oh, how good and kind you are!" said the young girl, with a loving +kiss. + +"Yes, yes; you coax me finely," said he, with a laugh, "because I do +just whatever you like; and who's to pay me for my wood and work, I +should like to know? Not Yégof, that's very certain!" + +Louise gave him another kiss, and a tear stood in Hullin's eye as he +looked at her, and murmured: + +"That's the pay I like best of all." + +Yégof was at that time about fifty paces off their house, and the noise +and tumult grew louder and louder. + +The street urchins, hanging on to his tattered robes, kept shouting: +"Diamonds! spades! clubs!" All of a sudden he turned round, raising his +sceptre, and, with a proud, though furious air, exclaimed: + +"Begone, accursed race! Begone! Deafen me no more with your cries, or I +will let loose my pack upon you." + +The only effect of this threat was to redouble the hisses and shouts +of laughter; but at this juncture Hullin appeared at his door, with +his long strap in his hand, and picking out five or six of the most +riotous, threatened to give them a taste of it for their supper--a +thing which the worthy man had often done before, with the full consent +of their parents--when all the troop dispersed helter-skelter. Then, +turning towards the maniac: + +"Come in, Yégof," said the shoemaker: "come in, and warm yourself by +the fire." + +"My name is not Yégof," replied the poor fellow, with an offended air: +"my name is Luitprand, King of Austrasia and Polynesia." + +"Yes, yes, I know," said Jean-Claude, "I know; you have told me all +that before; but no matter whether your name is Yégof or Luitprand, +come in all the same. It is cold; try and warm yourself." + +"I will come in," replied the fool, "but it is on a very serious +affair--an affair of state: it is to form an indissoluble alliance +between the Germans and the Triboques." + +"Very good--we will talk about it." + +Then Yégof, stooping under the portal, entered, in a dreamy absent +manner, and made a profound bow to Louise, at the same time lowering +his sceptre; but the raven would not come in. Spreading his immense +wings, he swept in a vast circle round the dwelling, and wound up his +flight by beating himself against the window panes furiously enough to +break them. + +"Hans," cried the fool, "take care! I'll come to you!" + +But the bird would not detach his sharp claws from the leaden staples, +and continued to flap his great wings against the casement as long +as his master stayed in the house. Louise never took her eyes off +him; she was afraid of him. As for Yégof, he took his seat in the old +leathern arm-chair behind the stove, with his legs extended as if on a +throne--and, casting a haughty look around him, said: + +"I come from Jerome in a straight line to conclude an alliance with +you, Hullin. You are not ignorant that I have deigned to cast my eyes +on your daughter, and I come to ask her of you in marriage." + +Louise, at this proposal, blushed up to her ears, and Hullin burst into +a peal of loud laughter. + +"You laugh!" cried the fool, in a hollow voice. "Well, you are wrong to +laugh. This alliance can alone save you from the ruin that threatens +you--you, and your house, and all that is yours. At this very moment my +armies are advancing--they are innumerable--they cover the earth. What +can you do against me? You will be conquered, destroyed, or reduced to +slavery, as you have already been during many ages; for I, Luitprand, +King of Austrasia and Polynesia, have resolved all shall return to the +ancient order of things. Remember!" + +Here the fool solemnly raised his finger. + +"Remember what happened before!--You were beaten!--And we, the old +races of the North--we put our foot on your necks. We laid the heaviest +stones on your backs, to build our strong castles, and our subterranean +prisons. We harnessed you to our carts--you were before us as the straw +before the hurricane. Remember, remember, Triboque--and tremble!" + +"I remember very well," said Hullin, still laughing; "but we took our +revenge--you know." + +"Yes, yes," interrupted the fool, with a frown; "but that time is past. +My warriors are more numerous than the leaves of the forest; and your +blood flows like the water of the brooks. You! I know you--I have known +you during more than a thousand years!" + +"Bah!" was Hullin's reply. + +"Yes, it is this hand, do you hear--this hand that subdued you, when +we arrived for the first time in the midst of your forests!--it bowed +your head beneath the yoke, and it will bow it again! Because you are +brave, you think yourselves for ever masters of this country and of +all France. Well, well, you are wrong! We have shared your country, +and will share it again. We will restore Alsace and Lorraine to +Germany, Brittany and Normandy to the men of the North, and Flanders +and the South to Spain. We will make a little kingdom of France round +Paris--quite a little kingdom, with a descendant of the old race at +your head, and you shall not stir any more--you shall be very quiet. +He! he! he!" and Yégof laughed. + +Hullin, who knew very little of history, was surprised that the fool +should know so many names. + +"Bah! have done, Yégof," said he, "and take a little soup to warm your +stomach." + +"I do not ask for your soup--I ask of you this girl in marriage--the +handsomest in my States. Give her to me willingly, and I will raise you +to the steps of my throne; if not, my armies will take her by force, +and you shall not have the honour of having given her to me." + +As he spoke, the unhappy man regarded Louise with a look of profound +admiration. + +"How lovely she is!" said he; "I destine her to the highest honours. +Rejoice, young girl, rejoice--you shall be queen of Austrasia!" + +"Listen, Yégof," said Hullin: "I am much flattered by your offer--it +proves that you appreciate beauty! That is very right; but my daughter +is already betrothed to Gaspard Lefévre." + +"But I," exclaimed the fool, in an angry tone, "will not listen to +that." Then rising, "Hullin," said he, resuming his solemn air, "this +is my first offer. I shall renew it twice. Do you hear? Twice! And if +you persist in your obstinacy, woe! woe to you and to your race!" + +"What! will you not eat your soup?" + +"No! no!" yelled the fool. "I will accept nothing from you till you +have consented. Nothing! nothing!" + +And as he went towards the door, to the great joy of Louise, who kept +watching the raven flap his wings against the window-panes, he said, +raising his sceptre, "Twice more!" and went out. + +Hullin burst into a loud laugh. + +"Poor devil!" said he. "In spite of himself, his mouth watered for the +soup. His stomach is empty--his teeth chattered with cold and hunger. +Well, folly is stronger than either." + +"Oh, how he did frighten me," said Louise. + +"Well, well, my child, never mind; he is gone. He can see you are +pretty, fool as he is. There is nothing in that to be afraid of." + +But in spite of these words, and the departure of the fool, Louise +still trembled, and felt herself blush as she thought of the looks the +wretched being had cast on her. + +In the meantime, Yégof had retaken the road to Valtin. He could be seen +walking gravely away, his raven perched upon his shoulder, and making +strange signs and gestures, although there was no one near him. Night +was at hand, and soon the tall form of the King of Diamonds blended +with the gray tints of the winter twilight, and finally disappeared. + +[Illustration] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 1: Roads to which the trunks of trees felled or blown down in +the forest are conveyed are called _schlitte_, or sledge, roads.] + +[Footnote 2: Without home or fireside.] + +[Footnote 3: Properly _tree-fellers_.] + +[Footnote 4: Song.] + +[Footnote 5: Poet, minstrel.] + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +On the evening of the same day, after supper, Louise, having taken her +spinning-wheel, had gone to spend the evening with Dame Rochart, at +whose cottage all the old gossips and young girls of the neighbourhood +were in the habit of assembling, relating old legends, chatting about +the rain, the weather, marriages, christenings, the departure or the +return of the conscripts, and what not--all of which helped to pass +away the time in a very agreeable manner. + +Hullin sat alone, opposite his little copper lamp, repairing the old +wood-cutter's sabots. Already he thought no more of the fool, Yégof; +his hammer went up and down, hitting the big nails into the thick +wooden soles, and all mechanically, and from force of habit. A thousand +thoughts, however, passed through his head; he was a dreamer without +knowing why. + +At times he thought of Gaspard, who, for a long while, had given no +sign of life; then of the campaign, which was being indefinitely +prolonged. The lamp lit up with its yellowish flame the little smoky +cabin. Outside not a sound was to be heard. The fire was almost +out; Jean-Claude rose to throw on a fresh log, then sat down again, +murmuring: + +"Bah! this cannot go on much longer. We shall have a letter one of +these days." + +The old clock began to strike nine; and as Hullin resumed his work, the +door opened, and Catherine Lefévre, the mistress of the Bois-de-Chênes +farm, appeared on the threshold, to the great surprise of the +shoemaker, for it was not usual for her to leave her home at such an +hour. + +Catherine Lefévre might be about sixty years of age, but she was as +upright and straight as at thirty. Her clear gray eyes and hooked nose +gave to her face some-what the look of a bird of prey; her sunken +cheeks, and the corners of her mouth, drawn down by thought, added +something of a gloomy and bitter expression; two or three thick locks +of grizzled hair hung down on each side of her temples; on her head +she wore a striped brown hood, which covered her shoulders also down +to her elbows; in short, her whole aspect denoted a character firm +to obstinacy, mingled with something of grandeur and sadness which +inspired at once respect and fear. + +"You, Catherine!" said Hullin, surprised out of himself. + +"Yes, it is I," replied the old farm-mistress, in a calm tone. "I am +come to talk a little with you, Jean-Claude. Is Louise gone out?" + +"She is spending the evening with Madeline Rochart." + +"That is well." + +Then Catherine threw back her hood, and came and sat down beside the +bench. Hullin looked at her steadfastly; he was struck by an appearance +of something at once extraordinary and mysterious. + +"What is the matter?" said he, laying down his hammer. + +Instead of replying to this question, the old woman, looking towards +the door, seemed to be listening; then, hearing nothing, she resumed +her musing look. + +"The fool Yégof passed last night at the farm," said she. + +"He came to see me, too, this afternoon," said Hullin, without +attaching any importance to this fact, which seemed to him of no moment. + +"Yes," replied the old woman, in a low tone, "he passed the night at +our house, and yesterday evening, at this hour, in the kitchen, before +everybody, that man, that madman, related the most fearful things to +us!" + +She was silent, and the corners of her mouth seemed to be drawn down +lower than usual. + +"Fearful things!" murmured the shoemaker, more and more surprised, for +he had never seen the farm-mistress in such a state before, "but what +sort, Catherine, what sort?" + +"Dreams that I have had!" + +"Dreams! you must be laughing at me, surely!" + +"No." + +Then, after a moment's silence, looking at the wonderstruck Hullin, she +went on slowly: + +"Yesterday evening, then, after supper, all our people were assembled +in the kitchen, round the fire. The table was still covered with the +empty bowls, platters, and spoons. Yégof had supped with us, and been +diverting us with the history of his treasures, his castles, and his +provinces. It might be then about nine o'clock--the fool had just +seated himself in the corner, beside the blazing hearth. Duchêne, my +labourer, was botching Bruno's saddle; the shepherd, Robin, was weaving +a basket; Annette was arranging her pots and pans on the dresser, +while I had brought my wheel to the fire to spin a hank before going to +bed. Out of doors, the dogs were barking at the moon; it must have been +very cold. Well, there we all were, talking about the winter that was +coming; Duchêne was saying that it would be very hard, for he had seen +large flocks of wild geese, which is a sure sign: and Yégof's raven, +perched on the edge of the chimney-piece, his great head buried in his +ruffled plumes, seemed to be asleep; but from time to time he stretched +out his neck, preened a feather or two with his bill, then looked at +us, listening for a second, and again plunged his head between his +shoulders." + +The farm-mistress was silent for a moment, as if to collect her +thoughts. She cast down her eyes; her long, hooked nose bent itself +almost to her lips, and a strange paleness seemed to spread over her +face. + +"What on earth is she driving at?" said Hullin to himself. + +The old woman went on: + +"Yégof, beside the blazing hearth, with his tin crown on his head, his +short staff between his knees, was dreaming of something. He looked at +the great black fire-place, the large stone chimney-piece, with figures +and trees carved upon it, and the smoke which was rising in heavy +wreaths round the flitches of bacon. All at once, when we were least +thinking of it, he struck the end of his staff upon the stones, and +cried out, like one in a dream: 'Yes, yes; I have seen all that. It is +a long time ago--a long time.' And as we all looked at him, struck with +surprise--'At that time,' he went on, 'the fir forests were forests of +oak--the Nideck the Dagsberg, the Falkenstein, the Geroldseck; none +of those old castles, now in ruins, existed then. At that time they +used to hunt the wild oxen in the woods, fish for salmon in the Sarre; +and you--you fair-skinned men, buried in the snow six months in the +year--you lived upon milk and cheese; for you had large flocks and +herds on the Hengst, the Schneeberg, the Grosmann, and the Donon. In +summer, you hunted; you came trooping down to the banks of the Rhine, +the Moselle, the Meuse. Oh, yes; I remember all that.' + +"Strange to say, Jean-Claude, while the fool continued speaking, +I seemed to see again all those countries of former times, and to +remember them as a dream. I had let fall my distaff, and old Duchêne, +Robin, Jeanne--in short, every one, was listening eagerly. 'Yes, it +is a long time ago,' the fool began again. 'In those times, too, you +used to build these huge fire-places; and all around, at two or three +hundred paces, you used to fix your palings fifteen feet high, and +inside of them you used to keep your great dogs, with hanging dewlaps, +who barked night and day.' + +"Whatever he said, Jean-Claude, we saw. As for him, he seemed to pay +no heed to us, but kept looking at the figures on the chimney-piece, +with his mouth wide open; but at the end of a moment, having turned his +head towards us, and seeing us all attentive, he began to laugh with +that wild laugh of his, exclaiming: 'And at that time--oh! fair-haired +men with blue eyes and white skins, fed on milk and cheese, and only +drinking blood in the autumn, at the great hunts--you believed +yourselves masters of the plain and of the mountain, when we, the red +men with green eyes, sprung from the sea; we, who drank blood always, +and loved nothing but war, arrived one fine morning, with our axes +and our spears, coming up the Sarre under shadow of the old oaks. Ah! +it was a cruel war, and one that lasted weeks and months. And the old +woman, there,' said he, pointing to me, with a strange smile, 'the +Margareth of the clan of the Kilberix, that old woman with the hooked +nose--within her palisades, in the midst of her dogs and her warriors, +defended herself like a she-wolf. But at the end of five moons hunger +came: the gates of her palisades opened for flight, and we--in ambush +in the stream--we massacred all--all, except the children and the +beautiful young girls. The old woman alone, with her nails and her +teeth, defended herself to the last. And I, Luitprand--I cleft her gray +head, and I took her father, the blind man, the aged of many days, and +chained him to the gate of my strong castle like a dog.' + +"Then, Hullin," continued the farm-mistress, bowing down her +head--"then the fool began to sing a long song--the complaint of the +old man chained to his gate. Wait while I try and remember it. It was +sad--sad as _a miserere_. I cannot recollect it, Jean-Claude; but I +seem to hear it still: it froze the marrow in my bones. And as he +kept laughing all the while, our people at last grew furious. With a +terrible cry, Duchêne sprang at the throat of the fool to strangle him; +but he, stronger than you would think, repulsed him, and raising his +staff threateningly, exclaimed: + +"'On your knees, slaves--on your knees! My armies are advancing. +Do you hear them? The earth trembles beneath their tread. Those +castles--the Nideck, the Haut-Barr, the Dagsberg, the Turkestein--you +will have to rebuild them. On your knees!' + +"Never in my life did I see a countenance more terrific than that of +Yégof at this moment; but, for the second time seeing my people about +to rush upon him, I felt bound to defend him. + +"'He is a madman,' said I. 'Are you not ashamed to take heed of the +words of a fool?' They stopped on account of what I said; but for my +own part I could not close an eye the whole night long. I lay awake +hour after hour, thinking of what the wretched creature had said. I +seemed to hear the song of the old man, the barking of the dogs, and +the sounds of battle. It is long since I have felt so disturbed and +unhappy. That is why I have come to see you. What do you think of all +this, Hullin?" + +"I!" said the shoemaker, whose full, red face betrayed a sort of +sad scorn mixed with pity; "if I did not know you as well as I do, +Catherine, I should say that you had gone out of your mind--you, +Duchêne, Robin, and all the rest of them. It all sounds to me like one +of the tales of Genevieve de Brabant--a story made to frighten little +children, and which shows us the folly of our ancestors." + +"Because you do not understand these things," said the old +farm-mistress, in a calm and grave tone; "you never had any ideas of +this sort." + +"Then you believe what Yégof sang to you?" + +"Yes, I believe it." + +"What, you, Catherine--a woman of your sense? If it were Dame Rochart, +I should think nothing of it. But you!----" + +He rose quite indignant, took off his apron, shrugged his shoulders, +and then abruptly sat down again, saying, "Do you know who this raving +maniac is? Well, I will tell you. You may be sure he is one of those +German schoolmasters who puzzle their brain over an old story of +Mother Goose, and discuss it gravely with you. By dint of studying +dreaming, pondering, looking for knots in a bulrush, their brain +gets bewildered--they have visions, distorted dreams, and take those +dreams for gospel. I have always looked upon Yégof as one of those +poor creatures, he knows a host of names; he talks of Brittany and +Austrasia, of Polynesia and the Nideck; and then of the Geroldseck, +the Turkestein, the borders of the Rhine: in short, of everything, at +random till at length there seems to be something in it, while in truth +there is nothing. At another time, you would think with me, Catherine; +but you are in trouble at not having had any news from Gaspard. These +rumours of war, of invasion, that are going about, torment you, disturb +your rest. You cannot sleep, and so you come to look upon the babble of +a fool as the words of Holy Writ." + +"No, Hullin--it is not so. You, yourself, if you had heard Yégof----" + +"Stuff and nonsense!" exclaimed the honest man. "If I had heard it I +should have laughed in his face, as just now---- By the way, do you +know that he came to ask Louise's hand of me, to make her Queen of +Austrasia?" + +Catherine Lefévre could not restrain a smile; but immediately resuming +her serious manner: "All your reasons, Jean-Claude," said she, "do not +convince me; but I confess Gaspard's silence alarms me. I know my son. +I am certain he has written to me. Why, then, have not his letters +reached me? The war is going badly, Hullin; we have the whole world +against us. They will have none of our revolution; you know that as +well as me. As long as we had the upper hand, and gained victory upon +victory, they were hand-and-glove with us; but, since our disasters in +Russia, things have taken another turn." + +"Ah! ha! Catherine, how your head wanders. You look always on the black +side of things." + +"Yes, I do look on the black side of things, and I am right. What +troubles me most is that we get no news from the outer world; we live +here like a nation of savages, and know nothing of what is going on +around us. The Austrians and the Cossacks may fall upon us from one day +to the next, before we know where we are." + +Hullin observed the growing excitement of the old woman, and was +infected, in spite of himself, by the influence of her fears. + +"Listen, Catherine," said he, all at once; "when you talk in a rational +way, it is not for me to contradict you. All that you say now is +possible. Not that I believe it; still, there is no knowing I was +intending to go to Phalsbourg in about a week, to buy some sheepskin to +line my sabots. I will go to-morrow. At Phalsbourg, a fortified place, +and a post-town, moreover, there must be some reliable news to be had. +Will you believe what I bring you from there?" + +"Yes." + +"Good; then that is settled. I will set out early to-morrow. It is five +leagues; about six o'clock I shall be back. You will see, Catherine, +that your gloomy ideas are against all common sense." + +"I hope so," replied the farm-mistress, rising; "I hope so. You have +comforted me a little, Hullin. And now I will go back to the farm, and, +I hope, sleep better than I did last night. Good night, Jean-Claude." + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +On the morrow, at daybreak, Hullin, attired in his Sunday pantaloons +of thick blue cloth, his ample brown velvet surcoat, his red waistcoat +with metal buttons, and a broad-brimmed felt hat on his head, which, +looped up in front like a cockade, exposed to view his rubicund face, +set out on his way to Phalsbourg, with a stout walking-stick in his +hand. + +Phalsbourg is a little fortified place on the high road between +Strasbourg and Paris. It commands the borders of Saverne, the defiles +of the upper Barr, of Roche-Plate, of Bonne Fontaine, and of the +Graufthal. Its bastions, its outworks, its half-moons, are carved +in zig-zag on a rocky platform. At a distance, it seems as if you +could clear the walls with a single stride; but, as you approach, you +discover the ditch, which is a hundred feet broad and thirty feet deep, +and the gloomy ramparts cut in the rock opposite. That brings you to +a stand. For the rest, with the exception of the church, the commune +hall, the two gates of France and Germany in form of a mitre, and the +belfreys of the two powder-mills, all is hidden behind the glacis. Such +is the little town of Phalsbourg, which is not wanting in a certain +character of grandeur, especially when you cross its bridges, and enter +beneath its low massive portals and bristling portcullises. In the +interior, the houses are built at regular intervals; they are low, +well-constructed buildings, built of hewn stone: everything about the +place has a military look. + +Hullin, inclined, by his sturdy nature and jovial disposition, never +to give himself unnecessary alarm about the future, considered all the +reports of retreat and invasion that were flying about the country +as so many lies spread by scandal. You may, therefore, judge his +surprise when, on quitting the mountain, and arrived at the outskirts +of the forests, he saw the suburbs of the town razed to the ground; +not a garden, not an orchard, not a walk, not a tree, not a shrub was +left: all had been levelled that was within reach of gun-shot. A few +poor wretches were trying to collect the scattered fragments of their +habitations, and were carrying them to the town. Nothing was visible on +the horizon but the long, gloomy line of ramparts towering overhead. +Jean-Claude felt as if struck by a thunderbolt; for a few minutes he +could not utter a single word, or take a single step. + +"Oh, ho!" said he, at length, "this looks bad--this looks very bad! +They are expecting the enemy!" + +And then his warlike instincts began quickly to get the upper hand of +him, and his brown cheeks grew crimson. + +"And it is those beggars of Austrians, Prussians, and Russians, and +all the scum collected from one end of Europe to the other, that are +the cause of this," he exclaimed, flourishing his stick; "but let them +beware! we will make them pay dearly for it!" + +He was in a sort of white rage, such as honest men feel when urged +beyond bounds. Woe to any one who had thwarted him at that moment! + +About twenty minutes afterwards he entered the town at the end of +a long file of vehicles, to which five and even six horses were +harnessed, and who were drawing with great efforts enormous trunks of +trees, destined to form block-houses. Among the drivers, the country +people, and the horses, neighing, rearing, and stamping, gravely rode a +mounted _gendarme_ named Kels, who seemed to take no note of anything, +and only said in a bluff voice: "Courage, courage, my friends--we have +two more stages to do by the evening. You will have deserved well of +your country!" + +Jean-Claude passed over the bridge. + +In the town a fresh spectacle presented itself to his eyes. There all +were ardently preparing for its defence, every door was open, and men, +women, and children were coming and going in every direction, to assist +in the transport of gunpowder and projectiles. At times they collected +in groups of three, four, and six, to gather the news. + +"Hey! neighbour!" + +"What now?" + +"A courier has just arrived at full gallop; he came in by the French +gate." + +"Then he comes to announce the arrival of the National Guard from +Nancy." + +"Or, perhaps, a convoy from Metz." + +"You are right--we are short of sixteen-pound shot, and also want +grape-shot. They are going to cast a lot." + +Some honest citizens in shirt-sleeves, mounted on tables along the +footpaths, were busily engaged in blocking up their windows with thick +planks of wood and mattrasses. Others were rolling water-barrels in +front of their doors. Hullin felt reassured at witnessing so much +enthusiasm. + +[Illustration: "HE ENTERED THE TOWN AT THE END OF A LONG FILE OF +VEHICLES."] + +"All right!" he exclaimed; "everybody seems to be making holiday here. +The Allies will meet with a warm reception." + +Opposite the college the shrill voice of the town-crier, Harmentier, +was heard proclaiming: "This is to give notice that the casemates +will be thrown open, in order that every one may be able to transport +thither a mattrass and two coverlets for his own personal use; and +that the commissioners are to commence their tour of inspection, to +ascertain that every inhabitant has three months' provisions laid up +in store, the which he is to certify.--This 20th of December, 1813. +Jean-Pierre Meunier, Governor." + +All this Hullin heard and saw in less than a minute, for the whole town +seemed to have turned out. Strange, serious, and comic scenes followed +close upon each other without interruption. + +Some National Guards were dragging a twenty-four pounder in the +direction of the arsenal. These brave fellows had a steep ascent to +climb, and their strength was nearly exhausted. "Hoy!--all together! A +thousand thunders! Put your shoulder to it! Forward!" Thus shouting all +together, and pushing with all their strength at the wheels, the great +cannon, stretching out its long, bronze neck over its immense carriage, +which rose above everything, rolled slowly over the pavement, trembling +beneath its weight. + +Hullin was in such a state of delight that he was no longer like the +same man. His martial instincts--the recollection of the camp, the +march, the fire, and the battle--all returned at full speed; his eye +sparkled, his heart beat quicker, and already ideas of defence, +entrenchments, death-struggles, whirled rapidly through his brain. + +"Upon my word!" said he to himself, "all this looks well! I have made +sabots enough in my life-time; and since I have a chance of shouldering +a musket again, well and good!--so much the better; we will show the +Prussians and Austrians that we have not forgotten our old trade." + +So reasoned the brave man, carried away by warlike recollections; but +his joy was not of long duration. + +In the square in front of the church were stationed fifteen or twenty +carts filled with the wounded that kept arriving from Leipzig and +Hanau. These unfortunates--pale, wan, with fast glazing eye; some whose +limbs had been already amputated, others whose wounds had not been +even dressed--were patiently awaiting death. Beside them stood some +old, worn-out horses, munching their meagre allowance; while their +drivers, poor devils taken into employ at Alsace, wrapped in their +ragged cloaks, were sleeping, with their hats pulled over their brows, +and their arms folded across their breasts, on the steps of the church. +It made one shudder to see these wretched groups of human beings, in +their large gray coats, as they lay jumbled together upon the bloody +straw; one supporting his broken arm upon his knees; another with his +head bandaged with an old handkerchief; a third, already dead, serving +as a seat for the living--his blackened hands hanging over the side of +the cart. Hullin stood rooted to the ground in the presence of this +dismal spectacle. He could not turn his eyes aside. It is in the power +of great human griefs to fascinate us thus; we have a morbid wish to +see how men perish--how they face death: the best of us are not free +from this frightful curiosity. It seems as if eternity was revealing +its secrets to us. + +There, too, near the shafts of the first cart, to the right of the +file, were squatted two carbineers in sky-blue tunics--two real +Colossuses, whose iron frames were bowed beneath the pressure of +hardship. They might have been taken for two caryatides, crushed +beneath the weight of an enormous mass. One with thick red moustaches, +and hollow cheeks, gazed around with lustreless eyes, as if just +awakening from a frightful dream. The other, bent double, his shoulder +torn by a grape-shot wound, was gradually growing weaker and weaker, at +times raising himself up with a start, and talking low, as if dreaming. +Behind lay, stretched in couples, infantry soldiers, most of them +struck by a ball, and with a broken arm or leg. They seemed to endure +their fate with more firmness than the giants. These unfortunates did +not speak a word, with the exception of a few among the youngest, who +passionately cried for water and bread. And in one of the carts, a +plaintive voice, the voice of a conscript, was heard calling, "Mother! +mother!"--whilst some of the older ones smiled gloomily, as much as +to say: "Your mother!--oh! yes, she will be sure to come!" This was +what their looks said; perhaps, in reality, they were past thinking of +anything. + +From time to time a sort of shudder ran through this sad assemblage +of human beings. That was when several of the wounded half raised +themselves, and instantly fell back again, as if Death, at that precise +moment, had been going his rounds among them. + +Then all was silent again! + +And as Hullin stood watching all this, and feeling his very heart +sicken within him,--just at that moment a shopkeeper in the Square, +Sôme the baker, came out of his house, carrying a large saucepan +filled with soup. It was then a sight, to behold all those ghosts +move restlessly on their straw, their eyes sparkling, their nostrils +dilating; new life seemed to be given them, for the poor wretches were +dying of hunger. + +The good baker, Sôme, with tears in his eyes, approached, saying: + +"Here I am, my children!--a little patience! It's I--you know me?" + +But he had no sooner reached the first cart than the huge carbineer +with hollow cheeks plunged his arm up to the elbow in the boiling soup, +seized the meat, and hid it under his coat; all this was done with the +rapidity of lightning. Immediately, savage yells broke forth on all +sides. Those who had strength to move seemed as if they would have +devoured their comrade; while he, with his two arms crossed upon his +breast, his teeth fixed in his prey, and his squinting eye looking both +ways at once, seemed deaf to their threats. On hearing the uproar, an +old soldier, a sergeant, rushed out of a neighbouring inn. He was an +old campaigner; he saw at a glance what was the matter, and, without +loss of time, snatched the meat from the ferocious beast, saying: + +"You deserve to have none at all. It is going to be divided. We shall +cut it into ten rations!" + +"There are only eight of us!" said one of the wounded--very calm in +appearance, but whose eye glared with feverish excitement. + +"How, eight?" + +"You can see, sergeant, that these two are going to kick the +bucket--it'd be wasting good provisions!" + +The old sergeant cast a look at the cart. + +"He is right," said he; "divide it into eight portions!" + +Hullin could see no more; he withdrew to the house of the innkeeper, +Wittman, opposite, as pale as death. Wittman was also a dealer in +leather and furs. On seeing him enter, he exclaimed: + +"What! is that you, Master Jean-Claude?--you come earlier than usual; I +did not expect you till next week." + +Then, seeing him stagger, he continued: + +"But, what is it? There is something the matter?" + +"I have just been seeing the wounded." + +"Oh! I see; the first time--I know it makes you feel queer; but if +you had seen fifteen thousand of them go by, as we have, you'd think +nothing of it." + +"A pint of wine--quick!" said Hullin, who felt himself turning sick. +"Oh, men, men--and we call ourselves brothers!" + +"Yes, brothers; as far as the pocket is considered," replied Wittman. +"Here, take a drink, it will set you right." + +"And do you mean to tell me you have seen fifteen thousand such go by?" + +"At the very least, during the last two months, to say nothing of those +who are left in Alsace and the other side of the Rhine; for, you see, +they couldn't find carts enough for all, and then some of them weren't +worth the trouble of carrying away." + +"Oh! yes, I see! but why are these unfortunate men there? Why do they +not take them to the hospital?" + +"The hospital! what is the good of a hospital--of ten hospitals--for +fifty thousand wounded? All the hospitals, from Mayence and Coblentz +to Phalsbourg, are crowded. And besides, that terrible malady, the +typhus fever, do you see, Hullin, kills more than the cannon-ball. All +the villages of the plain for twenty leagues round are infected; they +are dying off everywhere like flies. Luckily, the town has been in a +state of siege for the last three days, the gates are going to be shut, +no person will be allowed to enter. Why, I myself have lost my uncle +Christian and my aunt Lisbeth--both as well and hearty as you and I are +at this present moment, Master Jean-Claude. And now the cold has come +at last. There was a white frost last night." + +"And were the wounded left out in the open air all night?" + +"No, they arrived from Saverne this morning; in an hour or two, +just time to give the horses a little rest, they will set out for +Sarrebourg." + +At this moment, the old sergeant, who had been settling affairs with +the wounded in the carts, entered, rubbing his hands. + +"Ha! ha!" said he, "it's sharp weather, Master Wittman; and you have +done wisely to light the fire in the stove. A little sup of brandy, +just to keep the fog out. Hum! hum!" + +In spite of his little puckered-up eyes and hatchet-shaped nose, the +countenance of the old soldier beamed with good humour and joviality. +His whole figure was martial, his face bronzed by exposure to the +open air, frank and open, though tinged with an expression of sly +humour; his tall shako, large great-coat of grayish-blue, the belt, +the very epaulette, all seemed part and parcel of himself. He could +not have been sketched otherwise. He kept striding up and down the +room, rubbing his hands, while Wittman poured him out a dram of brandy. +Hullin, seated near the window, had instantly noticed the number of +his regiment--6th Light Infantry. Gaspard, son of the farm-mistress +Lefévre, served in this regiment. Jean-Claude could now hear news of +Louise's betrothed; but just as he was about to speak, his heart nearly +failed him: "If Gaspard were dead; if he had perished, like so many +others!" + +The worthy sabot-maker felt as if he were choking. He was silent. +"Better," thought he, "to know nothing at all." + +And yet, in a few minutes' time, he was unable to restrain himself. + +"Sergeant," said he, in a hoarse voice, "you belong to the 6th Light?" + +"Yes, neighbour," said the other, returning to the middle of the room. + +"Do you happen to know a young man named Gaspard Lefévre?" + +"Gaspard Lefévre, of the 2nd division of the 1st--do I know him? Why, +I taught him his drill: a brave soldier, by all that's blue! hard as +iron. If we had about a hundred thousand of his mettle----" + +"Then he is alive?--he is well?" + +"Yes, friend. That is to say, he was on Dec. 15th, when I quitted the +regiment at Fredericsthal, to escort this convoy of wounded; but in +such times as these, you see, we can't answer for anything; from one +moment to the next we are each of us liable to be sent to our account. +But a week ago, at Fredericsthal, Gaspard Lefévre answered to the +muster-roll." + +Jean-Claude drew a long breath. + +"But, sergeant," said he, "do me the favour to tell me why Gaspard has +not written home for two months?" + +The old soldier smiled, and winked his little twinkling eyes. + +"What the deuce, my good friend," said he; "do you think people have +nothing better to do in war time than write letters?" + +"No; for I served myself in the campaigns of Sambre-et-Meuse, Italy, +and Egypt; but that did not prevent my writing home to let them know +how I was getting on." + +"One moment, comrade," interrupted the sergeant; "I, too, have served +in Italy and Egypt; but the campaign we have just ended is not like +either of those; it's quite another sort of thing." + +"It has been very severe, then?" + +"Severe! I believe you! All may thank their lucky stars who have not +left their bones to bleach there. Everything was against us. Sickness, +traitors, the peasants, the shopkeepers, our Allies--in short, +everything. Of our company, which left Phalsbourg in full marching +order on the 21st of last January, there have returned only thirty-two +men. I think Gaspard Lefévre is the only one of the conscripts left. +Poor fellows! they fought well; but they were not used to starving, and +they melted away like butter on a stove." + +So saying, the old soldier approached the counter, and tossed off his +brandy at a single draught. + +"Your health, friend. Are you, by chance, the father of Gaspard?" + +"No; I am a relation." + +"Well, you have reason to be proud of him. What a fine young fellow for +twenty! Yes, in spite of all, he has kept his post while others gave in +by dozens." + +"But still," pursued Hullin, after a moment's silence, "I'm at a loss +to see what there was in this last campaign so different to all others; +for we also had sicknesses--traitors to encounter." + +"Different!" exclaimed the sergeant; "everything was different. +Formerly, if you fought with us in Germany, you must remember that +after one or two victories it was all over; people received you well; +you drank wine and ate sour-krout and ham with the worthy citizens, +or danced with their fat wives. The husbands and grandpapas shook +their sides with laughing, and when the regiment took its departure, +everybody was ready to cry their eyes out. But this time, after Lutzen +and Bautzen, instead of coming round, the people only made wry faces +at you; you could get nothing, except by force, till you would almost +have thought yourself in Spain or La Vendee. I don't know what they had +taken into their heads against us. Again, if we had been nothing but +Frenchmen, and hadn't had heaps of Saxons and other allies, who were +only waiting the opportunity to spring at our throats, we should have +gained the day all the same, one against five; but the Allies!--never +talk to me of allies again! Why, look now at Leipzig, the 18th of last +October, in the very midst of the battle, our Allies turned against us, +and fired at us from behind: those were our fine friends, the Saxons. +A week after, our once excellent friends, the Bavarians, came and threw +themselves in the way of our retreat. We had to cut our way through +them at Hanau. The next day, close to Frankfort, another column of good +friends present themselves. They had to be crushed. In short, the more +of them you kill, the more spring up in your path. And now, here we are +on this side of the Rhine. Well, rest assured we have yet more of these +good friends all the way from Moscow on our track. Oh, if we could only +have foreseen this after Austerlitz, Jena, Friedland, and Wagram!" + +Hullin had grown quite thoughtful. + +"And what is the state of things with us now?" he asked. + +"The state of things is, that we have been obliged to re-cross the +Rhine, and that all our strong places on the other side are besieged. +The 10th of last November, the Prince of Neufchâtel reviewed the +regiment at Bleckheim. The soldiers of the third battalion were +transferred to the second, and the skeleton of the regiment was to +hold itself in readiness to set out for the depôt. The skeletons exist +sure enough, but where are the men? No wonder there are none, bled as +they have been at every pore. All Europe is up in arms. The Emperor is +at Paris; he is preparing his plan of campaign. Let them only give us +breathing-time till spring!" + +Just at this moment, Wittman, who was standing by the window, +said:--"Here comes the Governor--he has been examining the abattis and +defences round the town." + +And they saw the commandant, Jean-Pierre Meunier, his head adorned with +a large three-cornered hat, and wearing a tricolour scarf round his +waist, crossing the square. + +"Ah," said the sergeant, "I must go and get him to sign the order of +march. Excuse me, friend, I must leave you." + +"Good-bye, sergeant, and thank you. If you see Gaspard again, tell him +that Jean-Claude Hullin desires to be remembered to him, and that all +in his village are anxiously expecting to hear from him." + +"Certainly, certainly. I will not fail." The sergeant went out, and +Hullin sat thoughtfully and silently finishing his pint of wine. + +"Neighbour Wittman," said he, after a moment's pause, "where is my +parcel?" + +"It is ready, Master Jean-Claude." + +Then, looking in at the kitchen door, he called out:--"Grédel, Grédel, +bring Master Hullin's parcel!" + +A little woman appeared at this summons, and placed on the table a +bundle of sheepskins. Jean-Claude passed his stick through the bundle, +and put it on his shoulder. + +"What, are you going to start directly?" + +"Yes, neighbour Wittman; the days are short, and it is bad travelling +through the woods after six o'clock. I must get home betimes." + +"A safe journey to you, then, Master Jean-Claude." + +Hullin went out, and crossed the square, keeping his eyes turned aside +from the convoy of wounded and dying, who were still stationed in front +of the church. + +And the innkeeper, as he watched him from his window setting off at a +good round pace, said to himself-- + +"How pale he was when he came in; he could scarcely stand upon his +legs. It's droll now, a rough man, an old soldier like him, to be so +upset, while I could see fifty regiments of wounded go by in carts +without thinking more about it than my morning pipe." + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +Whilst Hullin, informed of the disasters that had befallen our armies, +was walking with downcast head and knitted brows towards the village of +Charmes, all was going on as usual at the farm of Bois-de-Chênes. The +fantastic stories of Yégof--the rumours of war--were alike forgotten +for the present; old Duchêne led his oxen to the water, the shepherd +Robin foddered his cattle, and Annette and Jeanne skimmed their pans of +milk, and made their curds-and-whey. Catherine Lefévre alone, gloomy +and silent, mused continually on the past, while, at the same time, +overlooking with an impassive face the doings of her household. She was +too old, and of too serious a nature, to forget from one day to the +next anything that had so greatly moved her. + +When night came, after the evening meal, she went into the inner +apartment, where her people heard her take the heavy ledger from the +cupboard, and lay it on the table, to make up her accounts, as it was +her custom to do. + +They immediately began to load the heavy cart with corn, vegetables, +and poultry, for on the morrow it was market-day at Sarrebourg, and +Duchêne was to set out at daybreak. + +Picture to yourself this large kitchen, and all these honest people +making haste to finish their work before going to bed; the big black +pan smoking on an immense fire made of fir cones, and glowing with +crimson heat; the dishes, pots, and porringers shining like suns upon +the dresser; the bunches of garlic and golden onions hanging in rows +from the brown rafters of the ceiling, among the hams and flitches +of bacon; Jeanne, with her bright blue head-dress and short scarlet +petticoat, stirring the contents of the pan with a great wooden spoon; +large wicker hencoops, with the clucking fowls, and the great red +cock thrusting his head between the bars, and watching the fire with +a surprised eye, and head twisted on one side; the mastiff, Michel, +with flat head and hanging jaws, prowling about in quest of some +stray morsel; Dubourg descending the creaking staircase on the left, +with bent back, a sack on his shoulder, and his other hand placed +archwise on his hip; whilst outside, in the darkness of the night, old +Duchêne, standing upright in the cart, holds up his lantern, and calls +out:--"That makes the fifteenth, Dubourg; two more." + +There was also hanging against the wall an old brown hare brought by +the huntsman Heinrich to be sold in the market, and a fine grouse, his +green and red feathers glistening in the firelight, with glazed eye, +and a drop of blood at the tip of his beak. + +It was about half-past seven when the sound of footsteps was heard +in the court-yard. The mastiff went growling towards the door. He +listened, sniffed the night air, and then quietly returned to his place +by the fire. + +"It is some one belonging to the farm," said Annette. "Michel does not +stir." + +Directly after, old Duchêne was heard outside, saying, "Good night, +Master Jean-Claude. Is it you?" + +"Yes; I have just arrived from Phalsbourg, and I have come to rest for +a moment before going down to the village. Is Catherine in?" + +And as he spoke, the honest man appeared in the bright firelight, +standing at the door, his broad-brimmed hat pushed back on to the nape +of his neck, and his bundle of sheepskins on his shoulder. + +"Good night, my children," said he; "good night; always at work?" + +"Yes, Master Hullin, as you see," replied Jeanne, with a smile. "If one +had nothing to do, life would be very tedious." + +"True, my pretty girl, true; there is nothing like work to give you +those fresh cheeks and large bright eyes." + +Jeanne was going to reply when the inner door opened, and Catherine +Lefévre entered, casting a searching look at Hullin as if to guess +beforehand the news he brought. + +"Well, Jean-Claude, you are back again." + +"Yes, Catherine. There is both good and bad news." + +They went into the inner room, a high and spacious apartment, +wainscoted to the very ceiling, with its cupboards of old oak with +bright locks, its porcelain stove, its old clock marking the seconds in +its walnut case, and its large arm-chair of embossed leather, which had +been in use for ten generations. Jean-Claude never went into this room +without thinking of Catherine's grandfather, whom he seemed still to +see sitting in the shadow behind the stove. + +"Well!" inquired the farm-mistress, offering a seat to the +sabot-maker, who had just placed his bundle on the table. + +"Well, of Gaspard, the news is good; the lad is well. He has seen some +hardships--so much the better; that is the making of a young man; but +for the rest, Catherine, everything is very bad. War! war!" + +He shook his head, and the old woman, with compressed lips, sat +opposite to him, upright in her arm-chair, her eyes fixed, and +listening eagerly. + +"So everything is going wrong; we shall have wars at our very doors?" + +"Yes, Catherine, from one day to the next we may expect to see the +Allies in our mountains." + +"I dreaded as much. I was sure of it; but speak, Jean-Claude." + +Hullin then, with his elbows on his knees, his great red ears between +his hands, and lowering his voice, began to relate all that he had +seen: the defences round the town, the formation of batteries on the +ramparts, the publication of the state of siege, the carts filled with +the wounded in front of the church, his meeting with the old sergeant +at the house of Wittman, and the renewal of the campaign. From time to +time he made a pause, and the old farm-mistress would slowly wink her +eyes, as though to fix the facts in her memory. When Jean-Claude came +to the wounded, the good woman murmured, in a low voice, "Gaspard has +escaped that." + +Then at the close of this dismal story there was a long silence, and +they both looked at each other without uttering a word. + +What reflections, what bitter feelings passed through their minds! + +After a few moments the old woman strove to rouse herself from these +thoughts. + +"You see, Jean-Claude," said she, in a calm, grave tone, "Yégof was not +wrong." + +"No doubt, no doubt he was not wrong," replied Hullin; "but what does +that prove? A fool--a maniac, who goes from village to village--who +comes down from Alsace, goes back to Lorraine, wanders right and +left--it would be very surprising if he saw nothing, and if there +should not be from time to time a mixture of truth in his mad sayings. +All kinds of things get mixed up in his head, and then people think +they understand what he does not understand himself. But it is not now +a question of a fool's babblings, Catherine. The Austrians are here. +The question is, whether we shall allow them to pass, or whether we +shall have the courage to defend ourselves." + +"To defend ourselves!" exclaimed the old