A DUEL .................................................................................................................................................88

"I entered literary life as a meteor, and I shall leave it like a thunderbolt." These words of Maupassant to Jose

Maria de Heredia on the occasion of a memorable meeting are, in spite of their morbid solemnity, not an

inexact summing up of the brief career during which, for ten years, the writer, by turns undaunted and

sorrowful, with the fertility of a master hand produced poetry, novels, romances and travels, only to sink

In the month of April, 1880, an article appeared in the "Le Gaulois" announcing the publication of the Soirees

de Medan. It was signed by a name as yet unknown: Guy de Maupassant. After a juvenile diatribe against

romanticism and a passionate attack on languorous literature, the writer extolled the study of real life, and

announced the publication of the new work. It was picturesque and charming. In the quiet of evening, on an

island, in the Seine, beneath poplars instead of the Neapolitan cypresses dear to the friends of Boccaccio,

amid the continuous murmur of the valley, and no longer to the sound of the Pyrennean streams that

murmured a faint accompaniment to the tales of Marguerite's cavaliers, the master and his disciples took

turns in narrating some striking or pathetic episode of the war. And the issue, in collaboration, of these tales

in one volume, in which the master jostled elbows with his pupils, took on the appearance of a manifesto, the

In fact, however, the beginnings had been much more simple, and they had confined themselves, beneath the

trees of Medan, to deciding on a general title for the work. Zola had contributed the manuscript of the

"Attaque du Moulin," and it was at Maupassant's house that the five young men gave in their contributions.

Each one read his story, Maupassant being the last. When he had finished Boule de Suif, with a spontaneous

impulse, with an emotion they never forgot, filled with enthusiasm at this revelation, they all rose and,

He undertook to write the article for the Gaulois and, in cooperation with his friends, he worded it in the

terms with which we are familiar, amplifying and embellishing it, yielding to an inborn taste for mystification

which his youth rendered excusable. The essential point, he said, is to "unmoor" criticism.

It was unmoored. The following day Wolff wrote a polemical dissertation in the Figaro and carried away his

colleagues. The volume was a brilliant success, thanks to Boule de Suif. Despite the novelty, the honesty of

effort, on the part of all, no mention was made of the other stories. Relegated to the second rank, they passed

without notice. From his first battle, Maupassant was master of the field in literature.

At once the entire press took him up and said what was appropriate regarding the budding celebrity.

Biographers and reporters sought information concerning his life. As it was very simple and perfectly

straightforward, they resorted to invention. And thus it is that at the present day Maupassant appears to us

I will not dwell on Guy de Maupassant's younger days. His relatives, his old friends, he himself, here and

there in his works, have furnished us in their letters enough valuable revelations and touching remembrances

of the years preceding his literary debut. His worthy biographer, H. Edouard Maynial, after collecting

intelligently all the writings, condensing and comparing them, has been able to give us some definite

I will simply recall that he was born on the 5th of August, 1850, near Dieppe, in the castle of Miromesnil

Maupassant, like Flaubert, was a Norman, through his mother, and through his place of birth he belonged to

that strange and adventurous race, whose heroic and long voyages on tramp trading ships he liked to recall.

And just as the author of "Education sentimentale" seems to have inherited in the paternal line the shrewd

realism of Champagne, so de Maupassant appears to have inherited from his Lorraine ancestors their

His childhood was passed at Etretat, his beautiful childhood; it was there that his instincts were awakened in

the unfoldment of his prehistoric soul. Years went by in an ecstasy of physical happiness. The delight of

running at full speed through fields of gorse, the charm of voyages of discovery in hollows and ravines,

games beneath the dark hedges, a passion for going to sea with the fishermen and, on nights when there was

Mme. de Maupassant, who had guided her son's early reading, and had gazed with him at the sublime

spectacle of nature, put, off as long as possible the hour of separation. One day, however, she had to take the

child to the little seminary at Yvetot. Later, he became a student at the college at Rouen, and became a

literary correspondent of Louis Bouilhet. It was at the latter's house on those Sundays in winter when the

Norman rain drowned the sound of the bells and dashed against the window panes that the school boy learned

Vacation took the rhetorician back to the north of Normandy. Now it was shooting at Saint Julien

l'Hospitalier, across fields, bogs, and through the woods. From that time on he sealed his pact with the earth,

and those "deep and delicate roots" which attached him to his native soil began to grow. It was of Normandy,

broad, fresh and virile, that he would presently demand his inspiration, fervent and eager as a boy's love; it

was in her that he would take refuge when, weary of life, he would implore a truce, or when he simply

wished to work and revive his energies in oldtime joys. It was at this time that was born in him that

voluptuous love of the sea, which in later days could alone withdraw him from the world, calm him, console

In 1870 he lived in the country, then he came to Paris to live; for, the family fortunes having dwindled, he

had to look for a position. For several years he was a clerk in the Ministry of Marine, where he turned over

Then he went into the department of Public Instruction, where bureaucratic servility is less intolerable. The

daily duties are certainly scarcely more onerous and he had as chiefs, or colleagues, Xavier Charmes and

Leon Dierx, Henry Roujon and Rene Billotte, but his office looked out on a beautiful melancholy garden with

Maupassant made two divisions of his spare hours, one for boating, and the other for literature. Every

evening in spring, every free day, he ran down to the river whose mysterious current veiled in fog or

sparkling in the sun called to him and bewitched him. In the islands in the Seine between Chatou and

PortMarly, on the banks of Sartrouville and Triel he was long noted among the population of boatmen, who

have now vanished, for his unwearying biceps, his cynical gaiety of goodfellowship, his unfailing practical

jokes, his broad witticisms. Sometimes he would row with frantic speed, free and joyous, through the

glowing sunlight on the stream; sometimes, he would wander along the coast, questioning the sailors,

chatting with the ravageurs, or junk gatherers, or stretched at full length amid the irises and tansy he would lie

for hours watching the frail insects that play on the surface of the stream, water spiders, or white butterflies,

dragon flies, chasing each other amid the willow leaves, or frogs asleep on the lilypads.

The rest of his life was taken up by his work. Without ever becoming despondent, silent and persistent, he

accumulated manuscripts, poetry, criticisms, plays, romances and novels. Every week he docilely submitted

his work to the great Flaubert, the childhood friend of his mother and his uncle Alfred Le Poittevin. The

master had consented to assist the young man, to reveal to him the secrets that make chefsd'oeuvre

immortal. It was he who compelled him to make copious research and to use direct observation and who

Maupassant himself tells us of those severe initiations in the Rue Murillo, or in the tent at Croisset; he has

recalled the implacable didactics of his old master, his tender brutality, the paternal advice of his generous

and candid heart. For seven years Flaubert slashed, pulverized, the awkward attempts of his pupil whose

Suddenly, in a flight of spontaneous perfection, he wrote Boule de Suif. His master's joy was great and

Until the end Maupassant remained illuminated by the reflection of the good, vanished giant, by that touching

reflection that comes from the dead to those souls they have so profoundly stirred. The worship of Flaubert

was a religion from which nothing could distract him, neither work, nor glory, nor slow moving waves, nor

At the end of his short life, while his mind was still clear: he wrote to a friend: "I am always thinking of my

poor Flaubert, and I say to myself that I should like to die if I were sure that anyone would think of me in the

During these long years of his novitiate Maupassant had entered the social literary circles. He would remain

silent, preoccupied; and if anyone, astonished at his silence, asked him about his plans he answered simply: "I

am learning my trade." However, under the pseudonym of Guy de Valmont, he had sent some articles to the

newspapers, and, later, with the approval and by the advice of Flaubert, he published, in the "Republique des

These poems, overflowing with sensuality, where the hymn to the Earth describes the transports of physical

possession, where the impatience of love expresses itself in loud melancholy appeals like the calls of animals

in the spring nights, are valuable chiefly inasmuch as they reveal the creature of instinct, the fawn escaped

from his native forests, that Maupassant was in his early youth. But they add nothing to his glory. They are

the "rhymes of a prose writer" as Jules Lemaitre said. To mould the expression of his thought according to

the strictest laws, and to "narrow it down" to some extent, such was his aim. Following the example of one of

his comrades of Medan, being readily carried away by precision of style and the rhythm of sentences, by the

imperious rule of the ballad, of the pantoum or the chant royal, Maupassant also desired to write in metrical

lines. However, he never liked this collection that he often regretted having published. His encounters with

prosody had left him with that monotonous weariness that the horseman and the fencer feel after a period in

Such, in very broad lines, is the story of Maupassant's literary apprenticeship.

The day following the publication of "Boule de Suif," his reputation began to grow rapidly. The quality of his

story was unrivalled, but at the same time it must be acknowledged that there were some who, for the sake of

discussion, desired to place a young reputation in opposition to the triumphant brutality of Zola.

From this time on, Maupassant, at the solicitation of the entire press, set to work and wrote story after story.