woman, her pale cheeks +flushing with excitement; "whether we shall have the courage to defend +ourselves! You must forget, Hullin, that it is to me you are speaking. +What! are we then unworthy of our forefathers? Did they not defend +themselves, even to the death--men, women, and children?" + +"Then you are for fighting, Catherine?" + +"Yes, yes, as long as a morsel of flesh is left on my bones! Let them +come! The old woman is prepared!" + +Her long gray hair seemed to stand erect upon her head; her pale and +withered cheeks trembled, and her eyes flashed fire. + +She was really grand to look upon, as she stood, flushed and excited, +like that aged Margareth of whom Yégof had spoken. Hullin silently +held out his hand to her, and smiled approvingly. + +"Right!" said he; "right! The same as ever. You are like yourself, +Catherine; your own true, brave self, as you stand there before me; but +now be a little calm, and listen to me. We are going to fight, and with +what means?" + +"All and every means; all are good--hatchets, scythes, pitchforks." + +"Truly, truly; but guns and bullets are best of all. We have guns: +every dweller in the mountains hangs his own over his door; unluckily +we have neither powder nor ball." + +The old farm-mistress grew calm in a moment; pushing her gray locks +back under her cap, she stood absently gazing straight before her, with +a thoughtful look. + +"Yes," she suddenly replied, in a sharp, short tone; "that is quite +true; we have neither powder nor ball, but we soon will have. Marc +Divès, the smuggler, has some. You shall go to him to-morrow from me. +You will tell him that Catherine Lefévre buys of him all his powder +and all his bullets, that she pays him for them, that she will sell +all her cattle, her farm, her land, all--all--to procure some. Do you +understand, Hullin?" + +"I understand. This is well done of you, Catherine; it is splendid!" + +"Stuff! splendid and well done!" sharply retorted the old woman; "it +is only natural that I should avenge myself! These Austrians, these +Prussians, these red men, who have already half destroyed us--well! +I would pay them back. I hate them, father to son. Now, you see! Buy +the powder; and this wandering beggar, this fool shall see if we will +rebuild his castles!" + +Hullin then perceived that she was still brooding over Yégof's stories; +but seeing how exasperated she was, and that, besides, her having this +notion contributed to the defence of the country, he made no remark on +this subject, and simply said: + +"Then, Catherine, it's agreed that I go to Divès to-morrow?" + +"Yes: you will buy all his powder and his bullets. Some one must also +go the round of all the villages in the mountain, to warn the people of +what is going on, and arrange a signal with them for assembling in case +of attack." + +"Make your mind easy," said Jean-Claude; "I will undertake that, too." + +They had both risen, and were proceeding towards the door. For the last +half-hour the sounds in the kitchen had ceased: the farm people had +gone to bed. The old woman placed her lamp in a corner of the hearth, +and drew the bolts. Out of doors, it was cold and sharp, the air calm +and clear. All the tops of the surrounding trees and the dark firs of +the Jägerthal stood out against the sky in dark or luminous masses. Far +off in the distance the shrill yelp of a fox resounded in the valley of +the Blanru. + +"Good night, Hullin," said Dame Lefévre. + +"Good night, Catherine." + +Jean-Claude rapidly descended the steep hill, and the farm-mistress, +after having looked after him for a second, went in and shut the door. + +I leave you to imagine the joy of Louise, when she learnt that Gaspard +was safe and sound. The poor child, for the last two months, could +hardly be said to have lived. Hullin was very careful not to show her +the dark cloud that was slowly, but surely, moving towards them. All +the night long he could hear her prattling to herself in her little +room, talking low, as if congratulating herself upon her happiness, +murmuring the name of Gaspard, and opening her drawers, her boxes; no +doubt in search of some of her treasures to which she might whisper of +her love. + +Thus the little bird, who has been drenched by the storm, while still +shivering with cold and wet, begins to sing and to hop from branch to +branch at the faint glimmer of sunshine. + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER V + + +When Jean-Claude Hullin went the next morning in his shirt-sleeves +to open his shutters, he saw all the neighbouring mountains--the +Jägerthal, the Grosmann, the Donon--covered with snow. There is always +something striking in this first aspect of winter, come upon the earth +in our sleep; the old firs, the moss-covered rocks, still decked in +verdure the evening before, and now sparkling with hoar-frost, fill +the soul with an indefinable feeling of sadness. "Another year gone," +we say to ourselves; "another rough winter to go through, before the +return of the flowers!" And people hasten to provide their winter +clothing, and lay in their store of fuel. While your humble dwelling is +pleasant inside with warmth and light, you hear out of doors, for the +first time, the sparrows--the poor sparrows--chirruping mournfully, as +they nestle, with ruffled plumage, under the thatch, "No breakfast this +morning--no breakfast!" + +Hullin put on his strong iron-bound and doubled soled shoes, and his +thick overcoat. + +He heard Louise walking about in her little room overhead. + +"Louise!" he called out; "I am off!" + +"What! are you going out again to-day?" + +"Yes, my child, I must: I have not finished my business." + +Then, having put on his large, slouched hat, he went halfway up the +stairs, and said, in a low tone: + +"You will not expect me very soon, my child: I have a good distance to +go, so do not be anxious about me. If anyone asks you where I am gone, +you can say, 'To Cousin Mathias's, at Saverne.'" + +"Won't you have your breakfast before you go?" + +"No! I've put a crust of bread, and a little flask of brandy, in my +pocket. Farewell, my child. Be happy. Dream of Gaspard." + +And, without waiting for fresh questions, he took his stick, and +quitted the house, directing his steps towards the hill of the +Bouleaux,[6] to the left of the village. After about a quarter of an +hour's brisk walking, he had passed it, and gained the footpath of the +Three Fountains, which winds round by Falkenstein, with which a low +stone wall runs parallel. + +The first snows of winter, which are never long able to resist the +damp of the valleys, were already beginning to melt away, and trickled +slowly down the footpath. Hullin mounted the wall to make his footing +surer, and as he chanced, by accident, to cast his eyes down on the +village, at a distance of within two gun-shots, he saw the housewives +busily engaged in sweeping the snow away from the front of their +houses, whilst some old men, standing by, wished them good morning as +they smoked their first pipe in their doorways. This profound calm, +in presence of the thoughts that were stirring within him, moved +him deeply; he continued on his way in a thoughtful mood, saying to +himself: "How quietly and tranquilly their life flows on! They have no +doubts and fears for the future; and yet, but a few days, and what +clamour, what strife, may rend the air!" + +As the first thing necessary was to procure the powder, Catherine +Lefévre had very naturally cast her eyes upon Marc Divès, the smuggler, +and his virtuous spouse, Hexe-Baizel. + +These people lived on the other side of the Falkenstein, under the very +shadow of the old ruinous _burg_. They had hollowed out for themselves +in the rock a very convenient cavern which had only one entrance, and +two apertures to admit light; but which, if report spoke true, had +another outlet, leading to old subterranean passages of great extent. +This the custom-house officers had never been able to discover, in +spite of numberless visits paid with that object in view. Jean-Claude +and Marc Divès had known each other from childhood--had rambled +together as boys in search of hawks' and owls' nests, and, in after +life, they met each other at least once nearly every week, at the great +sawpits of the Valtin. Jean-Claude, therefore, believed himself sure of +the smuggler, but he was not quite so certain of Madame Hexe-Baizel, +a very discreet person, and who would not, perhaps, be greatly taken +with the prospect of strife and warfare. "At any rate," said he, as he +jogged steadily along, "we shall soon see." + +He had lit his pipe, and from time to time he turned slowly round to +gaze upon the broad landscape, whose limits kept growing wider and +wider. + +Nothing more beautiful in nature than these wooded mountains, rising +one above the other in the pale heavens--these vast plains, stretching +out of sight, all white with snow--these black ravines, half hidden +among the woods, with their sluggish streams gurgling slowly over the +smooth pebbles at the bottom. + +And then the silence--that grand solemn silence of winter--the +half-melted snow falling noiselessly from the tops of the tall firs +on to the lower branches, gently bending beneath their weight; the +birds of prey whirling in pairs over the forest, uttering their shrill +war-cry. All this must be seen, for it cannot be described! + +About an hour after he had left the village of Charmes, Hullin, +climbing the summit of the steep mountain, reached the foot of rock of +the Arbousiers. All around this huge mass of granite extends a sort of +rocky terrace, three or four feet wide. This narrow footway, canopied +by the tall tops of the slender mountain firs, looks dangerous, but it +is safe; unless attacked by giddiness, you can walk along it without +risk. Above rises the rocky and ruinous archway of the cavern. + +Jean-Claude drew near the smuggler's retreat. He stopped a few moments +on the terrace, put his pipe back in his pocket, then advanced along +the path, which describes a half circle, and ends on the other side by +a sudden gap. + +At the very end, and almost on the edge of this gap, he perceived the +two lattices of the cave, and the half-opened doorway, in front of +which an immense heap of dung was piled. + +At the same moment Hexe-Baizel made her appearance, sweeping the dung +into the abyss with a large besom made of green broom. She was a +little, withered woman, with red tangled locks, hollow cheeks, sharp +nose, small eyes sparkling like stars, pinched mouth, amply furnished +with very white teeth, and a ruddy complexion. As to her costume, it +was composed of a very short and very dirty woollen petticoat, a coarse +chemise, tolerably clean; her small, muscular arms, covered with a sort +of yellow down, were bare to the elbows, in spite of the excessive cold +of the atmosphere at this height. To complete her costume, the only +coverings to her feet were a pair of old worn-out shoes, down at the +heel. + +"Ah! good morrow, Hexe-Baizel," exclaimed Jean-Claude, in a tone of +mocking good humour. "You are as fat and comely as ever--I see, happy +and contented! It does one good to see you." + +Hexe-Baizel had started at the first sound of Jean-Claude's voice like +a weasel caught in a trap; her red hair seemed to stand on end, and +her little sparkling eyes flashed fire; but she instantly recovered +herself, and exclaimed, in a short, sharp tone, as if speaking to +herself: + +"Hullin! the shoemaker! what does he want?" + +"I have come to see my friend Marc, fair Hexe-Baizel," replied +Jean-Claude; "we have some business to settle." + +"What business?" + +"Ah! that is our affair. Come, let me go in, that I may speak to him." + +"Marc is asleep." + +"Well, then, he must be awakened, for time presses." + +So saying, Hullin stooped under the doorway, and entered a cavern, +whose vaulted roof, instead of being round, was formed in irregular +curves, furrowed with crevices. Quite close to the entrance, and two +feet from the ground, the rock made a sort of natural hearth; on this +hearth a few lumps of coal and some juniper branches were burning. +All Hexe-Baizel's cooking utensils consisted of a copper saucepan, +an earthenware porringer, two cracked plates, and three or four +pewter spoons; all her furniture of a wooden bench, a wood-cutter's +hatchet, a salt-box hung against the rock, and her large besom made of +green broom. To the left of this kitchen was another cavern, with an +uneven-shaped door, larger at the bottom than the top, and which shut +by means of two planks and a cross-beam. + +"Well, where is Marc?" said Hullin, as he seated himself beside the +hearth. + +"I've told you already he is asleep. He came home very late yesterday. +My man must have his rest; do you understand?" + +"I understand very well, Hexe-Baizel; but I've no time to wait." + +"Begone, then." + +"It's very easy to say 'Begone,' only I don't want to go. I've not come +a whole league to go back with my hands in my pockets." + +"Is that you, Hullin?" broke in a rough voice, issuing from the inner +cave. + +"Yes, Marc." + +"Oh! here I am." + +A sound like the rustling of straw was heard, then the wooden outworks +were withdrawn, and a huge frame, three feet broad from one shoulder +to the other, lean, bony, bent, the neck and ears of the colour of +brickdust, and with thick, stubbly, brown hair, appeared, stooping +through the opening, and Marc Divès, yawning and stretching his long +arms with a stifled sigh, stood before Hullin. + +At first sight, the aspect of Marc Divès seemed pacific enough; his +broad and low forehead, short, curly hair, which came down in a point +almost to his eyebrows, leaving his temples bare, his straight and +pointed nose, and long chin, and, above all, the calm expression of +his brown eyes, would have caused him to be classed rather among the +ruminating than a fiercer tribe of animals; but those who so thought +would have done wrong. Reports ran throughout the country that Marc +Divès, in the event of an attack by the revenue officers, did not +scruple to make use of his hatchet or carbine in case of need, and many +serious accidents that had befallen the excise collectors were laid to +his charge; but the proofs were always wanting, the smuggler, thanks to +his profound knowledge of all the defiles of the mountain, and of every +cross-road from Dagsburg to Sarrebrück, and from Raon-L'Etape to Bâle, +in Switzerland, always contriving to put himself at fifteen leagues' +distance from the place where an unlucky encounter had taken place. And +then he had such a simple manner about him, and those who spread those +evil reports were always sure to come to a bad end, which proves the +justice of Providence in this world. + +"If you'll believe me, Hullin," said Marc, after he had come out of his +hole, "I was thinking of you only yesterday evening, and if you had +not come I should have gone straight to the sawpits of the Valtin on +purpose to meet you. Sit down; Hexe-Baizel, give Hullin a chair." + +He then seated himself on the hearth, with his back to the fire, and +his face to the open door, through which breathed the gales of Alsace +and of Switzerland. Through this opening, too, a magnificent prospect +might be enjoyed; you would have styled it a regular picture, framed +in the rock, but still an immense picture, embracing the whole valley +of the Rhine, and beyond that the mountains dissolving far in the +hazy distance. And, to crown all, there was the fresh breeze of the +mountain, and the bright fire, which, flickering and dancing in this +owls' nest, was a pleasant sight to turn to, with its ruddy glow, +forming such a striking contrast with the pale blue tinge of the +distant scenery. + +"Marc," said Hullin, after a moment's silence, "may I speak before your +wife?" + +"She and I are only one." + +"Well, then, I have come here to buy of you powder and shot." + +"To shoot hares, I suppose," said the smuggler, with a knowing wink. + +"No; to fight the Germans and Russians." + +There was a moment's silence. + +"And you will want a great deal of powder and shot?" + +"All you can supply me with." + +"I can supply you to-day with three thousand francs' worth," said the +smuggler. + +"I will take it." + +"And as much more in a week's time," added Marc, with the same calm +tone and thoughtful eye. + +"I will take it." + +"You will take it!" exclaimed Hexe-Baizel; "you will take it! No doubt; +but who's to pay for it?" + +"Be silent!" said Marc, in a harsh tone; "Hullin shall have it; his +word is enough for me." + +Then, extending his huge hand, with a cordial +expression:--"Jean-Claude, here is my hand; the powder and shot are +yours; but I should like to have the spending of my share of them, you +understand?" + +"Yes, Marc; and one thing more. I purpose paying you at once." + +"He is going to pay!" said Hexe-Baizel; "you hear?" + +"Yes; I'm not deaf! Baizel, go and fetch us a bottle of +_brimbelle-wasser_; that'll warm our hearts a bit. I am rejoiced at +what Hullin has just told me. Those beggars of _kaiserliks_ will not +have it quite so much their own way as I thought. It seems we are going +to defend ourselves, and with a good will." + +"Yes, with a right good will." + +"And there are those who will pay for it?" + +"It is Catherine Lefévre who will pay for it, and it is she who has +sent me," said Hullin. + +Then Marc Divès rose, and in a solemn voice, and with his hand extended +towards the summits of the steep mountains, he exclaimed:--"She is +a woman as grand and as firm as that rock down below there, the +Oxenstein, the largest I ever saw in my life. I drink to her health. +Drink you, too, Jean-Claude." + +Hullin drank, as did also the old woman. + +"And now there is nothing more to be said," exclaimed Divès; "but, +hark ye, Hullin; you must not fancy this will be an easy matter; all +the hunters, all the _ségares_,[7] all the _schlitteurs_, all the +woodcutters of the mountain, will not be too many for the work that is +to be done. I have just come from the other side of the Rhine. There +are Russians, Austrians, Bavarians, Prussians, Cossacks, Hussars. There +are--why, the country swarms with them. They blacken the face of the +land; they camp in the plains, in the valleys, on the heights, in the +cities, in the open air, everywhere; they are everywhere." + +At this moment a sharp cry resounded through the air. + +"It is a buzzard on the wing," said Marc, interrupting himself. + +But at the same moment a dark shadow passed over the rock. A cloud +of greenfinches flew over the abyss, and hundreds of buzzards and +hawks were seen taking their rapid, angular flight overhead, uttering +harsh cries to frighten their prey, while the whole seemed struggling +together in a compact mass that looked motionless by reason of its +density. The regular movement of these thousands of wings produced in +the stillness a sound like that of dead leaves stirred by the north +wind. + +"That is the flight of the greenfinches of Ardennes," said Hullin. + +"Yes; it is their last passage. The earth is covered with snow, and +the seed lies buried in its bosom. Well, look now; there are more men +down below there than those birds can number. No matter, Jean-Claude, +we will beat them, provided everyone puts his shoulder to the wheel. +Hexe-Baizel, light the lantern; I will show Hullin our stores of powder +and shot." + +Hexe-Baizel, at this information, could not restrain a grimace. + +"No one, for twenty years," said she, "has ever entered the cave. He +can surely believe us on our word. We take his word that he is going to +pay us. I shall not light the lantern, no!" + +Marc, without a word, stretched out his hand, and seized a thick cudgel +from the wood pile close by; then the old woman, bristling with rage, +disappeared into the inner hole like a ferret, and came a few seconds +after with a great horn lantern, which Divès quietly lit at the blazing +hearth. + +"Baizel," said the smuggler, replacing the stick in the corner, "you +should know that Jean-Claude is the old friend of my childhood, and +that I put a deal more trust in him than in you, old polecat; for if +you were not afraid of being hung the same day as me, I should have +dangled at the end of a rope long ago. Come, Hullin, follow me." + +They went out, and the smuggler, turning to the left, went straight +towards the gap which was yawning on the very edge of the Valtin, at +the height of two hundred feet in the air. He put aside the foliage of +a small oak growing up from below, strode over it, and disappeared as +if suddenly launched into the abyss below. Jean-Claude shuddered; but +almost immediately afterwards he saw, against the ledge of the rock, +the head of Divès, who called to him: + +"Hullin, place your hand to the left, you will find a hole; put your +foot out boldly, you will feel a step, and then turn upon your heel." + +Master Jean-Claude obeyed, not without trembling; he felt the hole in +the rock, he encountered the step, and taking a half-turn, he found +himself face to face with his companion, in a sort of arched niche, +abutting formerly, no doubt, on some postern gate. At the bottom of the +niche was a low vault. + +"How on earth did you discover that?" exclaimed Hullin, quite +thunderstruck. + +"While looking for nests, thirty-five years ago. I was one day on the +rock, and I often noticed, coming in and out of this nook, a _grand +duke_ and its mate, two magnificent birds, the head as large as my +fist, and the wings six feet across. I heard the cry of their little +ones, and I said to myself: 'They are near the cavern, at the end of +the terrace. If I could take just one turn a little beyond the gap, I +should have them!' By means of looking and leaning over, I managed to +see the corner of a step just above the precipice. I found a strong +holly tree beside it. I grasped the tree, put out my leg, and there +I was! What a fight, Hullin! the old bird and his mate were ready +to tear my eyes out. Luckily, it was daylight. They flew at me like +fighting-cocks, pecking at me, and screaming horribly all the while; +but the sun dazzled them. I kicked them with all my might. At last they +fell down stunned over the top of that old fir tree down below there; +and all the jays round about, the thrushes, the greenfinches, the +tomtits, kept flying round about them till night-time, to strip them +of their feathers. You can't imagine, Jean-Claude, the heap of bones, +of skins of rats, leverets, of skeletons of all sorts, that I found +in this nook. It was a regular pest-house. I lost no time in clearing +it all out, and discovered this narrow passage. I must tell you there +were two young ones. The first thing I did was to wring their necks, +and stuff them into my bag; that done, I entered very quietly, and you +shall see what I found. Come on." + +They then crept along beneath the narrow and low vault formed by +enormous blocks of red stone, and through which the lantern they +carried cast a flickering light. + +At the end of about thirty feet, a vast cavern of circular form, +hollowed out of the solid rock, appeared before Hullin. At the bottom +were ranged in pyramids about fifty little barrels, and at the sides a +great number of bars of lead and bags of tobacco, with the strong odour +of which the air was filled. + +Marc left his lantern at the entrance of the vault, and now stood +looking proudly on his den, while a smile curled his lips. + +"This is what I found," said he; "the cave was empty, only in the +middle of it there was the carcase of a beast as white as snow--no +doubt some fox who had died there of old age--the beggar had found out +the passage before me. He slept here soundly enough; who the devil +would ever have thought of following him? At that time, Jean-Claude, +I was only twelve years old. The thought instantly struck me that +some day or other this hiding-place might be useful to me. I did not +then know for what; but, in after-times, when I had my first bouts of +smuggling at Landau, Kiel, and Bâle with Jacob Zimmer, and when all the +custom-house officers were at my heels, the idea of my old cavern began +to haunt me day and night. I had made the acquaintance of Hexe-Baizel, +who was at that time servant at the farm of Bois-de-Chênes, where +Catherine's father then lived. She brought me twenty-five louis as her +marriage portion, and we came and settled ourselves in our cavern of +Arbousiers." + +Divès was silent, and Hullin, after musing a moment, said: "You are +very fond of this hole, then, Marc?" + +"Fond of it? I'll tell you what, I wouldn't change it for the finest +house in Strasburg, with two thousand livres a year to boot. For +twenty-three years have I hidden my merchandize here; sugar, coffee, +gunpowder, tobacco, brandy, all finds its way here. I have eight horses +always on the road." + +"But you don't enjoy yourself." + +"I don't enjoy myself! You think, then, it's nothing to trick the +gendarmes, the custom-house officers, the excise; to spite them, gull +them, hear them say everywhere, 'That beggar of a Marc, what a cunning +rogue it is! what a dance he leads you! he sets the law and all its +agents at defiance;' and so on, and so on. He! he! he! I'll answer for +it, that it's the greatest pleasure in life. And then, the people all +round adore you; I sell them everything at half-price. You can afford +to be good to the poor, and keep your own belly warm." + +"But what danger, what risks!" + +"Bah! not an exciseman in the world will ever think of passing that +gap." + +"I believe you!" thought Hullin, as he reflected that he should have to +make his way back over the precipice. + +"But for all that," continued Marc, "you are not altogether wrong, +Jean-Claude. In the beginning, when I had to come here with one of +those little barrels on my shoulder, I used to sweat great drops of +perspiration; but I am used to it now." + +"And if your foot were to slip?" + +"Well then all would be over. As well die spitted on a fir-tree as lie +coughing whole days and nights upon a mattrass." + +Divès then held up his lantern, and, by its light, the barrels of +gunpowder, piled one upon another up to the roof of the vault, were +plainly seen. + +"It is the best English gunpowder," said he; "it flows like grains of +silver over the hand, and makes a splendid charge. You don't want much +of it; a thimbleful's enough. And here's some lead without the smallest +particle of tin. From this very evening, Hexe-Baizel shall begin to +cast bullets; she's a good hand at that--you will see." + +They were preparing to return the same way they came, when all of a +sudden they were startled by a confused humming sound of talking at no +great distance from them. Marc blew out his lantern, and they remained +plunged in darkness. + +"There is some one walking above there," whispered the smuggler; "who +the deuce has managed to climb up the Falkenstein this snowy weather?" + +They listened in breathless silence, and with their eyes fixed on a +pale streak of light which streamed through a narrow fissure at the +end of the cavern. Around this cleft grew some shrubs sparking with +hoar-frost, while higher up might be perceived the top of an old wall. +As they stood thus anxiously watching in the most profound silence, +there suddenly appeared at the foot of the wall a huge head covered +with long matted hair, the sharp, lean face ending in a red pointed +beard, the sharply-cut profile standing out in strong relief against +the white wintry sky. + +"It is the King of Diamonds," said Marc, with a laugh. + +"Poor devil!" said Hullin, in a grave tone; "he has come to ramble +about his castle, with his bare feet on the ice, and his tin crown on +his head! Stay! see! he is speaking; he is giving his orders to his +knights, to his court; he extends his sceptre to the north and to the +south--all is his; he is lord of heaven and earth! Poor devil! only to +see him with his thin drawers and his old sheepskin on his back, makes +me shiver with cold." + +"Yes, Jean-Claude, and me, too; it makes me feel like a burgomaster, +or mayor of a village, with his round paunch and fat puffy cheeks, who +says to himself: 'Me, I am Hans-Aden; I have ten acres of beautiful +meadows, I have two houses, I have a vine, my orchard, my garden, hum! +hum! I've this, and I've that!' The next day a little touch of colic +carries him off, and--good bye! Ah, the fools! the fools! who is there +that is not a fool? Come along, Hullin, the very sight of that poor +fellow babbling to the wind, and his raven, who croaks of famine, makes +my teeth chatter." + +As they came out into the open day, Hullin was almost dazzled by the +sudden change from the thick darkness. Fortunately, the tall stature +of his companion, standing upright before him, preserved him from an +attack of giddiness. + +"Step firmly," said Marc; "imitate me--your right hand in the hole, the +right foot forward on the step, one half turn round--here we are!" + +They returned to the kitchen, where Hexe-Baizel told them that Yégof +was in the ruins of the old _burg_. + +"We know it," replied Marc; "we have just seen him taking the air up +above there; every one to his taste." + +At the same instant, the raven, Hans, hovering over the abyss, passed +in front of the door, uttering a hoarse cry; they heard the rustling +of the frost-covered bushes, and the fool appeared before them on the +terrace. His looks were wild and haggard, and, casting a glance at the +hearth, he exclaimed: + +"Marc Divès, you must give up this place as soon as possible. I warn +you; I am weary of this disorder. The fortifications of my domains must +be free. I will not suffer vermin to harbour in them." + +Then perceiving Jean-Claude his brow grew clear. + +"You here, Hullin!" said he. "Can it be, that you are at length wise +enough to accept the proposals I have deigned to make you? Do you feel +that an alliance such as mine is the sole means of saving you from the +total destruction of your race? If it be so, I congratulate you; you +have shown more good sense than I expected of you." + +Hullin could not help laughing. + +"No, Yégof, no; Heaven has not yet enlightened me enough," said he, +"for me to accept the honour you wish to do me; besides, Louise is not +yet of an age to marry." + +The fool had grown grave and gloomy again. Standing on the edge of the +terrace, with his back to the abyss, he seemed on his own territory, +and his raven, fluttering from right to left, had no power to disturb +him. He raised his sceptre, knit his brow, and exclaimed: + +"Then now, for the second time, Hullin, I reiterate my demand; and for +the second time you dare to refuse me! Now I will renew it yet once +more--once more, do you hear? and then let destiny be fulfilled!" + +And so, turning gravely on his heel, his head high and erect, in spite +of the extreme rapidity of the descent, he vanished quickly from their +sight. + +Hullin, Marc Divès, and even Hexe-Baizel herself, uttered loud peals of +laughter. + +"He is a great fool," said Hexe-Baizel. + +"I think you are not altogether wrong," replied the smuggler. "That +poor Yégof is certainly out of his mind. But never mind that now. +Baizel, listen well to me; you must begin to cast bullets of all sizes; +for my part, I am going to set out for Switzerland. In a week at the +latest, the rest of our ammunition will be here. Give me my boots." + +Then tying round his neck a thick red woollen comforter, he took down +from the wall one of those cloaks of dark green such as shepherds wear, +threw it over his shoulders, pulled his old slouched hat over his +brows, took a stout cudgel, and exclaimed: + +"Do not forget what I have just told you, old woman, or beware. +Forward, Jean-Claude!" + +Hullin followed him out upon the terrace without saying good-bye to +Hexe-Baizel, who, for her part, did not even deign to come to the door +to see them depart. As soon as they had arrived at the foot of the +rock, Marc Divès stopped, and said: + +"You are going into all the villages of the mountain, are you not, +Hullin?" + +"Yes, that is the first thing to be done; I must warn the woodcutters, +the charcoal-burners, the bargemen of what is going on." + +"Without doubt. Do not forget Materne of Hengst and his two boys, +Labarbe of Dagsburg, Jerôme of Saint-Quirin. Tell them that there +will be powder and ball; that we are in it heart and soul, Catherine +Lefévre, I, Marc Divès, and all the honest people of the country." + +"Make your mind easy, Marc; I know my men." + +"Then good-bye for the present." + +They wrung each other's hands and parted. + +The smuggler took the path to the right, towards the Donon, Hullin that +to the left, towards the Sarre. + +They were both proceeding on their way at a good pace when Hullin +called to his comrade: + +"Halloo! Marc, as you pass Catherine Lefévre's, tell her that all goes +well, and that I am gone to the villages in the mountain." + +The other answered by a sign of his head that he understood, and then +both continued their way. + +[Illustration] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 6: The Birch Trees.] + +[Footnote 7: Workers in a sawpit.] + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +An extraordinary agitation prevailed at this time over all the line +of the Vosges; the report of an expected invasion spread from village +to village, even to the very farms and cottages of the Hengst and +the Nideck. The hawkers, the carriers, the tinkers, all the floating +population that roves incessantly from the mountain to the plain, and +from the plain to the mountain, brought every day from Alsace and the +borders of the Rhine a lot of strange news. + +"Every place," said these folks, "is being put in a state of defence; +foraging parties are constantly engaged in provisioning them with +corn and meat. The roads from Metz, from Nancy, from Huningen, and +from Strasbourg, are filled with convoys. In every direction you meet +waggons full of ammunition, cavalry, infantry, artillery, all hurrying +to their posts. Marshal Victor, with his twelve thousand men, is +already engaged in keeping the road to Saverne, but the drawbridges +are always raised from seven o'clock every evening till eight the next +morning." + +Every one was of opinion that all this boded no good. Nevertheless, +if many felt serious alarm at the near prospect of war, if old women +lifted their hands to heaven and prayed to all the saints in the +calendar, the greater number thought only of the means of defence. +Under such circumstances, Jean-Claude Hullin, you may be sure, was well +received everywhere. + +That very day, about five o'clock in the evening, he reached the summit +of the Hengst, and stopped at the dwelling of the patriarch of the +forest rangers, old Materne. It was there that he passed the night; +for, in winter time, the days are short and the roads bad. Materne +promised to undertake the charge of the defile of the Zorn with his two +sons, Kasper and Frantz, and to reply to the first signal that should +be made to him from the Falkenstein. + +The next day Jean-Claude repaired betimes to Dagsburg, to consult with +his friend Labarbe, the wood-cutter. They went together to visit the +neighbouring hamlets, to try and inspire every heart with the love of +their country; and the day following, Labarbe accompanied Hullin to +the house of the Anabaptist, Christ-Nickel, the farmer of Painbach, a +respectable and very sensible man, but whom they could not succeed in +winning over to their glorious enterprise. Christ-Nickel had but one +reply to every observation: + +"It is right, it is just; but the Gospel says, 'Put up thy sword in +its place; he who slays with the sword shall perish by the sword.'" He +promised them, however, his best wishes for the good cause; this was +all they could obtain. + +They went from thence to Walsch, to exchange firm hand-grips with +Daniel Hirsch, an old naval gunner, who promised them his support, and +that of all the people of his commonalty. At this place Labarbe left +Jean-Claude to continue his way alone. For a whole week longer he did +nothing but work his way to and from the mountain, from Soldatenthal +to Léonsberg, to Meienthâl, to Abreschwiller, Voyer, Loëttenbach, +Cirey, Petit-Mont, Saint-Sauveur, and on the ninth day he found himself +at the house of the shoemaker, Jerôme, at Saint-Quirin. Together they +visited the defile of the Blanru, after which Hullin, satisfied with +his journey and its results, at length took his way back to the village. + +He had proceeded for about two hours at a steady pace, picturing +to himself camp life, the bivouac, the attack, the marches and +countermarches, all the episodes in a soldier's life which filled +him with enthusiasm, when afar off, still at a great distance, he +discovered in the pale twilight the hamlet of Charmes, and his own +little modest tenement, from the chimney of which rose a wreath of +smoke so thin as to be almost imperceptible, the little gardens +surrounded with wooden palings, the shingly roofs, and, to the left, +the large farm of Bois-de-Chênes, with the sawpit of the Valtin at the +other end half-hidden in the already dark ravine. + +Then, suddenly, and without knowing why, a deep sadness fell upon him. + +He relaxed his pace, as he mused upon the calm, peaceful life that he +was about to lose, perhaps for ever; of his own little room, so cosy in +winter, so fresh and gay in spring, when he threw open the casements, +and inhaled the fresh breeze from the woods; of the drowsy ticking +of the old clock, and, above all, of Louise, his dear little Louise, +spinning quietly in the twilight, with downcast eyelids, and singing +some old song in her clear, pure voice in the quiet evening hour, when +a feeling of peace and repose stole over them both. This recollection +came upon him so forcibly that the smallest objects, every humble +implement of his own trade, the long, shining straps, the short-handled +hatchet, the mallets, the little stove, the old cupboard, the glazed +earthen porringers, the antique image of Saint Michael nailed to the +wall, the old canopied bed at the end of the alcove, the bench, the +trunk, the little copper lamp--all came back to his mind like a living +picture, and the tears stood in his eyes. + +But it was, above all, Louise, his beloved child, whom he most pitied. +What tears would she not shed! how she would pray of him to give up the +thoughts of fighting! how she would cling about his neck, saying, "Oh! +do not leave me, dear, dear father! Oh! I will love you so! Oh! say you +will not leave me!" + +And the honest fellow saw her beautiful eyes bathed in tears; he felt +her arms about his neck. For a moment the idea came into his head to +deceive her, to make her believe something else--no matter what--to +account for his absence, and console her; but such modes of dealing +were foreign to his nature, and he grew more and more sad. + +As he was passing by the farm of Bois-de-Chênes, he went in to tell +Catherine Lefévre that all was going well, and that the mountaineers +only awaited the signal. + +A quarter of an hour later, Master Jean-Claude, descending the footpath +to the house, stood opposite his own modest dwelling. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + +Before pushing open the creaking door, the idea struck Jean-Claude to +see what Louise was doing at that moment. So he took a peep through +the casement into the little room, and there he saw Louise standing by +the curtains in the alcove; she seemed very busily employed in folding +and unfolding some clothes spread out upon the bed. Her sweet face +beamed with happiness, and her large blue eyes shone with a sort of +enthusiasm; she was speaking aloud to herself at the same time. Hullin +listened, but a cart that happened to be passing just at that moment +prevented his hearing what she said. + +So, taking his resolution boldly, he entered, saying, in a firm voice; +"Well, Louise, here I am back again." + +In an instant, the young girl, radiant with joy, and bounding like a +fawn, was in his arms. + +"Ah! it is you, father dear; I was expecting you. Oh! what a time you +have been away, but here you are at last!" + +"Because, my child," replied the brave man, in a tone a trifle less +firm, placing his stick behind the door, and his hat upon the table; +"because----" + +He could say no more. + +"Oh! yes, yes, because you have been to see our friends," said Louise, +with a smile; "I know all; Mother Lefévre has told me everything." + +"What! you know all, and yet you are the same as usual? So much the +better; it shows your good sense. And I, who was dreading to see your +tears!" + +"Tears! and why, Father Jean-Claude? That shows you do not know me; you +shall find I have courage." + +The resolute air with which she uttered these words made Hullin smile; +but the smile very quickly vanished when she added: "We are going to +war, we are going to fight, we are going into the mountain." + +"Heyday! hoity-toity! 'We are going, we are going!' what's all this?" +exclaimed the good man, quite wonderstruck. + +"Yes. Are we not going, then?" said she, in a tone of regret. + +"Well--that is to say--I shall have to leave you for some time, my +child." + +"To leave me! Oh! no. I shall go with you, that's settled. Stay, see, +my little bundle is ready already, and I am preparing yours. Don't you +trouble yourself about anything; leave it all to me, and it will be all +right." + +Hullin could not recover from his surprise. + +"But, Louise," he exclaimed, "you cannot be thinking of it. Only +consider. Why, you would have to pass whole nights out of doors, +marching, running; and then the cold, the snow, and, above all, the +firing! It cannot be." + +"Pray, now," said the young girl, in a voice that shook with emotion, +as she threw herself into his arms, "don't make me unhappy; you are +jesting with your little Louise; you cannot mean to leave her!" + +"But you will be much better here. You will be warm and comfortable. +You shall hear from me every day." + +"No, no; I will not stay behind; I will go with you. I don't mind the +cold. I've been shut up too long; I want a little change of air, too. +The birds don't stay at home. The robin redbreasts are out of doors all +the winter long. Did I not have to bear the cold when I was quite a +little thing, and hunger, too?" + +She stamped impatiently with her foot, and then, for the third time, +threw her arms round Jean-Claude's neck. + +"Come, Papa Hullin," said she, in a coaxing voice, "Mother Lefévre has +said 'Yes.' Will you be less kind than she? Ah! if you but knew how I +love you!" + +The honest fellow, touched beyond measure, had sat himself down, and +turned aside his head to hide his emotion and avoid her persuasive +caresses. + +"Oh! how unkind and naughty you are to-day, Papa Jean-Claude!" + +"It is for your sake, my child." + +"So much the worse, then, for I shall run away; I shall run after you. +The cold, indeed! What do I care for the cold? And if you are wounded, +and if you ask to see your little Louise for the last time, and she is +not there close to you, to tend you, to love you to the last? Oh! you +must think me very hard-hearted!" + +She sobbed and cried. Hullin could restrain himself no longer. + +"Is it really true that Mother Lefévre consents?" he asked. + +"Oh! yes; oh! yes; she told me so. She said, 'Try to persuade Papa +Jean-Claude; for my part, I ask no better; I am quite willing.'" + +"In that case, what can I do against you both? You shall come with us. +It is settled." + +There was then a shriek of joy that made the whole house echo. + +"Oh! how good and kind you are!" and with a brush of the hand the tears +were dried up. + +"We are going away, to ramble over the mountains, and make war," was +now the joyful cry. + +"Ha!" said Hullin, with a shake of the head; "I see now you are still +the same little _heimathslôs_ as ever. As well try and tame a swallow." +Then, drawing her to his knee: "Ah! Louise," said he, "it is now twelve +years since I found you in the snow; you were quite blue with the +cold, poor little thing! And when we got home to the little cabin, and +the warm fire brought you gently round, the first thing you did was +to smile upon me. And from that time I have always done whatever you +wanted. With that smile you have led me by the nose." + +Then Louise began to smile upon him again, and they embraced each other +very lovingly. + +"And now, then, let us look at the bundles," said the good man with a +sigh. "Are they well packed up, eh, child?" + +He approached the bed, and stood quite surprised to see his warm +clothing, his flannel waistcoats, all well brushed, well folded, and +well packed up. Then came Louise's bundle, with her best frocks, her +petticoats and thick shoes, all in good order. He could not help +laughing at last, and exclaiming: + +"Oh! _heimathslôs, heimathslôs!_ there are none like you for packing +up, when once you've set your mind upon it!" + +Louise smiled. + +"You are pleased?" + +"I must be so! But all this time, while you have been so busy about +this work, you never thought, I suppose, of preparing my supper?" + +"Oh! that is soon done! I did not know, Papa Jean-Claude, that you were +coming back this evening." + +"That is true, my child. Cook me, then, something--no matter what, but +quickly, for I've a good appetite. In the meanwhile, I'll smoke a pipe." + +He seated himself in his old corner, and lit his pipe in an absent, +thoughtful manner. Louise bustled about, right and left, like a frisky +sprite, now stirring the fire, now breaking eggs into the pan, and +tossing up an omelet in the twinkling of an eye. Never had she seemed +so gay, so smiling, so pretty. Hullin, with his elbow on the table, his +cheek in his hand, sat gravely watching her, and thinking what will, +firmness, and resolution there was in that fragile creature, light as +a fairy, and determined as a hussar. In another moment she had brought +him his omelet on a large-patterned dish, along with the bread, a glass +and bottle. + +"Now then, Papa Jean-Claude, feast away." + +She watched him fondly as he ate his meal. + +The fire blazed brightly in the stove, reflecting its warm light on the +low rafters, the wooden staircase just visible in the gloom, the great +bed at the bottom of the alcove, all the little details of the home +so often cheered by the gay humour of the shoemaker, the songs of his +daughter, and the pleasant bustle of work. And all this Louise could +quit without a sigh of regret; she thought of nothing but the woods, +the snowy path across the endless chain of mountains from their village +to Switzerland, and farther still. Ah! Master Jean-Claude had, indeed, +good reason to exclaim, "_Heimathslôs! Heimathslôs!_" The swallow +cannot be tamed!