His talent, free from all influences, his individuality, are not disputed for a moment. With a quick step, steady

and alert, he advanced to fame, a fame of which he himself was not aware, but which was so universal, that

no contemporary author during his life ever experienced the same. The "meteor" sent out its light and its rays

He was now rich and famous . . . . He is esteemed all the more as they believe him to be rich and happy. But

they do not know that this young fellow with the sunburnt face, thick neck and salient muscles whom they

invariably compare to a young bull at liberty, and whose love affairs they whisper, is ill, very ill. At the very

moment that success came to him, the malady that never afterwards left him came also, and, seated

motionless at his side, gazed at him with its threatening countenance. He suffered from terrible headaches,

followed by nights of insomnia. He had nervous attacks, which he soothed with narcotics and anesthetics,

which he used freely. His sight, which had troubled him at intervals, became affected, and a celebrated oculist

spoke of abnormality, asymetry of the pupils. The famous young man trembled in secret and was haunted by

The reader is charmed at the saneness of this revived art and yet, here and there, he is surprised to discover,

amid descriptions of nature that are full of humanity, disquieting flights towards the supernatural, distressing

conjurations, veiled at first, of the most commonplace, the most vertiginous shuddering fits of fear, as old as

the world and as eternal as the unknown. But, instead of being alarmed, he thinks that the author must be

gifted with infallible intuition to follow out thus the taints in his characters, even through their most

dangerous mazes. The reader does not know that these hallucinations which he describes so minutely were

experienced by Maupassant himself; he does not know that the fear is in himself, the anguish of fear "which

is not caused by the presence of danger, or of inevitable death, but by certain abnormal conditions, by certain

mysterious influences in presence of vague dangers," the "fear of fear, the dread of that horrible sensation of

How can one explain these physical sufferings and this morbid distress that were known for some time to his

intimates alone? Alas! the explanation is only too simple. All his life, consciously or unconsciously,

As his malady began to take a more definite form, he turned his steps towards the south, only visiting Paris to

see his physicians and publishers. In the old port of Antibes beyond the causeway of Cannes, his yacht, Bel

Ami, which he cherished as a brother, lay at anchor and awaited him. He took it to the white cities of the

Genoese Gulf, towards the palm trees of Hyeres, or the red bay trees of Antheor.

After several tragic weeks in which, from instinct, he made a desperate fight, on the 1st of January, 1892, he

felt he was hopelessly vanquished, and in a moment of supreme clearness of intellect, like Gerard de Nerval,

he attempted suicide. Less fortunate than the author of Sylvia, he was unsuccessful. But his mind, henceforth

He was taken back to Paris and placed in Dr. Meuriot's sanatorium, where, after eighteen months of

For several days in succession fragments of a defeated army had passed through the town. They were mere

disorganized bands, not disciplined forces. The men wore long, dirty beards and tattered uniforms; they

advanced in listless fashion, without a flag, without a leader. All seemed exhausted, worn out, incapable of

thought or resolve, marching onward merely by force of habit, and dropping to the ground with fatigue the

moment they halted. One saw, in particular, many enlisted men, peaceful citizens, men who lived quietly on

their income, bending beneath the weight of their rifles; and little active volunteers, easily frightened but full

of enthusiasm, as eager to attack as they were ready to take to flight; and amid these, a sprinkling of

redbreeched soldiers, the pitiful remnant of a division cut down in a great battle; somber artillerymen, side

by side with nondescript footsoldiers; and, here and there, the gleaming helmet of a heavyfooted dragoon

who had difficulty in keeping up with the quicker pace of the soldiers of the line. Legions of irregulars with

highsounding names "Avengers of Defeat," "Citizens of the Tomb," "Brethren in Death"passed in their

turn, looking like banditti. Their leaders, former drapers or grain merchants, or tallow or soap

chandlerswarriors by force of circumstances, officers by reason of their mustachios or their

moneycovered with weapons, flannel and gold lace, spoke in an impressive manner, discussed plans of

campaign, and behaved as though they alone bore the fortunes of dying France on their braggart shoulders;

though, in truth, they frequently were afraid of their own menscoundrels often brave beyond measure, but

The members of the National Guard, who for the past two months had been reconnoitering with the utmost

caution in the neighboring woods, occasionally shooting their own sentinels, and making ready for fight

whenever a rabbit rustled in the undergrowth, had now returned to their homes. Their arms, their uniforms, all

the deathdealing paraphernalia with which they had terrified all the milestones along the highroad for eight

The last of the French soldiers had just crossed the Seine on their way to PontAudemer, through

SaintSever and BourgAchard, and in their rear the vanquished general, powerless to do aught with the

forlorn remnants of his army, himself dismayed at the final overthrow of a nation accustomed to victory and

disastrously beaten despite its legendary bravery, walked between two orderlies.

Then a profound calm, a shuddering, silent dread, settled on the city. Many a roundpaunched citizen,

emasculated by years devoted to business, anxiously awaited the conquerors, trembling lest his

Life seemed to have stopped short; the shops were shut, the streets deserted. Now and then an inhabitant,

awed by the silence, glided swiftly by in the shadow of the walls. The anguish of suspense made men even

In the afternoon of the day following the departure of the French troops, a number of uhlans, coming no one

knew whence, passed rapidly through the town. A little later on, a black mass descended St. Catherine's Hill,

while two other invading bodies appeared respectively on the Darnetal and the Boisguillaume roads. The

advance guards of the three corps arrived at precisely the same moment at the Square of the Hotel de Ville,

and the German army poured through all the adjacent streets, its battalions making the pavement ring with

Orders shouted in an unknown, guttural tongue rose to the windows of the seemingly dead, deserted houses;

while behind the fastclosed shutters eager eyes peered forth at the victorsmasters now of the city, its

fortunes, and its lives, by "right of war." The inhabitants, in their darkened rooms, were possessed by that

terror which follows in the wake of cataclysms, of deadly upheavals of the earth, against which all human

skill and strength are vain. For the same thing happens whenever the established order of things is upset,

when security no longer exists, when all those rights usually protected by the law of man or of Nature are at

the mercy of unreasoning, savage force. The earthquake crushing a whole nation under falling roofs; the

flood let loose, and engulfing in its swirling depths the corpses of drowned peasants, along with dead oxen

and beams torn from shattered houses; or the army, covered with glory, murdering those who defend

themselves, making prisoners of the rest, pillaging in the name of the Sword, and giving thanks to God to the

thunder of cannonall these are appalling scourges, which destroy all belief in eternal justice, all that

confidence we have been taught to feel in the protection of Heaven and the reason of man.

Small detachments of soldiers knocked at each door, and then disappeared within the houses; for the

At the end of a short time, once the first terror had subsided, calm was again restored. In many houses the

Prussian officer ate at the same table with the family. He was often wellbred, and, out of politeness,

expressed sympathy with France and repugnance at being compelled to take part in the war. This sentiment

was received with gratitude; besides, his protection might be needful some day or other. By the exercise of

tact the number of men quartered in one's house might be reduced; and why should one provoke the hostility

of a person on whom one's whole welfare depended? Such conduct would savor less of bravery than of fool

hardiness. And foolhardiness is no longer a failing of the citizens of Rouen as it was in the days when their

city earned renown by its heroic defenses. Last of allfinal argument based on the national politeness the

folk of Rouen said to one another that it was only right to be civil in one's own house, provided there was no

public exhibition of familiarity with the foreigner. Out of doors, therefore, citizen and soldier did not know

each other; but in the house both chatted freely, and each evening the German remained a little longer

Even the town itself resumed by degrees its ordinary aspect. The French seldom walked abroad, but the

streets swarmed with Prussian soldiers. Moreover, the officers of the Blue Hussars, who arrogantly dragged

their instruments of death along the pavements, seemed to hold the simple townsmen in but little more

contempt than did the French cavalry officers who had drunk at the same cafes the year before.

But there was something in the air, a something strange and subtle, an intolerable foreign atmosphere like a

penetrating odorthe odor of invasion. It permeated dwellings and places of public resort, changed the taste

of food, made one imagine one's self in fardistant lands, amid dangerous, barbaric tribes.

The conquerors exacted money, much money. The inhabitants paid what was asked; they were rich. But, the

wealthier a Norman tradesman becomes, the more he suffers at having to part with anything that belongs to

him, at having to see any portion of his substance pass into the hands of another.

Nevertheless, within six or seven miles of the town, along the course of the river as it flows onward to

Croisset, Dieppedalle and Biessart, boat men and fishermen often hauled to the surface of the water the

body of a German, bloated in his uniform, killed by a blow from knife or club, his head crushed by a stone, or

perchance pushed from some bridge into the stream below. The mud of the riverbed swallowed up these

obscure acts of vengeancesavage, yet legitimate; these unrecorded deeds of bravery; these silent attacks

fraught with greater danger than battles fought in broad day, and surrounded, moreover, with no halo of

romance. For hatred of the foreigner ever arms a few intrepid souls, ready to die for an idea.

At last, as the invaders, though subjecting the town to the strictest discipline, had not committed any of the

deeds of horror with which they had been credited while on their triumphal march, the people grew bolder,

and the necessities of business again animated the breasts of the local merchants. Some of these had

important commercial interests at Havre occupied at present by the French armyand wished to attempt to

Through the influence of the German officers whose acquaintance they had made, they obtained a permit to

A large fourhorse coach having, therefore, been engaged for the journey, and ten passengers having given in

their names to the proprietor, they decided to start on a certain Tuesday morning before daybreak, to avoid

The ground had been frozen hard for some timepast, and about three o'clock on Monday afternoonlarge

black clouds from the north shed their burden of snow uninterruptedly all through that evening and night.