--she needs the open air, the boundless sky, the +eternal voyage over the wide expanse of waters! She fears neither storm +nor wind, nor torrents of rain, as the hour of departure approaches. +Henceforth, she has but one thought, one sigh, one cry: "On! on!" + +The meal over, Hullin rose, and said to his daughter: + +"I am tired, my child; kiss me, and let us go to bed." + +"Yes; but don't forget to wake me, Papa Jean-Claude, if you go before +daybreak." + +"Be easy. It's settled; you shall come with us." + +Then, as he looked after her as she ascended the narrow wooden +staircase, and disappeared within her own little attic--"Is she afraid +of being left alone in the nest?" said he to himself. + +Out of doors the silence was so great that it might almost be said to +be heard. The village clock had just struck eleven. The good man sat +down to take off his shoes. Just at that moment his eye happened to +fall upon his gun, suspended over the door. He took it down, wiped +it slowly, and tried the lock. He had thrown his whole soul into the +business before him. + +"There's work in the old gun still," he murmured to himself; and then +added in a grave voice: + +"It's droll, it's droll; the last time I used it--at Marengo--that's +fourteen years ago--it seems to me but yesterday!" + +All at once, outside, the crisp snow crackled beneath a rapid footstep. +He listened--there was some one. And almost immediately after he heard +two little taps at the window. He ran and opened it. The rough head +of Marc Divès, with his broad-brimmed hat quite stiff with frost, was +visible in the gloom. + +"Well, Marc, what news?" + +"Have you warned the mountaineers--Materne, Jerôme, Labarbe?" + +"Yes, all." + +"It is but just in time: the enemy has passed." + +"Passed?" + +"Yes, along the whole line. I have come fifteen leagues through the +snow since morning to tell you." + +"Good! we must give the signal--a large bonfire on the Falkenstein." + +Hullin was very pale. He put on his shoes again. Two minutes after, +with his thick great-coat flung over his shoulders, and his stick in +his hand, he softly opened the door, and was following Marc with hasty +strides along the footpath of the Falkenstein. + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + +From midnight until six o'clock in the morning, a bright flame shone +through the darkness on the summit of the Falkenstein, and the whole +mountain was astir. + +All the friends of Hullin, of Marc Divès, and of Dame Lefévre, +their legs encased in long gaiters, their old guns slung over their +shoulders, were silently marching through the woods in the deep +stillness of the night towards the gorges of the Valtin. The thought +of the enemy crossing the plains of Alsace to come and surprise the +dwellers in the defiles and mountains was uppermost in the minds +of all. The tocsins of Dagsburg, of Abreschwiller, of Walsch, of +Saint-Quirin, and of all the other villages, never ceased summoning the +defenders of their country to arms. + +You must now picture to yourself the Jägerthal at the foot of the old +_burg_ during the period of an extraordinary fall of snow, at that +early hour of the morning when the tall shadows of the trees begin +to be visible through the gloom, and the piercing cold of the night +is lessened at the approach of dawn. You must picture to yourself +the old saw-works, with its broad flat roof, its heavy wheel loaded +with icicles, the low interior dimly lit up by a fire of fir-logs, +whose glow is beginning to pale in the faint but clear light of early +morning; and all around this fire is a confused jumble of seal-skin +caps, felt hats, dark profiles towering one above the other, and +pressed close together like a living wall. Farther on, the whole length +of the woods, in all the windings of the valley, other beacon-fires +lighted up, in their crimson glow, groups of men and women huddling +together in the snow. + +The agitation was beginning to grow calmer. As the daylight grew +stronger and stronger, people began to recognise each other. + +"Holloa! cousin Daniel of Soldatenthal! you are here too, then?" + +"Why, yes, as you see, Heinrich, and my wife, too." + +"What, Cousin Nanette! Why, where is she, then?" + +"Down below there, near the great oak, by Uncle Hans's fire." + +There were hearty hand-shakings everywhere. Some were giving vent to +long and loud yawns, while others again were engaged in throwing sticks +and logs of wood on the fire. Some were handing flasks about to each +other, while others were drawing back from the circle round the fire +to make room for their neighbours, who were shivering with the cold. +But in spite of these various means of passing the time, signs of +impatience began to show themselves among the crowd. + +"But, I say," exclaimed one, "we didn't come here to warm the soles of +our feet, did we? It's time to look about, to understand each other." + +"Yes, yes," was the general response; "let us come to an understanding; +let us appoint our leaders." + +"No! everyone is not here yet. Look; there are some from Dagsburg and +St. Quirin arriving now." + +In fact, as the day grew lighter, it served to show more and more +people arriving by all the different paths of the mountain. There were +then already several hundred men in the valley: woodcutters, charcoal +burners, watermen, without reckoning the women and children. + +Nothing more picturesque can be imagined than this halt in the midst of +the snow, in the deep defiles, surrounded by tall pines towering to the +skies; to the right, valleys linked with each other, stretching away +far out of sight; to the left, the cloud-capp'd ruins of Falkenstein. +At a distance, they might have been taken for large flocks of cranes +herding together for comfort, 'mid the snow and ice; but, on a nearer +view, you could then behold these rough men, with beards bristling like +the skin of the wild boar, stern eyes, broad square shoulders, and +horny hands. Some among them, taller than the rest, belonged to that +fiery red race with white skins, hairy to the very finger-ends, and +strong enough to uproot oaks. Of this number were Materne of Hengst, +and his two sons Frantz and Kasper. These stalwart fellows, all three +armed with long carbines, from Inspruck, wearing long gaiters of blue +cloth, with leather buttons, reaching high above the knee, a sort of +tunic made of goat-skin, and their hats pushed to the very back of the +head, had not even deigned to approach the fire. For the last hour they +had been sitting together on the trunk of a felled tree by the river's +edge, with watchful eye and keen scent, like hunters lying in ambush, +with their feet on the snow. + +From time to time the old man would say to his sons: "What are they +shivering about, down there? I never knew a milder night for the +season. It's like a spring night; the rivers are not even touched by +the frost!" + +All the forest-rangers of the country round, as they passed, gave them +a hearty shake of the hand, and then closed in around them, so that +they formed, in a manner, a band apart. These people spoke but little, +being used to keeping silence for whole days and nights together, for +fear of frightening the game. + +Marc Divès, standing in the midst of another group, over which he +towered by a whole head, was talking and gesticulating, and pointing +sometimes to one point of the mountain, and sometimes to another. +Opposite him stood the old shepherd, Lagarmitte, in his long grey +smock, his wooden sheep-horn on his shoulder, listening open-mouthed, +and from time to time silently bowing his grizzled head. For the most +part, all the band seemed attentive; it was principally composed of +woodcutters and bargemen, with whom the smuggler was almost daily +brought into contact. Between the sawpit and the first fire was seated +the shoemaker, Jerôme of Saint-Quirin, a man of about fifty or sixty, +with a long face, brown complexion, hollow eyes, big nose, a seal-skin +cap pulled over his ears, and his yellow beard descending in a point to +his waist. His hands, covered with thick woollen gloves, were leaning +on an enormous knotted stick. He wore a long hooded cloak of coarse +cloth, and might well have passed for a hermit. Any time a fresh rumour +arose in some part or another, old Jerôme turned his head slowly round, +and listened intently with knitted brows. + +Jean Labarbe, with his elbow on his axe, sat passively looking on. He +was a man with pale cheeks, aquiline nose, and thin lips. He had great +influence over the men of Dagsburg, owing to his firmness and strength +of mind. When everyone was shouting around him: + +"We must deliberate; we can't stay doing nothing here!" he simply +confined himself to saying: "Stop, Hullin has not come yet, nor +Catherine Lefévre." Then all were silent, and contented themselves with +looking eagerly towards the path leading from the Charmes. + +The _ségare_,[8] Piorette, a little dry, lean, nervous man with black +eyebrows meeting in front, the stump of a pipe between his lips, +stood in front of his shed, watching, with an eye at once keen and +thoughtful, the strange scene around him. + +The general impatience was, however, increasing from minute to +minute. Some village mayors, in square-cut coats and three-cornered +hats, proceeded towards the sawpit, and called upon the men of their +districts to deliberate. Very luckily, the cart of Catherine Lefévre at +length appeared in sight coming along the pathway, and immediately a +thousand enthusiastic shouts rose on all sides. + +"Here they are! here they are! they have come!" + +There was a great stir and bustle among the crowd. The groups who +were at a distance drew near, everyone came running up, and a sort of +shudder of impatience seemed to run through the whole vast assembly. +No sooner was a distinct view caught of the old farm-mistress, whip in +hand, sitting on her truss of straw with Louise by her side, than cries +and shouts rent the air of "Vive la France! Hurrah for Dame Catherine!" + +A little way behind came Hullin, striding along across the meadow of +the Eichmath, distributing hearty hand-grips, his broad-brimmed hat at +the back of his head, his gun slung over his shoulder. + +"Good day, Daniel. Good day, Colon. Good day, good day." + +"Ah! ha! it's growing warm, Hullin." + +"Yes, yes; we shall hear the chestnuts burst in the fire this winter. +Good day, old Jerôme; we are engaged in a great enterprise now." + +"True, Jean-Claude. We must hope to accomplish it, with the blessing of +God." + +Catherine, as soon as she reached the sawpit, then told Labarbe to +deposit on the ground a little keg of brandy which she had brought from +the farm, and to borrow a jug from the sawyer in the shed. + +A little while after, Hullin, coming up to the fire, met Materne and +his two sons. + +"You are late," said the old huntsman to him. + +"Well, yes; what would you have? First, we had to descend from the +Falkenstein, take our guns, and get the women-kind in marching order. +However, here we are at last, so don't let us lose any more time. Give +us a blast of your horn, Lagarmitte, to call all the people together. +The first thing of all is to lay our plans, to appoint our leaders." + +In an instant, Lagarmitte was blowing away at his long horn, with his +cheeks inflated to his very ears, and the bands of men, who were still +dispersed along the footpaths, and on the outskirts of the woods, +hastened their steps to arrive in time. In a short time all the brave +fellows were assembled in front of the sawpit. + +Hullin, now grave and stern, mounted a heap of trunks of trees, and +casting a look of serious meaning on the crowd that surrounded him, +said, in the midst of the deepest silence:--"The enemy crossed the +Rhine the evening before last; he is now marching over the mountains to +enter Lorraine; Strasbourg and Huningen are in a state of blockade. We +must expect to see the Germans and the Russians in three or four days." + +There was a general ringing cry of "Vive la France!" + +"Yes, Vive la France!" replied Jean-Claude; "for if the Allies enter +Paris, they will be masters of everything. They may, if they please, +re-establish tithes, taxes, convents, privileges, and gibbets. If you +wish to see all this again, you have only to let them pass by." + +Words cannot describe the gloomy rage depicted in every countenance at +these words. + +"That is what I had to say to you," cried Hullin, sternly, and pale as +death. "You are here, and you are here to fight." + +"Yes, yes." + +"That is well; but listen to me. I do not wish to take you unawares. +There are fathers of families among you. We shall be one against ten, +against fifty. We must expect to perish. Therefore, let such as have +not well reflected on the matter, as have not the heart and the courage +to do their duty to the very end, depart. We will have none of them. +Everyone is free." + +Then he was silent, and looked on all around him Everyone stood still +and motionless; so, with a still firmer voice, he continued:--"No +one stirs. All, all are resolved to fight to the last. Well, it +delights me to see that there is not a single dastard among us. Now +we must appoint a leader. In great perils, the first thing is order, +discipline. The leader whom you will appoint will have all the rights +of command and of obedience. So, reflect well, for on this man will +depend the fate of all." + +Having thus spoken, Jean-Claude descended from his elevation, and +all was bustle and excitement. Each village deliberated separately, +each mayor proposed his man, and in the meanwhile time was going on. +Catherine Lefévre was burning with impatience. At length, unable to +contain herself any longer, she stood up on her seat, and made a sign +that she wished to speak. + +Catherine was held in the highest estimation. At first some, then a +greater number, drew near to learn what she had to say to them. + +"My friends," said she, "we are losing too much time. What is it you +require? A trusty leader, is it not? A soldier, who has been used to +war, and who knows how to turn our positions to the best account? Well, +then, why do you not choose Hullin? Is there one among you who can find +a better man? If so, let him speak at once, that we may decide. For my +part, I propose Jean-Claude Hullin. Do you hear, down below there? If +this goes on much longer, the Austrians will be here before we have +chosen a leader." + +"Yes! yes! Hullin!" exclaimed Labarbe, Divès, Jerôme, and several +others. + +"Come, let us collect the votes for or against." + +Then Marc Divès, climbing on to the trunks of timber, exclaimed, in +a voice of thunder, "Let those who do not desire to have Jean-Claude +Hullin for a leader hold up their hand." + +Not a hand appeared. + +"Let those who desire to have Jean-Claude Hullin for a leader hold up +their hand." + +Every hand was in the air. + +"Jean-Claude," said the smuggler, "come up here, and look around. It is +you whom they demand for a leader." + +Master Jean-Claude, having done as desired, saw that he was appointed, +and at once spoke in a firm tone, and said:--"Good. You appoint me your +leader. I accept the post. Let the elder Materne, Labarbe of Dagsburg, +Jerôme of Saint-Quirin, Marc Divès, Piorette the sawyer, and Catherine +Lefévre, go into the sawpit. We will hold a council. In a quarter of an +hour or twenty minutes I will issue orders. Meanwhile, let each village +supply two men to Marc Divès for the transport of powder and ball to +Falkenstein." + +[Illustration] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 8: Sawyer.] + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + +All those whom Jean-Claude Hullin had named assembled under the shed +of the sawpit around the immense hearth. A sort of pleased good-humour +beamed in the faces of these brave men. + +"For twenty years have I heard talk of the Russians, the Austrians, and +the Cossacks," said old Materne, with a smile; "and now I shall not be +sorry to see a few of them within range of my gun; that will be quite +another thing." + +"Yes," replied Labarbe; "we shall see some strange things; the little +children of the mountain will be able to relate stories of their +fathers and grandfathers, and the old women, won't they tell legends +round the fire in fifty years to come?" + +"Comrades," said Hullin, "you know all the country round; you have +the mountain under your eyes from Thann to Wissembourg. You know that +two highways, two imperial roads, cross Alsace and the Vosges. They +both come from Bâle; one follows the course of the Rhine as far as +Strasbourg, from whence it proceeds along the borders of the Saverne +till it reaches Lorraine. It is protected by Huningen, Neuf-Brisach, +Strasbourg, and Phalsbourg. The other turns to the left, and goes as +far as Schlestadt; from Schlestadt it enters the mountain, and reaches +Saint-Dié, Raon-l'Etape, Bacarat, and Lunéville. At first the enemy +wanted to force these two roads, as being better for the cavalry, +artillery, and baggage; but as they are defended, we have nothing to +fear on that head. If the Allies besiege the strong places--which will +lengthen out the campaign--then we shall have nothing to fear; but that +is not very probable. After having summoned Huningen to surrender, +Belfort, Schlestadt, Strasbourg, and Phalsbourg, on this side of the +Vosges; Bitche, Lutzelstein, and Sarrebrück on the other, I think they +will fall upon us. Now, listen to me well. Between Phalsbourg and +Saint-Dié there are several defiles for the infantry; but there is only +one road available for cannon; that is the road from Strasbourg to +Raon-les-Leaux by Urmatt, Mutzig, Lutzelhouse, Phramond, Grandfontaine. +Once masters of this passage, the Allies could come down upon Lorraine. +This road leads to the Donon, two leagues from here on our right. The +first thing to do is to establish ourselves firmly there in the spot +most favourable to the defence--that is to say, on the sides of the +mountain; to intersect it, to break down the bridges, and to throw +strong barricades across it. A few hundred strong trees laid across +a road with all their branches are as good as ramparts. They serve, +too, for the best ambuscades, as you are well sheltered, and can see +all that is going on. Those big trees are the very devil! you have to +cut them down bit to bit; you cannot throw bridges over them; in fact, +there's nothing better. All this, comrades, will be done by to-morrow +evening, or the day after at latest. I will undertake that; but it +is not enough to occupy a position, and put it in a good state of +defence; we must still further manage that the enemy cannot turn it." + +"Just what I was thinking," said Materne. "Once in the valley of the +Bruche, the Germans can enter with the infantry among the hills of +Haslach, and turn our left. Nothing can prevent their trying the same +manoeuvre on our right, if they succeed in reaching Raon-l'Etape." + +"Yes; but to prevent that, we have one very simple thing to do; that +is, to occupy the defiles of the Zorn and the Sarre on our left, and +that of the Blanru on our right. The best way to guard a defile is by +holding the heights; Piorette will, therefore, station himself with a +hundred men on the side of Raon-les-Leaux; Jerôme, on the Grosmann, +with a like number, to defend the valley of the Sarre; and Labarbe, at +the head of the rest, to overlook the hills of the Haslach. You will +choose your men from among those of the nearest villages. The women +must not have far to go to bring provisions, and then the wounded +will be nearer home, which must be thought of, too. This is, for the +present, all I have to say to you. The leaders will be careful to send +to me every day to the Donon, where I am going to establish this very +evening our head-quarters, a good walker, to inform me of all that is +going on, and receive the password. We will organize also a reserve; +but, as we must make the greatest haste, we will talk of that when you +have all taken up your positions, and when there is no longer any fear +of surprise on the part of the enemy." + +"And I," exclaimed Marc Divès; "I shall have nothing to do, then? I am +to remain with my arms folded looking at the others fighting?" + +"For you, your duty will be to overlook the transport of the +ammunition; none of us understand like you managing powder, preserving +it from fire and damp, casting bullets, and making cartridges." + +"But all that is woman's work," exclaimed the smuggler; "Hexe-Baizel +would do it as well as me. What! am I not to fire a single shot?" + +"Be easy, Marc," replied Hullin, with a laugh; "you will not want +for opportunities. In the first place, the Falkenstein is the centre +of our line--it is our arsenal, and our point of retreat in case of +misfortune. The enemy will know, through his spies, that our convoys +set out from thence; he will probably attempt to intercept them. You +will have enough of bullets, and bayonets, too. Besides, even if you +are under shelter, so much the better, for it would not do to confide +your caves to the first comer. Still, if you really wish----" + +"No," said the smuggler, who had been struck by Hullin's remark about +his caves; "no; all things well considered, I believe you are right, +Jean-Claude. I have my men; they are well armed. We will defend the +Falkenstein, and if an opportunity of firing a shot offers I shall be +more free." + +"Then this matter is arranged, and we all understand?" asked Hullin. + +"Yes, yes; we understand." + +"Well, comrades," exclaimed the brave man, in a joyful accent, "let us +warm our hearts with a few good glasses of wine. It is ten o'clock, +so let everyone return to his village, and make his preparations. +To-morrow morning, at the latest, all the defiles of the mountain must +be strongly occupied." + +They then came out of the shed, and Hullin, in presence of all, named +as leaders Labarbe, Jerôme, and Piorette; he then told all those of the +Sarre to assemble as soon as possible near the farm of Bois-de-Chênes +with hatchets, pickaxes, and guns. "We will set out at two o'clock," +said he, "and we will encamp on the Donon along the road. To-morrow, at +daybreak, we will begin our entrenchments." + +He detained old Materne and his sons Frantz and Kasper, to announce to +them that the battle would doubtless commence at the Donon, and that +they should, therefore, need some good marksmen in that part, at which +they were greatly pleased. + +Dame Lefévre had never appeared happier. As she got up again into her +cart, she embraced Louise, and whispered in her ear: "All is going +well. Jean-Claude is a man; he sees everything; he carries everyone +along with him. Even me, who have known him for forty years, he +astonishes me." + +Then turning to him: "Jean-Claude," said she, "we have a ham waiting +for us at home, and a few bottles of old wine, that we'll not leave for +the Germans to drink." + +"No, Catherine; they shall not drink them. Come on." + +But just as she was flourishing her whip, and as a goodly number of +mountaineers were ascending the steep sides of the mountain on their +way back to their respective villages, there was seen approaching, +in the extreme distance, a tall, thin man sitting in his goat-skin +saddle, a hare-skin cap on his head, which he held erect. An enormous +long-haired sheep-dog came bounding along by his side, and the flaps +of his immense riding-coat flew behind him like wings. Everyone +exclaimed: "It is Doctor Lorquin of the plain; he who attends the poor +gratis. Here he comes, with his dog Pluto; ah! he is a worthy man!" + +It was indeed he; he came galloping along, shouting at the top of his +voice, "Halt! stop! halt!" and with his face as red as fire, his big +eyes sparkling with excitement, his long beard of a reddish brown, +his broad stooping shoulders, and his great bounding sheep-dog, he +came along at a swinging pace. In two more minutes he had reached the +foot of the mountain, crossed the meadow, and brought up in front of +the shed. Immediately after a voice, panting for breath, was heard to +say, "Ah! how deaf you all are! and the idea of going on a campaign +without me! You shall pay for it!" touching a little chest, which he +was carrying behind him, "Stay a minute, my lads," said he; "I've +something in there that you can't very well do without. I have in there +little knives and large ones, round and sharp ones, for digging out the +bullets, and shot of all sorts, that you will be peppered with." And +then he burst into a loud peal of laughter, and all the spectators felt +their flesh creep. + +Having given utterance to this agreeable pleasantry, Doctor Lorquin +resumed, in a graver tone, "Hullin, I must pull your ears for you. +What! forget me, when the point in question was the defence of our +country! Suffer me to be informed of it by others! And yet it seems to +me that a doctor will be in requisition here, I must blame you." + +"Forgive me, doctor; I have been in the wrong," said Hullin, warmly +pressing his hand. "During the last week so many things have happened. +You cannot always think of everybody; and, besides, a man like you does +not require to be warned of his duty to fulfil it." + +The doctor's brow relaxed. "All this is very well, and very good," he +exclaimed; "but that does not alter the fact that, by your neglect, +I might have arrived too late. All the good places are taken, the +crosses distributed. Come, lead me to the general, that I may prefer my +complaint to him." + +"I am the general, and I appoint you surgeon-in-chief to the forces." + +"Surgeon-in-chief to the forces of the Vosges! Well, that will suit me. +No malice, Jean-Claude." Then, approaching the cart, the worthy man +told Catherine that he should depend upon her for the organization of +the _ambulances_. + +"Make your mind easy, doctor," replied the farm-mistress; "all shall +be ready. Louise and I will make that our special care from this very +evening; will we not, Louise?" + +"Oh, yes! Mother Lefévre," murmured the young girl, enchanted to see +that they had actually commenced the campaign; "we will work hard, day +and night, if needs be. M. Lorquin may make his mind quite easy." + +"Well, then, forward! You dine with us, doctor." + +The little cart set out at full trot; all along the road, the good +doctor laughingly recounted to Catherine how the news of the general +rising had reached him; the despair of his old housekeeper, Marie, who +strove hard to prevent his going to be massacred by the _kaiserlicks_; +in short, the different episodes of his journey from Quibolo to the +village of Charmes. Hullin, Materne, and his boys walked a few steps +behind, with gun on shoulder, and in this way they ascended the +mountain, and directed their steps towards the farm of Bois-de-Chênes. + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + +You may imagine the state of excitement at the farm, the comings and +goings of the servants, enthusiastic shouts of all, the clinkings of +glasses, and clatterings of knives and forks, the joy painted on every +face, when Jean-Claude, Doctor Lorquin, the Maternes, and all those +who had followed Catherine's vehicle, were installed in the large +house-room at the farm, around a magnificent ham, and had set steadily +to work to celebrate their future triumphs cup in hand. + +It chanced to be on a Tuesday, always a grand cooking day at the farm. + +The great kitchen fire had been blazing since morning; old Duchêne, +in his shirt-sleeves, was drawing from the oven innumerable manchets +of bread, the good smell of which pervaded the whole house. Annette +took them from his hands, and piled them up in a corner of the hearth. +Louise waited on the guests, and Catherine Lefévre superintended +everything, calling out as she did so: + +"Make haste, children, make haste, the third batch must be ready by the +time the men from the Sarre arrive. That will make six pounds of bread +a man." + +Hullin, from his place, watched the old farm-mistress as she came and +went. + +"What a woman!" he exclaimed, "what a woman! Go and find me such +another the whole country round! She forgets nothing! The health of +Catherine Lefévre!" + +"The health of Catherine Lefévre!" was loudly responded by all the rest. + +There was a renewed clinking of glasses, and then the talk fell again +on marches, attacks, and entrenchments. Every one felt inspired by an +invincible confidence; every one said to himself, "All will prosper." + +But Heaven was reserving for them on that day a still greater pleasure +and surprise, and especially for Louise and Dame Lefévre. Towards +noon, just as a bright ray of the winter's sun was making the snow +look whiter than ever and melting the hoar-frost on the window-panes, +and the great red cock thrusting his head out of the fowl-house was +flapping his wings and making the echoes of the Valtin resound with his +shrill cry of triumph, all of a sudden the watch-dog, old Yohan, who +was quite toothless, and very nearly blind, began to give vent to a +succession of barks at once so joyous and so plaintive, that everyone's +attention was attracted. + +The great kitchen fire was blazing at its height; the third batch was +being drawn from the oven, and yet Catherine Lefévre herself stopped to +listen. + +"There is something going to happen," said she, in a low tone. + +Then she added, in a voice that shook with emotion: + +"Since my boy left home, Yohan has never barked like that." + +At the same moment rapid steps were heard crossing the court-yard; +Louise sprang towards the door, exclaiming, "It is he! it is he!" and +almost immediately a trembling hand was at the latch; the door opened, +and a soldier appeared at the threshold, but a soldier, so lank, +sunburnt, and haggard, his old grey overcoat with pewter buttons so +worn out, his long cloth gaiters so torn and discoloured, that all the +spectators were speechless with surprise. + +He seemed unable to take a step farther, as he firmly put the butt-end +of his gun to the ground. The tip of his eagle nose--the exact +counterpart of Dame Lefévre's--shone like bronze, his red moustaches +quivered; he looked just like one of those lean, hungry hawks driven +by famine in winter to the stable doors. He looked straight into the +kitchen, and his cheeks seemed to turn pale beneath their tinge of +sun-brown, and his hollow eyes filled with tears as he stood there +without being able to speak a word or advance a step. + +Out of doors the old dog kept leaping, and whining, and rattling his +chain as if he would break it; within, not a sound could be heard but +the crackling of the fire, so deep was the silence; but very soon +the voice of Catherine Lefévre was heard exclaiming, in heartrending +tones:-- + +"Gaspard!--my child! It is you!" + +"Yes, mother!" replied the soldier, in a voice choking with emotion. + +And in a second Louise had begun to sob, whilst all in the vast room +rose at once with a noise like thunder. + +All ran towards him, with Master Jean-Claude at their head, shouting: + +"Gaspard!--Gaspard Lefévre!" + +But Gaspard and his mother were clasped in each other's arms: +this woman, usually so strong-minded, so courageous, was weeping +unrestrainedly; her son shed no tears, but held her close to his heart, +his red moustaches buried in her gray locks, as he murmured: + +"Mother! mother! ah! how often have I thought of you!" + +Then, in a louder voice: + +"Louise!" said he, "I saw Louise!" + +And Louise rushed into his arms, and they mingled their tears and +kisses together. + +"Ah! you did not know me again, Louise!" + +"Oh! yes--oh! yes, I knew you directly by your step." + +Old Duchêne, with his cotton night-cap in his hand, stood by the fire +stammering: + +"Gracious Lord--is it possible? my poor child--how changed he is!" + +He had brought Gaspard up, and always pictured him since his departure +fresh and ruddy-cheeked, in a handsome uniform with red facings. It +deranged all his ideas to see him otherwise. + +At this moment Hullin, raising his voice, said: + +"And we, Gaspard, all of us, your old friends, have you nothing to say +to us?" + +Then the brave fellow turned round, and uttered a shout of recognition: + +"Hullin! Doctor Lorquin! Materne! Frantz! all! they are all here!" + +And the embracings began again, but this time more joyously, mingled +with shouts of laughter and hearty hand-shakings, that seemed as if +they would never come to an end. + +"Ah! Doctor, is that you? Ah! my old Papa Jean-Claude!" + +They looked at him again and again, staring him full in the face with +countenances beaming with joy, as if to assure themselves that it +was really he; then, linking their arms in his, they carried rather +than led him into the kitchen, and Dame Catherine followed with his +knapsack, Louise with the gun, Duchêne with the tall shako, all +laughing and crying by turns, and drying their eyes and cheeks. You +never saw anything like it. + +"Come, let us sit down--let us drink!" exclaimed Doctor Lorquin; "this +is the _bouquet_ of the feast." + +"Ah! my poor Gaspard, how glad I am to see you come back again safe and +sound," said Hullin. "He! he! without wishing to flatter you, I like +you better as you are than with your fat red cheeks. You are a man now, +i'faith! You remind me of the old soldiers of my own time, the men of +Sambre, of Egypt, ha! ha! ha! we had no fat cheeks among us! we were +not sleek and shining! We looked more like hungry rats who have just +caught sight of a piece of cheese, and our teeth were long and white, I +warrant you." + +"Yes, yes; that does not surprise me, Papa Jean-Claude," replied +Gaspard. "Sit down, sit down; we shall talk more at our ease. But what +is this?--what brings you all to the farm?" + +"What! you do not know? All the country is up in arms, from the Houpe +to St. Sauveur, to defend ourselves." + +"Yes, the Anabaptist of Painbach told me something of this as I was +passing; it is true, then?" + +"Is it true? Why, everyone is engaged in it, and I am general-in-chief." + +"All right, all right; a thousand thunders! Let those dogs of +_kaiserlicks_ have their own way in our country! that wouldn't suit +me at all. But just pass me the knife. Whatever happens, it's always +jolly to find oneself at home again. I say, Louise, just come and sit +beside me a little. Look, Papa Jean-Claude, with my little girl on +one side of me, that capital ham on the other, and a jug of good wine +forming the line in front, it would not take me a fortnight to get into +condition again, and my comrades would not know me again when I joined +my company." + +Everybody had sat down again, and was fully employed in watching with +wondering looks the brave soldier, cutting, carving, quaffing, then +casting tender glances at Louise and his mother, and replying to one +and another without at the same time losing a single mouthful. + +The farm people, Duchêne, Annette, Robin, and Dubourg, ranged behind in +a half-circle, stood gazing upon Gaspard in a sort of ecstasy; Louise +kept filling up his glass, while Dame Lefévre, sitting near the oven, +looked over the contents of his knapsack, and finding there nothing but +two old shirts quite black with dirt, and with holes large enough to +put your hand in, a pair of shoes down at heel, an empty tobacco-pouch, +a comb with three teeth, and an empty bottle, she lifted up her hands, +murmuring to herself: "Good Lord! need we be surprised that so many die +of starvation!" + +Doctor Lorquin, at the sight of such a vigorous appetite, gleefully +rubbed his hands, as he muttered from under his thick beard: "What a +fellow it is! What a digestion! What a set of teeth! Why, he could +crack pebbles like nuts!" + +And even old Materne said to his boys: "In my time, after a two or +three days' hunt on the mountain tops in winter, I have known what it +was, too, to have the appetite of a wolf, and to eat the haunch of a +roe-buck at a sitting; now I am grown old, a pound or two of meat is +enough for me. Age makes all the difference!" + +Hullin had lit his pipe, and seemed absent and thoughtful; it was +plain that he was uneasy about something. After a few moments, seeing +Gaspard's appetite begin to relax, he abruptly exclaimed: "But tell +us, Gaspard, if I may make so bold as to ask, how does it happen that +you are here? We thought you were still on the Strasbourg side of the +Rhine!" + +"Ah! ha! old boy, I understand," said young Lefévre, with a knowing +wink; "there are so many deserters; is it not so?" + +"Oh! such an idea as that would never enter my head! and yet----" + +"You would not be sorry to know if we are all right and correct! I +don't blame you, Papa Jean-Claude; you are quite right; those who don't +answer to the muster-roll when the _kaiserlicks_ are in France, richly +deserve to be shot! Make your mind happy; there's my leave." + +Hullin, who had no false delicacy, read: "Twenty-four hours' leave of +absence to Grenadier Gaspard Lefévre, of the 2nd company of the 1st +regiment.--January the 3rd, 1814. GEMEAU, chief of the battalion." +"Good, good," said he; "put it up in your knapsack; you might chance to +lose it." + +All his good-humour had returned. + +"Look you, my children," said he, "I know what love is; there is bad +and good about it; but it is bad in particular for young soldiers +who come too near their homes after a campaign. They are capable of +forgetting all and everything till they find themselves brought back +with two or three gendarmes at their heels. I've seen that happen +before now. But, however, since everything is clear and straightforward +here, let's drain a bumper of _rikevir_. What say you, Catherine? The +men of the Sarre may arrive from one moment to the next, and we have +not an instant to lose." + +"You say well, Jean-Claude," replied the old farm-mistress, sadly. "Go +down and bring up three bottles from the little cellar, Annette." + +The servant-girl ran quickly out at her mistress's orders. + +"But this leave, Gaspard," continued Catherine, "how much longer has it +to run?" + +"I received it yesterday, at eight in the evening, at Vasselonne, +mother. The regiment is in retreat upon Lorraine; I must rejoin it this +evening at Phalsbourg." + +"Well and good; you have still seven hours before you. It will not take +you more than six to get there, though there is a good deal of snow at +Foxthâl." + +The good woman came and sat down by her son. Her heart was full almost +to bursting; she could not conceal her grief. Everyone was deeply +touched. Louise, with her arm on Gaspard's worn-out epaulet, and her +cheek pressed against his, was sobbing as if her heart would break. +Hullin knocked the ashes out of his pipe on the corner of the table; he +sat silently, with knitted brows and compressed lips; but as soon as +the bottles made their appearance and were uncorked, "Come, Louise!" +he exclaimed, "courage! what the deuce! All this will be only for a +short time; it must come to an end some way or another, and I say that +it will end well. Gaspard will come back, and we shall have a happy +wedding." + +He filled up the glasses as he spoke, and Catherine wiped her eyes as +she murmured: "And to think that all these robbers are the cause of +this happening to us! Ah, let them come! let them only come here!" + +They drank, though in a melancholy sort of way, but the good old +_rikevir_, as it found its way to the hearts of these worthy people, +soon cheered their drooping spirits. Gaspard, stronger than he had +appeared at first, began to relate the terrible affairs of Bautzen, +Lutzen, Leipzig, and Hanau, where the conscripts had fought like +veterans, gaining victory upon victory until traitors found their way +among them. Everyone listened with silent interest; Louise, when the +recital touched upon moments of great danger--crossing rivers under the +enemy's fire, carrying a battery at the point of the bayonet--pressing +his arm as if to defend him. Jean-Claude's eyes sparkled. The doctor +always wanted to know the exact position of the ambulances; Materne and +his sons stretched out their necks, and showed by the rigid compression +of their massive red-bearded jaws how eagerly they were drinking in +every word that fell from his lips, and with the aid of the generous +wine, the general enthusiasm increased each moment, and every now +and then vented itself in muttered expressions. "Oh! the dogs! the +villains! let them beware! All is not over yet!" + +Dame Lefévre admired the courage and good fortune of her son in the +midst of these events, the memory of which will be preserved from +generation to generation. But when Lagarmitte, grave and solemn, in +his long gray gaberdine, his large black felt hat upon his head, his +wooden horn on his shoulder, crossed the kitchen, and, standing in +the doorway, announced, "The men from the Sarre are coming!" then all +this excitement disappeared, and everyone rose, thinking only of the +terrible struggle which was shortly going to begin on the mountain. + +Louise threw her arms round Gaspard's neck, exclaiming: "Gaspard, do +not leave us! Stay with us!" + +He turned very pale. "I am a soldier," said he; "my name is Gaspard +Lefévre; I love thee, Louise, a thousand times better than my own life, +but a Lefévre knows nothing but his duty!" And he unclasped her arms +from about his neck. Then Louise sank, half-fainting, down, and, with +her head lying on the table, began to groan aloud. Gaspard rose. + +Hullin placed himself between them, and pressing his hands warmly, +while his own strong frame shook with emotion, "Right, my lad!" said +he; "spoken like a man, and a brave one, too." + +His mother approached more calmly to buckle his knapsack on to his +shoulders. She performed that task with knit brows, her lips firmly +compressed under her long hooked nose, without uttering a sigh; but two +big tears slowly coursed each other down the furrows in her cheeks. And +when she had finished, turning round with her sleeve to her eyes, she +said, "There; go, go, my child, thy mother blesses thee. If war seizes +thee for its prey, still thou wilt not be dead to us. See, Gaspard, +there is thy place; there, between Louise and me; thou wilt ever be +there! This poor child is not yet old enough to know that to live is +but to suffer." + +Everyone went out. Louise, left alone, began to weep and groan afresh. +A few moments after, as she heard the butt end of his gun resounding on +the flagstones and the outer door opening, she rushed out after him, +shrieking in heartrending tones, "Gaspard! Gaspard! see, I will be +firm; I will not cry any more; I do not want to keep you back--oh, no, +but do not leave me in anger; have pity on me!" + +"Anger! angry with you, my darling! Oh, no, no," he replied. "But to +see you so miserable breaks my heart. Ah! if you had but a little +firmness now, I should be happy." + +"Well, then, I have; kiss me. See, I am no longer the same. I will try +to be like our good mother Lefévre." + +They exchanged their parting embrace with more calmness. Hullin stood +by, holding the gun; Catherine waved her hand, as much as to say, "Go, +go--enough." + +And he, suddenly seizing his weapon, departed, with a firm step, and +without once turning his head. + +On the other side, the men of the Sarre, with their pickaxes and +hatchets, were climbing in procession the steep and rugged ascent of +the Valtin. + +At the end of five minutes, at the turning by the great oak, Gaspard +looked round, and waved his hand. Catherine and Louise answered him. +Hullin then came forward to meet his men. Doctor Lorquin alone +remained with the women; when Gaspard, continuing his way, was quite +out of sight, he exclaimed:--"Catherine Lefévre, you may be proud of +having so brave a man for your son. Heaven speed and prosper him!" + +They heard the distant voices of the new-comers, who were laughing +gaily among themselves, and marching to war as to a marriage festival. + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + +Whilst Hullin, at the Head of the mountaineers, was taking his measures +for the defence of his country, the fool Yégof--that being deprived of +the blessing of self-consciousness, that unhappy creature with his tin +crown, that sad spectacle of humanity shorn of its noblest, greatest, +most vital attribute, intelligence--the fool Yégof, his breast exposed +to the cutting wind, his feet bare, insensible to cold, like the +reptile in his icy prison, was wandering from mountain to mountain, in +the midst of the snows of winter. + +Whence comes it that the madman is able to resist the sharpest severity +of the atmosphere, while an intelligent being would succumb to it? +Does it arise from a more powerful concentration of life, a more rapid +circulation of the blood, a state of perpetual fever? Or is it the +effect of the over-excitement of the senses, or any other unknown cause? + +Science says nothing. She admits only material causes, powerless to +give an account of such phenomena. + +So Yégof went on at random, and night came. The cold was redoubled, the +fox gnashed his teeth in the pursuit of an invisible prey; the famished +buzzard fell back with empty claws among the bushes, uttering a cry of +distress. He, with his raven on his shoulder, gesticulating, jabbering, +as if in a dream, kept marching, marching on, from Holderloch to +Sonneberg, from Sonneberg to Blutfeld. + +Now, on this particular night, the old shepherd, Robin, of the farm of +Bois-de-Chêne, was destined to be the witness of a most strange and +fearful sight. + +Some days before, having been overtaken by the first fall of snow at +the bottom of the gorge of the Blutfeld, he had left his cart there +to conduct his flock back to the farm; but having discovered that he +had forgotten his sheepskin, and left it in a shed there, he had on +this day, when his work was done, set out about four o'clock in the +afternoon to go and fetch it. + +The Blutfeld, situated between the Schneeberg and the Grosmann, is a +narrow gorge, bounded by perpendicular rocks. A narrow stream of water +winds through it, summer and winter, under shadow of the tall shrubs, +and in its depths extends a vast pasturage, all covered with large gray +stones, that lie thickly scattered about. + +This defile is very little frequented by the dwellers in the mountains, +for there is a wild and weird look about the Blutfeld, especially by +the pale light of a winter's moon. The learned folks of these regions, +the schoolmasters of Dagsburg, and of Hazlach, say that in that spot +occurred the famous battle of the Triboques against the Germans, +who wished to penetrate into Gaul, under the command of a leader +named Luitprandt. They say that the Triboques, from the surrounding +mountain-tops, hurling upon their enemies huge masses of rocks, crushed +them there as in a mortar, and that, on account of this great carnage, +the gorge has preserved to this day the name of _Blutfeld_ (field of +blood). Fragments of broken pots, of rusty lances, bits of helmets, +and long swords with cross hilts, are often found there. + +At night time, when the moon sheds her soft light upon this field and +those immense stones, all covered with snow, when the north wind blows +and whistles among the frost-covered branches, making them rustle and +clatter like cymbals, you might fancy you heard the wild cry of the +Germans at the moment of surprise, the shrieks and groans of the women, +the neighings of the horses, the hoarse rumbling of the chariots in the +defile; for it appears that these people brought with them, in their +skin-covered carriages, women, children, old men, and all that they +possessed in gold, and silver, and moveables, like the Germans setting +out for America. The Triboques never ceased to massacre them during two +days, and on the third they went back to the Donon, the Schneeberg, +the Grosmann, the Giromani, the Hengst, their broad shoulders stooping +under the weight of their booty. + +This is what is related concerning the Blutfeld, and certainly to see +this gorge enclosed within the mountains like an immense trap, without +any other outlet than a narrow footpath, it is easy to understand how +the Germans might have been surprised there, and fallen an easy prey to +their victors. + +Robin did not reach the spot till between seven and eight o'clock, just +as the moon was rising. + +The honest fellow had descended the precipice a hundred times, but +never had he beheld the place so brightly illuminated and at the same +time of so gloomy and sinister an aspect. + +At a distance, his white cart, standing at the bottom of the abyss, +looked to him exactly like one of those enormous stones, covered +with snow, beneath which the Germans had been interred. It was at the +entrance of the gorge, behind a thick cluster of shrubs, and beside it +the little torrent ran murmuring in a slender stream, bright as steel, +and sparkling like diamonds. + +When he arrived at the place, the shepherd began to look for the key of +the padlock; then, having unlocked the shed, he crept in on his hands +and knees, and found, very fortunately, not only his sheepskin, but +even an old hatchet which he had quite forgotten. + +But judge of his surprise when, on issuing from it, he saw the fool +Yégof appear at the turn of the footpath, and come straight towards him +in the bright moonlight. + +The honest man immediately remembered the terrible story told in the +kitchen of Bois-de-Chênes, and he felt afraid; but quite another +feeling came over him when behind the fool, at fifteen or twenty paces, +he beheld, stealthily approaching in their turn, five grey wolves, two +big and three smaller ones. + +At first he took them for dogs, but they were wolves. They followed +Yégof step by step, and he did not appear to see them; his raven +hovered overhead, flitting from the full moonlight to the shadow of the +rocks, and then returning; the wolves, with flaming eyes, their sharp +muzzles turned up, were sniffing the air; the fool raised his sceptre. + +The shepherd pulled to the door of the shed as quick as lightning, but +Yégof did not see him. He advanced into the gorge as into a spacious +audience-chamber; to the right and left rose the steep rocks, far above +which myriads of stars were shining. You might have heard a fly move; +the wolves trod the ground noiselessly; not a sound was there, and the +raven had just perched on the top of an old withered oak that grew upon +one of the rocks opposite; his shining plumage looked still darker than +usual, as he turned his head, and seemed to be listening. + +It was a strange sight. + +Robin said to himself:--"The fool sees nothing, hears nothing; they +will devour him. If he stumbles, if his foot slips, it is all over with +him." + +But in the middle of the gorge, Yégof, having turned round, sat down +upon a stone, and the five wolves, all round him, still sniffing the +air, squatted on their haunches in the snow. + +And then, a really terrible sight, the fool raising his sceptre, +addressed a speech to them, calling them each by their names. + +The wolves answered him with dismal howls. + +Now this is what he said to them:--"Hé! Child, Bléed, Merweg, and thou, +Sirimar, my ancient, we are met together, then, once again! You have +come back fat. There has been good cheer in Germany, eh?" + +Then, pointing to the snow-covered gorge:--"You remember the great +battle?" + +First one of the wolves began to howl slowly in a dismal voice, then +another, then all the five together. + +This lasted a good ten minutes. + +The raven, perched on the withered branch, did not stir. + +Robin would gladly have fled. He put up his prayers, invoked all the +saints, and, in particular, his own patron, for whom all the shepherds +of the mountain have the highest veneration. + +But the wolves still continued to utter their dismal howlings, +awakening all the echoes of the Blutfeld. + +At last one, the oldest of the number, was silent, then another, then +all, and Yégof continued:--"Yes, yes; that is a dismal story. See! +behold! there is the river down which our blood flowed in streams! +No matter, Merweg, no matter; the others have left their bones to +whiten on the common, and the cold moon has seen their women tearing +their hair for three days and three nights! Oh! that terrible day! +Oh! the dogs! were they proud of their great victory! Let them be +accursed--accursed!" + +The fool had cast his crown to the ground. He now picked it up, +groaning as he did so. + +The wolves, still seated round, listened to him like attentive +spectators. The biggest among them began to howl, and Yégof answered +his complaint. + +"You are hungry, Sirimar; take comfort, take comfort; you will not want +for food much longer; the men of our side are coming, and the strife +will begin afresh." + +Then rising, and striking his sceptre on a stone. + +"See," said he, "behold thy bones!" + +He approached another. + +"And thine, Merweg, behold them!" said he. + +All the troop followed him, while he, raising himself upon a low rock, +and glancing round upon the still and silent gorge, exclaimed:--"Our +war song is silent! our war song is now a groan! The hour is near; it +will re-awaken, and you will be among the warriors, you will possess +once more these valleys and these mountains. Oh! that sound of wheels, +those cries of women, those blows from crushing rocks and stones; I +hear them; the air is full of them. Yes, yes; they fell on us from +above, and we were surrounded. And now all is dead; hark! all is dead; +your bones sleep, but your children are on their way, and your turn +will come. Sing, sing!" + +And this time he himself began to howl, whilst the wolves broke out +afresh in their savage war-cry. + +These dismal howls grew more and more loud and appalling, and the +silence of the rocks around, some plunged in thick darkness, while +others were fully revealed in the moon's bright rays, the solemn +stillness of every tree and shrub beneath its weight of snow, the +distant echoes replying with a mysterious voice to the mournful +concert, all were calculated to strike terror into the breast of the +old shepherd. + +But by degrees his fears grew less, for Yégof and his dismal followers +were getting farther and farther away from him, and gradually +retreating towards Hazlach. + +The raven, in his turn, unfurled his wings, and took his flight through +the pale vault of heaven. + +The whole scene vanished like a dream! + +Robin heard for a long time after the howlings of the retreating +wolves. They had completely ceased for more than twenty minutes, and +not a sound broke the deep silence of the winter night, when the worthy +man felt himself sufficiently recovered from his fright to come out of +his hiding-place, and take his way back at full speed to the farm. + +On arriving at Bois-de-Chênes, he found everybody up and stirring. +They were going to kill an ox for the troops from the Donon. Hullin, +Doctor Lorquin, and Louise were already gone with the men from the +Sarre. Catherine Lefévre was busy, having her great waggon, with four +horses, loaded with bread, meat, and brandy. People were coming and +going in all directions, and all eagerly lending a helping hand in the +preparations. + +Robin had no opportunity of relating to anyone all that he had seen and +heard. Besides, it seemed to himself so incredible that he really dared +not open his mouth about it. + +When he had retired to rest in his crib in the middle of the stable, +he said to himself that no doubt Yégof had, during the winter, tamed a +litter of young wolves, and that he babbled his folly to them in the +same way that one talks sometimes to one's dog. + +But, for all that, this strange encounter left a superstitious dread +upon his mind, and even when he had arrived at a great age, the good +old man never spoke of it without shuddering. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + + +All was accomplished that Hullin had commanded: the defiles of the +Zorne, and of the Sarre, were strongly defended; that of the Blanru, +the extreme of the position, had been put in a state of defence by +Jean-Claude himself and the three hundred men who formed his principal +force. + +It is thither, on the eastern acclivity of the Donon, two _kilometres'_ +distance from Grandfontaine, that we must transport ourselves to await +the coming of events. + +Above the high road which intersects the mountain two-thirds of the +way up, was at that time to be observed a farm surrounded by a few +acres of cultivated land, the homestead of Pelsly, the Anabaptist, +a large building with a flat roof such as was needed to avoid being +carried away by the strong gusts of wind. The back part, extending in +the direction of the mountain top, was appropriated to the stables and +pigsties. + +The confederates were encamped all around. At their feet lay +Grandfontaine and Framont, confined within a narrow gorge; farther off, +at the turning of the valley, Schirmeck, and its old pile of feudal +ruins; and in the greatest distance of all, the Bruche disappearing +in zig-zag in the vapourish mists of Alsace. To their left rose +the barren summit of the Donon, thickly strewn with rocks and some +stubbly firs; while before them was the snow-covered road, with huge +trees unstripped of their branches thrown across it. The melting snow +suffered the yellow pasture land to appear from time to time; at others +it formed large waves tossed to and fro by the fierce north wind. + +The prospect was at once awful and sublime. Not a pedestrian, not a +vehicle appeared on the road which winds through the valley till it +gradually disappears in the distance: the whole place seemed like a +desert. + +The few fires scattered round about the farm, sending their puffs of +dense smoke up to the sky, alone indicated the position of the camp. +The mountaineers seated round the fires over which their food was +cooking, their broad-brimmed hats pushed back on their heads, their +guns slung on their shoulders, were quite sad and desponding: for three +days they had been on the look-out. + +In one of these groups, with crossed legs, rounded back, and pipe in +mouth, were old Materne and his two sons. + +From time to time Louise would appear at the door of the farm, then +re-enter very quickly and set to work again. A large cock, scratching +on the dunghill, was crowing with a hoarse voice; two or three fowls +were strutting up and down among the bushes. All this was pleasant to +behold; but what chiefly rejoiced the volunteers was to contemplate the +magnificent sides of bacon, of a beautiful red and white, so temptingly +blended, hanging before the fire on spits of green wood, and yielding +their luscious fat drop by drop on the embers, and to go and fill +their drinking-cups at a little barrel of brandy placed on Catherine +Lefévre's cart. + +About eight o'clock in the morning, a man suddenly made his appearance +between the Great and Little Donon; the sentinels immediately observed +him; he descended the pathway, waving his hat. In a few minutes they +recognised Nickel Bentz, the old forest ranger of the Houpe. + +The whole camp was astir; some one ran to inform Hullin, who had been +sleeping for an hour in the homestead on a large mattrass, side by side +with Doctor Lorquin and his dog Pluto. + +They all three came out, accompanied by the old shepherd, Lagarmitte, +whom they had named the trumpeter, and the Anabaptist Pelsly, a grave +and sedate man, his arms plunged to the elbows in his tunic of hodden +grey with brass hooks, a broad fringe of beard encircling his massive +jaws, and the tassel of his cotton cap hanging halfway down his back. + +Jean-Claude appeared delighted. "Well, Nickel, what's going on down +below there?" he exclaimed. + +"So far nothing new Master Jean-Claude; only on the Phalsbourg side +there is a rumbling like a storm. Labarbe says it is cannon, for all +night long flashes like lightning were seen passing over the forest +of Hilde-house, and since this morning grey clouds have hung over the +plain." + +"The town is attacked," said Hullin; "but what news from Lutzelstein?" + +"Nothing," replied Bentz. + +"Then that is because the enemy will attempt to turn the place. In any +case, the Allies are in the neighbourhood. There must be a terrible +number of them in Alsace." + +Then turning towards Materne, who was standing behind, "We cannot +remain any longer in uncertainty," said he; "you must depart with your +two sons to reconnoitre." + +The old huntsman's countenance brightened. + +"All right! I shall be able then to stretch my legs a little," said he, +"and try to bring down one of those Cossacks." + +"One moment, old boy. You have nothing to do with bringing down anyone; +all you have to do is to keep a look-out and see what is going on. +Frantz and Kasper can remain armed; but for you, I know you, and +you must leave your carbine here, as well as your powder-flask and +hunting-knife." + +"What for?" + +"Why, because you will have to go into the villages, and if you were +taken armed, you would be shot on the spot." + +"Shot?" + +"Not a doubt of it. We are not regular troops; they do not take us +prisoners, they shoot us. So you will proceed on your way to Schirmeck, +with a stick in your hand, and your sons will accompany you and keep +at a distance under shelter of the hedges, and within gun-shot. If any +marauders attack you, they will come to your assistance, but if it is a +column or a squadron, they will let you be taken." + +"They will let me be taken!" indignantly exclaimed the old huntsman; "I +should like to see that." + +"Yes, Materne; and it will be the best way, for an unarmed man they +will let go; an armed man they will shoot." + +"Ah! I see, I see. Yes, yes, that's not a bad thought; I never thought +to part from my carbine, Jean-Claude, but in war time we must obey +orders; there, there is my gun, and my flask, and my knife. Who will +lend me his blouse and stick?" + +Nickel Bentz handed him his blue smock-frock and felt hat. + +When they had changed clothes, any one might have taken the old +huntsman, in spite of his thick, gray moustaches, for a simple peasant +of the mountains. + +His two boys, quite proud of belonging to this first expedition, +examined the priming of their carbines, each with its bayonet used for +hunting the wild boar straight and long as a sword. They felt the edge +of their hunting-knives, threw their game-bags across their shoulders, +and assured themselves that everything was in good order, casting +flashing looks around them. + +"Ha, ha!" said Doctor Lorquin, with a smile, "don't forget the advice +of Master Jean-Claude. Prudence! A German more or less among a hundred +thousand would not make much difference, whilst if either of you came +back to us out of marching order, we should find it difficult to +replace you." + +"Oh! fear nothing, doctor; we shall keep our eyes open." + +"My boys," replied Materne, formally, "are true hunters: they know how +to wait, and take advantage of the right moment. They will not fire +unless I call." + +"Good luck to you!" shouted Hullin after them, as they ascended the +snowy sides of the mountain, to avoid the felled trees. After a +quarter of an hour's walking, they turned round by the fir forest, and +were out of sight. + +Then Hullin quietly returned to the farm, talking as he went with +Nickel Bentz. + +Doctor Lorquin walked behind, closely followed by Pluto, and all the +others went back to their places around the camp-fires. + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + + +Materne and his two sons walked on for a long time in silence; the +weather had set in fine; the pale wintry sun shone on the dazzlingly +white snow without melting it. The ground still remained firm and hard. +At a distance, in the valley, were outlined, with surprising clearness, +the branches of the fir trees, the reddish peaks of the rocks, the +roofs of the cottages, with the icicles hanging from the eaves, their +little glittering window-panes, and their pointed gables. + +People were walking in the street of Grandfontaine; a group of young +girls were standing round the fountain, and some old men in cotton +night-caps were smoking their pipes at the doors of their cottages. All +this miniature world beneath the blue vault of heaven went and came and +lived without a breath or a sigh reaching the ears of the foresters. + +The old huntsman halted at the outskirts of the wood, and said to his +sons:--"I shall go down into the village, and see Dubreuil, who keeps +the 'Fir Apple.'" + +He pointed with his stick to a long white building, the windows and +doors surrounded by a yellow border, and a branch of pine suspended +from the wall by way of a sign. + +"You will await me here; if there is no danger I will come out on the +door-step, and raise my hat; you can then come and take a glass of wine +with me." + +He immediately descended the snow-covered mountain side, which took him +full ten minutes, then made his way between two furrows, reached the +meadow, crossed the village square; and his two sons, gun in hand, saw +him enter the inn. A few moments after, he re-appeared at the door, and +raised his hat, to their great delight. + +In another quarter of an hour, they had rejoined their father in the +large keeping-room of the "Fir Apple," a low apartment, heated by a +large copper furnace, with a sanded floor, and long deal tables running +down the centre of it. + +When Materne entered, there was no one there but the innkeeper, +Dubreuil, the fattest and most apoplectic of the publicans of the +Vosges, with a big belly, round, goggle eyes, flat nose, a wart on his +right cheek, and his triple chin falling in folds over his turned-down +collar. With the exception of this curious personage, sitting in a +large leathern arm-chair near the furnace, Materne was alone. He had +just filled the glasses, the old clock was striking nine, and its +wooden cock was flapping its wing with a curious, creaking sound. + +"Your health, Father Dubreuil," said the two lads in a rough voice. + +"Good day, brave boys, good day!" replied the innkeeper, forcing a +smile. Then, in an oily voice, he demanded, "Is there nothing new?" + +"Truly, no," replied Jasper; "this is winter, the time for hunting the +wild boar." + +Then, both of them depositing their carbines in the angle of the +window, within reach in case of a surprise, passed a leg across the +bench, and seated themselves opposite their father, who was at the +upper end of the table. At the same time they drank, saying, "To our +health!" which they were always careful to do. + +"So, then," said Materne, turning towards the fat man, as if to resume +the course of an interrupted conversation, "you think, Father Dubreuil, +that we shall have nothing to fear in the Baronies, and that we may +quietly continue to hunt the wild boar?" + +"Ah! as to that, I can't say anything," exclaimed the innkeeper; "only +at present the Allies have not yet passed Mutzig. And, besides, they +are doing no harm to any one; they receive every one kindly, and with +good will, who will take up arms against the Usurper." + +"The Usurper! and who is he?" + +"Who? Why, Napoleon Bonaparte is the Usurper, to be sure. Just cast +your eyes on that wall opposite." + +He pointed to a large paper placard, posted on the wall, close to the +clock. + +"Look at that, and you will see that the Austrians are our true +friends." + +Old Materne frowned till his eyebrows met; but immediately repressing +any outward sign of emotion, he merely said, "Ah, bah!" + +"Yes, just read that." + +"But I do not know how to read, M. Dubreuil, nor my boys either. Just +explain the thing to us yourself." + +Then the old innkeeper, leaning his two great red hands on the arms of +his chair, rose, panting and puffing like an ox, and placed himself +before the placard, with his arms akimbo, while, with a pompous tone, +he read a proclamation from the Allied Sovereigns, declaring that they +were making war against Napoleon personally, and not against France; +in consequence of which every one was to remain quiet, and not to +interfere in the matter, under pain of being burnt, pillaged, and shot. + +The three hunters heard all this, and regarded each other with a +strange look. + +When Dubreuil had finished, he went back to his seat, and said, "You +see now!" + +"And where did you get that from?" asked Kasper. + +"Why, my lad, it's posted up everywhere." + +"Well, we are glad of it," said Materne, laying his hand on the arm of +Frantz, who was rising, with flashing eyes. "You want a light, Frantz? +Here is my match-box." + +Frantz sat down again, and the old man placidly resumed--"So our good +friends, the Germans, will not harm anyone?" + +"All peaceable persons have nothing to fear; but those miscreants who +rise in rebellion will have everything taken from them, which is but +just, for it is not right that the good should suffer for the wicked. +You yourselves, for instance, instead of harm being done to you, you +would be received with welcome in the service of the allied armies. +You know the country; you would be useful as guides, and you would be +liberally paid." + +There was a moment's silence; the three huntsmen looked at each other +again; the father had spread his hands upon the table, quite wide open, +as if to urge his sons to be calm. Yet he himself had turned very pale. + +The innkeeper, who saw nothing of all this, continued--"You would, +indeed, have much more to fear in the woods of the Baronies from +those robbers of Dagsburg, La Sarre, and the Blanru, who have risen in +revolt, and would like to renew the struggle of '93." + +"Are you quite sure of that?" asked Materne, making a violent effort +over himself. + +"Am I sure of it? You need only look out of the window to answer that +question; you will see them on the road from the Donon. They have +surprised the Anabaptist, Pelsly; they have bound him to the foot of +his bed; they are pillaging, stealing, pulling up the roads; but let +them beware. A few days hence they will see some strange things. It is +not with thousands of men that they will be attacked, but with tens of +thousands, with _millions_ of thousands. They will be all hanged!" + +Materne rose. "It is time to be thinking of returning," said he, in a +short, dry tone. "By two o'clock we must be back in the woods, where we +can chatter away like magpies. Good day to you, Father Dubreuil." + +They went out hastily, no longer able to restrain themselves for rage. + +"Reflect well on what I have said to you," the innkeeper called out +after them from his great arm-chair. + +Once outside, Materne said, while his lips trembled with fury--"If I +had not left that man, I should have broken the bottle about his head." + +"And I," said Frantz, "could hardly help running my bayonet into his +fat paunch." + +Kasper, with one foot on the step, seemed longing to return. As he +clutched the handle of his hunting-knife, his countenance wore a +terrible expression. But the old man took him by the arm, and drew him +away, saying: + +"Come away; we shall find another time to repay him for all this. +Advise me--me--Materne--to betray my country! Hullin did well to tell +us to be on our guard: he was right." + +They then descended the street, casting such angry looks to the +right and left as they passed, that people said inquiringly to each +other--"Why, what can be the matter with them?" + +As they reached the end of the village, opposite the Old Cross, quite +close to the Church, they stopped, and Materne, in a calmer tone, +showing them the path that winds round by Phramond, through the woods, +said to his sons: + +"You take that road. For my part, I shall follow this as far as +Schirmeck. I shall not go too quickly, to allow you time to come up +with me." + +They separated, and the old huntsman in a pensive mood, and with head +bowed down, walked on for a long time, asking himself by what inward +power he had been able to prevent himself from breaking the head of +the fat innkeeper. He answered that it was, no doubt, from the fear of +compromising his sons. All the while musing on these things, Materne +met, from time to time, flocks of oxen, sheep, and goats that were +being driven into the mountains. There were some coming from Wisch, +from Urmatt, and even from Mutzig. The poor beasts seemed ready to drop +with fatigue. + +"Where the deuce are you going in such a hurry?" cried the old huntsman +to the dismal-looking shepherds; "have you no confidence, then, in the +proclamation of the Russians and Austrians, you fellows?" + +To which these gloomily replied, "Ah! it's all very well for you to +laugh. Proclamations, indeed! We know what they are worth now. We are +pillaged of all, robbed of everything; forced contributions are got out +of us, and our horses, cows, oxen, and even our vehicles carried off." + +"Stop! stop! stop! it can't be. What you tell me," said Materne, "quite +bewilders me! What, people so brave, so friendly, the saviours of +France! I can't believe it. Such a handsome proclamation." + +"Well, then, come down to Alsace, and you will see. Seeing's believing, +they say." + +The poor fellows went on their way, shaking their heads with an air of +profound indignation, while he laughed in his sleeve. + +The farther Materne continued his route, the greater grew the number of +the flocks of cattle; not only were there troops of these, lowing and +bleating, but flocks of geese were to be seen as far as the eye could +reach, screaming and cackling, dragging themselves along the ground, +with flapping wings, and feet half-frozen with the cold. It was a +pitiable sight! + +As he drew near to Schirmeck, it was much worse still; people were +flying in crowds, with their large vehicles loaded with barrels, smoked +meats, furniture, women, and children, lashing the horses enough to +kill them on the spot, as they kept repeating, in doleful tones: "We +are lost! the Cossacks are coming!" + +This cry, "The Cossacks! the Cossacks!" flew from one end of the road +to the other like a whirlwind; women turned round, gaping-mouthed, with +fear and wonder, and children stood upright in the carts and vehicles +to see as far off as they could. Never was anything seen like it; and +Materne felt indignant, and blushed for the terror of these people, who +might have defended themselves, but for their selfishness and desire to +save their property, which drove them to an unworthy flight. + +At a branch of the road just by Schirmeck, Kasper and Frantz rejoined +their father; and they all three entered the "Golden Keg" tavern, kept +by the widow Faltaux, to the right of the road. + +The poor woman and her two daughters were watching from a window the +great migration, with tearful eyes and clasped hands. + +In truth, the tumult increased from second to second. The cattle, the +carriages, and the people, seemed to want to pass out over each other's +backs; they seemed to have gone out of their minds, and were shouting, +and even striking at each other in their mad desire to escape. + +Materne pushed open the door, and, seeing the women more dead than +alive, pale and dishevelled, he exclaimed, striking his stick on the +ground--"What! Mother Faltaux! are you, too, out of your senses? What! +you, who ought to set a good example to your daughters, have you lost +all presence of mind; it's too bad!" + +Then the old woman, turning round, replied, in a doleful voice--"Ah, my +poor Materne! if you did but know--if you did but know!" + +"Well, what? the enemy is here; he will not eat you." + +"No, but they are swallowing up everything without mercy. Old Ursule, +of Schlestadt, who arrived here yesterday evening, says that the +Austrians will have nothing but _knoépfe_ and _noudels_, the Russians +_schnaps_, and the Bavarians _sour-krout_. And when they've stuffed +themselves with all that up to their very throats, they keep still +calling out, with their mouths full: '_schokolate! schokolate!_' My +God! my God! how shall we feed all these people?" + +"I well know that it is very difficult," replied the old huntsman. "You +can never give a jackdaw enough cheese; but, in the first place, where +are these Cossacks, these Bavarians, and these Austrians? All the way +from Grandfontaine we have not met a single one." + +"They are in Alsace, round about Urmatt, and they are coming here." + +"Well, in the meanwhile," said Kasper, "be so obliging as to serve us +with a jug of wine; here is a crown piece; you can hide it easier than +your barrels." + +One of the girls went down into the cellar, and just at that moment +several other people came in--an almanack-seller from the Strasbourg +side, a waggoner in his smock-frock from Sarrebrück, and two or three +of the inhabitants of Mutzig, of Hirsch, and of Schirmeck, who were +escaping with their flocks and herds, and had hardly strength left to +speak. + +They all seated themselves at the same table, facing the window which +commanded a view of the road; wine was brought them, and each one began +to relate all that he knew. One said that the Allies were so numerous +that they were obliged at night time to lie down to rest side by side +in the valley of Hirschenthal, and so full of vermin, that after +their departure the dead leaves walked about all alone in the woods. +Another, that the Cossacks had set fire to a village in Alsace, because +they had been refused candles for dessert after their dinner; that +certain of them, especially the Calmucks, ate soap like cheese, and +bacon-rind like cake; that a great number drank brandy by the pint, +after having taken care to put handfuls of pepper in it; that you must +hide everything from them, for they found everything that came in their +way good to eat and drink. On this, the waggoner related how that, +three days since, a division of the Russian army having passed in the +night under the cannon of Bitsch, it had been obliged to station itself +for more than an hour on the ice in the little village of Rorbach; and +that this whole division had drunk out of a warming-pan which had been +left out by mistake on the window-sill of an old woman of eighty; that +this race of savages broke the ice to bathe, and then went into brick +ovens to dry themselves; in short, that they were afraid of nothing but +corporal _schlague_! + +These good people related such singular things to each other--things +which they declared they had seen with their own eyes, or heard from +the best authority--that it was scarcely possible to believe them. + +Out of doors, the uproar, the rumbling of carts, the bellowing of +the cattle, the shouts of the drovers, and clamour of the fugitives +in general, continued as loud as ever, and produced the effect of an +immense and universal boom. Towards noon, Materne and his sons were +just going to set off, when a shout, greater and more prolonged than +the others, was heard: "The Cossacks! the Cossacks!" + +Then every one rushed out except our mountaineers, who contented +themselves with opening a window and looking out. Everybody fled across +the fields; men, 'ocks, vehicles, all dispersed like leaves before the +winds of autumn. + +In less than two minutes the road was clear, except in Schirmeck, where +such uproar and confusion reigned that you could not take four steps +for the crowd. + +Materne, looking far down the road, exclaimed, "It's no good my +looking, for I can see nothing." + +"Nor I, either," replied Kasper. + +"Ah! I see, I see!" pursued the old huntsman, "that the terror of all +these people gives the enemy greater power than they really possess. It +is not thus that we will receive the Cossacks in the mountain, as they +shall find to their cost!" + +Then shrugging his shoulders with an expression of contempt: "Fear is a +villanous thing," said he; "for, after all, we have but a poor life to +lose. Come, let us be going." + +On quitting the tavern, the old man having taken the road that lay +through the valley to ascend the summit of the Hirschberg, his sons +followed him. They soon reached the outskirts of the wood. Materne then +said that they must climb to the greatest possible height, in order to +discover the plain, and bring back positive news to the camp, for that +all the reports of those fugitives were not worth the testimony of a +single eye-witness. + +Kasper and Frantz agreed with him, and they all three began to +scale the side of the mountain, which in this part formed a sort of +promontory overlooking the plain. + +When they had reached the summit, they saw distinctly the position of +the enemy, about three leagues off, between Urmatt and Lutzelhouse; +they looked like great black lines upon the snow; farther off were to +be seen some dark masses, no doubt the artillery and the baggage. Other +masses were to be discerned round about the villages, and, in spite of +the distance, the glitter of bayonets announced that a column had just +set out on the march for Visch. + +Having contemplated this picture for a long time with a thoughtful eye, +the old man said: "We have down there a good thirty thousand men under +our very eyes. They are advancing on our side; we shall be attacked +to-morrow, or the day after, at the very latest. This will be no +trifling affair, my lads; but if they've the advantage of numbers, we +have in position; and then it's always best to fire on a mass; there's +sure to be no balls lost." + +Having made these judicious reflections, he looked up to observe at +what height the sun was, and added: "It is now two o'clock; we know all +we want to know. Let us return to the camp." + +The two lads swung their carbines over their shoulders, and leaving +on their left the valley of the Brocque, Schirmeck, and Framont, they +ascended the steep acclivity of the Hengsbach, overlooked at two +leagues' distance by the Little Donon. They re-descended on the other +side without following any footpath through the snow, only tracing +their course over the mountain tops as the shortest way to reach their +journey's end. + +They had proceeded thus for about two hours; the winter sun was sinking +in the horizon; night was approaching; night, but bright and calm. They +had now only to descend, and remount, on the other side, the solitary +gorge of the Reil, forming a large circular basin in the midst of the +woods, and enclosing a little dark pool, where the wild roe sometimes +came to slake their thirst. + +All at once, as they were striding along, thinking of nothing in +particular, the old man, suddenly stopping behind a curtain of shrubs, +said, "Hush!" + +And raising his hand, he pointed to the little lake, then covered +with a thin and transparent coating of ice. His two boys had only to +glance in that direction to witness the strangest sight. About twenty +Cossacks, with rough yellow beards, their heads covered with old +seal-skin caps, shaped like the funnel of a stove, their lean forms +clad in long tatters, their feet in stirrups made of old cords, were +sitting on their little horses with long floating manes, thin tails, +the crupper spotted with yellow, white, and black, like goats. Some +had for sole weapon a long lance, others a sabre, others a hatchet +suspended by a cord to the saddle, and a large holster pistol attached +to their belt. Several, with upturned faces, were looking delightedly +and admiringly at the dark green tops of the fir trees, reaching one +above the other till finally lost in the clouds. One tall, bony fellow +was breaking the ice with the thick end of his lance, while his little +horse drank, with outstretched neck and long mane falling beardwise +down each cheek. Some among them, having alighted, were clearing away +the snow, and pointing to the wood, no doubt to indicate that it was +a good place for encamping. Their comrades, still on horseback, were +talking together, and showing on their right the bottom of the valley, +lying low like a gap as far as the Grinderwald. + +In short, it was a halt, and it would be impossible to describe the +strange and picturesque appearance which these beings from far-off +lands, with their bronzed countenances, long beards, black eyes, low +foreheads, flat noses, tattered grey coats, presented on the borders +of that still lake, and under those steep rocks, with their tall +fir-crowned summits reaching to the skies. + +It seemed like a glimpse of another and a different world to them, +a species of unknown, curious, and strange game, that the three red +huntsmen began to gaze upon at first with a singular curiosity. But +that over, at the end of five minutes, Kasper and Frantz fixed their +long bayonets at the end of their carbines, then stepped stealthily +about twenty paces backwards into the covert. They reached a rock of +fifteen to twenty feet high, which Materne ascended, being unarmed; +then, after a few words, exchanged in a low voice, Kasper examined his +priming, and slowly took aim, while his brother stood close at hand. + +One of the Cossacks, the same who was letting his horse drink, was +about a hundred paces off. As Kasper's shot awoke the deep echoes of +the gorge, the Cossack, rolling over the head of his steed, disappeared +beneath the ice of the lake. It is impossible to describe the stupefied +surprise of his comrades when they heard the shot and witnessed its +effect. They stared about them in every direction as the echo gradually +died away, while a thick puff of smoke appeared above the cluster of +trees where the huntsmen were. + +Kasper, in less than a quarter of a minute, had re-loaded his gun; but, +in the same space of time, the Cossacks, who had alighted, leapt upon +their horses, and set off at full speed in the direction of the Hartz, +following one behind the other like roebucks, and shouting wildly, +"Hurrah! hurrah!" + +This flight seemed like a vision, for just as Kasper was taking aim +for the second time, the tail of the last horse disappeared among the +bushes. + +The horse of the dead Cossack was left alone standing by the water, +held there by a strange circumstance--his master, plunged headlong in +the mud to the waist, had still his foot in the stirrup. + +Materne, perched upon his rock, listened and then joyfully exclaimed: +"They are gone! Well, let us go and see. Frantz, remain here; if some +of them should return." + +But in spite of this wise counsel, they all three came down to the +horse; Materne immediately seized the bridle, saying, "Well, old +fellow, we'll teach you to speak French." + +"Come along, then," exclaimed Kasper. + +"No; we must see what we have brought down. Look you, this will +encourage the others; dogs are never well broke in till they have +scented the game." + +They then fished the dead Cossack out of the pond, and having thrown +him across the horse, they began to climb the side of the Donon by a +footpath so steep that Materne kept repeating, a hundred times over, +"The horse will never be able to pass this way." + +But the horse, lean and agile as a mountain goat, passed more easily +than they, which led the old huntsman to say at length: "These Cossacks +have famous horses. When I grow quite old, I shall keep this one to go +hunting with. We've got a famous horse, boys; he looks like a cow, but +he's got the strength of a dray-horse." + +Occasionally, too, he made reflections on the Cossack: "What a droll +face, eh? a round nose, and a forehead like a cheese-box. There are, +for certain, some strange fellows in the world! You took good aim at +him, Kasper; hit him just in the middle of the chest; and see, the ball +has come out at the back. Famous powder; Divès always keeps capital +stuff." + +About six o'clock they heard the first challenge of their sentinels: +"Who goes there?" + +"France!" replied Materne, advancing. + +Everybody ran to meet them, exclaiming, "Here is Materne!" + +Hullin himself, as curious as the rest, could not help running up with +Doctor Lorquin. The men were already crowding round the horse, staring +at him in open-mouthed wonder, by the side of a large fire where their +supper was cooking. + +"It is a Cossack," said Hullin, pressing the hand of Materne. + +"Yes, Jean-Claude; we caught him just by the lake of the Riel: it was +Kasper who shot him." + +They placed the corpse near the fire, the bright flickering rays of +which reflected fantastic shadows on his countenance, of a dingy yellow. + +Doctor Lorquin, having looked at him, said, "It is a fine specimen +of the Tartar race; if I had time, I would scald him in a bath of +quicklime to procure a skeleton of the tribe." Then, kneeling beside +him, and opening his long grey riding-coat, "The ball has traversed +the pericardium," said he; "which produces very nearly the effect of +aneurism of the heart." + +The others were silent. + +Kasper stood leaning on his gun, and seemingly quite satisfied with +his game; while old Materne, rubbing his hands, said, "I was sure +I should bring you back something; my boys and I never come back +empty-handed. And there it is!" + +Hullin then drawing him apart, they entered the farm together, whilst, +after the first moment of surprise, every one began to make his own +personal reflections on the Cossack. + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + + +That same night, which happened to fall on a Saturday, the little farm +of the Anabaptist never ceased for a moment to be full of people coming +and going. + +Hullin had established his head-quarters in the large room on the +ground floor, to the right of the barn, facing Framont; on the other +side was the temporary hospital for the sick and wounded; the part +overhead was inhabited by the people belonging to the farm. + +Although the night was very calm, and innumerable stars twinkled in +the clear sky, the cold was so intense that the ice was nearly an inch +thick on the window panes. + +Out of doors was heard the challenge of the sentinels going their +rounds, and on the neighbouring mountain-tops the howlings of the +wolves, who had followed our armies by hundreds since 1812. These +carnivorous animals, crouching in the snow, their sharp muzzles between +their paws, and hunger gnawing their vitals, called to each other from +the Grosmann to the Donon with plaintive moans resembling those of the +keen north wind. + +Then more than one mountaineer felt himself turn pale. + +"It is death that sings," thought they; "it scents the battle, and +calls to us!" + +The oxen lowed in the stable, and the horses stamped and plunged +furiously. About thirty fires were burning around; the Anabaptist's +wood-house was ravaged; log was heaped upon log, they roasted their +faces, while they shivered at the back; they warmed their backs, and +icicles hung from their moustaches. + +Hullin alone, sitting at the large deal table, thought of everything. +After the latest reports of the evening, announcing the arrival of +the Cossacks at Framont, he was convinced that the first attack would +take place on the morrow. He had distributed the cartridges, he had +doubled the sentinels, ordered the patrols, and allotted all the posts +the whole length of the defences. Every one knew beforehand the place +he was to occupy. Hullin had also sent word to Piorette, to Jerôme of +Saint-Quirin, and to Labarbe to despatch to him their best marksmen. + +The little dark passage, lit only by a solitary lantern, was full of +snow, and every moment by its dull light were seen passing the leaders +of the ambuscade, their hats pulled down to their ears, the large +sleeves of their riding coats drawn down to their wrists, with gloomy +looks, and their beards stiff with the frost. + +Pluto no longer growled at the heavy footsteps of these men. Hullin, +plunged in thought, sat with his head between his hands, his elbows on +the table, listening to all the reports: + +"Master Jean-Claude, there is something moving to be seen in the +direction of Grandfontaine; there is a sound like the trampling of +horses." + +"Master Jean-Claude, the brandy is frozen." + +"Master Jean-Claude, there are numbers asking for powder." + +"We want this--and that." + +"Let them keep a good look out upon Grandfontaine, and change the +sentinels on that side every half-hour. Bring the brandy to the fire. +Wait till Divès comes; he will bring a fresh supply of ammunition. +Distribute the rest of the cartridges, and let those who have more than +twenty give some to their comrades." + +And this was how it went on all night long. + +About five in the morning, Kasper, Materne's son, came to tell Hullin +that Marc Divès, with a cartload of cartridges, Catherine Lefévre +in another vehicle, and a detachment from Labarbe, had just arrived +together, and that they were there awaiting him. + +This news pleased him greatly, especially on account of the cartridges, +for he had feared the want of them might cause delay. + +He rose immediately and went out with Kasper. It was a strange and +singular spectacle that met his eye. + +At daybreak, masses of thick fog were beginning to rise from the +valley, the fires were crackling and sparkling in the mist, and people +were lying sleeping about in every direction; here lay one, his hands +clasped under his head, his face purple with cold, his legs bent +under him; there another, with his cheek on his arm, and his back to +the blazing fire; the greater part were sitting, their heads hanging +down, and guns slung over their shoulders--a still and silent picture, +revealed either in a flood of crimson light, or half hidden in the grey +tinge of morning, according as the fire burnt high or low. Farther off, +in the distance, the profiles of the sentinels were sharply outlined +against the pale sky, as they stood resting on their guns, looking +down on the cloud-covered abyss below. To the right, at about fifty +paces from the last fire, was heard the neighing of horses, and people +stamping with their feet to warm themselves, and talking loud. + +"Here is Master Jean-Claude," said Kasper, advancing. + +One of the men having thrown some splinters of dry wood on to the +fire, there was a blaze, and by its light were seen Marc Divès's men +on horseback, a dozen strapping fellows wrapped in their long grey +cloaks, their broad-brimmed hats pushed back on to their shoulders, +their thick moustaches either turned up, or falling down to their very +necks, grouped motionless around the baggage waggon; a little farther +on was Catherine Lefévre, crouching among the packages in her cart, her +feet buried in the straw, her back against a large barrel; behind her +was a cauldron, a gridiron, a pig fresh killed, scalded, white and red, +some ropes of onions, and heads of cabbages to make soup; all this was +revealed for an instant in the shadow, and then fell back again into +darkness. + +Divès was a little apart from the convoy, and now rode forward on his +great horse. "Is that you, Jean-Claude?" + +"Yes, Marc." + +"I've some thousand cartridges here. Hexe-Baizel works day and night." + +"Good! Good!" + +"Yes, old boy. And Catherine Lefévre is bringing provisions, too; she +killed yesterday. Where shall we put the powder?" + +"Down below there; under the cart-shed, behind the farm. Ah! is that +you, Catherine?" + +"Yes, Jean-Claude. It is pretty cold this morning." + +"You are always the same, then; you are afraid of nothing!" + +"Why, should I be a woman if I were not curious? I must poke my nose +into everything." + +"Yes, you have always excuses to make for whatever you do that is good +and right." + +"Hullin, you are a babbler; have done with your compliments! Must not +those people there have something to eat? Can they live on air through +the winter? The open air is not very nourishing in such cold weather as +this, when it's just like needles and razors! So I took my measures. +Yesterday we slaughtered an ox--you know poor Schwartz--he weighed a +good nine hundred weight. I've brought his hind-quarters with me to +make soup this morning." + +"Catherine, I shall never come to know you," cried Jean-Claude, quite +touched; "you always surprise me. Nothing is too much for you; neither +money, nor pains, nor trouble." + +"Ah!" replied the old woman, rising and jumping out of her cart, "do +stop; you bother me, Hullin. I will warm myself." + +She threw her horse's reins to Dubourg; then turning, said:--"Anyhow, +Jean-Claude, those fires are delightful to look at. But Louise, where +is she?" + +"Louise has passed the night in cutting out and sewing bandages, with +Pelsly's two daughters. She is at the hospital, down below there, where +my light is shining." + +"Poor child!" said Catherine, "I will run and help her, that will warm +me." + +At this moment, Divès and his men were taking the powder to the +cart-house, and as Jean-Claude approached the nearest fire, what was +not his surprise to see among those surrounding it, the fool Yégof, +with his crown on his head, gravely seated on a stone, his feet on +the embers, and with his rags draped around him like a royal mantle. +Nothing more singular can be imagined than the appearance of this +strange figure in the firelight. Yégof was the only one of the number +who was awake, and he might really have been taken for some barbarous +king, musing in the midst of his sleeping horde of savages. + +Hullin, for his part, saw only a fool, and gently touching his +shoulder: "How are you, Yégof?" said he, in an ironical tone; "you +have come, then, to lend the succour of your invincible arm, and your +innumerable armies!" + +The fool, without betraying the least surprise, replied: "That depends +upon you, Hullin; your own fate, with every one else's, is in your +hands. Here are we, just as we were sixteen hundred years ago, on the +eve of a great battle. Then I, the leader of so many peoples, I came to +your khan to demand the passage." + +"Sixteen hundred years ago!" said Hullin; "what the deuce, Yégof, that +makes us terribly old! But, after all, what does it matter? Every one +has his own notion of things." + +"Yes," replied the fool, "but, with your usual obstinacy, you would not +listen to anything. The dead lay in heaps on the Blutfeld, and those +dead cry aloud for vengeance!" + +"Ah! the Blutfeld," said Jean-Claude; "yes, yes, it's an old story; I +think I've heard tell of it." + +Yégof's brow grew crimson; his eyes flashed fire. "You boast of your +victory!" he exclaimed, "but take care, take care: blood calls for +blood." Then, in a gentler tone: "Listen," added he, "I wish you no +ill: you are brave; the children of your race may mingle with those of +mine." + +"Ah! now he is coming back again to Louise," thought Jean-Claude; and, +anticipating a formal demand: "Yégof," said he, "I am sorry, but I must +leave you; I have so many things to see to----" + +The fool did not wait the end of this leave-taking, and rising with his +face convulsed with rage: "You refuse me your daughter!" he exclaimed, +pointing upwards with a solemn air. "And it is for the third time! +Beware! Beware!" + +Hullin, despairing of making him listen to reason, hastily withdrew; +but the fool, in furious accents, addressed to him as he went these +strange words: + +"Huldrix, woe to thee! Thy last hour is near. Wolves will feast again +upon thy flesh. All is over. I let loose upon thee the tempests of my +rage. For thee and thine let there be neither grace, nor pity, nor +mercy. Thou hast willed it so." And, throwing a portion of his ragged +robe over his left shoulder, he strode rapidly away towards the summit +of the Donon. + +Several of the mountaineers, half awakened by his cries, watched him +with a dull eye as his retreating form disappeared in the darkness; +they heard a sound like the flapping of wings; then, as in the vision +of a dream, they turned round, and went to sleep again. + +About an hour after, Lagarmitte's horn sounded the _reveille_. In a few +seconds, every one was up and stirring. + +The leaders of the ambuscade assembled their men. Some proceeded +towards the cart-house, and distributed the cartridges; while others +filled their flasks with brandy from the barrel. All this was done +with the utmost order; then each division repaired, with its leader at +its head, in the early twilight, towards the barricades on the mountain +side. + +When the sun appeared, all round the farm was silent and deserted, and +with the exception of five or six fires, which were still smoking, +there was nothing to announce that the volunteers occupied every point +of the mountain, and that they had passed the night in that spot. +Hullin then took a snack, and drank a glass of wine with his friends, +Doctor Lorquin and the Anabaptist, Pelsly. Lagarmitte was with them, +for he was to remain with Jean-Claude all the day, and transmit his +orders in case of need. + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + + +Seven o'clock, and yet not the slightest movement was perceptible in +the valley. From time to time Doctor Lorquin would throw up the sash of +a window in the house-room, and look out; there was nothing stirring; +the fires were out; all was still and silent. + +Opposite the farm, about a hundred paces off, on a sloping wall, lay +the Cossack shot the evening before by Kasper; he was white as snow, +and hard as a flint. + +Within doors, a large fire was burning brightly in the stove. Louise +was sitting beside her father, and regarding him with a look of +ineffable sweetness; it seemed as if she feared she might never see him +again; her red eyes betrayed that she had just been shedding tears. +Hullin, though firm, seemed greatly moved. + +The doctor and the Anabaptist, both grave and solemn, were talking of +present affairs, and Lagarmitte was listening to them attentively. + +"We have not only the right, but it is also our duty, to defend +ourselves," the doctor was saying; "these woods were laid out and +cultivated by our fathers; they are our lawful property." + +"No doubt," replied the Anabaptist, in a sententious tone; "but it +is written, 'Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not shed thy brother's +blood.'" + +Catherine Lefévre, who was just at that time busy with a rasher of +ham, and who was doubtless tired of this discussion, turned sharply +round, and replied, "Which means that, if we were of your religion, the +Germans, the Russians, and all the other red men would be allowed to +have everything their own way. Yours is a famous religion; yes, famous +for such scum as those! It gives them the license to rob and plunder +all who are better off than themselves. The Allies would like us to +have such a one, no doubt! Unluckily, every one is not of the same +opinion. We are not all like sheep, ready for the slaughter; and I, for +one, Pelsly, without meaning any offence to you, think it is rather +stupid to fatten oneself for the good of others. For all that, you are +worthy people, no doubt; no one can say to the contrary; you have been +reared from father to son in the same ideas: like father, like son. But +we intend to defend ourselves, in spite of you; and when all is over, +you shall make us speeches on the subject of eternal peace. I am very +fond of listening to lectures on peace when I've nothing else to do, +and am sitting by the fire after dinner; it does me good to hear them." + +Having spoken in this way, she turned to the fire, and went on quietly +cooking her ham. + +Pelsly remained staring open-mouthed at her, and Doctor Lorquin could +not restrain a smile. + +At the same moment, the door opened, and one of the sentinels on duty +outside called out: "Master Jean-Claude, come and see; I think they are +on the alert." + +"All right, Simon, I am coming," said Hullin, rising. "Louise, kiss me; +courage, my child; do not be afraid; all will go well." + +He pressed her to his breast, his eyes swimming with tears. For her +part, she seemed more dead than alive. "And above all," said the worthy +man, addressing Catherine, "let nobody go out, and let none approach +the windows." + +Then he rushed hastily forth. + +All the spectators had turned pale. + +When Master Jean-Claude had reached the edge of the terrace, casting +his eyes over Grandfontaine and Framont, which lay about nine thousand +feet below him, this is what he saw. + +The Germans arrived the evening before, some hours after the Cossacks, +having passed the night, to the number of five or six thousand, in the +barns, stables, and outhouses, were now bustling and hurrying about in +all directions. It was a regular ant-hill. They were issuing from every +door in files of ten, fifteen, and twenty, hastening to buckle on their +knapsacks, hook on their swords, and fix their bayonets. + +Others, horsemen, Cossacks, hussars in green, grey, and blue uniforms, +trimmed with red and yellow; caps of oil-skin, sheepskin, shakos, and +helmets, were saddling their horses, and hastily rolling up their large +holsters. + +The officers, their cloaks flung over their arms, were descending the +little narrow stairs, some with upturned heads scanning the country +round, others kissing the women on the threshold of the houses they +were leaving. + +The trumpeters, one hand resting on their hips, the other elbow aloft, +were sounding the rappel at every corner of the street; the drummers +were tightening the cords of their drums. In short, in this space, +which, seen from a distance, looked like a hand's-breadth, might be +seen every description of military attitude at the moment of departure. + +Some peasants, leaning out of their windows, were watching all this; +the women showed themselves at the windows of the lofts. The innkeepers +were busy filling flasks, corporal _schlague_[9] standing beside them. + +Hullin had a quick eye, nothing escaped him: he took in all this at a +glance, and besides, he had been used to this sort of thing for many +a long year; but Lagarmitte, who had never seen anything of the kind +before, was stupefied with surprise: + +"There are a good many of them!" said he, shaking his head. + +"Ah! bah! what does that prove?" said Hullin. "In my time, we have +exterminated three armies of fifty thousand of the same race, in six +months; we were not one against four. All those you see there would not +have made our breakfast. And besides, you may make your mind easy, we +shall not need to kill them all; they'll fly before us like hares. I've +seen that before now!" + +After these sage reflections, he judged it prudent to go and inspect +his company again. + +"Come on!" said he to the shepherd. + +They both then, advancing behind the barricades, shaped their course +along a path cut through the snow two days before. These snows, +hardened by the frost, were now become as solid and firm as ice. The +trees, as they lay in front all covered with hoar-frost, formed an +impenetrable barrier, which extended for about six hundred metres. The +road lay hollowed out below. + +As he approached, Jean-Claude saw the mountaineers of the Dagsberg, +crouching at intervals of twenty paces in a sort of round nests which +they had dug out for themselves. + +All these brave fellows were sitting on their knapsacks, their flask on +their right, their hats, or fox-skin caps, pushed to the back of their +necks, their guns between their knees. They had only to rise in order +to see the road at fifty paces beneath them, at the foot of a slippery +descent. + +They were delighted to see Hullin. + +"Eh! Master Jean-Claude, is it going to begin soon?" + +"Yes, my lads; don't be afraid; before an hour we shall be hard at it." + +"Ah! So much the better!" + +"Yes, but above all, mind your aim; breast high; don't be in a hurry; +and be careful to show no more flesh than is necessary." + +"Never fear, Master Jean-Claude." + +He went farther on; everywhere he was received in the same way. + +"Do not forget," said he, "to stop firing when Lagarmitte sounds his +horn. We must have no waste of powder and shot." + +When he came up with old Materne, who commanded all these men, to the +number of about two hundred and fifty, he found the old huntsman just +preparing to smoke a pipe, his nose as red as a live coal, and his +beard bristling with cold like a wild boar. + +"Ah! is that you, Jean-Claude?" + +"Yes, I've come to shake hands with you." + +"All right; but tell me--they seem in no hurry to come--if they should +happen to pass another way?" + +"No fear of that. They must take this road for the artillery and +baggage. Hark! there's the bugle--to boot and saddle!" + +"Yes, I saw that before; they are preparing." Then, with a low chuckle: + +"You don't know, Jean-Claude, just now, as I was looking towards +Grandfontaine, what a droll thing I saw." + +"What was that, old boy?" + +"I saw four Germans lay hold of the fat Dubreuil, the friend of the +Allies; they laid him down on the stone bench at his door, and one tall +bony fellow gave him I don't know how many blows with a stout stick +over his back. Didn't he bellow, the old rascal! I'll wager he has +refused something to his good friends; his old wine of the year 1811, +for instance." + +Hullin listened no further, for happening to cast a glance down upon +the valley, he had just seen a regiment of infantry debouch on the +road. Farther off, in the street, the cavalry were advancing, with five +or six officers galloping at their head. + +"Ah! ha! they are coming now in good earnest," exclaimed the old +soldier, whose countenance suddenly assumed an expression of energy and +strange enthusiasm. + +Then he sprang upon the trench, exclaiming: + +"My children, attention!" + +As he passed, he caught a glimpse of Riffi, the little tailor of the +Charmes, leaning upon a long gun; the little man had made a step in the +snow to take aim. Higher up he recognised also the old wood-cutter, +Rochart, with his big sabots trimmed with sheepskin; he was taking a +hearty draught from his flask, and then slowly raising himself up, +with his carbine under his arm, and his cotton cap over his ear. + +And that was all; for in order to survey the whole sphere of action, it +was necessary for him to climb to the summit of the Donon, where there +is a rock. + +Lagarmitte followed him, stretching out his long legs as if he were +walking on stilts. Ten minutes after, when they had arrived quite out +of breath at the top of the rock, they perceived at four thousand odd +feet below them the enemy's column of about three thousand men, with +long white coats, cloth gaiters, tall shakos, and red moustaches; the +young officers with flat cap, riding at regular distances among the +troops, caracoling on horseback, sword in hand, and turning round from +time to time to call out, in a shrill voice: "_Forvertz! Forvertz!