At halfpast four in the morning the travellers met in the courtyard of the Hotel de Normandie, where they

They were still half asleep, and shivering with cold under their wraps. They could see one another but

indistinctly in the darkness, and the mountain of heavy winter wraps in which each was swathed made them

look like a gathering of obese priests in their long cassocks. But two men recognized each other, a third

accosted them, and the three began to talk. "I am bringing my wife," said one. "So am I." "And I, too." The

first speaker added: "We shall not return to Rouen, and if the Prussians approach Havre we will cross to

England." All three, it turned out, had made the same plans, being of similar disposition and temperament.

Still the horses were not harnessed. A small lantern carried by a stableboy emerged now and then from one

dark doorway to disappear immediately in another. The stamping of horses' hoofs, deadened by the dung and

straw of the stable, was heard from time to time, and from inside the building issued a man's voice, talking to

the animals and swearing at them. A faint tinkle of bells showed that the harness was being got ready; this

tinkle soon developed into a continuous jingling, louder or softer according to the movements of the horse,

sometimes stopping altogether, then breaking out in a sudden peal accompanied by a pawing of the ground by

A thick curtain of glistening white flakes fell ceaselessly to the ground; it obliterated all outlines, enveloped

all objects in an icy mantle of foam; nothing was to be heard throughout the length and breadth of the silent,

winterbound city save the vague, nameless rustle of falling snowa sensation rather than a soundthe

gentle mingling of light atoms which seemed to fill all space, to cover the whole world.

The man reappeared with his lantern, leading by a rope a melancholy looking horse, evidently being led out

against his inclination. The hostler placed him beside the pole, fastened the traces, and spent some time in

walking round him to make sure that the harness was all right; for he could use only one hand, the other being

engaged in holding the lantern. As he was about to fetch the second horse he noticed the motionless group of

travellers, already white with snow, and said to them: "Why don't you get inside the coach? You'd be under

This did not seem to have occurred to them, and they at once took his advice. The three men seated their

wives at the far end of the coach, then got in themselves; lastly the other vague, snowshrouded forms

The floor was covered with straw, into which the feet sank. The ladies at the far end, having brought with

them little copper footwarmers heated by means of a kind of chemical fuel, proceeded to light these, and

spent some time in expatiating in low tones on their advantages, saying over and over again things which

At last, six horses instead of four having been harnessed to the diligence, on account of the heavy roads, a

voice outside asked: "Is every one there?" To which a voice from the interior replied: "Yes," and they set out.

The vehicle moved slowly, slowly, at a snail's pace; the wheels sank into the snow; the entire body of the

coach creaked and groaned; the horses slipped, puffed, steamed, and the coachman's long whip cracked

incessantly, flying hither and thither, coiling up, then flinging out its length like a slender serpent, as it lashed

some rounded flank, which instantly grew tense as it strained in further effort.

But the day grew apace. Those light flakes which one traveller, a native of Rouen, had compared to a rain of

cotton fell no longer. A murky light filtered through dark, heavy clouds, which made the country more

dazzlingly white by contrast, a whiteness broken sometimes by a row of tall trees spangled with hoarfrost, or

Within the coach the passengers eyed one another curiously in the dim light of dawn.

Right at the back, in the best seats of all, Monsieur and Madame Loiseau, wholesale wine merchants of the

Rue GrandPont, slumbered opposite each other. Formerly clerk to a merchant who had failed in business,

Loiseau had bought his master's interest, and made a fortune for himself. He sold very bad wine at a very low

price to the retaildealers in the country, and had the reputation, among his friends and acquaintances, of

being a shrewd rascal a true Norman, full of quips and wiles. So well established was his character as a cheat

that, in the mouths of the citizens of Rouen, the very name of Loiseau became a byword for sharp practice.

Above and beyond this, Loiseau was noted for his practical jokes of every descriptionhis tricks, good or

illnatured; and no one could mention his name without adding at once: "He's an extraordinary

manLoiseau." He was undersized and potbellied, had a florid face with grayish whiskers.

His wifetall, strong, determined, with a loud voice and decided manner represented the spirit of order and

arithmetic in the business house which Loiseau enlivened by his jovial activity.

Beside them, dignified in bearing, belonging to a superior caste, sat Monsieur CarreLamadon, a man of

considerable importance, a king in the cotton trade, proprietor of three spinningmills, officer of the Legion

of Honor, and member of the General Council. During the whole time the Empire was in the ascendancy he

remained the chief of the welldisposed Opposition, merely in order to command a higher value for his

devotion when he should rally to the cause which he meanwhile opposed with "courteous weapons," to use

Madame CarreLamadon, much younger than her husband, was the consolation of all the officers of good

family quartered at Rouen. Pretty, slender, graceful, she sat opposite her husband, curled up in her furs, and

Her neighbors, the Comte and Comtesse Hubert de Breville, bore one of the noblest and most ancient names

in Normandy. The count, a nobleman advanced in years and of aristocratic bearing, strove to enhance by

every artifice of the toilet, his natural resemblance to King Henry IV, who, according to a legend of which the

family were inordinately proud, had been the favored lover of a De Breville lady, and father of her child

the frail one's husband having, in recognition of this fact, been made a count and governor of a province.