_" +(Forward! Forward!) + +And this body bristled with glittering bayonets and advanced at full +charge towards the barricades. + +Old Materne, his long hawk's nose peering over the branch of a +juniper tree, had also observed, with raised eyebrows, the arrival of +the Germans. And as he was very clear-sighted, he was able even to +distinguish faces among all this crowd; and picked out the one whom he +would bring down himself. + +In the middle of the column, mounted on a tall bay horse, there +came riding straight towards them an old officer with a white wig, +three-cornered lace hat, his form enveloped in a yellow mantle, and +his breast decorated with orders. When this personage raised his head, +the corner of his hat, surmounted by a tuft of black feathers, formed +a target. He had long wrinkles in his cheeks, and seemed to be no +chicken. + +"That's my man!" said the old huntsman to himself, taking aim leisurely. + +He cocked his gun, fired, and when he looked, the old officer had +disappeared. + +Immediately the mountain-side was ablaze with shots the whole length +of the entrenchments; but the Germans, without answering, continued to +advance towards the entrenchments, gun on shoulder, and keeping the +ranks as steadily as if they were on parade. + +If the truth must be told, more than one brave mountaineer, the +father of a family, when he saw that forest of bayonets which kept on +advancing up the mountain, in spite of the shots that were poured on +them, began to think that he might perhaps have done better to stay at +home in his village than to thrust himself into such an affair. But as +the proverb says: "The wine is drawn; it must be drunk!" + +Riffi, the little tailor, bethought him of the prudent warning of his +wife, Sapience: "Riffi, you will get lamed for life, and that will be a +pretty job!" + +He promised a superb offering to the chapel of St. Léon if he came back +safe and sound from the war; but at the same time he resolved to make +good use of his long gun. + +Two hundred paces from the barricades the Germans halted and opened +a running fire such as had never before been heard on the mountain: +it was a regular buzz of shots; balls by hundreds hacked down the +branches, made bits of ice leap up in all directions, came crashing +down upon the rocks, to the right, to the left, before, behind. They +came hissing and whistling through the air at times as thick as a flock +of pigeons. + +This did not prevent the mountaineers from keeping up their fire, but +it could no longer be heard. All the mountain-side was wrapped in a +bluish smoke which made it difficult to take aim. + +At the end of about ten minutes, the roll of the drum was heard, and +all that mass of men began to charge at the abattis, officers as well +as others, shouting "_Forvertz!_" + +The ground trembled beneath them. + +Materne, drawing himself up to his full height, by the side of the +trench, with a voice terrible in its emotion, cried, "Up! Up!" + +It was time, for a good number of those Germans, almost all of them +students of philosophy, law, or medicine, scarred in skirmishes at +Munich, Jena, and elsewhere, and who fought against us because they had +been promised that their liberties should be granted them after the +downfall of Napoleon; all these intrepid young fellows began to crawl +on all-fours over the ice, and attempted to leap into the entrenchments. + +But as fast as they climbed up the sides of the mountains, they were +stunned with the butt-ends of the guns, and fell back among their ranks +like hail. + +It was at this juncture that there was witnessed an act of bravery on +the part of the old wood-cutter, Rochart. Singlehanded he overthrew +more than ten of those sons of old Germany. Seizing them under the +arms, he flung them back upon the road. Old Materne had his bayonet +reeking with blood. And the little tailor Riffi kept incessantly +reloading his great gun, and firing energetically upon the heaving, +struggling crowd below; and Joseph Larnette, who unfortunately received +a shot in the eye; Hans Baumgarten, who had his shoulder fractured; +Daniel Spitz, who lost two fingers by a sword-thrust; and a crowd of +others whose names will be honoured and revered from generation to +generation, never ceased for one second to load and discharge their +guns. + +Below, nothing was heard but fearful shouts and cries; and above, +nothing was to be seen but bristling bayonets, and men on horseback. + +This state of things lasted a good quarter of an hour; no one knew +what the Germans intended to do, since they could not clear a passage. +Nearly all the students had fallen, and the others, old campaigners, +used to honourable retreats, did not throw themselves into the fray +with the same ardour. + +They began by beating a retreat, slowly; then more quickly. The +officers, behind them, struck them with the flat of their swords; +shots came whizzing after them, and finally, they fled with as much +precipitation as they had advanced in good order. + +Materne, standing erect upon his eminence, with fifty others round him, +brandished his carbine, laughing heartily. + +At the foot of the ascent heaps of the wounded were dragging themselves +painfully along. The trampled snow was red with blood. In the midst of +the heaps of dead were to be seen two young officers, still alive, but +crushed and entangled under the corpses of their horses. + +It was a horrible sight! But men are really ferocious; there was not +one among the mountaineers who pitied these unfortunates; on the +contrary, the more of them they saw, the more rejoiced they were. + +The little tailor, Riffi, at this moment, flushed with a noble +enthusiasm, let himself slide down the whole length of the steep +ascent. He had just perceived, a little to the left, below the +barricades, a superb horse, that of the colonel shot by Materne, and +which was standing quietly in a corner, safe and sound. + +[Illustration: "AS THEY CLIMBED UP THEY WERE BRAINED."] + +"You shall be mine," said he to himself; "won't Sapience be astonished, +that's all!" + +All the others envied him. He seized the horse by the bridle, and got +upon his back. But judge of the general astonishment, and that of Riffi +above all, when the noble animal set off at full gallop towards his +friends the Germans. + +The little tailor raised his hands to heaven, invoking all the saints. + +Materne had half a mind to fire, but he was afraid, as the horse was +going at such a furious pace. + +They were no sooner in the midst of the enemy's bayonets than Riffi +vanished out of sight. + +Every one thought he had been massacred; an hour after, however, they +saw him passing down the principal street of Grandfontaine with his +hands tied behind his back, and corporal _schlague_ behind him with his +uplifted cane. + +Poor Riffi! he alone was not fated to share in the day's triumph; and +his comrades were even led to laugh at his unhappy fate, just as if it +had happened to a _Kaiserlick_. + +Such is the nature of men; provided they are happy themselves, the +misery of others concerns them but little. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 9: Drum-major.] + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + + +The mountaineers were almost beside themselves with joy at their +victory; they wrung each other's hands, lauded each other to the skies, +and looked upon themselves as the most renowned of heroes. + +Catherine, Louise, Doctor Lorquin, every one had gone out of the farm, +shouting, congratulating themselves, looking at the traces of the +balls, the mounds blackened by the powder; then at Joseph Larnette, +with his fractured skull, lying extended in his trench; Baumgarten, +with his arm hanging helpless by his side, on his way to the hospital, +looking as pale as death; and Daniel Spitz, who, in spite of his +sword-cut, wanted to stay and go on fighting; but the doctor would not +listen to this, and forced him to return to the farm. + +Louise came with the little cart and distributed brandy to the +combatants; and Catherine Lefévre, on the edge of the ascent, stood +looking upon the dead and wounded lying thickly scattered along the +road, which was tracked with their blood. There they lay, poor fellows, +young and old, all heaped indiscriminately together, with faces as +white as wax, eyes staring wide open, and outstretched arms. Some few +tried to rise, and instantly fell heavily back; others were looking +upwards, as if they were still afraid of being shot at; while some +again were dragging themselves slowly along to get under shelter from +the balls. + +Several seemed resigned to their fate, and only seeking a quiet place +to die in, or else straining their eyes after their regiment returning +to Framont; that regiment, with which they had quitted their native +village, with which they had first made a long campaign, and which was +now abandoning them to die! + +"Our comrades will see old Germany again," thought they; "and when +the captain or the sergeant is asked, 'Did you know such a one: +Hans, Kasper, Nickel of the 1st or 2nd company?' they will answer, +'Stay--it's very likely--had he not a scar on the ear, or on the cheek? +Fair or brown hair, five or six feet in height? Yes, I know him. He +is left in France, by the side of a little village whose name I don't +remember. The mountaineers massacred him on the same day as the big +major Yéri Peter; he was a brave lad. And so good night.'" + +Perhaps, among the number, there might have been one who thought of +his mother; of a pretty girl in his own country, Gretchen or Lotchen, +who had given him a riband while crying her eyes out as he was setting +off--"I shall wait for your coming back, Kasper; I shall never marry +any one but you!" Ah, my poor lass, you will have to wait a long while! + +It was not a pleasant sight to look upon, and as Dame Lefévre beheld +it, she thought of her own Gaspard. + +Hullin, who had just arrived with Lagarmitte, called out, in a jovial +tone: + +"Well, my lads, you have smelt powder; a thousand thunders! This will +do. The Germans have nothing to boast of in this day's work." + +Then he embraced Louise, and ran to Dame Lefévre. + +"Are you contented, Catherine? Things are going well with us. But +what's the matter? I see no smile on your face." + +"Yes, Jean-Claude, everything is going as well as can be. I am +contented; but just look down on the road there! What frightful +slaughter!" + +"It is war," was Hullin's grave reply. + +"Is there no way of bringing up here that boy who is looking at us with +his large blue eyes? It wrings my heart to see him; or that tall, dark +one, who is binding up his leg with his handkerchief?" + +"Impossible, Catherine; it grieves me, too; but we should have to cut +steps in the ice to descend to them, and then the Germans, who will be +sure to be back in an hour or two, would follow us by them. Come away. +We must announce the victory to all the villages round; to Labarbe, to +Jerôme, to Piorette. Here, Simon, Niklo, Marchal, come here; you must +set off at once to carry the great news to our comrades. Materne, you +keep a sharp look-out, and at the slightest movement, let me know." + +As they drew near the farm, Jean-Claude saw the reserve body, with +Marc Divès on horseback in the midst of his men. The smuggler was +complaining bitterly of having been left, as he called it, to fold his +arms and do nothing. He looked upon himself as dishonoured, for having +borne no part in the late fray. + +"Bah!" said Hullin, "so much the better; and besides, you are +protecting us on our right. Just look down below there. If we are +attacked in that direction, you shall march to the defence." + +Divès said nothing; his face wore an expression at once sad and +indignant; and his tall followers, wrapped in their cloaks, with their +long rapiers suspended outside, did not seem to be in a bit better +humour: they looked as if they were plotting vengeance. + +Hullin, not being able to console them, entered the farm. Doctor +Lorquin was just beginning the operation of extracting the ball from +the wound of Baumgarten, who was groaning fearfully. + +Pelsly, standing on the threshold of his house, was trembling from head +to foot. Jean-Claude begged him to supply him with paper and ink, in +order that he might despatch his orders throughout the mountain-side; +but it was with difficulty that the poor Anabaptist could comply with +his request, so great was his agitation. + +He managed it, however, at last, and messengers set off in all +directions, quite proud of being deputed to announce the first battle +and the victory. + +A few mountaineers, who had come into the large room, were warming +themselves by the stove, and talking in an excited manner. Daniel +Spitz had already undergone the amputation of his two fingers, and was +sitting behind the stove, with his hand bound up in linen. + +Those who had been posted behind the barricades before daybreak, not +having breakfasted, were then getting a crust and a mug of wine, +shouting, gesticulating, and bragging with their mouths full. Some +were going out to cast a look upon the trenches, others coming back to +warm themselves, and everybody, in speaking of Riffi, and his dismal +lamentations on horseback, and his plaintive cries and entreaties, +laughed till their sides ached. + +It was eleven o'clock. These comings and goings lasted till noon, the +moment when Marc Divès suddenly entered, exclaiming, "Hullin! where is +Hullin?" + +"Here I am." + +There was something strange in the tone of the smuggler's voice; just +before furious at not having taken his part in the struggle, he seemed +triumphant. Jean-Claude followed him, greatly alarmed, and the large +room was cleared in an instant, for every one was convinced, by Marc's +excited manner, that something serious had happened. + +To the right of the Donon extends the ravine of the Minières, where +rages a torrent when the snow begins to melt: it descends from the top +of the mountain to the bottom of the valley. + +Just opposite the plateau defended by the mountaineers, and on the +other side of the ravine, at a distance of five or six hundred yards, +is a sort of uncovered terrace, with a very steep descent, which Hullin +had not judged necessary to occupy provisionally, not wishing to divide +his forces; and seeing, besides, that it would be easy for him to +strengthen this position by means of fir trees, and defend it in the +event of the enemy showing signs of attacking it. + +Judge, then, of the consternation of the brave man, when, on reaching +the threshold of the farm, he saw two companies of Germans climbing up +by this side, in the middle of the Gardens of Grandfontaine, with two +field-pieces drawn on heavy carriages, and seemingly suspended over the +precipice. All were pushing hard at the wheels, and in a few moments +more the cannons would reach the platform. It was like a thunderbolt +to Jean-Claude; he turned pale, and then went in a fearful rage with +Divès. "Could you not have warned me sooner?" he roared. "Did I not bid +you, above all things, to keep a good look-out on the ravine? We are +surprised; they will take us in flank; cut off the road. Everything is +gone to the devil!" + +The spectators, and old Materne himself, who had just run to the spot +in the utmost haste, trembled at the glance he threw upon the smuggler. + +The latter, in spite of his wonted boldness, stood speechless and +chapfallen, not knowing what answer to make. "Come, come, Jean-Claude," +said he, at length; "be calm; it is not as bad as you think. We've not +had our turn yet, we fellows. And then, we're in want of cannon; it's +just the very thing for us." + +"Yes, just the very thing indeed, you great fool! It was your vanity +that made you wait till the last moment, wasn't it? You wanted to +fight, to be able to swagger and boast; and, to gain your ends, you +risk the lives of us all. See! look! there are others already preparing +to set out from Framont." + +True enough, another column, much stronger than the first, was then +leaving Framont, and advancing, at the double, towards the defences. +Divès said not a word. Hullin, governing his anger, grew suddenly calm +in the presence of such imminent danger. + +"Go back to your posts," said he to the spectators, in a sharp voice; +"let every one be ready for the attack which is preparing. Materne, +attention!" + +The old huntsman bowed. + +Meanwhile, Marc Divès had recovered his self-possession. "Instead of +brawling like a woman," said he, "you would do better to give me the +order to begin the attack down below there by defending the ravine by +the fir-trees." + +"It must be so--a thousand thunders!" replied Jean-Claude. And then, in +a calmer tone; "Listen, Marc; I'm in a furious rage with you. We were +conquerors, and through your fault we've lost all our ground. If you +miss your blow, we'll cut our throats together." + +"Agreed. The affair is settled; I'll answer for the consequences." + +Then, leaping on to his horse, and throwing the skirt of his cloak +over his shoulder, he drew his long rapier with a haughty and defiant +air. His men followed his example closely. Then Divès, turning towards +the reserve, composed of fifty stalwart mountaineers, pointed to the +platform with the point of his sword, and said: "You see that, my lads; +we want that position. The men of Dagsburg must never be able to say +that they showed more pluck than those of the Sarre. Forward!" + +And the troops, full of martial ardour, set out on their march along +the edge of the ravine. Hullin, pale with excitement, shouted, "Fix +bayonets!" + +The tall smuggler, on his immense brown horse, with muscular and +shining croup, turned round, while a smile curled his lip under his +thick moustaches; he poised his rapier with a look full of meaning, and +the whole troop plunged into the thick fir forest. At the same moment, +the Germans, with their eight-pounders, attained the height and began +to place their battery, whilst the column from Framont was scaling the +side. All was, therefore, in the same position as before the battle; +with this difference, that the enemy's cannon-balls were going to be +concerned in the affray, and take the mountaineers from behind. + +The two field-pieces were distinctly visible, with their cramp-irons, +levers, drags, artillerymen, and commanding officer, a tall, bony, +broad-shouldered man, with long, light, waving moustaches. The azure +vault of the valley brought far-off things so near, that you might have +thought him within arm's length; but Hullin and Materne knew better; +there were a good six hundred yards between them; no gun could reach as +far as that. + +Nevertheless, the old huntsman, before returning to the barricades, +wished to have a clear conscience. So he advanced as near as possible +to the ravine, followed by his son Kasper and a few mountaineers, and +leaning against a tree, he slowly took aim at the tall officer with +light moustaches. + +All those who saw him held their breath, for fear of disturbing him, +and marring his aim. + +The shot winged its way through the air, and when Materne leaned the +butt-end of his gun upon the ground to see what had happened, no change +had taken place. "It is astonishing how age dims the sight," said he. + +"You! your sight dimmed!" exclaimed Kasper; "there is not one, from the +Vosges to Switzerland, who can boast of sending a ball, at two hundred +yards, as well as you!" + +The old forester knew it well, but he did not want to discourage the +others. "Perhaps so," he replied; "we have no time to discuss that now. +Here comes the enemy; let each man do his duty." + +In spite of these words, Materne, to all appearance simple and calm, +inwardly felt great anxiety. As he entered the trench, confused sounds +reached his ear; the clashing of arms, the regular tramp of footsteps: +he looked down over the side of the ascent, and beheld the Germans, +this time coming with long ladders, furnished with grappling-irons. + +This was a disagreeable sight for the old huntsman. He signed to his +son to approach him, and whispered to him: "Kasper, this is bad, this +is very bad; the beggars have brought scaling-ladders with them. Give +me your hand. I would wish to have you near me, and Frantz also; but we +will defend our lives as best we may. If we come off with whole skins, +so much the better." + +At this moment a terrible shock shook all the barricades to their +foundations; a hoarse voice was heard to exclaim, "Oh! my God!" + +Then a heavy sound not a hundred paces off. A fir-tree bent slowly +forward, and fell right down into the abyss below. + +It was the first cannon-shot: it had carried away with it both the +legs of old Rochart. This shot was followed almost at the same moment +by another, which came crashing along, covering in its headlong course +all the mountaineers with splinters of ice; Old Materne himself +bent beneath the force of this terrific explosion, but immediately +recovering himself, he shouted: "Let us avenge ourselves, lads! They +are here! Let us conquer or die!" + +Fortunately, the panic of the mountaineers lasted but a second; +they all felt that a moment's hesitation, and they were lost. Two +scaling-ladders were already having their grappling-irons fixed to +the side of the mountain in spite of the heavy fire poured on the +assailants. This sight brought every one to the trench, and the combat +was renewed more fiercely--more desperately than at the first attack. + +Hullin had remarked the ladders before Materne, and his indignation +against Divès was increased by the sight; but as, in such a case, +indignation is of no earthly use whatever, he had despatched Lagarmitte +to desire Frantz Materne, who was posted on the other side of the +Donon, to come to him with all haste with half of his men. I leave you +to imagine whether the brave lad, forewarned of the danger his father +was running, lost a second in obeying the order. Already the broad felt +hats were seen ascending the mountain's side through the snow, the men +with their carbines slung over their shoulders. They were running as +fast as they could, and yet Jean-Claude, hastening to meet them, with +the large drops of sweat standing on his forehead, and his eye wild and +haggard, shouted to them, in a ringing voice: "Come on, there, quicker! +you will never get here at that rate." + +He was actually trembling with rage, attributing the whole misfortune +to the smuggler. + +In the meanwhile, Mark Divès, at the end of about half an hour, had +made the round of the ravine, and from the back of his tall horse was +just beginning to discover the two companies of Germans with grounded +arms, a hundred paces behind the guns, which were firing on the +entrenchments. Then, approaching the mountaineers, he said to them, +in a stifled voice, while the explosions of the cannon were awakening +every echo in the gorge, and in the distance the clamours of the +assault resounded: "Comrades, you will charge the infantry with fixed +bayonets; I and my men will undertake the rest. Is that understood?" + +"Yes, that's understood." + +"Well, then, forward!" + +The whole body advanced in good order towards the outskirts of the +wood, with the tall Piercy of Soldatenthal at their head. Nearly at the +same instant there was the "_verda_" (challenge) of a sentinel; then +two shots; then a great shout, "Hurrah for France!" and the heavy dull +sound of rushing footsteps; the brave mountaineers were falling upon +the enemy like a troop of wolves! + +Divès, standing upright in his stirrups, with his long nose and +bristling moustaches, was laughingly looking on: + +"It's all right," he kept saying to himself. + +It was a fearful conflict; the ground trembled under it. The Germans +were not, any more than the confederates, opening fire; all was +passing in silence; the clashing of bayonets, the heavy thud of the +musket-stocks, intermingled from time to time by a shot, cries of rage, +groans, tumult; nothing else was heard. + +The smugglers, with outstretched necks, sword in hand, sniffed the +carnage, impatiently awaiting the signal from their leader. + +"Now it is our turn," said Marc. "The cannon be our prize!" + +And forth from the woody fastnesses, with their long cloaks floating +behind them like wings, leaning eagerly forward on their saddles, and +their swords poised, onward they came, rushing like the wind. + +"Don't cut--stab, stab," said Marc. + +And this was every word he uttered. + +In a second the twelve vultures had swooped down upon the guns. There +were among the number four old Spanish dragoons, and two ex-cuirassiers +of the Guard, whom the taste for danger attached to Marc. Blows from +every imaginable weapon that the artillerymen had at hand, rained round +them as thick as hail. They were all parried beforehand, and every +stroke brought a man down. + +Marc Divès met the fire of two pistols full in his face; one of the +shots blackened his left cheek, and the other carried away his hat. He, +bending over his saddle, with his long arm outstretched, pinned at the +same moment the tall officer with light moustaches to one of the guns. + +To conceive the effect of this terrible scene, we must picture to +ourselves the deadly conflict on the heights of the Minières; the +groans of the dying, the neighing of the horses, the cries of rage, the +flight of some, casting away their weapons to run more quickly, the +savage ardour of others. + +Marc Divès was not of a contemplative turn: he did not waste time in +making poetical reflections on the tumult and senseless fury of the +wars men wage with each other. He saw the situation at a glance, and +leaping from his horse, flung himself upon the first cannon, still +loaded, seized the levers of the gun-carriage to change its direction, +levelled it at the foot of the ladders, and, snatching a match which +was smoking on the ground, fired. + +Then at a distance arose strange clamours, and the smuggler, through +the smoke, saw a bloody gap in the enemy's ranks. + +"Now on, boys," said he to his men, "we must not sleep upon it. A +cartridge here; a ball, some turf: we'll sweep the road. Look out!" + +The smugglers took up their position; and the fire was kept up upon +the white uniforms with untiring zeal. Volleys of bullets whizzed +through their ranks. At the tenth discharge there was a general rout. + +About six hundred men perished on that day. There were mountaineers, +and there were _Kaiserlicks_ in far greater numbers; but had it not +been for the cannonade of Divès all would have been lost. + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + + +The Germans, driven back in multitudes upon Grandfontaine, fled in +bands in the direction of Framont, on foot and on horseback, hurrying +along, dragging with them their baggage, throwing their knapsacks +across the road, and then looking behind them as if they feared to see +the mountaineers at their heels. + +In Grandfontaine they destroyed everything they could lay their hands +on, out of a spirit of revenge; they smashed the windows and doors, +insulted the inhabitants, demanded to be supplied with food and drink +on the spot, and outraged the women. Their shouts, their imprecations, +the authoritative commands of their leaders, the complaints of the +citizens, the heavy, incessant tread of footsteps on the bridge of +Framont, the shrill neighings of the wounded horses, all reached the +barricades in one confused, mingled sound. + +On the mountain-side nothing was to be seen but arms, shakos, and dead +bodies; in short, all the signs of a great defeat. Opposite appeared +the cannons taken by Marc Divès, pointed over the valley, and ready to +fire in case of a fresh attack. + +All was then over--quite over. And yet not a single cry of triumph rose +from the entrenchments. The losses the mountaineers had sustained in +this last assault had been too severe and cruel. There was something +solemn in this deep silence succeeding to the tumult; and all those +men who had escaped the carnage looked at one another with grave faces +as if they were surprised at seeing each other. Some called to a +friend, others to a brother, who did not answer. They would then begin +to search in the trench, along the barricades, or on the ascent, crying +as they did it, "Ho! Jacob, Philip!--is it you?" + +And then night came, and its grey shadows spread over entrenchments and +abyss, adding the horror of mystery to scenes already terrible enough. + +Materne, after having wiped his bayonet, called his sons to him in +hoarse accents: + +"Ho! Kasper! Frantz!" + +And seeing forms approaching in the darkness, he began to ask: + +"Is it you?" + +"Yes, it is us." + +"Nothing wrong with you?" + +"No." + +The old huntsman's voice, usually so rough, trembled like a woman's. + +"Here we are all three, then, together again!" said he, in a low tone. + +And he, whom no one had ever accused of being softhearted, bestowed +a hearty embrace upon his sons, who were greatly surprised by his +emotion. They heard a sound in his breast as of inward sobbing; they +were much moved by it, and said to themselves: "How he loves us! We +should never have believed this!" + +They themselves felt touched to the very quick. + +But in a short time, the old man, recovering himself, exclaimed: + +"All the same, this has been a tough day's work, boys. Let us go and +have a cup of wine, for I'm thirsty." + +Then casting a last look on the gloomy scene, and seeing the sentinels +which Hullin, as he went by, had just posted at every thirty paces, +they proceeded together towards the old farm. + +They were crossing the trench, where the dead lay in heaps, lifting +their feet whenever they felt them come in contact with anything soft, +when they heard a stifled voice say: + +"Is that you, Materne?" + +"Ah, my poor old Rochart!--pardon, pardon!" replied the old huntsman, +stooping down. "I touched you. What! are you there still?" + +"Yes, I cannot move, for I have lost my legs." + +They were all three silent for a moment, and then the old wood-cutter +resumed: + +"Tell my wife that she will find behind the wardrobe my little savings, +put away in a stocking. I hoarded it up in case we should either of us +fall ill. For me, I have no more need of it." + +"That we shall see, we shall see;--you may recover yet--poor old +fellow! We will carry you away." + +"No; it's not worth the trouble; I've only an hour longer to live; it +would only put me to pain." + +Materne, without answering, made a sign to Kasper to form a litter with +his carbine and his own, and Frantz to place the old wood-cutter upon +it, in spite of his remonstrances. Which was immediately done. And in +this manner they all arrived at the farm together. + +All the wounded who, during the combat, had had strength to drag +themselves to the hospital, had repaired thither. Doctor Lorquin and +his assistant, Despois, who had arrived during the day, were up to +their ears in work, and still all was not nearly finished, so much was +there to do. + +As Materne, with his sons and old Rochart, were crossing the dark +alley by the light of the lantern, they heard on their left a groan +which froze the very marrow in their hones, and the old wood-cutter, +half-dead as he was, exclaimed: + +"Oh! why do you bring me here? I will not--no, I won't! I would rather +die at once!" + +"Open the door, Frantz," said Materne, while a cold sweat stood upon +his face--"open, make haste!" + +And Frantz having pushed the door, they saw on a long kitchen table +in the centre of the low apartment, with heavy brown rafters, young +Colard, stretched at full length, three candles on each side of him, +a man at each arm, and a bucket just under him. Doctor Lorquin, his +shirt-sleeves turned up to his elbows, a short saw about three fingers +broad in his hand, was just preparing to cut off the poor devil's leg, +while Despois was holding a large sponge. The blood was splashing +down into the bucket. Colard was as pale as death. Catherine Lefévre, +standing beside him with a roll of lint over her arm, was striving to +be firm, but two deep wrinkles that furrowed her cheeks by the side of +her hooked nose showed how she was clenching her teeth. She was looking +down on the ground without seeing anything. + +"It's all over!" said the doctor, turning round. + +And casting a glance at the new comers, he said: + +"Ah! is that you, old Rochart?" + +"Yes, that's me; but I don't want any one to meddle with me; I'd rather +stay as I am." + +The doctor, taking up a candle, looked at him, and made a wry face. + +"It's time you were seen to, my poor old fellow; you've lost a deal of +blood already, and if we wait much longer it will be too late." + +"So much the better; I've suffered enough in my time." + +"Just as you will: let's go to the next." He looked down a long row of +mattrasses at the bottom of the room; the two last were empty, though +soaked in blood. Materne and Kasper laid the old wood-cutter on one, +whilst Despois approached another of the wounded, saying: + +"Nicolas, it's your turn now." + +They then saw the tall form of Nicolas Cerf raise itself up, with a +face deadly pale, and eyes glistening with fear. + +"Give him a glass of brandy," said the doctor. + +"No, I would like my pipe better." + +"Where is your pipe?" + +"In my waistcoat." + +"All right; here it is. And the tobacco?" + +"In my trousers' pocket." + +"I've got it. Fill his pipe, Despois. He has courage, has this one: +that's right! It does one good to see a man with a stout heart. We will +have your arm off in double-quick time." + +"Is there no way of saving it, Doctor Lorquin, for the sake of my poor +children? It's their only living." + +"No, the bone is crushed; it will never be any good to you again. +Light the pipe, Despois. Now then, Nicolas, smoke away." + +The poor fellow began to smoke, without having a great desire for it. + +"Are you all right?" asked the doctor. + +"Yes," replied Nicolas, in a stifled voice. + +"Good. Now then, Despois, attention!--the sponge!" + +Then, with a large knife, he described a rapid circle through the +flesh, while Nicolas ground his teeth with the agony. + +The blood spurted out. Despois put a bandage tight round. The grinding +of the saw was heard for a few seconds, and the arm fell heavily to the +ground. + +"That's what I call an operation well got through with," said Lorquin. + +Nicolas was not smoking now: his pipe had fallen from his lips. David +Schlosser de Walsch, who had held him, let him go. They bandaged the +stump, and then Nicolas went without any assistance and laid himself +down again on the mattrass. + +"There's one more despatched. Sponge the table, Despois, and let's get +on to another," said the doctor, washing his hands in a large bowl. + +Every time he said "Let's go to another," all the wounded were struck +with fear on account of the groans they heard, and the sharp knives +they caught sight of now and then; but what was to be done? Every +room in the farm, the barn, the attics, all were filled with the +wounded. There was nothing but the large room on the ground-floor left +at liberty for the people belonging to the place; so the doctor was +obliged to operate under the very eyes of those whose turn must come +sooner or later. + +All this had passed in a few moments. Materne and his sons had stood +looking on, as people do look on at anything horrible to know what it +is. Then they had seen in a corner on the left, just under the old +Dutch clock, a heap of arms and legs jumbled together. Nicolas's arm +had already been thrown on to the top, and the doctor was preparing to +extract a ball from the shoulder of a mountaineer of the Harberg with +red whiskers; large gashes in form of a cross had to be made in his +back, and from his hairy, shuddering flesh the blood was streaming down +to his boots. + +It was strange to see the dog, Pluto, behind the doctor, surveying the +operations with an attentive look, as if he understood it all; and from +time to time he stretched his legs and bent his back with a yawn that +reached from ear to ear. + +Materne could not bear to see any more. "Let us be going," said he. + +They had hardly entered the dark walk when they heard the doctor +exclaim, "I've got the ball!" which must have caused great pleasure to +the man from Harberg. + +Once outside, and breathing the fresh clear air, Materne ejaculated: +"And to think that the same might have happened to us!" + +"Yes," replied Kasper; "to get a bullet through your head is no great +matter; but it's another thing to be chopped about like that, and have +to beg your bread for the rest of your days." + +"Oh! I should do like old Rochart, for my part," said Frantz; "I should +just die quietly, without any bother. When you've done your duty, what +have you to fear? The good God is always the same!" + +At this moment, the hum of voices was heard on their right. + +"It is Marc Divès and Hullin," said Kasper, listening. + +"Oh, yes! they have been, no doubt, making barricades behind the fir +forest to protect the cannon," added Frantz. + +They listened again; the footsteps drew nearer. + +"You are greatly embarrassed with those three prisoners," Hullin was +saying, in an abrupt tone. "Since you return to Falkenstein to-night to +procure ammunition, what prevents your taking them with you?" + +"But where shall I put them?" + +"Where? Why, in the public prison of Abreschwiller; we cannot keep them +here." + +"All right; I understand, Jean-Claude; and if they attempt to escape by +the way, I shall plant my toasting-iron between their shoulders." + +"Of course, of course." + +They had by this time reached the door, and Hullin, perceiving Materne, +could not restrain a cry of delight. + +"Ah! is it you, old fellow? I've been looking for you for the last +hour. Where the deuce have you been to?" + +"We've been carrying poor Rochart to the hospital, Jean-Claude." + +"Ah! that's a bad job, isn't it?" + +"Yes, very bad." + +There was a moment's silence, and then, the worthy man's satisfaction +regaining the upper hand, "Yes; it's not pleasant," he went on; "but +what can you do? It's the chance of war. You're not hit, you fellows?" + +"No; we are all three safe and sound." + +"So much the better, so much the better. Those who are left may boast +of having been lucky." + +"Yes," exclaimed Marc Divès, laughing; "there was a moment when I +thought Materne was going to sound a parley; but for those cannon-shots +at the end, by my faith! things were taking a bad turn." + +Materne coloured, and casting a side-look at the smuggler, "Possibly," +he drily observed; "but had it not been for the cannon-shots at the +beginning, we should have had no need of those at the end; old Rochart, +and fifty more of our brave fellows, would have had their arms and legs +still, which wouldn't have made our victory any the less pleasant." + +"Bah!" interrupted Hullin, who foresaw the beginning of a dispute +between two men whose dispositions were far from conciliatory. "Let's +put an end to this; every one has done his duty, and that's the great +thing." Then addressing Materne, "I have just despatched a messenger to +Framont," said he, "to desire the Germans to fetch away their wounded. +In an hour they will be here, no doubt; we must warn our look-outs to +let them approach, but without arms, and with torches; if they come +otherwise, let them be shot." + +"I will see to it at once," replied the old huntsman. + +"Hey! Materne, you will come to supper afterwards at the farm with your +boys?" + +"All right, Jean-Claude." + +He departed. + +Hullin then told Frantz and Kasper to have large camp fires lighted for +the night; Marc, to give his horses a feed of corn, so that they might +be ready to go, without loss of time, to fetch ammunition; and, as they +withdrew to execute his orders, he entered the farm. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + + +At the end of the dark walk was the court-yard of the farm, down to +which you descended by five or six worn steps. On the left were the +barn and the wine-press; on the right, the stables and pigeon-house, +the gable roof of which stood out in strong and black relief against +the dark and cloudy sky, while exactly opposite the door was the +wash-house. + +No sound from without reached this spot. Hullin, after so many scenes +of tumult, was struck by this perfect and profound silence. He surveyed +the trusses of straw suspended among the beams of the barn up to the +very roof, the wheelbarrows, the carts--these latter standing in +the shadow of the outhouses--with a feeling of calm and indefinable +complacency. A cock was strutting about on the ground in the midst of +his hens, who were sleeping all along the wall. A large cat flew by +like lightning, and disappeared through a hole in the cellar. Hullin +felt as if awakening from a dream. After a few moments of this silent +contemplation, he was proceeding slowly towards the wash-house, the +three windows of which were shining like stars in the midst of the +darkness. + +The farm-kitchen not sufficing to prepare the food of three or four +hundred men, they had set up a temporary one in this part of the +premises. + +Master Jean-Claude heard the fresh voice of Louise issuing orders in a +little resolute tone that quite took him by surprise. + +"Come, Come, Katel! let's be quick; it's near supper-time. We mustn't +let our people be hungry. Since six o'clock this morning to have eaten +nothing, and fighting hard all the while! We mustn't keep them waiting. +Now then, Lesselé, come along, stir yourself--salt, pepper!" + +Jean-Claude's heart leapt within him at the sound of this voice. He +could not resist the pleasure of looking through the window for a +moment before he went in. The kitchen was large, but rather low, and +the walls were whitewashed. A large fire of beech-wood was blazing on +the hearth, and encircling with its spiral columns of flame the black +sides of an immense _marmite_ (cauldron). The chimney-piece, very high +and rather narrow, hardly sufficed to carry off the thick clouds of +smoke that rose from the fire-place. The bright light served to clearly +reveal the charming figure of Louise as she moved briskly about, +coquettishly attired in a short petticoat, which afforded greater +freedom to her limbs; her pretty face crimsoned in the ruddy glow; her +bosom confined in a little bodice of red cloth, which displayed to +perfection her sloping shoulders and graceful neck. There she was, in +the very heat of action, going and coming, and tasting the dishes with +her little bustling, housewifely air, trying the soup, approving and +criticising. "A little more salt, a little of this, a little of that. +Lesselé, won't you soon have finished plucking our great scraggy cock? +At this rate, we shall never be ready." + +It was really a charming sight to see her take the command thus. +Hullin felt the tears come into his eyes. The two daughters of the +Anabaptist; one, long, dry, and pale, with her large flat feet thrust +into round shoes, her red hair tucked up under a little coif of black +taffeta, her blue cotton gown descending in long folds to her heels; +the other, fat and plump, who waddled like a goose, lifting her feet +slowly one after the other, and balancing herself with her arms akimbo; +these two honest girls formed the strangest contrast to Louise. The fat +Katel went to and fro quite out of breath, without saying a word, while +Lesselé, in an absent, dreamy way, did all by rule and compass. + +The worthy Anabaptist himself, seated at the other end of the +wash-house on a wooden chair, with his legs across, his head turned up, +his cotton cap on the back of his head, and his hands in the pockets +of his gaberdine, was watching everything with a look of astonishment, +and saying from time to time, in a sententious voice: "Lesselé, Katel, +do just as she bids you, my children; it will be a good lesson for you; +you've not yet seen the world; you must get on quicker." + +"Yes, yes; we must bustle about," Louise would rejoin; "what would +become of us if we were to take months and weeks to consider about +putting a little garlic in the sauce? You, Lesselé, you are the +tallest; just reach me down that rope of onions from the ceiling." + +And the tall girl instantly did as she was bid. + +It was the proudest moment in Hullin's life. "How she orders the others +about!" said he to himself; "he! he! he! she is a regular little +hussar, a white-sergeant! I never suspected her of it." + +And it was only at last, after five minutes' watching, that he made up +his mind to go in. + +"Holloa! all right, children!" + +Louise was at that moment peeping into a saucepan, spoon in hand; she +left everything, and ran to throw herself into his arms, exclaiming: +"Papa Jean-Claude! Papa Jean-Claude! is it you? You are not wounded? +you are not hurt?" + +Hullin, at the sound of that loving voice, turned pale, and was unable +to reply. + +It was only after a long silence, and still holding his dear child +pressed close to his heart, that he was able at length to say, in a +faltering voice, "No, Louise, no; I am very well, and I feel very +happy." + +"Sit down, Jean-Claude," said the Anabaptist, who saw him trembling +with emotion; "see, here is my chair." + +Hullin sat down, and Louise, seating herself on his knee, with her arm +on his shoulder, began to cry. + +"What is the matter, dear child?" said the brave man, in a low voice, +and embracing her affectionately. "Come, be calm; a moment ago I saw +you so courageous." + +"Ah, yes! I was pretending to be so; but, do you know, I was in a great +fright all the while? I kept saying to myself, 'Why does he not come?'" + +She threw her arms round his neck; then, in a natural outburst of joy, +she took the good man by the hand, exclaiming: "Come, Papa Jean-Claude, +let's have a dance!" and she waltzed him two or three times round the +room. + +Hullin smiled in spite of himself, and turning to the Anabaptist, who +still preserved his serious air, "We are a little mad, Pelsly," said +he; "you mustn't let that surprise you." + +"No, Master Hullin; it's very natural. King David himself, after his +great victory over the Philistines, danced before the ark." + +Jean-Claude, astonished at resembling King David, made no reply. "And +you, Louise," he replied, after a pause, "were you not afraid during +the last battle?" + +"Well, I was at first; all that noise, and those cannon shots; but +afterwards, I thought of nothing but you and Mother Lefévre." + +Master Jean-Claude became silent. "I knew," he was thinking, "that that +child had a brave heart. She thinks of everything, and fears nothing." + +Louise then, taking him by the hand, led him in front of a regiment of +saucepans all round the fire, and proudly pointed out to him all her +cookery. "Here is the beef, here is the roast meat, here is the supper +for General Jean-Claude, and here is the soup for our wounded. Ah! +we've had to make haste! Lesselé and Katel can tell you. And here is +our great batch of bread!" She went on pointing to a long row of loaves +ranged on the table. "Mother Lefévre and I baked it." + +Hullin listened, quite wonderstruck. + +"But that's not all," she added; "come this way." + +She took off the iron lid of the oven, at the other end of the +wash-house, and the kitchen was immediately filled with an odour of +delicious cake that rejoiced the heart. Master Jean-Claude was quite +overcome. + +At this moment Dame Lefévre entered the room. "Come," said she; "we +must lay the table; everybody is ready and waiting. Come, Katel, go and +lay the cloth." + +The fat girl ran quickly out, and then, all together crossing the dark +court-yard, one behind the other, proceeded towards the keeping-room +of the farm. There they found Doctor Lorquin, Despois, Marc Divès, +Materne, and his two sons, all sharp-set, and provided with good stout +appetites, impatiently awaiting the arrival of the soup. + +"And our wounded, Doctor?" exclaimed Hullin, entering. + +"All is finished, Master Jean-Claude; you've given us some tough jobs +to do; but the weather is favourable; there is no fear of putrid +fevers, and all is going as well as can be." + +Katel, Lesselé, and Louise shortly after entered, carrying an enormous +smoking soup-tureen, and two magnificent joints of roast beef, which +they placed upon the table. They took their places without any +ceremony, old Materne to the right of Jean-Claude, Catherine Lefévre on +his left, and from that time the clattering of knives and forks, and +the opening of bottles, took the place of conversation until half-past +eight in the evening. Out of doors, the reflection of bright fires on +the window-panes announced that the other volunteers were also enjoying +themselves, and doing justice to Louise's cookery, which still further +contributed to the satisfaction of the guests within. + +At nine o'clock, Marc Divès was on his way to Falkenstein with the +prisoners. By ten o'clock every one was asleep at the farm, and on the +mountain around the camp fires. + +Nothing broke the silence, save, from time to time, the distant +challenge of the sentinels on duty, going their rounds. + +Thus ended this day, on which the mountaineers proved that they had not +degenerated from the ancient race. + +Other events, not less grave, were soon to succeed those which had just +taken place; for in this world, one obstacle is no sooner overcome, +than others present themselves. Human life resembles a troubled sea; +one wave follows another from the old world to the new, and nothing can +stop this eternal movement. + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + + +Throughout the whole of the battle and until night-fall, the folks +of Grandfontaine had seen the fool Yégof standing on the summit +of the Little Donon, his crown on his head, his sceptre uplifted, +transmitting, like a Merovingian king, orders to his imaginary armies. + +What passed through the mind of this unhappy being when he saw the +utter rout of the Germans, no one knows. At the last cannon-shot he had +disappeared. Whither had he fled? + +This is what is related on this subject by the inhabitants of +Tiefenbach. + +At that time, there lived in the Bocksberg two singular creatures, two +sisters, one called Little Kateline and the other Big Berbel. These two +tattered beings had fixed their abode in the _Cavern of Luitprandt_, +so called, say the old chronicles, because the King of the Germans, +before descending into Alsace, caused to be interred under that immense +vault of red freestone the barbarian chiefs who fell in the battle of +Blutfeld. The warm spring that rises always in the middle of the cavern +protected the two sisters against the rigorous colds of winter, and +the wood-cutter, Daniel Horn, of Tiefenbach, had had the charity to +close up the principal entrance of the rock with heaps of broom and +brushwood. By the side of the warm spring was another, cold as ice, +and clear as crystal. Little Kateline, who drank at this spring, was +not four feet high; she was stout and squat, and her vacant look, round +eyes, and an enormous wen, gave to her the singular expression of a +fat turkey in a meditative mood. Every Sunday she was in the habit of +lugging to the village of Tiefenbach a wicker basket, which the good +people filled with cold potatoes, crusts of bread, and sometimes--on +festivals--with cakes and other leavings of their merry-makings. Then +the poor creature, quite out of breath, returned to her rocky home, +chuckling, laughing, gibbering, and crying all at once. Big Berbel was +very careful not to drink at the cold spring; she was lean, one-eyed, +and as skinny as a bat; she had a flat nose, large ears, a sparkling +eye, and lived on what her sister managed to pick up; but in July, +when the very hot weather had set in, she used to shake from the +mountain-side a dry thistle over the harvest-fields of those who had +not regularly filled Kateline's basket, which brought down upon them +fearful storms, hail, rats, and field-mice in abundance. + +For which reason they dreaded the spells of Berbel like the plague; she +was known everywhere by the name of _Wetterhexe_,[10] whilst little +Kateline passed everywhere for being the good genius of Tiefenbach and +its neighbourhood. In this way Berbel lived at her ease, by folding her +arms, and the other by clucking and pecking for it wherever it was to +be found. + +Unfortunately for the two sisters, Yégof had established, for a +number of years past, his winter residence in Luitprandt's Cave. It +was from thence that he took his departure in the spring, to visit +his innumerable castles, and pass in review his fiefs as far as +Geierstein, in the Hundsrück. Every year, therefore, towards the end of +November, after the first snows, he came with his raven, which always +produced a succession of eagle-like croaks from Wetterhexe. + +"What is the matter with you," he would say, quietly installing himself +in the best place; "are you not living on my domains? I think it is +very good of me to keep two useless _valkiries_ in the Valhalla of my +fathers." + +Then Berbel would become furious, and overwhelm him with taunts and +abuse, while Kateline would sit clucking with an angry look; but +he, without taking any notice of them, lit his pipe--made of old +boxwood--and began to relate his distant peregrinations to the souls +of the German warriors interred in the cavern sixteen centuries ago, +calling them by their names, and speaking to them like living beings. +I leave you to imagine whether Berbel and Kateline saw the fool arrive +with pleasure; to them it was a positive calamity. Now, this year, +Yégof not having come, the two sisters thought he was dead, and were +rejoicing in the idea of never seeing him any more. During the last few +days, however, Wetterhexe had remarked the agitation that prevailed +in the neighbouring gorges; people departing in large bodies, gun on +shoulder, from the regions of the Falkenstein and the Donon. Evidently +something out of the common was taking place. The witch, remembering +that the year before Yégof had related to the souls of the warriors +that his innumerable followers were shortly going to invade the +country, felt a sort of vague uneasiness. She would have given anything +to know the reason of this unusual disturbance, but no one came up to +the rock where they dwelt, and Kateline having gone her usual journey +the Sunday before, would not have stirred for an empire. + +In this state of things, Wetterhexe wandered over the mountain-side, +getting more and more anxious and distraught. + +During the whole of this particular Saturday, things went even further. +From nine o'clock in the morning, loud and heavy explosions rolled like +the sound of a tempest amid the thousand echoes of the mountain; and in +the distance, towards the Donon, swift lightnings flashed across the +sky between the tall tops of the mountains; then, towards night, noises +still more deep and formidable resounded through the silent gorges. At +each explosion, the summits of the Hengst, the Gantzlée, the Giromani, +the Grosmann, were heard to echo back their answer through the very +depths of the abyss. + +"What is that?" asked Berbel, of herself. "Is it the end of the world?" + +Then, re-entering the cavern, and seeing Kateline squatting in her +corner, nibbling a potato, she shook her roughly, exclaiming, in a +hissing voice: "Idiot! do you, then, hear nothing? You are not afraid +of anything--not you! You eat, you drink, you cluck! Oh! you monster!" + +She snatched her potato furiously away, and sat down, quite trembling +with passion, by the warm spring which was sending up its grey clouds +to the vaulted roof of the cavern. + +Half an hour after, it having grown dark, and the cold excessive, she +lit a fire of brushwood, which threw a pale and flickering light over +the blocks of red stone, to the very end of the cavern where Kateline +was now sleeping, with her feet in the straw, and her knees up to +her chin. Outside every sound had ceased. Wetterhexe pushed aside the +bushes at the entrance, to cast a look upon the mountain-side; then she +returned and squatted again beside the fire, her large mouth closely +compressed, her flabby eyelids shut, forming large circular wrinkles +round her cheeks, she drew over her knees an old woollen coverlet, and +seemed to be taking a doze. Not a sound was to be heard, save at long +intervals, the faint murmur of the condensed vapour falling back from +the vault to the spring. + +This death-like silence lasted for about two hours; midnight was +approaching, when, all at once, a distant sound of footsteps, mingled +with discordant clamours, was heard on the mountain-side. Berbel +listened; she recognised the sound of the human voice. Then rising, +all of a tremble, and armed with her large thistle, she glided to +the entrance of the rock, pushed the bushes aside, and saw, at the +distance of fifty paces, the fool Yégof, advancing in the bright +moonlight. Flourishing his sceptre in the air, he was calling upon his +followers, and fighting and struggling as if he were in the thick of +a battle. This fearful conflict with invisible beings struck Berbel +with superstitious terror; she felt her hair stand on end, and would +have fled and hid herself, but, at the same instant, a confused murmur +caused her to turn suddenly round, and judge of her alarm when she saw +the hot spring boiling more than usual, and clouds of steam rise from +it, then detach themselves and move in floating masses towards the door. + +And whilst, like phantoms, these thick clouds were slowly advancing, +Yégof appeared, exclaiming, in a sharp voice: "At last you are here. +You have heard me!" + +Then, with a rapid gesture, he put aside every impediment: a rush of +frosty air penetrated the cavern, and the vapours dispersed themselves +over the spacious canopy of heaven, wreathing and twisting themselves +over the rock as if the dead of that day, and those of centuries past, +had renewed, in other spheres, the eternal combat. + +Yégof, his features livid and contracted beneath the moon's pale rays, +his sceptre outstretched, his long beard descending to his breast, and +his eyes flashing, saluted each imaginary phantom with a gesture, and +called it by its name, saying: "Hail, Bled! hail, Roug! and all of you, +my brave companions, hail! The hour you have waited for for centuries +is near; the eagles are sharpening their beaks, the earth thirsts for +blood; remember the Blutfeld!" + +Then Yégof abruptly entered the cavern, and crouched down near the +spring, with his huge head between his hands, and his elbows on his +knees, watching the bubbling of the water, with a wild and haggard eye. + +Kateline had just awoke, and her clucking sounded like sobs; +Wetterhexe, more dead than alive, was watching the fool from the +darkest corner of the cavern. + +"They have all risen from the earth!" suddenly exclaimed Yégof--"all, +all! there are none left; they are gone to revive the courage of my +young men, and inspire them with contempt for death!" and, raising his +pale face, impressed with the expression of bitter grief, "They fought +valiantly--yes, yes, they did their duty well--but the hour was not +yet come. And now the ravens are fighting over their flesh!" Then, in +an accent of terrible rage, tearing off his crown, and handfuls of his +hair with both hands: "Oh! race accursed!" he shouted, "must you for +ever cross our path? But for you, we should already have conquered +Europe; the red men would be masters of the universe! And I have +humbled myself before the leader of that race of dogs. I have asked of +him his daughter, in lieu of taking her and carrying her off, as the +wolf does with the sheep. Ah! Huldrix! Huldrix!" Then, interrupting +himself: "Listen, listen, _valkirie_," said he, in a low voice; and he +raised his finger solemnly. Wetterhexe listened. A very high night-wind +had just risen, shaking the old forest trees, with their frost-covered +branches. How many times had the sorceress heard the north wind howl +through the long winter nights without even taking heed of it? But now, +how terror-stricken she was! And as she stood there, trembling from +head to foot, a harsh cry was heard without, and almost immediately +the raven, Hans, dashed wildly into the cavern, and began to describe +wide circles overhead, flapping his wings in a frightened manner, and +uttering dismal croakings. + +Yégof turned as pale as a corpse. + +"Vòd, Vòd!" he exclaimed, in heartrending tones, "what has thy son +Luitprandt done to thee?" + +And for a few seconds he remained as if terror-stricken; but suddenly +seized with a wild enthusiasm, and brandishing his sceptre, he rushed +out of the cavern. + +He went straight forward, with outstretched neck and striding step, +like a wild beast marching to his prey. Hans preceded him, fluttering +from place to place. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 10: Storm Witch.] + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + + +The Germans had quitted Grandfontaine, Framont, and even Schirmeck. +At a distance, very far off, on the plains of Alsace, dark points +might be remarked indicating their battalions in retreat. Hullin awoke +early, and made the round of the camp. He stood for a few moments +contemplating the scene that lay extended before him, the cannon +pointed towards the gorge, the volunteers stretched around the fire, +the armed sentinels; then, satisfied with his inspection, he returned +to the farm where Louise and Catherine were still sleeping. + +The greyish light of dawn was stealing through the chamber. A few +wounded in the next apartment were beginning to be attacked by fever; +they might be heard calling on their wives and mothers. A little later, +the hum of voices and the footsteps of people coming to and fro broke +the still silence of the night. Catherine and Louise awoke; and the +first sight that met their eyes was Jean-Claude sitting in a corner of +the window-seat, gazing affectionately upon them; and, ashamed of their +apparent laziness, they rose at once, to go and embrace him. + +"Well?" said Catherine, inquiringly. + +"Well, they are gone; we are left masters of the route, as I foresaw." + +This assurance did not appear to tranquillise the old farm-mistress; +she had to look out of window, and see with her own eyes the Germans +in full retreat as far as Alsace. And even then all the remainder of +the day her stern countenance still preserved the expression of an +indefinable anxiety. + +Between eight and nine o'clock, the pastor Saumaize arrived from the +village of Charmes. Some mountaineers then came down to the foot of the +mountain to carry away the dead; they then dug, to the right of the +farm, a long ditch, where volunteers and _kaiserlicks_, whether clad in +uniform or coats, hats or shakos, were quietly ranged side by side. + +The pastor Saumaize, a tall old man, with white hair, read the ancient +form of prayer for the dead in that rapid and mysterious tone which +penetrates to the very bottom of the soul, and seems to invoke bygone +generations to attest to the living the horrors of the tomb. + +All day long carriages and _schlittes_[11] kept arriving to remove the +wounded, who were imploring to be allowed to see their native village +once more. Doctor Lorquin, fearing to increase their irritation, was +forced to consent to it. About four o'clock Catherine and Hullin found +themselves alone in the large house-room of the farm. Louise had gone +to prepare the supper. Out of doors large flakes of snow continued to +fall from the skies, and lay thick upon the window-ledges, and from +moment to moment a sleigh was to be seen setting out silently with its +sick burden lying buried in the straw; sometimes a man, sometimes a +woman, leading the horse by the bridle. Catherine, seated by the table, +was folding bandages with an absent air. + +"Why, what's the matter with you, Catherine?" inquired Hullin. "Since +this morning I have noticed how low-spirited you seem. And yet +everything is prospering with us." + +The old farm-mistress, then slowly pushing back the linen from her, +replied: + +"It is true, Jean-Claude; I am troubled." + +"Troubled! and what about? The enemy is in full retreat. Only just now, +Frantz Materne, whom I had sent to reconnoitre, and all the scouts from +Piorette, from Jerôme, and from Labarbe, have come to tell me that the +Germans are returning to Mutzig. Old Materne and Kasper, after helping +to remove the dead, were informed at Grandfontaine that there was +nothing to be seen of them on the side of Saint Blaize-la-Roche. All +this proves that our Spanish dragoons gave the enemy a warm reception +on the road to Senones, and that they were in fear of having their +retreat cut off by Schirmeck. I cannot see, therefore, Catherine, what +it is you are tormenting yourself about." + +And as Hullin regarded her with a questioning look, "You will laugh at +me again," said she: "I have had a dream." + +"A dream?" + +"Yes, the same that I had at the farm of Bois-des-Chênes." + +Then, growing excited, she went on in almost an angry tone: + +"You may say what you like, Jean-Claude; but a great danger threatens +us. Yes, yes, all this, in your opinion, has not a shadow of common +sense. Moreover, this was not a dream; it was all like an old story +coming back to your mind; something that you see again in your +sleep, and that you recognise again. Listen. We were, as to-day, after +a great victory, somewhere, I don't know where, in a sort of great +wooden barrack, with heavy rafters across, and palings round it. We +were not in fear of anything; all the faces that I saw, I knew; you +were there, and Marc Divès, and many others, old people dead long ago; +my father, and old Hugh Rochart, of the Harberg, uncle of the one +who has just died, all wearing gaberdines of thick grey cloth, long +beards, and bare-necked. We had just won a similar victory, and we +were drinking out of a large red earthen pot, when suddenly a cry was +raised: "The enemy is returning!" and Yégof, on horseback, with his +long beard, his pointed crown, a hatchet in his hand, his eyes glaring +like those of a wolf, appeared before me in the darkness of the night. +I rush upon him with a stake--he awaits me; and from that moment I +see nothing more; only I feel a terrible pain in my neck, a gust of +cold wind passes over my face, and it seems to me as if my head were +dangling at the end of a cord. It was that miscreant Yégof who had +hung my head at his saddle, and was galloping away!" continued the old +farm-mistress, in such a tone of conviction that it made Hullin shudder. + +[Illustration: "PASTOR SAUMAIZE READ THE PRAYERS FOR THE DEAD."] + +There was a few moments' silence; then Jean-Claude, recovering from his +stupefied inaction, replied: + +"It was a dream. I myself have such dreams sometimes. Yesterday you +were disturbed, agitated--all that noise, those shouts." + +"No," she retorted, in a firm tone, resuming her occupation--"no, it is +not that. And to tell you the truth, during the whole of the battle, +and even at the very moment when the cannon was roaring against us, I +was not one bit afraid; I was certain beforehand that we could not be +beaten: I had already seen that, but now I am afraid!" + +"But the Germans have evacuated Schirmeck; all the line of the Vosges +is defended; we have more people than we require; they keep on coming +every minute." + +"No matter!" + +Hullin shrugged his shoulders. + +"Come, come, you are excited, Catherine; try to be calm, and think +of pleasanter things. As for all these dreams, look you, I value +them just as much as I do the Grand Turk, with his pipe and his blue +stockings. The great thing is to be well on our guard, to have plenty +of ammunition, men and cannon; these are worth much more than the very +brightest of dreams." + +"You are laughing at me, Jean-Claude." + +"No; but to hear a woman of good sense and great courage speak like +you, reminds one, in spite of oneself, of Yégof, who boasts of having +lived sixteen hundred years ago." + +"Who knows," said the old woman, in a persistent tone, "whether he +recollects what others have forgotten?" + +Hullin was about to relate to her his conversation of the evening +before at the camp with the fool, thinking thus to upset from top +to bottom all her dismal visions; but seeing that she held the same +opinion as Yégof on the question of the sixteen hundred years, the +brave fellow said nothing more, and resumed his silent walk, with head +hung down and careworn brow. "She is mad," he was thinking to himself; +"one more little shock, and it will be all over with her." + +Catherine, after a moment, in which she seemed to be lost in thought, +was just about to say something, when Louise came skimming in like a +swallow, exclaiming, in her sweetest voice:-- + +"Mother Lefévre, Mother Lefévre, here is a letter from Gaspard!" + +Then the old farm-mistress, whose hooked nose seemed bent down till it +almost met her lips, so indignant was she to see Hullin turn her dream +into ridicule, raised her head, and the deep wrinkles in her cheeks +relaxed. She took the letter, looked at the red seal, and said to the +young girl: + +"Kiss me, Louise; it is a good letter." + +And Louise immediately bestowed on her a warm embrace. + +Hullin had joined them, quite delighted at this incident, and +Brainstein, the postman, with his thick shoes an inch deep in snow, +stooping shoulders, and his two hands leaning on his stick, stationed +himself at the door with a tired look. + +The old woman put on her spectacles, opened the letter in a sort of +meditative way under the impatient eyes of Jean-Claude and Louise, and +read aloud: + +"This, my good mother, comes to tell you that all is as well as can +be, and that I arrived on Tuesday evening at Phalsbourg, just as they +were closing the gates. The Cossacks were already on the side of +Saverne; we had to keep up a constant fire all night against their +vanguard. The next day, an envoy came to summon us to surrender the +place. The governor, Meunier, made answer that he might go and hang +himself elsewhere, and three days after great showers of bombs and +howitzer-shells began to rain upon the town. The Russians have three +batteries, one on the side of Mittelbronn, the other at the barracks +above, and the third behind the tile-kiln of Pernette; but the red-hot +shot did us the most harm; they burn the houses from bottom to top, +and when some part is set fire to, then come the howitzer-shells in +a body and hinder people from putting it out. The women and children +do not leave the block houses; the inhabitants remain with us upon +the ramparts; they are brave fellows; there are among them some +old warriors of Sambre and Meuse, of Italy and Egypt, who have not +forgotten their old skill. It made me sorry to see the old greybeards +hard at work again with the guns. I warrant you, no bullet misses its +mark with them. But, for all that, when you've made the world tremble, +it's rather hard to be forced, in your last days, to defend your +barrack and your last morsel of bread." + +"Yes, it is hard," put in Dame Catherine, wiping her eyes; "only to +think of it makes one sorrowful." Then she continued:-- + +"The day before yesterday the governor decided to make an attack upon +the Russian battery at the back of the tile-kiln. You know that the +Russians are in the habit of breaking the ice of the tank to bathe in +companies of twenty or thirty, and that they then go to dry themselves +in the furnace of the brick-kiln. Good. About four o'clock, as day +was departing, we went out by the postern of the arsenal, and passed +through the Allée des Vaches, gun on shoulder, at a rapid trot. A +few minutes after, we opened a running fire on the Cossacks who were +bathing in the tank. All the rest then came out of the tile-kiln. They +had only just time to catch up their cartridge-pouches, shoulder their +guns, and place themselves in rank, all naked, like so many savages as +they were, in the snow. But, for all that, the beggars were ten times +more numerous than we, and they were just commencing a movement in the +direction of the little chapel of St. Jean, in order to surround us, +when the cannon from the arsenal began to pour such a hail of shot +in their direction as I never saw the like of before. The grape shot +carried away whole files right out of sight. At the end of a quarter +of an hour, all in a body began a retreat upon Quatre-Vents, without +stopping to pick up their pantaloons, the officers at the head of +them, and showers of bullets bringing up the rear. Papa Jean-Claude +would have laughed fit to crack his sides at the sight. At length, at +night-fall we returned to the town, after having stormed the battery, +and thrown two eight-pound shot into the brick-kiln. This is our +first expedition. To-day, I am writing to you from the barracks of +Bois-des-Chênes, where we are quartered to provision the place. All +this may last for months. I have already told you that the Allies are +returning by the valley of Dosenheim as far as Weschem, and that they +are gaining by thousands the road to Paris. Ah! if it were only God's +will that the Emperor should have the upper hand in Lorraine or in +Champagne, not a single one of them would escape. However, he who lives +longest sees the most. They are sounding the recall from Phalsbourg; +we have not fared badly in the way of oxen, cows, and goats in the +neighbourhood. There will be a little fighting to get them all in safe +and sound. Farewell for the present, my good mother, my dear Louise, +Papa Jean-Claude; my affectionate and loving remembrances to you all." + +As she finished reading, Catherine Lefévre was quite overcome with +emotion. + +"What a brave boy!" said she; "he knows nothing but his duty. In +short, you hear, Louise, he sends you his affectionate and loving +remembrances." + +Louise then throwing herself into her arms, they gave each other a +hearty embrace, and Dame Catherine, in spite of the firmness of her +character, could not restrain two big tears which slowly coursed each +other down her wrinkled cheeks; then recovering herself: + +"Come, come," said she, "all is going well. Here, Brainstein, you +go and eat a piece of beef and drink a glass of wine. Here is a +crown-piece for your trouble; I should like to have to give you a +similar sum every week for just such another letter." + +The postman, delighted with this gratuity, followed the old woman; +Louise walked behind, and Jean-Claude came after, impatient to question +Brainstein on all that he had learnt by the way touching present +events, but he gained nothing new from him, except that the Allies +were investing Bitche and Lutzelstein, and that they had lost several +hundred men in endeavouring to force the defile of the Graufthal. + +[Illustration] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 11: A sort of sledge peculiar to the district of the Vosges.] + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + + +About ten o'clock in the evening, Catherine Lefévre and Louise, having +wished Hullin good-night, went up into the room overhead. There were +two large feather beds; and the tall bedsteads, nearly as high as +the ceiling, with their long curtains, striped blue and red, had an +extremely warm and comfortable appearance. + +"Come," exclaimed the old farm-mistress, getting upon her chair, "come, +sleep well, my child; for my part, I am quite worn out; I can keep up +no longer." + +She drew the bed-clothes over her, and in less than five minutes after +she was sound asleep. + +Louise, being also exhausted, was not long in following her example. + +Now this had lasted about a couple of hours, when the old woman was +awakened with a start by a fearful tumult. Everything was in an uproar. + +"To arms!" was the cry--"to arms! Hi! this way, a thousand thunders! +they are upon us!" + +Five or six shots followed, illuminating the dark window-panes. + +"To arms! to arms!" + +The shots were heard again. People were hurrying to and fro. Then +Hullin's voice was heard--sharp, penetrating, issuing orders. Then to +the left of the farm, a good distance off, came a sound like a heavy +prolonged crackling in the gorges of the Grosmann. + +"Louise, Louise!" exclaimed Catherine, "did you hear that noise?" + +"Yes. Oh! heavens! how terrible!" + +Catherine jumped out of bed. + +"Get up, my child," said she; "let us dress ourselves." + +The shots were by this time redoubled, and kept passing like flashes of +lightning across the window-panes. + +"Attention!" shouted Materne. + +With these sounds were mingled the neighing of a horse outside, and the +trampling of a multitude of people in the alley, in the court-yard, and +in front of the farm; the house seemed shaken to its very foundations. + +All at once the firing was replied to from the windows of the room on +the ground floor. The two women dressed themselves in haste. At this +moment the staircase creaked under a heavy footstep; the door opened, +and Hullin appeared with a lantern, pale, his hair in disorder, and +every sign of agitation visible in his face. + +"Make haste!" he exclaimed; "we have not a moment to lose." + +"Why, what is happening?" asked Catherine anxiously. + +The firing was evidently coming nearer and nearer. + +"What?" exclaimed Jean-Claude, almost beside himself, and wildly +tossing up his arms; "do you think I have time to explain things to +you?" + +The farm-mistress saw that there was nothing to do but obey orders. +She took her hood, and descended the staircase with Louise. By the +flickering light of the shots, Catherine saw Materne, bare-necked, +and his son, Kasper, firing from the entrance of the valley on to the +barricades, while ten others behind them kept loading and handing +the guns to them, so that they had nothing to do but to take aim and +fire. All this motley group, busily engaged in loading, shouldering, +and firing, gave a terrible aspect to the scene. Three or four dead +bodies, propped up against the old decayed wall, added to the horror of +the combat; the smoke was beginning to make its way rapidly into the +dwelling. + +When they had reached the foot of the staircase, Hullin exclaimed: +"Here they are, thanks be to God!" And all the brave fellows about +there, looking up and seeing them, called out, "Courage! Mother +Lefévre!" + +Then the poor old dame, her frame quite shattered by so many emotions, +began to cry. She leaned on the shoulder of Jean-Claude; but the latter +passed his strong arm round her, and carried her off like a feather, +running all along the wall to the right. Louise followed, crying and +sobbing. + +Out of doors nothing was to be heard but the whizzing of bullets +through the air, heavy thuds against the wall; bricks and mortar were +giving way, and tiles flying about in all directions, and exactly +opposite, in the vicinity of the barricades, three hundred paces off, +were to be seen the white uniforms, in line, lit up by their own fire +in the thick darkness of night, and then to their left, on the other +side of the ravine of the Minières, the mountaineers, who were taking +them in the flank. + +Hullin disappeared at the turning by the farm; there all was plunged in +darkness. It was as much as you could do to catch a glimpse of Doctor +Lorquin on horseback in front of a sleigh, a long cavalry sword in +his hand, two holster-pistols in his belt, and Frantz Materne, with a +dozen of men, with grounded arms, trembling with rage. Hullin placed +Catherine in the sledge, on a truss of straw, and then Louise beside +her. + +"There you are!" exclaimed the doctor, "and it's a very lucky thing!" + +And Frantz Materne added: "If it had not been for you, Dame Lefévre, +you may easily believe that not one of us would quit this spot +to-night; but when you are in the case, there is nothing to say." + +"No," cried the others; "there is nothing to say." + +At the same moment, a great tall, long-backed fellow, with legs as long +as a heron's, came from behind the wall, running at full speed, and +shouting: "The enemy! Fly! save yourselves!" + +Hullin turned as pale as death. + +"It is the great grinder of the Harberg," said he, gnashing his teeth. + +Frantz said not a word; he shouldered his carbine, took aim, and fired. + +Louise saw the grinder, thirty paces off in the shadow, stretch out his +two long arms, and fall, face downwards, to the ground. + +Frantz re-loaded his gun, smiling with a strange expression. + +Hullin said: "Comrades, here is our mother; she who has given us +powder, and supplied us with food for the defence of our country, and +here is my child save them!" + +They all replied, with one voice: "We will save them, or perish with +them." + +"And do not forget to tell Divès that he is to remain at the +Falkenstein till further orders." + +"All right, Master Jean-Claude." + +"Then forward, doctor, forward!" cried the brave man. + +"And you, Hullin?" said Catherine. + +"For me, my place is here; we shall have to defend our position to the +death!" + +"Papa Jean-Claude!" cried Louise, stretching out her arms to him. + +But he had already turned the corner; the doctor struck his horse, the +sleigh sped over the snow, and behind followed Frantz Materne and his +men, carbine on shoulder, while the firing still continued all round +the farm. This is what Catherine Lefévre and Louise beheld in the space +of a few minutes. Something strange and terrible had doubtless happened +during the night. The old farm-mistress, recollecting her dream, grew +silent and absorbed. Louise dried her tears, and threw a long look on +the hillside she was leaving, and which was all alight, as if on fire. +The horse, urged by the doctor, went at full speed; the mountaineers +who formed the escort could hardly keep up with him. For a long time +still the tumult, the sounds of the combat, the explosions, the hissing +of bullets whistling through the trees, continued to be heard; but +all this, by degrees, grew less and less, and in a short time, at the +descent of the path, all had disappeared as in a dream. + +The sledge had just reached the other acclivity of the mountain, +and was speeding like an arrow through the darkness of the night. +The gallop of the horse, the hurried breathing of the escort, the +occasional cry of the doctor, "Up, Bruno! come up, then!" alone +disturbed the silence. + +A strong gust of cold air coming up from the valleys of the Sarre, +brought from a distance, like a sigh, the ceaseless sounds of the +torrents and the woods. The moon, just emerging from behind the cloud, +shed her pale light over the gloomy forests of the Blanru with their +tall fir-trees loaded with snow. + +Ten minutes after, the sledge reached the corner of these woods, and +Doctor Lorquin, turning round on his saddle, called out: + +"Now, Frantz, what shall we do? This is the path which leads towards +the hills of St. Quirin, and this other leads down to the Blanru; which +shall we take?" + +Frantz and his escort had come up with them. As they found themselves +then on the eastern declivity of the Donon, they began to see again, on +the other side, high in air, the firing of the Germans who came by the +Grosmann. + +They saw nothing but the flashes, and a few instants after the reports +awoke the echoes of the abyss. + +"The path by the hills of St. Quirin," said Frantz, "is the +shortest way to the farm of Bois-des-Chênes; we shall gain at least +three-quarters of an hour." + +"Yes," cried the doctor; "but we risk being stopped by the +_kaiserlicks_, who now hold the pass of the Sarre. See, they are +already masters of the heights; they have, no doubt, sent detachments +on to Sarre-Rouge to secure the passage of the Donon." + +"Let us take the path by the Blanru," said Frantz; "it is longer, but +it is safer." + +The sleigh descended the path, to the left through the woods. The +volunteers marched one behind the other, gun in hand, on the rising +ground, while the doctor on horseback in the road beneath made his way +through the untrodden snow that lay thick upon the ground. Above hung +the branches of the dark fir-trees overshadowing the gloomy pathway, +while all around the moon was shining brightly. As they proceeded thus +for about a quarter of an hour, in silence, Catherine, after having +held her tongue for a long while, not being able to contain herself any +longer, exclaimed: + +"Doctor Lorquin, now that you have got us into the pass of the Blanru, +and can do what you like with us, perhaps you will be good enough to +explain why we have been taken away by force? Jean-Claude came and +caught me up in his arms, and tossed me on to this truss of straw, and +here I am!" + +"Houp, Bruno!" said the doctor. + +Then he gravely replied:--"To-night, Dame Catherine, the worst of +misfortunes has befallen us. You must not be angry with Jean-Claude, +for through the fault of another, we lose the fruit of all our +sacrifices." + +"By whose fault?" + +"Of that unlucky Labarbe, who has not held the pass of the Blutfeld. He +has since died doing his duty; but that does not repair the disaster, +and if Piorette does not come in time to the support of Hullin, all is +lost! We must yield our posts, and beat a retreat." + +"What! Blutfeld is taken?" + +"Yes, Dame Catherine; who the deuce would have ever thought that the +Germans could approach that way? A defile almost impracticable for foot +passengers, hemmed in as it is between perpendicular rocks, where the +shepherds themselves can hardly descend with their flocks of goats. +Well, they passed through there, two by two; surprised Roche-Creuse; +they killed Labarbe, and then fell upon Jerôme, who defended himself +like a lion until nine o'clock in the evening; but, at the last, he was +obliged to fly into the fir forest, and leave the passage free to the +_kaiserlicks_. That is the whole of the story. It is fearful. There +must have been in the country some man cowardly enough, vile enough, to +guide the enemy to our rear, and deliver us up, bound hand and foot. +Oh! the wretch!" exclaimed Lorquin, his voice quivering with rage. "I +am not naturally cruel; but if he should fall into my clutches, I would +tear him to pieces! Houp, Bruno! come up!" + +The volunteers still continued their way along the rising ground, +silently, like shadows. + +The sleigh again set off at full gallop, then, after a while, relaxed +its speed; the horse was panting for breath. + +The old farm-mistress continued silent, to arrange these fresh ideas in +her head. + +"I begin to understand," said she, after a few moments; "we have been +attacked to-night in front and on the side." + +"Exactly so, Catherine; fortunately, ten minutes before the attack, +one of Marc Divès' men--a smuggler, Zimmer, the ex-dragoon--came in +breathless haste to put us on our guard. But for that, we should have +been lost. He came up with our vanguard, after having ran the gauntlet +of a whole regiment of Cossacks on the side of the Grosmann. The poor +devil had received a terrible sword-thrust; his bowels were hanging +over his saddle; were they not, Frantz?" + +"Yes," gloomily replied the young huntsman. + +"And what did he say?" asked the old farm-mistress. + +"He had only time to cry, 'To arms! we are surprised. Jerôme has sent +me. Labarbe is dead. The Germans have forced the Blutfeld.'" + +"He was a brave man," said Catherine. + +"Yes, he was a brave man!" replied Frantz, despondingly. + +Then all became silent again, and for a long time the sleigh continued +to wend its way along the winding valley. + +At times it was obliged to stop, the snow was so deep; three or four +mountaineers then got down to lead the horse by the bridle, and they +thus continued on their way. + +"But, for all that," rejoined Catherine, suddenly rousing herself from +her reverie, "Hullin might just as well have told me." + +"But if he had told you of those two attacks," interrupted the doctor, +"you would have wanted to stay behind." + +"And who could have prevented my doing what I wish? If I pleased now to +alight at this moment from the sleigh and go back, should I not be free +to do so I have forgiven Jean-Claude, and I am sorry that I did so." + +"Oh! Mother Lefévre, if he should happen to be killed while you were +saying that?" murmured Louise. + +"The child is right," thought Catherine; and then quickly added: "I say +that I am sorry for it; but he is such a brave and worthy man that you +cannot be angry with him. I forgive him with all my heart; in his place +I should have acted like him." + +Two or three hundred paces further on, they entered the defile of the +Roches. The snow had ceased to fall; the moon was shining brightly +between two large black and white clouds. The narrow gorge, shut in by +steep rocks, lay stretched in the distance, and on the mountain sides, +tall fir-trees lifted their lofty tops to the skies. Nothing disturbed +the deep silence of the woods; you might have thought yourself far away +from any human agitation. The silence was so profound that not only was +every one of the horse's steps distinctly heard on the snow, but at +times even his heavy breathing. Frantz Materne would sometimes stop, +and cast a hasty, anxious glance around, then step out quickly again to +overtake the others. + +And valleys succeeded to valleys. The sleigh ascended, descended, +turned to the right, then to the left, while the mountaineers, with the +glitter of their steel bayonets just visible in the greyish dawn, as +perseveringly followed it. + +They had just reached thus, about four o'clock in the morning, the +meadow of the Brimbelles, where there may be seen in our own day a +large oak just at the turn of the valley. On the other side, on the +left, in the midst of trees and shrubs all white with snow, behind its +little stone wall, and the palings of its little garden, the old house +of the keeper Cuny was just beginning to be visible, with its three +beehives safely fixed on a plank, its old knotty vine creeping to the +very top of its shelving roof, and its little branch of fir suspended +outside in form of a sign, for Cuny carried on also the trade of +publican in this solitary place. + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + + +At the spot which the sleigh and the convoy had reached, the road winds +round at the higher portion of the level ground, which lies four or +five feet below, and as a thick cloud veiled the moon, the doctor, +afraid of upsetting his equipage, stopped under the oak. + +"We have only about an hour's journey more, Dame Lefévre," said he, "so +be of good heart; we are out of danger now." + +"Yes," said Frantz; "we have got the worst part over, and now we can +let the horse take a little breath." + +All the band gathered round the sleigh, and the doctor alighted. Some +struck a match to light their pipes, but no one said anything, for +they were all thinking of the Donon. What was passing there? Would +Jean-Claude succeed in holding his position until the arrival of +Piorette? So many painful things, so many mournful reflections passed +through the minds of these brave fellows, that no one had the least +desire to speak. + +When they had been standing for about five minutes beneath the old +oak, just as the cloud was slowly retiring, and the pale moonlight +streamed through the gorge, all at once, at two hundred paces opposite +them, a dark figure on horseback appeared in the footpath among the +fir-trees. The moon's rays, falling full on this tall dark figure, +revealed distinctly to them a Cossack, with his sheepskin cap, and +his long lance under his arm, the point behind. He was coming along +at a gentle trot. Frantz had already taken aim, when behind the first +appeared another lance, then another Cossack, then another, and among +the dark shadows of the trees, and under the pale canopy of heaven, the +trampling of horses and glittering of lances announced the approach +of the Cossacks in single file, who were coming straight towards the +sledge, but leisurely, like people who are searching for something, +some with upturned faces, others leaning forward over the saddle as +though to look underneath the bushes; altogether there were more than +thirty of them. + +Judge of the emotion of Louise and Catherine, seated on their sleigh +in the middle of the road. They looked at each other in open-mouthed +surprise. Another moment, and they would be in the midst of those +bandits. The mountaineers seemed stupefied; it was impossible to +return: on one side the meadow slope to descend, on the other the +mountain to climb. The old farm-mistress, in her distress, took Louise +by the arm, exclaiming: "Let us escape into the woods!" + +She attempted to get out of the sleigh, but her shoe stuck fast in the +straw. + +Suddenly one of the Cossacks uttered a guttural exclamation, which ran +through the whole line. + +"We are discovered!" cried Doctor Lorquin, drawing his sword. + +He had hardly said the word when a dozen shots lit up the path from +one end to the other, and a regular howling of savages replied to the +volley; the Cossacks crossed from the path into the meadow opposite, +their reins hanging loosely, knees squared, urging their horses +to their utmost speed, and making for the keeper's house with the +fleetness of stags. + +"Ha! they must be riding to the devil!" cried the doctor. + +But the worthy man spoke too soon; at two or three hundred paces down +in the valley, the Cossacks suddenly wheeled round, like a flock of +starlings describing a circle--then, with poised lance, and nose bent +down between their horses' ears, they galloped furiously right down +upon the mountaineers, uttering their hoarse war-cry: "Hurrah! hurrah!" + +It was a terrible moment! + +Frantz and the others flung themselves on the wall to cover the sledge. + +Two seconds after, nothing was heard but the clashing of lances and +bayonets, cries of rage answering to imprecations; nothing seen under +the shadow of the old oak, through whose branches some pale rays of +light still glimmered, but horses rearing on their hind legs, wildly +tossing their manes, madly striving to leap over the meadow wall, and +above, veritably savage faces, with gleaming eyes, uplifted arms, +hurling furious blows, advancing, retreating, and uttering wild shouts +fit to make the hair stand erect upon your head. + +Louise, as pale as death, and the old farm-mistress, with her long thin +gray locks, were standing up in the straw. + +Doctor Lorquin stood before them, parrying the blows with his sword, +and all the while he was warding them off he kept shouting: "Lie down! +Death and destruction! keep down, will you?" + +But they did not hear him. + +Louise, in the midst of this tumult, of these savage shouts, thought of +nothing but shielding Catherine; and the old farm-mistress--judge of +her terror!--had just recognised Yégof, on a tall, bony horse--Yégof, +his tin crown on his head, his matted beard, his lance in hand, and +his long sheepskin floating from his shoulders. She saw him there as +plainly as if it had been broad daylight; yes, it was he whose sinister +face she beheld ten paces off, with its flaming eyes, darting forth his +long blue lance and striving to reach her. What should she do? Submit, +yield to her fate? Thus it is that the firmest natures feel themselves +forced to bow before an inflexible destiny. The old woman believed +herself doomed beforehand; she believed herself foredoomed, and gazed +on all those ferocious men, yelling and leaping like so many hungry +wolves, aiming and receiving blows in the soft clear moonlight. She saw +some struck down, and their horses, the bridle hanging over their neck, +escaping into the meadow. She saw the uppermost windows in the keeper's +house open on the left, and old Cuny, in his shirt-sleeves, level his +gun, without daring to fire into the _mêlée_. She saw all these with +singular clearness, and kept saying to herself: "The fool has returned: +whatever happens, he will hang my head to his saddle. It must end as it +did in my dream!" + +And, in truth, everything seemed to justify her fears. The +mountaineers, too inferior in number, were giving way. + +There was a regular hand-to-hand encounter. The Cossacks, leaping up +the ascent, fought in the path; one sword-thrust, better directed than +the others, reached the back of the old woman's head; she felt the +touch of the cold steel just in the nape of her neck. + +"Oh! the wretches!" she shrieked, falling back, and supporting herself +with her two hands at her back. + +Doctor Lorquin himself had just been knocked against the sleigh. Frantz +and the rest, surrounded by twenty Cossacks, could not run to their +assistance. Louise felt a hand laid upon her shoulder; it was the hand +of the fool, still bestriding his tall horse. + +At this supreme moment, the poor child, mad with fear, uttered a cry of +agony; at the same moment she caught sight of something shining in the +dark, the pistols of Lorquin, and, quick as lightning, snatching them +from the doctor's belt, she fired both shots at once, scorching the +beard of Yégof, whose pale face was lit up by the flash, and shattering +the skull of a Cossack who was leaning towards her, his white eyes +distended with desire. + +In another instant, she seized Catherine's whip, and, standing up, +pale as a corpse, she lashed the flanks of the horse, who set off at +full gallop. The sleigh flew wildly along; it swayed to the right and +left. All of a sudden, there was a violent shock; Catherine, Louise, +and all rolled in the snow down the steep descent of the ravine. The +horse suddenly stopped short, thrown back upon his haunches, his mouth +covered with bloody foam. + +Rapid as this fall had been, Louise had seen some shadows pass like the +wind behind the trees. She had heard a terrible voice, that of Divès, +shout: "Forward! Stab, stab!" + +It was but a vision, one of those confused apparitions such as pass +before our eyes at our last hour; but as she arose, no doubt remained +in the poor girl's mind; a sharp conflict was raging at twenty paces +from her, behind a ridge of trees, and Marc was shouting lustily: +"Courage, lads! no quarter!" + +Then she saw a dozen Cossacks climbing up the opposite side of the +mountain, through the bushes, like hares, and above, in the broad +light of the moon, Yégof crossing the valley at his utmost speed, +like a frightened bird. Several shots were sent after him, but the +fool escaped them all, and, drawing himself up to his full height +in his spurs, he turned round, brandishing his lance with a defiant +air, and uttering a loud hurrah in the shrill tone of a heron who has +just escaped from the talons of the eagle, and wings his rapid flight +through the air. + +Two shots were again sent after him from the keeper's house; something, +a shred of his rags, detached itself from the person of the fool, who +continued his way, repeating his hurrahs in a hoarse accent while +scaling the path his comrades had taken. + +And all this vision disappeared as in a dream. + +Then Louise turned round; Catherine was standing beside her, not less +dumfounded, but not less watchful. They looked at each other for a +moment, and then threw themselves into each other's arms with a feeling +of inexpressible relief. + +"We are saved!" murmured Catherine. And, woman-like, they both began to +cry. + +"You have behaved bravely," said the farm-mistress--"well, very well. +Jean-Claude, Gaspard, and I, we may be proud of you." + +Louise was agitated by such profound emotion that she trembled from +head to foot. The danger past, her own gentle nature regained the +ascendancy; she was at a loss to account for the courage she had just +shown. + +In another moment, finding themselves a little recovered, they were +preparing to climb back into the road, when they saw five or six of the +mountaineers and the doctor coming to look after them. + +"Ah! it's no use for you to cry, Louise," said Lorquin; "you are a +dragon, a right-down imp. Now, your heart's in your mouth to look at +you, but we all saw you at work. And, by-the-bye, my pistols--where are +they?" + +At this moment there was a rustling among the bushes, and the tall form +of Marc Divès appeared, sword in hand, while he exclaimed: + +"Holloa! Dame Catherine; those are rough adventures. A thousand +thunders! what a lucky chance that I should happen to be there! Those +beggars would rifle you from head to foot!" + +"Yes," said the old farm-mistress, pushing her gray hair under her cap, +"it is most fortunate." + +"Fortunate! Ah! I believe you. It is not more than ten minutes since +I arrived with my ammunition waggon at Cuny's house. 