A colleague of Monsieur CarreLamadon in the General Council, Count Hubert represented the Orleanist

party in his department. The story of his marriage with the daughter of a small shipowner at Nantes had

always remained more or less of a mystery. But as the countess had an air of unmistakable breeding,

entertained faultlessly, and was even supposed to have been loved by a son of LouisPhilippe, the nobility

vied with one another in doing her honor, and her drawingroom remained the most select in the whole

countrysidethe only one which retained the old spirit of gallantry, and to which access was not easy.

The fortune of the Brevilles, all in real estate, amounted, it was said, to five hundred thousand francs a year.

These six people occupied the farther end of the coach, and represented Societywith an incomethe

It happened by chance that all the women were seated on the same side; and the countess had, moreover, as

neighbors two nuns, who spent the time in fingering their long rosaries and murmuring paternosters and aves.

One of them was old, and so deeply pitted with smallpox that she looked for all the world as if she had

received a charge of shot full in the face. The other, of sickly appearance, had a pretty but wasted

countenance, and a narrow, consumptive chest, sapped by that devouring faith which is the making of martyrs

The mana wellknown characterwas Cornudet, the democrat, the terror of all respectable people. For

the past twenty years his big red beard had been on terms of intimate acquaintance with the tankards of all the

republican cafes. With the help of his comrades and brethren he had dissipated a respectable fortune left him

by his father, an old established confectioner, and he now impatiently awaited the Republic, that he might at

last be rewarded with the post he had earned by his revolutionary orgies. On the fourth of

Septemberpossibly as the result of a practical jokehe was led to believe that he had been appointed

prefect; but when he attempted to take up the duties of the position the clerks in charge of the office refused

to recognize his authority, and he was compelled in consequence to retire. A good sort of fellow in other

respects, inoffensive and obliging, he had thrown himself zealously into the work of making an organized

defence of the town. He had had pits dug in the level country, young forest trees felled, and traps set on all

the roads; then at the approach of the enemy, thoroughly satisfied with his preparations, he had hastily

returned to the town. He thought he might now do more good at Havre, where new intrenchments would soon

The woman, who belonged to the courtesan class, was celebrated for an embonpoint unusual for her age,

which had earned for her the sobriquet of "Boule de Suif" (Tallow Ball). Short and round, fat as a pig, with

puffy fingers constricted at the joints, looking like rows of short sausages; with a shiny, tightlystretched skin

and an enormous bust filling out the bodice of her dress, she was yet attractive and much sought after, owing

to her fresh and pleasing appearance. Her face was like a crimson apple, a peonybud just bursting into

bloom; she had two magnificent dark eyes, fringed with thick, heavy lashes, which cast a shadow into their

depths; her mouth was small, ripe, kissable, and was furnished with the tiniest of white teeth.

As soon as she was recognized the respectable matrons of the party began to whisper among themselves, and

the words "hussy" and "public scandal" were uttered so loudly that Boule de Suif raised her head. She

forthwith cast such a challenging, bold look at her neighbors that a sudden silence fell on the company, and

all lowered their eyes, with the exception of Loiseau, who watched her with evident interest.

But conversation was soon resumed among the three ladies, whom the presence of this girl had suddenly

drawn together in the bonds of friendshipone might almost say in those of intimacy. They decided that

they ought to combine, as it were, in their dignity as wives in face of this shameless hussy; for legitimized

The three men, also, brought together by a certain conservative instinct awakened by the presence of

Cornudet, spoke of money matters in a tone expressive of contempt for the poor. Count Hubert related the

losses he had sustained at the hands of the Prussians, spoke of the cattle which had been stolen from him, the

crops which had been ruined, with the easy manner of a nobleman who was also a tenfold millionaire, and

whom such reverses would scarcely inconvenience for a single year. Monsieur Carre Lamadon, a man of

wide experience in the cotton industry, had taken care to send six hundred thousand francs to England as

provision against the rainy day he was always anticipating. As for Loiseau, he had managed to sell to the

French commissariat department all the wines he had in stock, so that the state now owed him a considerable

And all three eyed one another in friendly, welldisposed fashion. Although of varying social status, they

were united in the brotherhood of moneyin that vast freemasonry made up of those who possess, who can

jingle gold wherever they choose to put their hands into their breeches' pockets.