'Don't go to the +Donon,' said he to me; 'for the last hour the sky has been all red on +that side. There is fighting going on there, you may be sure.' 'You +think so?' 'Yes, I do indeed.' 'Then Joson shall go out and look about +and see how the land lays.' 'Good.' Joson had no sooner gone than I +hear shouts like five hundred devils. 'What's the matter, Cuny?' 'Can't +say.' We push the door open, and we see the hurly-burly. Ha!" continued +the tall smuggler, "it did not take me long to be among them. I leap on +my good horse, Fox, and then forward. What a piece of luck!" + +"Ah!" said Catherine, "if we were only sure that our affairs were going +as well as the Donon, we might rejoice in good earnest." + +"Yes, yes, Frantz told me all about that--that's the devil; there must +be always some hitch," replied Marc. "In short--in short, we are still +stuck fast here, with our feet in the snow. Let us hope that Piorette +will not leave his comrades long in that plight, and now let us empty +our glasses, which are still half full." + +Other smugglers had just arrived, saying that that wretch of a Yégof +might be back soon, with a lot more of his own sort at his back. + +"That is true," replied Divès. "We will return to the Falkenstein, +since that is Jean-Claude's order; but we cannot take our waggon with +us; it would prevent our taking the cross-roads, and, in an hour, all +those bandits would be down on us tooth and nail. Let us go, in the +first place, back to Cuny's; Catherine and Louise will not be sorry to +drink a cup of wine, nor the others either; it will warm their hearts +for them. Come up, Bruno!" + +He took the horse by the bridle. Two wounded men had just been laid +on the sleigh. Two others having been killed, with seven or eight +Cossacks lying dead upon the snow, their large boots wide apart, were +obliged to be abandoned, and they proceeded directly towards the house +of the old ranger. Frantz was consoling himself for not having been at +the Donon. He had run two Cossacks through, and the sight of the inn +besides tended to put him into good humour. In front of the door the +ammunition waggon was stationed. Cuny came out to meet them, exclaiming: + +"Welcome, Dame Lefévre; what a night for women! Sit down! What is going +on up above there?" + +Whilst they were hastily draining a bottle, he was obliged to have +everything explained to him over again. The good old man, dressed in a +simple jerkin and green breeches, with his wrinkled face and bald head, +listened eagerly, his eyes quite round with surprise, his hands clasped +as he exclaimed: + +"Good God! good God! what times we live in! Now-a-days you cannot go +along the high road without the risk of being attacked. It is worse +than the old stories of the Swedes." + +And he shook his head. + +"Come," cried Divès, "time presses; let us be going!" + +When all were ready to start, the smugglers led the waggon, which +contained some thousands of cartridges and two little barrels of +brandy, about five hundred yards off; they then unharnessed the horses. + +"Now, keep going on!" cried Marc, "in a few minutes we will rejoin you." + +"But what are you going to do with that vehicle there?" asked Frantz. +"Since we have not time to take it back to the Falkenstein, better put +it safe under Cuny's shed than leave it in the middle of the road." + +"Yes, to get the poor old fellow strung up when the Cossacks arrive, +for they will be here before another hour. Don't trouble yourself about +anything. I know what I'm about." + +Frantz rejoined the sleigh, which set out on its way. In a short time +they passed the sawpit, and then took a short cut to the right to +reach the farm of Bois-des-Chênes, whose tall chimney was discernible +three-quarters of a league off. + +When they were halfway up the mountain, Marc Divès and his men overtook +them, calling out to them: "Halt! stop a little while. Look down below +there." + +And they all, having looked behind towards the bottom of the gorge, saw +the Cossacks caracoling round the cart, to the number of two or three +hundred. + +"They are here! Let us fly!" cried Louise. + +"Stay a little," replied the smuggler; "we have nothing to fear." + +He was just speaking, when an immense sheet of flame extended its two +crimson wings from one mountain to the other, illuminating the woods +and rocks to their very summits, as well as the little house of the +ranger, then came such an explosion that it made the very earth tremble. + +And as all the bewildered spectators stood looking at each other, for +the moment speechless and spell-bound with fear, Marc's loud peals of +laughter mingled with the sounds that still rang in their ears. + +"Ha! ha! ha!" he exclaimed, "I was sure that the beggars would stop +around the waggon to drink my brandy, and that the match would have +time to reach the powder! You think they are likely to follow us, do +you? I tell you what, their arms and legs are by this time hanging to +the branches of the fir-trees! Come on; and may Heaven do as much to +all those who attempt to cross the Rhine!" + +All the escort, the mountaineers, the doctor--everybody, had grown +silent again. So many terrible emotions inspired each one with endless +thought, quite different from those of ordinary life. They could not +help saying to themselves: "What are men, thus to destroy, torment, +devour, and ruin each other? What have they done, that they should hate +each other so? And what can the ferocious spirit that excites them to +it be, if it's not the devil himself?" + +Divès and his men alone could behold such things unmoved, and while +they galloped away, laughed and applauded themselves. + +"For my part," said the tall smuggler, "I never saw such a capital +joke. Ha! ha! ha! I shall never stop laughing at it, if I live for a +thousand years." + +Then all of a sudden a gloom came over him, and he exclaimed: + +"For all that, this must be Yégof's work. We must be blind not to see +that it is he who led the Germans to the Blutfeld. I should be sorry +if he had met his end by the blowing up of my cart. I have something +better in store for him. All I desire is, that he may keep all right +until we chance to meet each other somewhere in the corner of a wood. +If I have to wait a year, ten, twenty years, no matter, so it comes at +last. The longer I shall have waited, the better my appetite will be: +tit-bits are good cold, like boar's head cooked in white wine." + +He said this in a laughing, good-humoured way, but those who knew him +augured from it no good to Yégof. + +In half an hour after they had all arrived before the farm of +Bois-des-Chênes. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + + +Jerôme de St. Quirin had safely effected his retreat upon the farm. +Since midnight he had occupied the rising ground on which it stood. + +"Who goes there?" was the challenge of the sentinels as the escort +approached. + +"It is us--us from the village of Charmes," replied Marc Divès in his +stentorian voice. + +They were recognised and allowed to pass. + +The farm was wrapped in silence. An armed sentinel was walking up +and down before the barn, where about thirty of the mountaineers +were asleep upon some straw. Catherine, at sight of those heavy +gabled roofs, those old outhouses, those stables, of all that ancient +dwelling-place within whose walls she had passed her youth, where her +father and her grandfather had tranquilly spent their peaceful and +industrious lives, and which she was about to abandon, perhaps for +ever, Catherine felt a terrible oppression of the heart; but she kept +the feeling to herself, and springing from the sleigh, just as in +former times she used to return from market: + +"Well, Louise," said she, "here we are at home again, thanks be to God." + +Old Duchêne had come and opened the door, exclaiming: + +"Ah! is it you, Madame Lefévre?" + +"Yes, it is us! No news of Jean-Claude?" + +"No, Madam." + +Then they all went into the large kitchen. + +Some embers were still blazing on the hearth, and under shadow of the +immense chimney-piece was sitting Jerôme de Saint-Quirin, with his +large cloth hood, his sandy pointed beard, his thick stick between his +knees, and his carbine resting against the wall. + +"Good-morrow, Jerôme," said the old farm-mistress. + +"Good-morrow, Catherine," answered the grave and solemn leader of the +Grosmann, "you come from the Donon?" + +"Yes. Things are taking a bad turn, my poor Jerôme! we were obliged to +leave the farm, because it was attacked by the _kaiserlicks_. There was +nothing but white uniforms to be seen on every side. They were just +beginning to pass the barricades." + +"Then you think that Hullin will be obliged to abandon the position?" + +"If Piorette does not come to his assistance, it is possible!" + +The mountaineers had drawn near the fire. Marc Divès was stooping over +the ashes to light his pipe; as he raised himself up, he exclaimed: + +"For my part, Jerôme, I only wish to ask you one thing: I know already +that the men under your command fought well." + +"We did our duty," replied the shoemaker; "there are sixty men lying +dead on the side of the Grosmann, who will be able to say as much at +the last judgment." + +"Yes; but who, then, was it that acted as guide to the Germans? They +could not of themselves have found out the passage of the Blutfeld." + +"It is Yégof, the fool Yégof," said Jerôme, whose gray eyes, circled by +deep wrinkles, and overhung by thick white eyebrows, seemed really to +flash with fire as he spoke. + +"Ah! You are quite sure of it?" + +"Labarbe's men saw him in the act--he was leading the others." + +The mountaineers regarded each other with looks of indignation. + +At this moment Doctor Lorquin, who had stayed outside to unharness the +horse, opened the door, exclaiming: + +"The pass is lost! Here are our men from the Donon; I have just heard +Lagarmitte's horn." + +It is easy to imagine the emotion of the bystanders. Every one began to +think of the relations, the friends, whom he might perhaps never see +again, and all, including those in the kitchen and the barn, rushed +out to learn the news. At the same moment, Robin and Dubourg, who were +placed as sentinels on the Bois-des-Chênes, exclaimed: + +"Who goes there?" + +"France," replied a voice. + +And, in spite of the distance, Louise, thinking she recognised her +father's voice, was seized with such a sudden emotion, that Catherine +was obliged to support her in her arms. + +Almost immediately the sound of a number of footsteps was heard upon +the hard crisp snow, and Louise, no longer able to contain herself, +cried out, in a trembling voice: + +"Papa Jean-Claude!" + +"Here I am," replied Hullin, "here I am!" + +"My father?" exclaimed Frantz Materne, running to meet Jean-Claude. + +"He is with us, Frantz." + +"And Kasper?" + +"He has received a little scratch; nothing worth speaking of; you will +see them both directly." + +At the same moment Catherine threw herself into Hullin's arms. + +"Oh! Jean-Claude, what happiness to see you again!" + +"Yes," said the brave man, in a sorrowful tone, "there are many who +will never behold those they love again." + +"Frantz," old Materne was then heard calling out, "here! this way!" + +And on all sides nothing was to be seen but people looking for each +other, shaking hands and embracing. Others were calling, "Niclau! +Sapheri!" but from more than one no answer came. + +Then the voices grew hoarse, as if stifling, and ended by being silent. +The joy of some, and the consternation of others, imparted a sort of +terror to the scene. + +Louise was weeping freely in Hullin's arms. + +"Ah! Jean-Claude," said Dame Lefévre, "you have got something to hear +about that child there. At present I shall not tell you anything, +except that we were attacked." + +"Oh! yes. We will talk of all that by-and-by. We have no time to lose +now," said Hullin. "The pass of the Donon is lost, the Cossacks may be +here by daybreak, and we have still many things to do." + +He turned the corner and entered the farm; every one followed him. +Duchêne had just thrown a fresh log on to the fire. Those faces +blackened with powder, still flushed with fighting, their garments +torn by bayonets, some stained with blood, advancing from the shadowy +darkness outside into the full light cast by the blazing fire, +presented a singular and striking spectacle. Kasper had his forehead +bound up with his handkerchief, having received a cut from a sabre. His +bayonet, the front of his dress, and his long blue cloth gaiters were +spotted with blood. As for old Materne, he, thanks to his imperturbable +presence of mind, returned safe and sound from the strife and carnage. +The remnants of the two troops of Jerôme and Hullin thus found +themselves re-united. + +There were the same wild figures, inspired by the same energy and the +same spirit of vengeance; only the latter, harassed by fatigue, were +sitting right and left, on logs of wood, on the edge of the sink, on +the low stones of the hearth, with their head between their hands, +their elbows on their knees. Others were staring vacantly about them, +and not being able to convince themselves of the disappearance of Hans, +and Joson, and Daniel, were exchanging questions, which were followed +by long intervals of silence. Materne's two sons were holding each +other by the arm, as if they were afraid of losing one another, and +their father, behind them, leaning against the wall, with his elbow +resting on his gun, was regarding them with a contented air. "There +they are; I see them," he seemed to be saying to himself; "they are +famous fellows! They have both come off with whole skins." And the +worthy man coughed gently behind his hand. If any one came to him to +ask about Pierre, or Jacques, or Nicolas, he would answer at random: +"Yes, yes; there are plenty of them down below there lying on their +backs. But what would you have? It's the fortune of war. Your Nicolas +has done his duty. You must console yourself with that." And in the +meanwhile he was thinking to himself: "Mine are not left in the lurch; +that's what I care about most." + +Catherine was laying the table, assisted by Louise. In a short time, +Duchêne came up from the cellar with a barrel of wine on his shoulder, +which he placed on the dresser; he tapped it, and then every one of the +mountaineers brought his glass, his mug, or his jug, and filled it from +the purple stream that glistened in the blazing light of the fire. + +"Eat and drink!" cried the good farm-mistress; "it is not over yet, and +you've still need of all your strength. Here, Frantz, take down those +hams for me. Here is bread, knives; and now sit down, my children." + +Frantz made a spit of his bayonet, and hung up the hams in the wide +fire-place. + +They drew the benches forward, they sat down, and, in spite of their +grief, proceeded to eat with that vigorous appetite of which neither +present griefs nor cares for the future can wholly deprive strong men. +But that did not prevent a poignant sorrow clutching at the heart of +these brave fellows, and first one and then another would suddenly +stop, and, laying down his fork, quit the table, saying, "I have had +enough." + +While the mountaineers were thus repairing their strength, their +leaders were assembled in the next room, making fresh dispositions for +the defence. They were sitting round the table, lighted by a solitary +tin lamp; Doctor Lorquin, with his great dog Pluto by his side, Jerôme +in the angle of a window on the right, Hullin on the left, quite pale. +Marc Divès, with his elbow on the table, his cheek on his hand, had his +broad shoulders turned to the door: he only showed his brown profile +and one of the corners of his long moustache. Materne alone remained +standing, as usual, against the wall, behind Lorquin's chair, his gun +at his feet. From the kitchen came the hum of voices. + +When Catherine, sent for by Hullin, entered, she heard a sort of +groaning sound which caused her to start. It was Hullin who was +speaking. + +"All those brave lads, all those fathers of families who fell one after +the other," he was saying, in a tone of bitter grief, "do you think +that it does not wring my very heart? Do you think that I would not +rather a thousand times over have been massacred myself? Ah! You know +not what I have suffered this night! To lose your own life is nothing, +but to bear alone the weight of such a responsibility----!" + +He was silent, but the quivering of his lips, a tear that rolled slowly +down his cheek, his very attitude, all showed the scruples of the +honest man, and that he found himself in a situation where conscience +herself hesitates and seeks fresh support. Catherine went very gently +and seated herself in a large arm-chair on the left. After a few +seconds, Hullin added, in a calmer tone: "Between eleven o'clock and +midnight, Zimmer arrived, shouting, 'We are taken in the rear! The +Germans are coming down from the Grosmann; Labarbe is dead; Jerôme +cannot hold out any longer!' And then he said no more. What was to be +done? Could I beat a retreat? Could I abandon a position which had +cost us so much blood, the pass of the Donon, the road to Paris? If I +had done so, should I not have been a poltroon? But I had only three +hundred men against four thousand at Grandfontaine, and I don't know +how many who came down from the mountain! Well, cost what it would, +I resolved to hold out. It was our duty. I said to myself: 'Life is +nothing without honour! We will all die; but it shall never be said +that we have surrendered the road to France. No, no; it shall never be +said!'" + +As he spoke these words, Hullin's voice again shook with emotion, his +eyes filled with tears, and he added: "We held our post; my brave +children held it until two o'clock. I saw them fall around me. As they +fell they shouted: 'Hurrah for France!' At the beginning of the action, +I had sent to warn Piorette. He arrived at full speed, with about fifty +good men. It was already too late; the enemy poured down on us right +and left; they held three parts of the ground, and drove us back into +the fir-forests on the side of the Blanru; we could not stand against +their fire. All that I could do was to collect my wounded, those who +were still able to drag themselves away, and place them under the +escort of Piorette. About a hundred of my men joined him. For myself, +I kept only fifty to go and occupy the Falkenstein. We cut our way +through the Germans who would have stopped our retreat. Fortunately +the night was dark; but for that, not a soul among us would have +escaped. This, then, is the state of things with us; all is lost! The +Falkenstein alone is left to us, and we are reduced to three hundred +men. The thing is now to know whether we are determined to go on to +the end. For myself, I have told you it is painful to me to bear such a +heavy responsibility alone. As long as it was a question of defending +the pass of the Donon, there could be no doubt about the matter: every +one owes his life to his country; but this pass is lost; we should want +ten thousand men to enable us to re-take it, and at this very moment +the enemy is entering Lorraine. Now then, what is to be done?" + +"We must go on to the end," said Jerôme. + +"Yes, yes," exclaimed the others. + +"Is this your opinion, Catherine?" + +"Certainly!" exclaimed the old farm-mistress, whose features expressed +inflexible firmness. + +Then Hullin, in a firmer tone, proceeded to disclose his plan. + +"The Falkenstein is our point of retreat. It is our arsenal; it is +there that we have our ammunition; the enemy know it, and will attempt +to storm it. To prevent that, we must all of us here present hasten +thither to its defence; all the country round must see us, so that they +may be able to say--Catherine Lefévre, Jerôme, Materne and his sons, +Hullin, Doctor Lorquin, are there. They will not lay down their arms! +This thought will reanimate the courage of all honest people. At the +same time, Piorette will hold himself in readiness in the woods; his +followers will increase every day. The country will soon be over-run +with Cossacks--with robbers of every description. As soon as the enemy +shall have entered Lorraine, I will make a signal to Piorette; he will +throw himself between the Donon and the road, and all the stragglers +scattered over the mountain will be caught, as in a net. We may also +profit by favourable chances to carry off the convoys of the Germans, +harass their reserves, and, if fortune favours us as we must hope, and +all these kaiserlicks should be beaten in Lorraine by our army, we +shall then be able to cut off their retreat." + +Every one rose, and Hullin, entering the kitchen, made this simple +address to the mountaineers: + +"My friends, we have just decided to resist to the very last. At the +same time, every one is free to do as he likes, to lay down his arms, +to return to his village; but let those who desire to avenge themselves +assemble with us; they shall share our last bit of bread and our last +cartridge." + +The old bargeman Colon rose and said: + +"Hullin, we are all with you; we have begun to fight all together, and +we shall finish all together." + +"Yes, yes!" cried out all the others. + +"You have all decided, then? Very well! listen to me. Jerôme's brother +will take the command." + +"My brother is dead," interrupted Jerôme; "he is lying on the side of +the Grosmann." + +There was a moment's silence; then, in a firm voice, Hullin continued: + +"Colon, you will take the command of all those who are left, with the +exception of the men who formed the escort of Catherine Lefévre, and +whom I shall retain with me. You will go and rejoin Piorette in the +valley of the Blanru by the way of the Two Rivers." + +"And the ammunition?" inquired Marc Divès. + +"I have brought back my waggon," said Jerôme; "Colon can make use of +it." + +"Let the sleigh be got ready as well," exclaimed Catherine; "when the +Cossacks come they will plunder everything. We must not let our people +go away empty-handed; let them take away the oxen, the cows, and the +goats; let them carry off everything; it is so much lost for the enemy." + +Five minutes after, the farm was being completely stripped of +everything; they were loading the sleigh with hams, smoked meats, +bread; leading the cattle from the stables, harnessing the horses to +the great waggon; and in a short time the convoy set out on its march, +with Robin at the head, and the volunteers behind, pushing at the +wheels. When it had disappeared in the woods, and silence suddenly +succeeded to all this noise, Catherine, as she turned round, saw Hullin +behind her as pale as death. + +"Well, Catherine," said he, "all is settled." + +Frantz, Kasper, and those who formed the escort, all stood ready armed +and waiting in the kitchen. + +"Duchêne," said the brave woman, "do you go down to the village; we +must not have the enemy ill-treating you on my account." + +The old servant then, shaking his white head, and with his eyes full of +tears, replied: + +"So that I but die here, Madame Lefévre. It is fifty years since I +first came to the farm. Do not force me to go away from it; it would be +my death." + +"As you will, my poor Duchêne," replied Catherine, greatly moved at +this proof of her old servant's fidelity. "Here are the keys of the +house." + +And the poor old man went and sat down on a stool beside the hearth, +with his eyes fixed, and his mouth half open, like one lost in a sad +and bewildering dream. + +They set out on their way to the Falkenstein. Marc Divès on horseback, +his long rapier in his hand, formed the rear-guard. Frantz and Hullin +were on the left overlooking the mountain side; Kasper and Jerôme on +the right of the valley; Materne and the men of the escort surrounded +the women. + +Strange to say, in front of the cottages of the village of Charmes, on +the doorsteps of the houses, at the casements, at the windows, appeared +faces young and old, watching with curious eyes this flight of Dame +Lefévre, and evil tongues did not spare her. + +"Ah! she's come to ruin at last," said they. "This comes of meddling +with what does not concern you!" + +Others made the reflection aloud that Catherine had been rich quite +long enough, and that it was now her turn to come down in the world. +As for the industry, the wisdom, the goodness of heart, and all +the other virtues of the good old farm-mistress, the patriotism of +Jean-Claude, the courage of Jerôme, and Materne and his two sons, the +disinterestedness of Doctor Lorquin, the devotion of Marc Divès, no one +said anything about them--they were conquered! + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + + +At the bottom of the valley of the Bouleaux, about two gun-shots from +the village of Charmes, on the left, the little troop began to ascend +slowly the footpath of the old _burg_. Hullin, remembering that he +had followed the same road when he went to buy powder of Marc Divès, +could not help a feeling of deep sadness from stealing over him. Then, +in spite of his journey to Phalsbourg, in spite of the spectacle of +the wounded of Hanau and of Leipzic, in spite of the old sergeant's +recital, he despaired of nothing; he preserved all his energy, and had +no fear of the success of the defence. How all was lost: the enemy +was descending on Lorraine, the mountaineers were flying. Marc Divès +was riding slowly by the side of the wall through the snow; his big +horse, accustomed, no doubt, to this journey, kept neighing, tossing up +his head, and dropping it down again on his breast, in sudden jerks. +The smuggler turned round in his saddle from time to time, to throw a +glance back on the farm of Bois-des-Chênes they were quitting. Suddenly +he exclaimed: + +"Hi! here are the Cossacks in sight!" + +At this exclamation all the troops halted to look about. They were +already a good way up the mountain, above the village and even the farm +of Bois-des-Chênes. The gray wintry dawn was dispersing the mists of +morning, and amid the recesses of the mountain were visible the forms +of several Cossacks, with head erect, pistol in hand, approaching at a +slow pace the old homestead. They were advancing cautiously, and seemed +as if they feared a surprise. A few moments after, others appeared in +sight, ascending the valley of the Houx, then others still, and all in +the same attitude, standing up in their stirrups, to see as far off +as possible, like men who are hoping to discover something. The first +comers, having passed the farm and observing nothing threatening, waved +their lances and wheeled half-round. All the others then galloped up to +the spot, like crows following one of their number who has taken wing, +supposing he has just discovered a prey. In a few seconds the farm was +surrounded, the door opened. Two minutes later, there was a crashing +of glass, and out through the windows came furniture, mattrasses, and +linen tumbling about in all directions. Catherine, with her hooked nose +drawn down to her very lip, looked calmly on this scene of ravage. +For a long time she said nothing, but suddenly seeing Yégof, whom she +had not perceived until then, strike Duchêne with the butt of his +lance, and push him out of the farm, she could not restrain a cry of +indignation: + +"Oh! the brute! What a coward he must be to strike a poor old man, who +cannot defend himself. Ah! the wretch!" + +"Come, Catherine," said Jean-Claude, "we've seen enough of it; there's +no good in feasting your eyes on that!" + +"You are right," said the old farm-mistress; "let us go: I should be +tempted to go down among them to avenge myself single-handed." + +The higher they ascended the mountain, the clearer and sharper grew +the air. Louise, the true daughter of the _Heimathslôs_, with a +little basket of provisions on her arm, was climbing the steep side +at the head of the troop. The pale blue sky, the plains of Alsace and +Lorraine, and, quite on the verge of the horizon, those of Champagne, +all that boundless expanse stretching far as the eye could reach, +excited in her breast feelings of the deepest enthusiasm. She seemed as +if she had wings to skim the azure vault of heaven, like those great +birds which sweep down from the tops of the trees to the abyss below +uttering their cry of freedom. All the miseries of this lower world, +all its injustices and its sufferings, were forgotten. In fancy Louise +again saw herself just a little creature on the back of her mother, the +poor strolling gipsy, and said to herself: "I was never more happy, +never had less care, never laughed and sang so much! And yet we often +wanted bread then. Ah! those were happy days!" And then snatches of old +songs would come back to her mind. + +At the approaches to the rock, which was of a reddish-brown, incrusted +with large black and white pebbles, and inclining over the precipice +like the arches of an immense cathedral, Louise and Catherine stopped +in an ecstacy of surprise and delight at the scene that lay before +them. Overhead, the firmament appeared to them still more spacious, +the path cut in the rock still narrower. The valleys stretching away +far out of sight, the endless woods, the distant lakes and pools of +Lorraine, the narrow streamlet of the Rhine like a blue riband on +their right. This grand spectacle touched them deeply, and the old +farm-mistress said, with a sort of enthusiasm: + +"Jean-Claude, He who has cut this rock that towers to the skies, who +has hollowed out these valleys, who has planted the trees, the shrubs, +and the mosses of the forest, He will render us the justice we deserve." + +As they stood thus regarding the steep and lofty rock, Marc Divès led +his horse into a cavern near at hand, then he returned, and beginning +the ascent before them, he said to them: + +"Take care; it is very slippery." + +At the same time he pointed out to them, on their right, the blue +precipice with the tops of the tall fir-trees at the bottom. + +Every one became silent until they came to the terrace where the vault +began. Arrived there, each one seemed to breathe more freely. They saw, +about halfway, the smugglers, Brenn, Pfeifer, and Toubac, with their +large gray cloaks, and black felt hats, sitting round a fire which +seemed to extend the whole length of the rock. Marc Divès said to them: + +"Here we are. The _kaiserlicks_ have got the upper hand. Zimmer has +been killed to-night. Is Hexe-Baizel up above there?" + +"Yes," replied Brenn, "she is making cartridges." + +"They may be of use still," said Marc; "keep your eye open, and if you +see any one approaching, fire upon him." + +The Maternes had stopped on the edge of the rock, and those three tall +red fellows, their felt hats pushed back, their powder-flask on their +hip, carbine on shoulder, long muscular legs firmly planted on the +solid point of the rock, formed a strange and striking group. Old +Materne, with outstretched hand, was pointing out at a distance, very +far off, an almost imperceptible white speck in the middle of the fir +forests, saying: + +"Do you know what that is, boys?" + +And they all three looked at it with half-closed eyes. + +"It is our house," replied Kasper. + +"Poor Magrédel!" replied the old huntsman, after a moment's silence. +"How uneasy she must have been for the last week! What vows has she not +offered up for us to Saint Odile!" + +Just at this moment, Marc Divès, who was in front, uttered a cry of +surprise. "Dame Lefévre," said he, suddenly stopping short, "the +Cossacks have set fire to your farm!" + +Catherine received this news with the utmost calmness, and advanced +to the very edge of the terrace; Louise and Jean-Claude followed +her. The bottom of the abyss was covered with a thick white cloud; +through this cloud was to be seen a bright spark in the direction of +Bois-des-Chênes, and nothing more; but at intervals, when there was +a gust of wind, the fire was distinctly visible. The two tall black +gables, the haystack on fire, the little stables with flames bursting +from them; then all disappeared again. + +"'Tis already nearly over," said Hullin, in a low voice. + +"Yes," replied the old farm-mistress, "there goes forty years of labour +and toil; but no matter--they cannot burn our good lands, the broad +meadows of the Eichmath. We will set to work again. Gaspard and Louise +will put that all right. I do not repent of what I have done." + +After about a quarter of an hour, there was a regular volley of sparks, +and then the whole lay in ruins. The black gables alone were left +standing. They then resumed their way up the steep and rocky footpath. +As they reached the upper terrace, they heard the sharp voice of +Hexe-Baizel: + +"Is it you, Catherine?" she exclaimed. "Ah! I never thought that you +would come and see me in my poor hole." + +Hexe-Baizel and Catherine Lefévre had formerly been school-fellows +together, so they now addressed each other in a familiar manner. + +"Nor I either," replied the old farm-mistress; "but no matter, Baizel, +in misfortune we are always glad to meet with an old friend of our +childhood." Baizel seemed touched by the remark. + +"All that is here, Catherine, is yours," she exclaimed--"all!" + +She pointed to her poor stool, her besom of green broom, and the five +or six billets of wood on her hearth. Catherine looked around for some +moments in silence, and said: + +"It is not much, but it is solid; one comfort, they will not burn your +house down." + +"No, they will not burn it," said Hexe-Baizel, with a laugh; "they +would want a large quantity of wood even to warm it a little. He! he! +he!" + +The volunteers, after so many fatigues, felt in need of repose, so +every one hastened to rest his gun against the wall, and to stretch +himself upon the ground. Marc Divès opened the door of the inner cavern +for them, where they were at least under shelter; then he went out with +Hullin to examine the position. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + + +On the rock of the Falkenstein, at its very highest point, rises +a round tower hollowed out at its base. This tower, covered with +brambles, white thorns, and myrtles, seems as old as the mountain +itself. Neither French, Germans, nor Swedes have been able to destroy +it. The stone and the cement are united so firmly, that not the least +fragment can be detached. It has a gloomy and mysterious aspect, which +carries you back to bygone times to which the memory of man cannot +reach. At the period of the passage of the wild geese, Marc Divès used +frequently to lie in ambush there when he had nothing better to do, and +sometimes at the fall of day, just as the flocks were arriving through +the mist, and describing a large circuit before retiring to rest, he +would bring down two or three, to the great delight of Hexe-Baizel, +who was always very eager to put them on the spit. Often, too, in the +autumn, Marc would spread his nets among the bushes, into which the +thrushes would drop without even a struggle; so that, in short, the old +tower served him as a sort of storehouse. + +How many times had Hexe-Baizel, when the north wind blew hard enough +to tear the horns from off the oxen, and the noise, the cracking of +the branches, and the hoarse groaning of the surrounding forests +ascended on high like the clamour of an angry sea--how many times had +Hexe-Baizel been nearly carried away as far as the Kilbéri opposite? +But she would cling to the bushes with both hands, and the wind but +succeeded in shaking out her red locks. + +Divès, having noticed that his wood, from being often covered with snow +and steeped with rain, gave out more smoke than flame, had sheltered +the old tower with a roof made of planks. On this subject the smuggler +had a singular story to relate: He asserted that he had discovered +while fixing the rafters, at the bottom of a fissure, an owl as white +as snow, blind, and feeble, provided in abundance with field-mice +and bats. For this reason he had christened her the _Grandmother of +the Land_, supposing that all the birds came and brought her food on +account of her extreme old age and feebleness. + +At the close of this day, the mountaineers placed in observation, like +the dwellers in a vast hotel, on all the ridges of the rock, saw the +white uniforms appear in the neighbouring gorges. They were issuing +in vast masses from all sides at once, which showed clearly their +intention of blockading the Falkenstein. Marc Divès, seeing that, grew +more thoughtful. + +"If they surround us," thought he, "we shall no longer be able to +procure provisions; we shall have to surrender or perish with hunger." + +They could perfectly distinguish the staff officers of the enemy's +forces, riding leisurely round the fountain in the village of Charmes. +There, too, was one of the great leaders, heavy of body, with a fat +paunch, who was surveying the rock with a long telescope; behind +him stood Yégof, whom the officer turned round from time to time to +question. The women and children formed a circle further off, looking +wonderingly on, and five or six Cossacks were caracoling round. The +smuggler could not restrain himself any longer; he took Hullin aside: + +"Look," said he, "at that long file of shakos appearing all along the +Sarre; and on this side too, others who are ascending from the valley +like hares, with long strides; they are _kaiserlicks_, are they not? +Well, what are they going to do there, Jean-Claude?" + +"They are going to surround the mountain." + +"That is very clear. How many do you think there are?" + +"From three to four thousand men." + +"Without counting those who are dispersed throughout the country. Well, +what would you have Piorette do against this host of vagabonds, with +his three hundred men? I ask you that plainly, Hullin." + +"He can do nothing," replied the brave man, simply. "The Germans know +that our ammunition is at the Falkenstein; they fear a rising after +their entry into Lorraine, and wish to protect their rear. Their +general has discovered that he cannot subdue us by main force; he has +resolved to reduce us by famine. All that, Marc, is positive, but we +are men, we will do our duty; we will die here!" + +There was a moment's silence; Marc Divès knit his brow, and did not +seem at all convinced. + +"We will die!" he exclaimed, scratching the back of his head. "For my +part, I don't at all see why we should die; that does not enter into my +ideas, there are too many people who would be delighted at it!" + +"What would you do, then?" said Hullin, in a dry tone--"would you +surrender?" + +"I surrender!" exclaimed the smuggler. "Do you take me for a coward?" + +"Then explain yourself." + +"This evening I set out for Phalsbourg: I risk my skin by crossing the +enemy's lines, but I like that better than to cross my arms here and +perish by famine. I shall either enter the place at the first sortie or +endeavour to gain an outpost. The Governor, Meunier, knows me. I have +sold him tobacco for the last three years. Like you, he has served in +the campaigns of Italy and Egypt. Well, I shall lay the case before +him. I shall see Gaspard Lefévre. I will do so much that they will +perhaps give us a company. We want nothing but the uniform, do you see, +Jean-Claude, and we are saved. All that are left of our brave fellows +will join Piorette, and, in any case, we may be relieved. In short, +that is my idea; what do you think of it?" + +He looked at Hullin, whose fixed and gloomy eye disturbed him. + +"Come, is there not a chance?" + +"It is an idea," said Jean-Claude at length. "I do not oppose it." + +And, in his turn, looking the smuggler straight in the face: + +"You swear to me to do your utmost to gain entrance to the place?" + +"I swear nothing at all," replied Marc, whose brown cheeks were +suffused with a sudden red. "I leave here all that I have: my property, +my wife, my comrades, Catherine Lefévre, and yourself--my oldest +friend. If I do not return, I shall be a traitor; but, if I do return, +Jean-Claude, you shall give me a little explanation of the question +you have just put to me: we have a little account to settle together!" + +"Marc," said Hullin, "forgive me; I have suffered too much these last +few days! I have been wrong; misfortune makes me mistrustful. Give me +your hand! Go, save us, save Catherine, save my child! I say this to +you now; we have no resource but in you." + +Hullin's voice trembled: Divès allowed himself to be moved by it; only +he added: + +"For all that, Jean-Claude, you should not have spoken so to me at such +a moment; let us never speak of it again! I will leave my skin by the +way, or else return to deliver you; this very evening at night time, I +will set forth! The _kaiserlicks_ are already encircling the mountain; +no matter, I have a good horse, and, besides, I've always been lucky." + +By six o'clock the loftiest of the mountain tops were wrapped in +darkness. Hundreds of fires sparkling at the bottom of the gorges +announced that the Germans were preparing their evening meal. Marc +Divès descended the footpath on tiptoe. Hullin listened a few +seconds longer to the sound of his comrade's footsteps; then he +directed his own, in a meditative mood, towards the old tower where +the head-quarters had been established. He raised the thick woollen +covering which shut in the owl's nest, and saw Catherine, Louise, and +the others crouching round a little fire which threw its feeble light +upon the grey walls. The old farm-mistress, seated on a block of oak, +with her hands clasped round her knees, was watching the flame with +fixed eye, compressed lips, and livid complexion; Louise, leaning with +her back against the wall, seemed absorbed in a dream; Jerôme, standing +behind Catherine, with his hands crossed upon his stick, touched with +his thick otter-skin cap the rotten roof. All were sad and dispirited. +Hexe-Baizel, who was lifting up the lid of a saucepan, and Doctor +Lorquin, who was scraping the mortar of the old wall with the point of +his sword, alone preserved their wonted aspect. + +"Here we are," said the doctor, "come back to the time of the +Triboques. These walls are more than two thousand years old. A good +quantity of water must have flowed from the heights of the Falkenstein +and the Grosmann, by the Sarre to the Rhine, since a fire was lit in +this tower." + +"Yes," replied Catherine, like one awaking from a dream; "and many +others beside us have suffered here cold, hunger, and poverty. Who +has known of it? No one. And in a hundred, two hundred, three hundred +years, others, perhaps, will come again to seek shelter in this same +place. They will find, like us, the cold wall, the damp earth. They +will make a little fire. They will look round as we do. And they will +say, like us: 'Who has suffered before us here? Why have they suffered? +They were then pursued, hunted, as we are, to come and hide themselves +in this miserable hole.' And they will think of times past, and none +will be able to reply to them!" + +Jean-Claude had approached. In a few seconds, the old farm-mistress, +raising her head, began to say, as she regarded him: + +"Well! We are surrounded--the enemy wants to reduce us by famine!" + +"It is true, Catherine," replied Hullin. "I did not expect that. I +reckoned on an attack by main force; but the _kaiserlicks_ are not +yet quite as far advanced as they think. Divès has just set out for +Phalsbourg; he is acquainted with the governor of the place. And if +they will send only a few hundred men to our succour----" + +"We must not count upon it," interrupted the old woman. "Marc may be +taken or killed by the Germans. And then, even suppose that he succeeds +in crossing their lines, how will he be able to enter Phalsbourg? You +know well that the place is besieged by the Russians!" + +Then every one became silent. + +Hexe-Baizel soon after brought the soup, and they made a circle round +the steaming bowl. + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + + +Catherine Lefévre went out of the old cavern about seven o'clock in +the morning; Louise and Hexe-Baizel were still asleep; but broad +daylight, the splendid daylight of the upper regions, was already +streaming through every abyss. At the bottom, through the bright azure, +were outlined the woods, the valleys, and the rocks as clearly as the +mosses and pebbles of a lake beneath its crystal waters. Not a breath +disturbed the air; and Catherine, in presence of this spectacle of +boundless nature, felt herself calmer, more tranquil than even in sleep. + +"What," said she, to herself, "are our petty troubles of a day, our +trials and vexations? Why weary Heaven with our murmurs? Why dread +the future? All this only lasts but for a second. Our complaints are +of no more account than the cry of the grasshopper in autumn: do its +cries prevent winter from coming? Must not the times and seasons be +accomplished, and all die to be born again? We have been dead before +and have returned again; we shall die again, and again return. And the +mountains, with their forests, their rocks, and their ruins, will be +ever there to say to us: 'Remember! Remember! Thou hast seen me; behold +me again; and thou shalt see me again from generation to generation!'" + +Thus mused the old woman, and the future no longer made her afraid; +thoughts for her were only memories. + +And while she was standing there for a few moments, all of a sudden a +hum of voices struck upon her ear; she turned, and saw Hullin with the +three smugglers, who were conversing gravely together on the other side +of the plateau. They had not perceived her, and seemed engaged in a +serious discussion. + +Old Brenn, standing on the edge of the rock, with the blackened +stump of a pipe between his teeth, his cheek wrinkled like an old +cabbage-leaf, his round nose, gray moustache, flabby eyelid drooping +over his blood-shot eye, and the long sleeves of his gaberdine falling +by his side, was looking at the different points which Hullin was +showing him on the mountain; and the two others, wrapped in their long +gray cloaks, were pacing to and fro, shading their brows with their +hands, and seeming absorbed in profound attention. + +Catherine drew near, and soon she heard: + +"Then you do not believe it will be possible to descend on either side?" + +"No, Jean-Claude, there is no way," replied Brenn, "those brigands know +the country, every inch of it; all the paths are guarded. See, look at +the deer pasture all along that pond; the preventive officers never +had a thought of even noticing it; well, the Allies are defending it. +And, below there, the passage of the Rothstein, a regular goat-walk, +which you never pass above once in ten years--you can see the glitter +of a bayonet behind the rock, can you not? And that other here, where I +have carried on my little game for eight years without ever meeting a +gendarme--they are holding that too. The very devil himself must have +shown them the defiles." + +"Yes!" exclaimed the tall Toubac, "and if it is not the devil who has +put his foot in it, it must, at least, be Yégof." + +"But," replied Hullin, "it seems to me as if three or four firm +determined men might carry one of those outposts." + +"No, they are supported one by the other; at the first report of a gun, +you would have a regiment upon your back," replied Brenn. "Besides, +supposing we should have a chance of passing, how should we return with +provisions? For my part, this is my opinion: The thing is impossible!" + +There was a silence of some moments. + +"But still," said Toubac, "if Hullin wishes it, we will try, all the +same." + +"We will try what?" said Brenn, "to break our backs in trying to escape +ourselves, and leave the others in the net. It's all the same to me; +if the rest go--I go! But as to saying that we shall return with +provisions, I maintain that it's impossible. Let us see, Toubac, by +which way would you pass, and by which way would you return? It's no +use in this case promising; you must perform. If you know a passage, +tell it me. For twenty years I have beaten the mountain with Marc, and +I know every road, every path within ten leagues from here, and I do +not see any other passage than in heaven!" + +Hullin turned round at this moment and saw Dame Lefévre, who was +standing a few paces off, and listening attentively. + +"What! were you there, Catherine?" said he. "Our affairs are beginning +to take a bad turn." + +"Yes, I understand: there are no means of renewing our provisions." + +"Our provisions," said Brenn, with a strange smile. "Do you know, Dame +Lefévre, for how long we have enough?" + +"Why, for a fortnight," replied the brave woman. + +"We have enough for a week," said the smuggler, emptying the ashes of +his pipe upon his nail. + +"It is the truth," said