The coach went along so slowly that at ten o'clock in the morning it had not covered twelve miles. Three

times the men of the party got out and climbed the hills on foot. The passengers were becoming uneasy, for

they had counted on lunching at Totes, and it seemed now as if they would hardly arrive there before

nightfall. Every one was eagerly looking out for an inn by the roadside, when, suddenly, the coach foundered

As appetites increased, their spirits fell; no inn, no wine shop could be discovered, the approach of the

Prussians and the transit of the starving French troops having frightened away all business.

The men sought food in the farmhouses beside the road, but could not find so much as a crust of bread; for

the suspicious peasant invariably hid his stores for fear of being pillaged by the soldiers, who, being entirely

About one o'clock Loiseau announced that he positively had a big hollow in his stomach. They had all been

suffering in the same way for some time, and the increasing gnawings of hunger had put an end to all

Now and then some one yawned, another followed his example, and each in turn, according to his character,

breeding and social position, yawned either quietly or noisily, placing his hand before the gaping void

Several times Boule de Suif stooped, as if searching for something under her petticoats. She would hesitate a

moment, look at her neighbors, and then quietly sit upright again. All faces were pale and drawn. Loiseau

declared he would give a thousand francs for a knuckle of ham. His wife made an involuntary and quickly

checked gesture of protest. It always hurt her to hear of money being squandered, and she could not even

"As a matter of fact, I don't feel well," said the count. "Why did I not think of bringing provisions?" Each one

Cornudet, however, had a bottle of rum, which he offered to his neighbors. They all coldly refused except

Loiseau, who took a sip, and returned the bottle with thanks, saying: "That's good stuff; it warms one up, and

cheats the appetite." The alcohol put him in good humor, and he proposed they should do as the sailors did in

the song: eat the fattest of the passengers. This indirect allusion to Boule de Suif shocked the respectable

members of the party. No one replied; only Cornudet smiled. The two good sisters had ceased to mumble

their rosary, and, with hands enfolded in their wide sleeves, sat motionless, their eyes steadfastly cast down,

At last, at three o'clock, as they were in the midst of an apparently limitless plain, with not a single village in

sight, Boule de Suif stooped quickly, and drew from underneath the seat a large basket covered with a white

From this she extracted first of all a small earthenware plate and a silver drinking cup, then an enormous dish

containing two whole chickens cut into joints and imbedded in jelly. The basket was seen to contain other

good things: pies, fruit, dainties of all sortsprovisions, in fine, for a three days' journey, rendering their

owner independent of wayside inns. The necks of four bottles protruded from among thp food. She took a

chicken wing, and began to eat it daintily, together with one of those rolls called in Normandy "Regence."

All looks were directed toward her. An odor of food filled the air, causing nostrils to dilate, mouths to water,

and jaws to contract painfully. The scorn of the ladies for this disreputable female grew positively ferocious;

they would have liked to kill her, or throw, her and her drinking cup, her basket, and her provisions, out of

"Well, well, this lady had more forethought than the rest of us. Some people think of everything."

"Upon my soul, I can't refuse; I cannot hold out another minute. All is fair in war time, is it not, madame?"

He spread a newspaper over his knees to avoid soiling his trousers, and, with a pocketknife he always carried,

helped himself to a chicken leg coated with jelly, which he thereupon proceeded to devour.

Then Boule le Suif, in low, humble tones, invited the nuns to partake of her repast. They both accepted the

offer unhesitatingly, and after a few stammered words of thanks began to eat quickly, without raising their

eyes. Neither did Cornudet refuse his neighbor's offer, and, in combination with the nuns, a sort of table was

Mouths kept opening and shutting, ferociously masticating and devouring the food. Loiseau, in his corner,

was hard at work, and in low tones urged his wife to follow his example. She held out for a long time, but

overstrained Nature gave way at last. Her husband, assuming his politest manner, asked their "charming

"Why, certainly, sir," she replied, with an amiable smile, holding out the dish.

When the first bottle of claret was opened some embarrassment was caused by the fact that there was only

one drinking cup, but this was passed from one to another, after being wiped. Cornudet alone, doubtless in a

spirit of gallantry, raised to his own lips that part of the rim which was still moist from those of his fair

Then, surrounded by people who were eating, and wellnigh suffocated by the odor of food, the Comte and

Comtesse de Breville and Monsieur and Madame CarreLamadon endured that hateful form of torture which

has perpetuated the name of Tantalus. All at once the manufacturer's young wife heaved a sigh which made

every one turn and look at her; she was white as the snow without; her eyes closed, her head fell forward; she

had fainted. Her husband, beside himself, implored the help of his neighbors. No one seemed to know what to

do until the elder of the two nuns, raising the patient's head, placed Boule de Suif's drinking cup to her lips,

and made her swallow a few drops of wine. The pretty invalid moved, opened her eyes, smiled, and declared

in a feeble voice that she was all right again. But, to prevent a recurrence of the catastrophe, the nun made her

drink a cupful of claret, adding: "It's just hunger that's what is wrong with you."