Hullin; "Marc Divès and I believed in an +attack on the Falkenstein; we never thought the enemy would dream of +beleaguering it like a fortified place. We have been mistaken!" + +"And what are we going to do?" asked Catherine, turning quite pale. + +"We are going to reduce every one's rations to half. If in a fortnight +Marc does not arrive, we shall have nothing more--and then we shall +see!" + +So saying, Hullin, Catherine, and the smugglers, with heads bowed down, +took their way back by the gap. They had just set foot on the descent, +when at thirty paces above them appeared Materne, who was scrambling, +quite out of breath, through the ruins, and clinging to the bushes to +get along quicker. + +"Well," exclaimed Jean-Claude, "what's going on, old fellow?" + +"Ah! there you are--I was looking for you. An officer from the enemy's +camp is advancing along the wall of the old _burg_, with a little white +flag; he seems as if he wishes to speak with us." + +Hullin, immediately continuing his way towards the declivity of the +rock, saw, in effect, a German officer standing on the wall, and who +seemed to be waiting till they made a sign to him to ascend. He was +within two gun-shots; farther off were stationed five or six soldiers, +with grounded arms. After having inspected this group, Jean-Claude +turned and said: + +"It is an officer, who comes, no doubt, to summon us to surrender the +place." + +"Let them send a shot at him!" exclaimed Catherine; "it's the best +answer we can make him." + +All the others appeared of the same opinion, except Hullin, who, +without making any observation, descended to the terrace, where the +rest of the volunteers were. + +"My children," said he, "the enemy sends us an envoy. We do not know +what they want of us. I suppose it is a summons to lay down our arms, +but it is possible it may be something else. Frantz and Kasper will go +to meet him; they will bandage his eyes at the foot of the rock, and +lead him here." + +No one having any objection to make, the sons of Materne slung their +carbines over their shoulders, and withdrew beneath the winding +archway. At the end of about ten minutes the two tall red hunters came +up to the officer. There was a rapid conference between them, after +which they all began to ascend the Falkenstein. As the little group +came gradually nearer, they were better able to distinguish the uniform +of the envoy, and even his physiognomy. He was a spare man, with rather +light hair, a well-formed figure, and resolute movements. At the foot +of the rock, Frantz and Kasper bandaged his eyes, and in a short time +their footsteps were heard beneath the vault. Jean-Claude going +himself to meet them, untied the handkerchief, saying: + +"You desire to communicate something to me, sir; I am ready to listen +to you." + +Tho mountaineers were about fifteen paces from this group. Catherine +Lefévre, who was the foremost, was knitting her brows. Her bony figure, +her long and hooked nose, the three or four locks of her gray hair +straggling over her flat temples, and the bones of her hollow cheeks, +the compression of her lips, and the fixity of her look, seemed at +first to attract the attention of the German officer; then the gentle +and pale face of Louise behind her; then Jerôme, with his long sandy +beard, draped in his tunic of coarse cloth; then old Materne, leaning +upon his short carbine; then the others; and, finally, the high red +vault, the colossal masses of which, built up of flint and granite, +hung over the precipice with some withered brambles. Hexe-Baizel, +behind Materne, her long besom of green broom in her hand, outstretched +neck, and heel on the very edge of the rock, seemed to astonish him for +a second. + +He himself was the object of marked attention. You recognised in his +attitude, in his long face, with its sharp outline and brown skin, in +his clear grey eyes, in his slender moustache, in the delicacy of his +limbs hardened by the toils of war, the marks of an aristocratic race. +He had about him a mixture of the old campaigner and the man of the +world--the swordsman and the diplomatist. + +This reciprocal inspection terminating in the twinkling of an eye, the +envoy said, in good French-- + +"Is it to Commander Hullin that I have the honour to address myself?" + +"Yes, sir," replied Jean-Claude; and as the other was casting an +undecided look around the circle: "Speak out, sir," he exclaimed, +"that every one may hear you! When the question is one of honour and +country there is no one in France that may not hear what we have to +say--the women are as much concerned in the affair as we are. You have +propositions to make to me; and, in the first place, on the part of +whom?" + +"On the part of the General commanding-in-chief. Here is my commission." + +"Good! We will hear you, sir." + +Then the officer, raising his voice, said in a firm tone: + +"Permit me first, Commander, to tell you that you have magnificently +fulfilled your duty. You have compelled the esteem of your enemies." + +"In the matter of duty," replied Hullin, "there is neither more nor +less; we have done our best." + +"Yes," added Catherine, drily; "and since our enemies esteem us on +account of that, well, they will esteem us still more in a week or a +fortnight--for we are not at the end of the strife. We shall see some +more of it." + +The officer turned his head, and stood like one stupefied at the savage +energy imprinted in the looks of the old woman. + +"These are noble sentiments," he replied, after a moment's silence; +"but humanity has its rights, and to shed blood wantonly is to render +evil for evil." + +"Then, why do you come into our country?" cried Catherine, in her sharp +eagle's voice. "Quit it, and we will leave you in peace!" Then she +added: "You make war like robbers; you steal, you plunder, you burn! +You deserve all to be hung. You ought to be thrown from that rock as an +example!" + +The officer turned pale, for the old woman appeared to him quite +capable of executing her threat; he, however, recovered himself almost +immediately, and replied, in a calm tone: + +"I know that the Cossacks have set fire to the farm which is to be +seen opposite this rock--they are ruffians, such as are to be found in +the train of every army--but this solitary act proves nothing against +the discipline of our troops. Your French soldiers did many such +things in Germany, and particularly in the Tyrol; not content with +plundering and setting fire to the villages, they mercilessly shot +down every mountaineer suspected of having taken up arms in defence of +his country. We might make reprisals; it would only be our right, but +we are not savages; we can appreciate all that is great and noble in +patriotism, even in its most unfortunate inspirations. Moreover, it is +not against the French people that we are making war; it is against +the Emperor Napoleon. Besides, the General, on hearing of the conduct +of the Cossacks, has publicly denounced this act of vandalism, and, +in addition, has decided that an indemnity should be granted to the +proprietor of the farm." + +"I want nothing from you," sharply interrupted Catherine; "I prefer to +be left with my injustice--and to avenge myself!" + +The envoy saw by the old woman's tone that he could not make her listen +to reason, and that it was even dangerous to make her a reply. So he +turned towards Hullin, and said: + +"I am commissioned, Commander, to offer you the honours of war, if +you surrender this position. You have no provisions--we know it. In a +few days, at latest, you will be compelled to lay down your arms. The +esteem the General-in-Chief feels for you has alone decided him to +propose to you these honourable conditions. A longer resistance would +lead to no good. We are masters of the Donon; the body of our army has +passed into Lorraine; it is not here the campaign will be decided--you +have, therefore, no interest in defending a useless position. We wish +to spare you the horrors of famine upon this rock. Come, Commander, +decide!" + +Hullin turned to his followers, and said to them simply: "You have +heard? For my part, I refuse but I will submit if every one else +accepts the proposition of the enemy?" + +"We all refuse!" said Jerôme. + +"Yes--yes, all!" repeated the others. + +Catherine Lefévre, hitherto inflexible, happening to look at Louise, +seemed touched; she took her by the arm, and turning to the envoy, she +said: + +"We have a child with us; would there be no means of sending her to one +of our relations at Saverne?" + +No sooner had Louise heard these words, than throwing herself into +Hullin's arms, with a sort of terror, she exclaimed: + +"No--no! I will stay with you, Papa Jean-Claude. I will die with you!" + +"'Tis well, sir," said Hullin, quite pale; "go tell your General what +you have seen; tell him that the Falkenstein will remain with us till +death! Kasper, Frantz, lead back the envoy." + +The officer seemed to hesitate; but as he was opening his mouth to +speak, Catherine, quite livid with rage, exclaimed: + +"Go--go! You are not yet where you think. It is that brigand of a Yégof +who has told you that we had no provisions, but we have enough for two +months; and in two months our army will have exterminated you all. The +traitors will not always have it their own way. Woe be to you!" + +And, as she was getting more and more excited, the officer judged it +prudent to retire. He turned towards his guides, who replaced the +bandage, and conducted him to the foot of the Falkenstein. + +That which Hullin had ordered on the subject of the provisions was +executed on that very day; each one received his half-ration for the +day. A sentinel was placed before the cavern of Hexe-Baizel, where the +provisions were kept; the entrance was barricaded, and Jean-Claude +decided that the distributions should be made in the presence of all, +in order to prevent injustice. But all these precautions could not +preserve these unfortunate creatures from the horrors of famine. + +For three days provisions had completely failed at the Falkenstein, +and Divès had not given signs of life. How many times, during these +long days of agony, had the mountaineers turned their eyes towards +Phalsbourg! how many times had they listened, thinking they heard the +steps of the smuggler, whilst the vague murmur of the air alone filled +space! + +It was amid the tortures of hunger that the whole of the nineteenth day +since the arrival of the confederates at the Falkenstein was passed. +They spoke no more; crouched on the ground, with pinched faces, they +remained lost in an endless reverie. At times they looked at each other +with flashing eye, as if ready to devour each other; then they grew +calm and gloomy again. + +When Yégof's raven, flying from peak to peak, was seen approaching +this scene of misfortune, old Materne shouldered his carbine; but +immediately the bird of ill-omen would take flight at its utmost speed, +uttering dismal croakings; and the arm of the old hunter fell powerless. + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + + +As if the exhaustion of hunger had not sufficed to fill up the measure +of the misery they were enduring, the unhappy mountaineers, keeping +their dreary vigils on the Falkenstein, only opened their mouths to +threaten and accuse each other. + +"Don't touch me!" screamed Hexe-Baizel, in a voice like a polecat's, to +those who looked at her, "don't touch me, or I will bite you!" + +Louise grew delirious; her large blue eyes, in place of real objects, +saw only shadows flitting over the plateau, skimming over the tops of +the trees, and plant themselves on the old tower. + +"Here are provisions!" she would exclaim. + +Then the others would be furious against the poor child, crying out +angrily that she wanted to make game of them, and that she had best +beware. + +Jerôme alone still remained perfectly calm; but the great quantity +of snow which he had drunk to appease the inward anguish that was +consuming him, bathed all his body and his face with a cold sweat. + +Doctor Lorquin had tied a handkerchief round his loins, and tightened +it more and more, declaring that he thus satisfied his stomach. He was +seated against the tower, with his eyes shut; from hour to hour he +opened them, saying: + +"We are at the first--at the second--at the third period. One day more, +and all will be over!" + +He would then begin a dissertation upon the Druids, on Odin, Brahma, +Pythagoras, making Latin and Greek quotations, announcing the +approaching transformation of the people of Harberg into wolves, into +foxes, into animals of all sorts. + +"For my part," he would exclaim, "I shall be a lion! I will eat fifteen +pounds of beef a-day!" + +Then, recovering himself: + +"No, I will be a man; I will preach peace, fraternity, justice! Ah! +my friends," he would say, "we suffer by our own fault. What have we +done, on the other side of the Rhine, for the last ten years? By what +right did we want to impose masters on those peoples? Why did we not +exchange our ideas, our sentiments, the products of our arts and of +our industry, with them? Why did we not go to seek them as brothers, +instead of wishing to subjugate them? We should have been well +received. What must they have suffered--the unfortunates--during those +ten years of violence and rapine? Now they avenge themselves; and it is +justice! May the curse of Heaven alight on the wretches who divide the +peoples to oppress them!" + +After these moments of excitement, he would sink fainting against the +wall of the tower, murmuring: + +"Bread. Oh, for nothing but a morsel of bread!" + +The sons of Materne, crouching among the bushes, gun on shoulder, +seemed to be awaiting the passage of game which never arrived; the idea +of perpetual ambush sustained their expiring strength. + +Some, bent double, were shivering, and felt consumed by fever; they +accused Jean-Claude of having led them to the Falkenstein. + +Hullin, with superhuman strength of character, still went and came, +observing what was passing in the surrounding valleys, without saying +anything. + +At times he advanced to the very edge of the rock, and with his large +compressed jaws, and flashing eye, watched Yégof sitting before a large +fire, on the plateau of the Bois-des-Chênes, in the midst of a troop +of Cossacks. Since the arrival of the Germans in the valley of the +Charmes, the fool had not quitted this post; he seemed, from there, to +gloat over the agony of his victims. + +Such was the aspect of these unfortunates under the vast canopy of +heaven. + +The punishment of hunger at the bottom of a dungeon is frightful, +no doubt, but beneath a sky bathed in light, in the eyes of a whole +country, in face of the resources of nature, it passes all expression. + +Now at the close of this nineteenth day, between four and five o'clock +in the evening, the weather had lowered: large grey clouds rose behind +the snowy summit of the Grosmann; the sun, red as a bullet just out +of the furnace, was casting his last rays athwart the murky sky. The +silence on the rock was profound. Louise gave no more sign of life. +Kasper and Frantz continued motionless among the shrubs like stones. +Catherine Lefévre, crouching on the ground, her sharp knees between her +skinny arms, her rigid and hard features, her hair hanging over her +livid cheeks, with haggard eye, and chin as sharp as a vice, resembled +some old sibyl sitting in the midst of the bushes. She spoke no more. +That evening, Hullin, Jerôme, old Materne, and Doctor Lorquin had +assembled round the old farm-mistress to die together. They were all +silent, and the last faint rays of twilight illumined the dismal group. +To the right, behind a jutting point of the rock, some fires of the +Germans glimmered in the abyss. And as they sat there, all at once +the old woman, coming out of her long reverie, murmured at first some +unintelligible words. + +"Divès is here!" said she at length, in a low voice. "I see him; he is +leaving the postern, to the right of the arsenal. Gaspard follows him, +and----" + +Then she counted slowly: + +"Two hundred and fifty men," said she; "national guards and soldiers. +They cross the bridge; they mount behind the half-moon. Gaspard is +speaking with Marc. What is he saying?" + +She appeared to listen: + +"'Let us make haste;' yes, make haste; time presses; there they are +upon the glacis!" + +There was a moment's silence. Then all at once the old woman, drawing +herself up to her full height, her arms tossed wildly aloft, hair +erect, and mouth quite wide open, shouted, in a terrible voice: + +"Courage! kill! kill! ah! ah!" + +And she fell heavily back. + +This fearful cry awakened everybody; it would have awakened the dead. +All the besieged seemed to be born again. Something was in the air. +Was it hope, life, soul? I know not; but all came hurrying along like +a troop of deer, holding their breath to hear. Louise herself moved +softly and raised her head. Frantz and Kasper dragged themselves along +upon their knees; and, strange to say, Hullin, casting his eyes through +the darkness in the direction of Phalsbourg, thought he saw the fire +and smoke of a volley of musketry announcing a sortie. + +Catherine had resumed her former attitude; but her cheeks, just now as +lifeless as a plaster mask, shook violently; her eye was again covered +with a dreamy film. All the others listened; it might have been said +that their existence hung upon her lips. Nearly a quarter of an hour +had passed, when the old woman slowly continued: + +"They have crossed the enemy's lines. They are hastening to +Lutzelbourg. I see them. Gaspard and Divès are in front, with +Desmarets, Ulrich, Weber, and our friends from the city. They come! +They come!" + +She was silent anew; a long while yet she listened; but the vision was +gone. Seconds succeeded to seconds, slow as centuries, when suddenly +Hexe-Baizel began to say, in a sharp voice: + +"She is mad! she has seen nothing. Marc, I know him. He is laughing +finely at us. What is it to him if we perish? Provided he has his +bottle of wine and chitterlings, and can smoke his pipe quietly in the +chimney-corner, it's all the same to him. Ah! the wretch!" + +Then all relapsed into silence, and the unfortunates, a moment revived +by the hope of a near deliverance, fell back again into despair. + +"It is a dream," thought they; "Hexe-Baizel is right; we are condemned +to die of hunger." + +In the meantime, night was come. When the moon rose behind the tall +fir-trees, casting her pale rays on the sorrowful groups of the +besieged, Hullin only was still watching, though burnt up with fever. +He heard far, very far off in the gorges the voices of the German +sentinels calling out "_Wer dà! Wer dà!_" the camp patrols going their +rounds through the woods, the shrill neighing of the horses at picket, +their stamping, and the shouts of their keepers. Towards midnight +the brave man ended, however, by going to sleep like the rest. When +he awoke, the village clock of Charmes was striking four. Hullin, at +the sound of its distant vibrations, aroused himself from his stupor; +he opened his eyelids, and as he was looking round, in a sort of +bewildered manner, striving to recover his faculties, the dim light +of a torch passed before his eyes; a fear came over him, and he said +to himself:--"Am I going mad? The night is quite dark, and yet I see +torches." + +And yet the flame re-appeared; he regarded it more closely, then rose +abruptly, pressing for a few seconds his hand against his contracted +face. Then, hazarding another look, he saw distinctly a fire on the +Giromani, on the other side of the Blanru; a fire which swept the +heavens with its purple wing, and flickered among the shadows of the +fir-trees on the snow. And, recollecting that this signal had been +agreed on between himself and Piorette to announce an attack, he began +to tremble from head to foot; cold drops of sweat stood on his face, +and walking on tiptoe through the darkness, like a blind man, with +outstretched hands, he stammered: + +"Catherine! Louise! Jerôme!" + +But no one replied to him, and after having groped about in this way, +thinking he was walking, while in reality he was not taking a single +step, the unhappy man fell back, exclaiming: + +"My children! Catherine! They come! We are saved!" + +Immediately there was heard a vague murmur; it seemed as if the +dead were re-awakening. There was a burst of dry laughter; it was +Hexe-Baizel, gone mad from suffering. Then Catherine exclaimed: + +"Hullin! Hullin! Who spoke?" + +Jean-Claude, recovered from his emotion, exclaimed, in a firmer tone: + +"Jerôme, Catherine, Materne, and you all, are you dead? Do you not see +that fire down there, on the side of the Blanru? It is Piorette, who is +coming to our assistance." + +And, at the very same moment, a loud explosion rolled through the +gorges of the Jægerthâl with the sound of a tempest. The trumpet of the +last judgment would not have produced more effect on the besieged; they +suddenly awoke. + +"It is Piorette! It is Marc!" was screeched by voices, broken, +dry--voices of mere skeletons; "they come to save us!" + +And all these poor wretches strove to rise; some sobbed; but they had +no more tears. A second explosion brought them to their feet. + +"Surely that is platoon firing," exclaimed Hullin; "our people fire +also in platoons; we have soldiers of the line; hurrah for France!" + +"Yes," replied Jerôme, "Dame Catherine was right; the Phalsbourgians +are coming to our relief; they are descending the hills of the Sarre, +and there is Piorette, now heading the attack on the Blanru." + +In effect, the firing began to resound from both sides at once, towards +the plateau of the Bois-des-Chênes and the towering heights of the +Kilbéri. + +Then the two leaders embraced each other; and as they walked on tiptoe +through the thick darkness, trying to gain the edge of the rock, all of +a sudden Materne's voice was heard, loudly exclaiming: + +"Take care, my lads, the precipice is there!" + +They stopped, looking down at their feet; but there was nothing to be +seen; a gust of cold air coming up from the abyss alone warned you +of the danger. All the mountain tops and the surrounding gorges were +plunged in thick darkness. On the sides of the mountain opposite, the +lights from the firing flashed like lightnings, illuminating now an old +oak, the dark outline of a rock, now a cluster of furze bushes, and +groups of men going and coming as in the midst of a fire. Two thousand +feet below, in the depth of the gorges, were heard heavy sounds, the +gallop of horses, confused clamours mingling with the word of command. +At times the cry of the mountaineer hailing, that prolonged cry, +echoing from one mountain top to the other, "He! oh! he!" rose to the +topmost height of the Falkenstein like a sigh. + +"It is Marc," said Hullin; "it is the voice of Marc." + +"Yes, it is Marc who is bidding us keep up our courage," replied Jerôme. + +All the others, crouching round them, with outstretched neck, and +hands grasping the edge of the rock, strained their eyes to see. The +firing continued with a vivacity which betrayed the fierceness of the +battle, but it was impossible to see anything. Oh, what would they have +given to take part in this supreme conflict, the unfortunates! With +what ardour would they have thrown themselves into the fray! The dread +of being again abandoned, of seeing at daylight their defenders in +retreat, rendered them dumb with fear. + +Meanwhile, day was beginning to dawn; the first pale glimmer of light +was breaking over the dark tops of the mountains; some rays descended +into the shadowy valleys; half-an-hour after they silvered the misty +vapours of the abyss. Hullin, casting a look through these breaks in +the clouds, was able at length to recognise the position. The Germans +had lost the heights of the Valtin and the plateau of Bois-des-Chênes. +They were now massed in the valley of Charmes, at the foot of the +Falkenstein, a third part of the way up the side, to be out of the +reach of their adversaries' fire. Opposite the rock, Piorette, master +of Bois-des-Chênes, was ordering barricades to be thrown up on the +side of Charmes. He was going hither and thither, the end of his pipe +between his lips, his felt hat cocked on his ear, his carbine slung +over his shoulder. The blue axes of the woodcutters glittered in the +morning sun. To the left of the village, on the side of the Valtin, +in the middle of the brushwood, Marc Divès, on a little black horse, +with a long flowing tail, his long sword in his hand, was pointing to +the ruins and the _schlitte_ road. An officer of infantry, and some +national guards in blue coats, were listening to him. Gaspard Lefévre, +alone, in advance of this group, leaning on his gun, seemed thoughtful. +It might be seen from his attitude that he was forming desperate +resolutions for the moment of attack. In fine, quite on the summit of +the hill, against the wood, two or three hundred men, ranged in line, +with grounded arms, stood watching also. + +The sight of this small number of defenders wrung the hearts of the +besieged; so much the more that the Germans, seven or eight times +superior in numbers, were beginning to form two columns of attack to +regain the positions they had lost. Their general was sending horsemen +in all directions carrying orders. Rows of bayonets were beginning to +defile. + +"It's all over!" said Hullin to Jerôme. "What can five or six hundred +men do against four thousand in line of battle? The Phalsbourgians will +return home, and say, 'We have done our duty!' And Piorette will be +crushed." + +All the others thought the same; but that which raised their despair +to its height was to see all at once a long file of Cossacks debouch +in the valley of Charmes at full gallop, and the fool Yégof at their +head, galloping like the wind; his beard, the tail of his horse, his +sheepskin, and his red hair all streaming in the wind. He looked at +the rock, and brandished his lance above his head. At the bottom of +the valley, he spurred straight up to where the major-general of the +enemy's army stood. Arrived near him, he made some gestures indicating +the other side of the plateau of Bois-des-Chênes. + +"Ah! the wretch!" exclaimed Hullin. "See! he is telling him that +Piorette has no barricades on that side of the mountain, and that it +must be taken in the rear." + +In effect a column immediately set itself on march in that direction, +whilst another directed its movement towards the barricades to mask +that of the first. + +"Materne!" exclaimed Jean-Claude, "are there no means of sending a +bullet after the fool?" + +The old hunter shook his head. "No," said he, "it is impossible; he is +out of reach." + +At this moment, Catherine gave vent to a savage cry--a hawk's cry. +"Let us crush them!--let us crush them as we did at the Blutfeld!" + +And this old woman, a moment before so weak, rose and flung herself +upon a mass of rock, which she lifted with her two hands; then, +with her long scanty gray locks, her hooked nose drawn down to her +compressed lips, lank cheeks, and bent back, she advanced with a firm +step to the very edge of the abyss, and the rock cleft the air, tracing +an immense curve. + +A horrible noise was heard below. Splinters of fir-trees flew about +in all directions, then an enormous stone was seen to rebound at a +hundred paces with fresh impetus, roll down the steep descent, and, +with a final bound, fall upon Yégof, and crush him at the very feet of +the general of the enemy's forces. All this was accomplished in a few +seconds. + +Catherine, standing on the edge of the rock, laughed a laugh that +sounded more like a rattle, and that seemed as if it would never come +to an end. + +And all the others, all those phantoms, as if inspired with a new +life, threw themselves upon the crumbling ruins of the old _burg_, +exclaiming--"Death! death! Let us crush them as at the Blutfeld!" + +Never was a more horrible scene beheld. Those beings, at the very gates +of the tomb, lean and squalid as skeletons, found fresh strength for +carnage. They stumbled no more; they tottered no more. They lifted each +one his stone, and ran to hurl it down the precipice; then returned to +take another, without even looking at what was passing below. + +Now figure to yourselves the stupor of the _kaiserlicks_ at this deluge +of ruins and rocks. They had all turned round at the first sound of the +stones crashing down one after another over the shrubs and the clumps +of trees, and at first they remained as if petrified; but raising their +eyes still higher, and seeing other stones descending and descending +still, and, above all that, spectres running hither and thither, +lifting up their arms, emptying them, and beginning again; seeing their +comrades crushed--rows of fifteen and twenty men overthrown at a single +blow--an immense cry resounded from the valley of the Charmes, as far +as the Falkenstein, and in spite of the voice of the leaders, in spite +of the firing, which recommenced right and left, all the Germans fled +in disorder to escape this horrible death. + +When the rout was at its height, the general of the enemy's army had, +however, succeeded in rallying a battalion, and effecting a quiet +retreat towards the village. There was something in this man, calm in +the midst of disaster, grand and dignified. From time to time he turned +round to cast a gloomy look at the falling masses of rock which were +making bloody gaps in his column. + +Jean-Claude observed him; and in spite of the intoxication of triumph, +in spite of the certainty of having escaped famine, the old soldier +could not restrain a feeling of admiration. + +"Look," said he to Jerôme, "he does as we did on returning from the +Donon and the Grosmann: he remains to the last, and only yields step by +step. Truly there are men of courage in every country." + +Marc Divès and Piorette, witnesses of this stroke of fortune, came +down through the fir-trees to endeavour to cut off the retreat of +the enemy's general, but they could not succeed in their attempt. +The battalion, reduced to half, formed a square behind the village +of Charmes, and slowly re-ascended the valley of the Sarre, at times +stopping, like a wounded wild boar who turns upon the pack, when the +men of Piorette and those of Phalsbourg tried to press it too closely. + +Thus ended the great battle of Falkenstein, known in the mountain under +the name of the _Battle of the Rocks_. + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + + +The battle was hardly over, about eight o'clock, when Marc Divès, +Gaspard, and about thirty mountaineers, with panniers of provisions, +ascended the Falkenstein. What a spectacle awaited them up there! +All the besieged, stretched on the ground, seemed dead. It was in +vain to shake them, to shout in their ears, "Jean-Claude! Catherine! +Jerôme!"--they answered not. Gaspard Lefévre, seeing his mother and +Louise motionless and with clenched teeth, told Marc that if they did +not recover he would blow out his brains with his gun. Marc replied +that every one was free to do as he pleased, but that, for his part, +he should not blow out his brains for Hexe-Baizel. At length, old +Colon having deposited his pannier on a stone, Kasper Materne suddenly +sniffed its contents, opened his eyes, and, seeing the provisions, +began to clash his teeth like a fox on the chase. + +Then they understood what was the meaning of that; and Marc Divès, +going from one to the other, simply held his flask under their noses, +which sufficed to bring them round. They wanted to swallow all at once; +but Doctor Lorquin, in spite of his delirium, had still the good sense +to warn Marc not to listen to them, and that the least over-feeding +would kill them. So, for this reason, each one received nothing but a +little bread, an egg, and a glass of wine, which singularly revived +their moral courage. They then placed Catherine, Louise, and the others +upon _schlittes_, and re-descended to the village. + +As to painting now the enthusiasm and emotion of their friends when +they saw them return, leaner than Lazarus rising from the grave, it is +a thing impossible. They looked at each other, embraced; and at each +fresh comer from Abreschwiller, from Dagsburg, from St. Quirin, or +elsewhere, it was all gone over again. + +Marc Divès was obliged to relate more than twenty times the story +of his journey to Phalsbourg. The brave smuggler had not been much +favoured by fortune. After having escaped by miracle from the bullets +of the _kaiserlicks_, he had fallen, in the valley of Spartzprod, into +the midst of a troop of Cossacks, who had stripped him of everything. +He had been compelled to wander afterwards during two weeks round +the Russian posts that encircled the town, braving the fire of the +sentinels and risking twenty times to be arrested as a spy, before +being able to penetrate into the place. To crown all, the governor, +Meunier, alleging the weakness of the garrison, had at first refused +all assistance; and it was only at the pressing solicitation of +the citizens of the town that he at length consented to detach two +companies. + +The mountaineers, listening to this recital, admired the courage of +Marc, his perseverance in the midst of dangers. + +"Oh!" the big smuggler would good-humouredly reply to those who +congratulated him, "I have only done my duty. Could I leave my comrades +to perish? I knew well it was no easy matter. Those dogs of Cossacks +are more cunning than Custom-house officers; they will scent you out +like ravens. But no matter; we have outwitted them all the same." + +When five or six days were passed, every one was afoot. Captain Vidal, +of Phalsbourg, had left twenty-five men at the Falkenstein to guard +the ammunition. Gaspard Lefévre was of the number. The young fellow +came down every morning to the village. The Allies had all passed into +Lorraine; no more was seen of them in Alsace, except round the strong +places. + +Soon news was brought of the victories of Champ Aubert and of +Montmirail; but times of great misfortune were at hand. The Allies, in +spite of the heroism of our army and the genius of the Emperor, entered +Paris. + +This was a terrible blow for Jean-Claude, Catherine, Materne, Jerôme, +and all the mountaineers; but the recital of these events does not +enter into our history; others have related them. + +Peace made, in the spring they rebuilt the farm of Bois-des-Chênes. The +woodcutters, sabôt-makers, masons, bargemen, and all the workmen of the +country lent a hand. + +About the same period, the army having been disbanded, Gaspard cut off +his moustaches, and his marriage with Louise took place. + +On that day all the combatants arrived from the Falkenstein and the +Donon, and the farm received them with doors and windows wide open. +Every one brought his presents to the bride and bridegroom--Jerôme, +little shoes for Louise; Materne and his sons, a fine heathcock, the +most amorous of birds, as everybody knows; Divès, packets of smuggled +tobacco for Gaspard; and Doctor Lorquin, a parcel of fine linen. + +There was open table kept even in the barns and outhouses. What was +consumed in wine, bread, meat, tarts, and _kougelhof_, we cannot say; +but what we know is, that Jean-Claude, who had been very gloomy and +depressed since the entry of the Allies into Paris, brightened himself +up on that day by singing the old air of his youth as gaily as when he +set off, gun on shoulder, for Valmy, Jemmapes, and Fleurus. The echoes +of the Falkenstein opposite repeated from afar this old patriotic +song--the grandest, the most noble that man has ever heard under +heaven. Catherine Lefévre beat time upon the table with the handle of +her knife; and if it is true, as many say, that the dead come to listen +when we speak of them, our brave fellows must have been satisfied, and +the King of Diamonds have foamed in his red beard. + +Towards midnight, Hullin rose, and addressing the newly-married couple, +said to them: + +"You will have brave children; I will dance them upon my knees; I will +teach them my old song; and then I will go and rejoin my forefathers!" + +So saying, he embraced Louise, and arm-in-arm with Marc Divès and +Jerôme, he went down to his little cottage followed by all the wedding +guests, singing in chorus the sublime song. + +Never was there seen a more beautiful night; inumerable stars sparkled +in the deep blue sky; there was a gentle rustling among the shrubs +at the foot of the mountain beneath which so many brave men had been +interred. Every one experienced by turns feelings of joy and of regret. + +On the threshold of the modest dwelling there was shaking of hands and +wishing good-night; and then all, some to the right, others to the +left, returned to their villages. + +"Good night, Materne, Jerôme, Divès, Piorette, good-night!" exclaimed +Jean-Claude. + +His old friends returned the salute, waving their hats, and they all +said to themselves: + +"There are still days when one is very happy to be in the world. Ah! +if there were never either plagues, or wars, or famines--if men could +agree together, love and help each other--if no unjust quarrels rose +between them, the earth would be a real Paradise!" + +[Illustration] + + +WARD, LOCK & CO.'S + +LIST OF + +SELECT NOVELS + +By ANTHONY TROLLOPE, CHARLES LEVER, HENRY KINGSLEY, WHYTE-MELVILLE, +HARRISON AINSWORTH, HAWLEY SMART, JANE AUSTEN, and other Popular +Authors; + +BOOKS OF HUMOUR + +By THOMAS HOOD, ARTEMUS WARD, BRET HARTE, MARK TWAIN, JOHN HABBERTON +(Author of "Helen's Babies"), MAX ADELER, and others; and + +_CHEAP EDITIONS OF POPULAR BOOKS_. + +THE + +SELECT LIBRARY OF FICTION. + +PRICE TWO SHILLINGS EACH; + +Or cloth, 2s. 6d. + +Comprising nearly 400 of the Best Works by the Best Authors. + + +_By ANTHONY TROLLOPE._ + + 1 Doctor Thorne. + 2 Macdermots of Ballycloran. + 3 Rachel Ray. + 4 The Kellys and the O'Kellys. + 5 Tales of all Countries. + 6 Castle Richmond. + 7 The Bertrams. + 8 Miss Mackenzie. + 9 Belton Estate. + 10 Lotta Schmidt. + 11 An Editor's Tales. + 12 Ralph the Heir. + 13 La Vendee. + 14 Lady Anna. + 15 Vicar of Bullhampton. + 16 Sir Harry Hotspur. + 17 Is He Popenjoy? + 18 An Eye for an Eye. + 19 Cousin Henry. + 20 Dr. Wortle's School. + 21 Harry Heathcote. + + 2_s._ 6_d._ each; cloth 3_s._ + + 22 Orley Farm. + 23 Can You Forgive Her? + 24 Phineas Finn. + 25 He Knew He was Right. + 26 Eustace Diamonds. + 27 Phineas Redux. + 28 The Prime Minister. + 29 The Duke's Children. + + + London: WARD, LOCK & CO., Salisbury Square, E.C. + New York: 10, Bond Street. + + +_By CHARLES LEVER._ + + 39 Jack Hinton. + 40 Harry Lorrequer. + 41 The O'Donoghue. + 42 The Fortunes of Glencore. + 43 One of Them. + 44 Sir Jasper Carew. + 45 A Day's Ride: a Life's Romance + 46 Maurice Tiernay. + 47 Barrington. + 48 Luttrell of Arran. + 49 Rent in a Cloud. + 50 Sir Brook Fossbrooke. + 51 The Bramleighs. + 52 Tony Butler. + 53 That Boy of Norcott's. + 54 Lord Kilgobbin. + 55 Cornelius O'Dowd. + 56 Nuts and Nutcrackers. + 57 Tales of the Trains. + 58 Paul Goslett's Confessions. + + 2_s._ 6_d._ each; cloth, 3_s._ + + 59 Charles O'Malley. + 60 The Daltons. + 61 Knight of Gwynne. + 62 Dodd Family Abroad. + 63 Tom Burke. + 64 Davenport Dunn. + 65 Roland Cashel. + 66 Martins of Cro' Martin. + + +_By HARRISON AINSWORTH._ + + 73 Cardinal Pole. + 74 Constable of the Tower. + 75 Leaguer of Lathom. + 76 Spanish Match. + 77 Constable de Bourbon. + 78 Old Court. + 79 Myddleton Pomfret. + 80 Hilary St. Ives. + 81 Lord Mayor of London. + 82 John Law. + + +_By HENRY KINGSLEY._ + + 103 Geoffry Hamlyn. + 104 Ravenshoe. + 105 Hillyars and Burtons. + 106 Silcote of Silcotes. + 107 Leighton Court. + 108 Austin Elliot. + 109 Reginald Hetherege. + + +_By WHYTE-MELVILLE._ + + 115 Tilbury Nogo. + 116 Uncle John. + 117 The White Rose. + 118 Cerise. + 119 Brookes of Bridlemere. + 120 "Bones and I." + 121 "M. or N." + 122 Contraband. + 123 Market Harborough. + 124 Sarchedon. + 125 Satanella. + 126 Katerfelto. + 127 Sister Louise. + 128 Rosine. + 129 Roy's Wife. + 130 Black, but Comely. + 131 Riding Recollections. + 132 Songs and Verses. + 133 The True Cross. + + +_By Mrs. OLIPHANT._ + + 146 May. + 147 For Love and Life. + 148 Last of the Mortimers. + 149 Squire Arden. + 150 Ombra. + 151 Madonna Mary. + 152 Days of my Life. + 153 Harry Muir. + 154 Heart and Cross. + 155 Magdalene Hepburn. + 156 House on the Moor. + 157 Lilliesleaf. + 158 Lucy Crofton. + + +_By HAWLEY SMART._ + + 165 Broken Bonds. + 166 Two Kisses. + 167 False Cards. + 168 Courtship. + 169 Bound to Win. + 170 Cecile. + 171 Race for a Wife. + 172 Play or Pay. + 173 Sunshine and Snow. + 174 Belles and Ringers. + 175 Social Sinners. + 176 The Great Tontine. + + +_By JANE AUSTEN._ + + 187 Sense and Sensibility. + 188 Emma. + 189 Mansfield Park. + 190 Northanger Abbey. + 191 Pride and Prejudice. + + +_By VICTOR HUGO._ + + 195 Jean Valjean (Les Miserables). + 196 Cosette and Marius (Les Miserables). + 197 Fantine (Les Miserables). + 198 By the King's Command. + + +_By CHARLES DICKENS._ + + 203 Pickwick Papers. + 204 Nicholas Nickleby. + 229 Picnic Papers. (Edited by C. Dickens.) + + +_By Sir WALTER SCOTT._ + + 230 Waverley. + 231 Kenilworth. + 232 Ivanhoe. + 233 The Antiquary. + + +_By LYTTON BULWER._ + + 264 Paul Clifford. + 265 Last Days of Pompeii. + 266 Eugene Aram. + 267 Pelham. + + +_By Captain MARRYAT._ + + 298 Midshipman Easy. + 299 Japhet in Search of a Father. + 300 Jacob Faithful. + 301 Peter Simple. + + +_By MAX ADELER._ + + 322 Out of the Hurly Burly. + 323 Elbow Room. + 324 Random Shots. + 325 An Old Fogey. + + +_By C.C. CLARKE._ + + 332 Charlie Thornhill. + 333 Flying Scud. + 334 Crumbs from a Sportsman's Table. + 335 Which is the Winner. + 336 Lord Falconberg's Heir. + 337 The Beauclercs. + 338 Box for the Season. + + +_By ANNIE THOMAS._ + + 343 Theo Leigh. + 344 Dennis Donne. + 345 Called to Account. + 346 A Passion in Tatters. + 347 He Cometh Not, She Said. + 348 No Alternative. + 349 A Narrow Escape. + 350 Blotted Out. + 351 A Laggard In Love. + 352 High Stakes. + 353 Best for Her. + + +_By E.P. ROE._ + + 370 Opening a Chestnut Burr. + 371 A Face Illumined. + 372 Barriers Burned Away. + 373 What Can She Do? + 374 A Day of Fate. + 375 Without a Home. + 376 A Knight of the 19th Century. + 377 Near to Nature's Heart. + 378 From Jest to Earnest. + + +_By Miss E. MARLITT._ + + 387 Old Maid's Secret. + 388 Gold Elsie. + 389 The Second Wife. + 390 The Little Moorland Princess. + + +_By AMELIA B. EDWARDS._ + + 398 In the Days of My Youth. + 399 Miss Carew. + 400 Debenham's Vow. + 401 Monsieur Maurice. + + +_By ALEXANDRE DUMAS._ + + 407 Count of Monte-Christo. + + +_By JAMES GRANT._ + + 428 Secret Dispatch. + + +_By G.P.R. JAMES._ + + 435 Bernard Marsh. + + +_By OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES._ + + 440 Elsie Venner. + 441 Autocrat of the Breakfast Table. + + +_By SAMUEL LOVER._ + + 446 He Would be a Gentleman. + 447 Irish Stories and Legends. + + +_By Mrs. MARSH._ + + 451 Father Darcy. + 452 Time, the Avenger. + 453 Emilia Wyndham. + 454 Mount Sorrel. + + +_By ELEANOR F. TROLLOPE._ + + 459 Aunt Margaret. + 460 A Charming Fellow. + 461 Veronica. + 462 Sacristan's Household. + + +_By ALBERT SMITH._ + + 465 Christopher Tadpole. + + +_By BRET HARTE._ + + 468 Complete Tales. + 469 The Heathen Chinee. + 470 Wan Lee, the Pagan, &c. + 471 Deadwood Mystery, and Mark Twain's Nightmare. + + +_By Capt. MAYNE REID._ + + 474 The Mountain Marriage. + + +_By Mrs. LYNN LINTON._ + + 478 Lizzie Lorton. + 479 The Mad Willoughbys. + + +_By IVAN TURGENIEFF._ + + 483 Virgin Soil. + 484 Smoke. + 485 Fathers and Sons. + 486 Dimitri Roudine. + + +_By NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE._ + + 491 Blithedale Romance. + + +_By Mrs. CASHEL HOEY._ + + 492 No Sign. + 493 Blossoming of an Aloe. + + +_By Mrs. G.M. CRAIK._ + + 494 Riverston. + 495 Lost and Won. + 496 Winifred's Wooing. + + +_By T.A. TROLLOPE._ + + 500 Marietta. + 501 Beppo, the Conscript. + 502 Lindisfarne Chase. + 503 Giulio Malatesta. + 504 La Beata. + + +_By MARK TWAIN._ + + 509 The Innocents Abroad. + 510 American Drolleries. + 511 Funny Stories; with Holmes' Humorous Poems. + 512 The Mississippi Pilot; with Bret Harte's "Two Men of Sandy Bar." + + +_By W.H. MAXWELL._ + + 516 Hector O'Halloran. + + +_By HENRY JAMES, Jun._ + + 519 The American. + + +_By the Author of "WOMAN'S DEVOTION."_ + + 524 Mr. and Mrs. Asheton. + 525 Three Wives. + 526 Ladies of Lovel Leigh. + 527 Queen of the County. + 528 Book of Heroines. + 529 Lords and Ladies. + 530 Woman's Devotion. + + +_By THEODORE HOOK._ + + 536 Jack Brag. + + +_By M.W. SAVAGE._ + + 541 My Uncle, the Curate. + 542 Bachelor of the Albany. + 543 Falcon Family. + 544 Reuben Medlicott. + 545 Clover Cottage. + + +_By M. BETHAM EDWARDS._ + + 551 White House by the Sea. + 552 John and I. + 553 Lisabee's Love Story. + 554 Wild Flower of Ravensworth. + + +_By J. FENIMORE COOPER._ + + 559 Mark's Reef. + 560 The Sea Lions. + + +_By JOHN DANGERFIELD._ + + 564 Grace Tolmar. + + +_By J.G. HOLLAND._ + + 565 Arthur Bonnicastle. + + +_By Miss JEWSBURY._ + + 568 The Half-Sisters. + 569 Sorrows of Gentility. + 570 Marian Withers. + 571 Constance Herbert. + + +_By Mrs. GREY._ + + 575 Mary Seaham. + 576 Gambler's Wife. + 577 The Daughter. + + +_By JOHN MILLS._ + + 582 Belle of the Village. + 583 The Briefless Barrister. + + +_By the Author of "MY FIRST SEASON."_ + + 588 Charles Auchester. + 589 Counterparts. + 590 My First Season. + + +_By "SCRUTATOR."_ + + 595 Master of the Hounds. + 596 Country Gentleman. + 597 Squire of Beechwood. + + +_By Mrs. W.M.L. JAY._ + + 602 Shiloh. + 603 Holden with the Cords. + + +_By Miss R.M. KETTLE._ + + 606 Smugglers and Foresters. + 607 Mistress of Langdale Hall. + 608 Hillsden on the Moors. + 609 Under the Grand Old Hills. + 610 Fabian's Tower. + 611 The Wreckers. + 612 My Home in the Shires. + 613 The Sea and the Moor. + + +_By MICHAEL SCOTT._ + + 620 Tom Cringle's Log. + 621 Cruise of the "Midge." + + +_By JEAN MIDDLEMASS._ + + 625 Wild Georgie. + + +_By the Author of "OLIVE VARCOE."_ + + 629 Forgotten Lives. + 630 The Kiddle-a-Wink. + 631 Love's Bitterness. + 632 In the House of a Friend. + + +_By GEORGE MEREDITH._ + + 635 Tragic Comedians. + + +_By Capt. ARMSTRONG._ + + 638 Queen of the Seas. + 639 The Sailor Hero. + 640 Cruise of the "Daring." + 641 The Sunny South. + + +_By Miss PARDOE._ + + 644 The Jealous Wife. + 645 Rival Beauties. + + +_By W. STEPHENS HAYWARD._ + + 650 Eulalle. + 651 The Diamond Cross. + + +_By ANNA H. DRURY._ + + 654 Deep Waters. + 655 Misrepresentations. + 656 The Brothers. + + +_By DOUGLAS JERROLD._ + + 660 The Brownrigg Papers. + + +_By Lady EDEN._ + + 661 Dumbleton Common. + 662 Semi-Attached Couple. + 663 Semi-Detached House. + + +_By Miss C.J. HAMILTON._ + + 664 Marriage Bonds. + 665 The Flynns of Flynnville. + + +_By HOLME LEE._ + + 673 Hawksview. + 674 Gilbert Messenger. + 675 Thorney Hall. + + +_By HENRY COCKTON._ + + 676 Valentine Vox. + + +_By KATHARINE KING._ + + 677 Lost for Gold. + 678 Queen of the Regiment. + 679 Off the Roll. + 680 Our Detachment. + + +_By S.W. FULLOM._ + + 683 Man of the World. + 684 King and Countess. + + +_By the Author of "CASTE," &c._ + + 687 Colonel Dacre. + 688 My Son's Wife. + 689 Entanglements. + 690 Mr. Arle. + 691 Bruna's Revenge. + 692 Pearl. + 693 Caste. + + +_By Rev. R. COBBOLD._ + + 696 Margaret Catchpole. + 697 The Suffolk Gipsy. + + +_By Mrs. PARSONS._ + + 698 Beautiful Edith. + 699 Sun and Shade. + 700 Ursula's Love Story. + + +_By ARTEMUS WARD._ + + 703 His Book; and Travels among the Mormons. + 704 Letters to Punch; and Mark Twain's Practical Jokes. + + +_By ANNA C. STEELE._ + + 705 Condoned. + 706 Gardenhurst. + 707 Broken Toys. + + +_By Mrs. WHITNEY._ + + 710 Odd or Even? + + +_By EMILIE CARLEN._ + + 711 Twelve Months of Matrimony. + 712 The Brilliant Marriage. + + +_By WILLIAM CARLETON._ + + 715 Squanders of Castle Squander. + + +_By W.S. MAYO._ + + 720 Never Again. + 721 The Berber. + + +_By Mrs. FORRESTER._ + + 722 Olympus to Hades. + 723 Fair Women. + + +_By MARK LEMON._ + + 725 Leyton Hall. + + +_By Miss BURNEY._ + + 726 Evelina. + + +_By HONORE DE BALZAC._ + + 728 Unrequited Affection. + + +_By JANE PORTER._ + + 732 The Scottish Chiefs. + + +_By HANS C. ANDERSEN._ + + 734 The Improvisatore. + + +_By KATHARINE MACQUOID._ + + 735 A Bad Beginning. + 736 Wild as a Hawk. + 737 Forgotten by the World. (2_s._ 6_d._ and 3_s._) + + +_By A. LAMARTINE._ + + 741 Genevieve, and The Stonemason. + + +_By GUSTAV FREYTAG._ + + 744 Debit and Credit. + + +_By Author of "ST. AUBYN OF ST. AUBYN'S."_ + + 745 Charlie Nugent. + 746 St. Aubyn of St. Aubyn's. + + +_By "WATERS."_ + + 747 The Heir at Law. + 748 Romance of the Seas. + + +_By EDGAR ALLAN POE._ + + 749 Tales of Mystery, &c. + + +_By HENRY J. BYRON._ + + 750 Paid in Full. + + +_By THOMAS MILLER._ + + 754 Royston Gower. + + +_By Mrs. S.C. HALL._ + + 755 The Whiteboy. + + +_By AUGUSTUS MAYHEW._ + + 756 Faces for Fortunes. + + +_By Lady CHATTERTON._ + + 757 The Lost Bride. + + +_By WILLIAM GILBERT._ + + 758 Dr. Austin's Guests. + + +_By VARIOUS AUTHORS._ + + 759 Melincourt. T. Peacock. + 761 Maretime. Bayle St. John. + 762 Jacob Bendixen. C. Goldschmidt. + 763 The Only Child. Lady Scott. + 765 Image of his Father. Bros. Mayhew. + 767 Bellal. A Popular Author. + 768 Highland Lassies. E. Mackenzie. + 769 Rose Douglas. S.W.R. + 770 O.V.H. Wat Bradwood. + 771 Esther's Sacrifice. Alice Perry. + 772 Ladies of Bever Hollow. A. Manning. + 773 Madeline. Julia Kavanagh. + 774 Hazarene. Author of "Guy Livingstone." + 776 First in the Field. + 777 Lilian's Penance. Mrs. Houston. + 778 Off the Line. Lady Thynne. + 779 Queen of Herself. A. King. + 780 A Fatal Error. J. Masterman. + 781 Mainstone's Housekeeper. E. Meteyard. + 782 Wild Hyacinth. Mrs. Randolph. + 783 All for Greed. Baroness de Bury. + 785 Kelverdale. Earl Desart. + 786 Dark and Light Stories. M. Hope. + 787 Chips from an Old Block. Author of "Charley Thornhill." + 788 Leah, the Jewish Maiden. + 789 Zana, the Gipsy. Miss Stevens. + 790 Margaret. Sylvester Judd. + 791 The Conspirators. A. de Vigny. + 792 Chelsea Pensioners. Gleig. + 793 A Lease for Lives. A. de Fonblanque. + 794 The Backwoodsman. Sir E. Wraxall. + 795 Almost a Quixote. Miss Levien. + 796 Janetta, and Blythe Herndon. + 797 Margaret's Ordeal. E. Juncker. + 798 Philiberta. Thorpe Talbot. + + + + +LIBRARY EDITION OF THE BEST AUTHORS. + +Crown 8vo, neat cloth gilt, price 3s. 6d. each. + + + 1 The Pickwick Papers. By Charles Dickens. With Original Illustrations + by A.B. Frost. + + 2 Nicholas Nickleby. By Chas. Dickens. With the Original Illustrations + by "Phiz." + + 3 Virgin Soil. By Ivan Turgenieff. + + 4 Smoke. By Ivan Turgenieff. + + 5 Fathers and Sons. By Ivan Turgenieff. + + 6 Dimitri Roudine. By ditto. + + 7 Hector O'Halloran. By W.H. Maxwell. Illustrated by Leech. + + 8 Christopher Tadpole. By Albert Smith. Illustrated. + + 9 Charles O'Malley. By C. Lever. Plates by Phiz. Half-bd. + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 58173 *** |