Then Boule de Suif, blushing and embarrassed, stammered, looking at the four passengers who were still

"Hang it all, in such a case as this we are all brothers and sisters and ought to assist each other. Come, come,

ladies, don't stand on ceremony, for goodness' sake! Do we even know whether we shall find a house in

which to pass the night? At our present rate of going we sha'n't be at Totes till midday tomorrow."

They hesitated, no one daring to be the first to accept. But the count settled the question. He turned toward

As usual, it was only the first step that cost. This Rubicon once crossed, they set to work with a will. The

basket was emptied. It still contained a pate de foie gras, a lark pie, a piece of smoked tongue, Crassane pears,

PontLeveque gingerbread, fancy cakes, and a cup full of pickled gherkins and onionsBoule de Suif, like

They could not eat this girl's provisions without speaking to her. So they began to talk, stiffly at first; then, as

she seemed by no means forward, with greater freedom. Mesdames de Breville and CarreLamadon, who

were accomplished women of the world, were gracious and tactful. The countess especially displayed that

amiable condescension characteristic of great ladies whom no contact with baser mortals can sully, and was

absolutely charming. But the sturdy Madame Loiseau, who had the soul of a gendarme, continued morose,

Conversation naturally turned on the war. Terrible stories were told about the Prussians, deeds of bravery

were recounted of the French; and all these people who were fleeing themselves were ready to pay homage to

the courage of their compatriots. Personal experiences soon followed, and Bottle le Suif related with genuine

emotion, and with that warmth of language not uncommon in women of her class and temperament, how it

"I thought at first that I should be able to stay," she said. "My house was well stocked with provisions, and it

seemed better to put up with feeding a few soldiers than to banish myself goodness knows where. But when I

saw these Prussians it was too much for me! My blood boiled with rage; I wept the whole day for very

shame. Oh, if only I had been a man! I looked at them from my windowthe fat swine, with their pointed

helmets!and my maid held my hands to keep me from throwing my furniture down on them. Then some of

them were quartered on me; I flew at the throat of the first one who entered. They are just as easy to strangle

as other men! And I'd have been the death of that one if I hadn't been dragged away from him by my hair. I

had to hide after that. And as soon as I could get an opportunity I left the place, and here I am."

She was warmly congratulated. She rose in the estimation of her companions, who had not been so brave; and

Cornudet listened to her with the approving and benevolent smile of an apostle, the smile a priest might wear

in listening to a devotee praising God; for longbearded democrats of his type have a monopoly of

patriotism, just as priests have a monopoly of religion. He held forth in turn, with dogmatic self assurance,

in the style of the proclamations daily pasted on the walls of the town, winding up with a specimen of stump

But Boule de Suif was indignant, for she was an ardent Bonapartist. She turned as red as a cherry, and

stammered in her wrath: "I'd just like to have seen you in his placeyou and your sort! There would have

been a nice mixup. Oh, yes! It was you who betrayed that man. It would be impossible to live in France if

Cornudet, unmoved by this tirade, still smiled a superior, contemptuous smile; and one felt that high words

were impending, when the count interposed, and, not without difficulty, succeeded in calming the

exasperated woman, saying that all sincere opinions ought to be respected. But the countess and the

manufacturer's wife, imbued with the unreasoning hatred of the upper classes for the Republic, and instinct,

moreover, with the affection felt by all women for the pomp and circumstance of despotic government, were

drawn, in spite of themselves, toward this dignified young woman, whose opinions coincided so closely with

The basket was empty. The ten people had finished its contents without difficulty amid general regret that it

did not hold more. Conversation went on a little longer, though it flagged somewhat after the passengers had

Night fell, the darkness grew deeper and deeper, and the cold made Boule de Suif shiver, in spite of her

plumpness. So Madame de Breville offered her her footwarmer, the fuel of which had been several times

renewed since the morning, and she accepted the offer at once, for her feet were icy cold. Mesdames

The driver lighted his lanterns. They cast a bright gleam on a cloud of vapor which hovered over the sweating

flanks of the horses, and on the roadside snow, which seemed to unroll as they went along in the changing

All was now indistinguishable in the coach; but suddenly a movement occurred in the corner occupied by

Boule de Suif and Cornudet; and Loiseau, peering into the gloom, fancied he saw the big, bearded democrat

move hastily to one side, as if he had received a welldirected, though noiseless, blow in the dark.

Tiny lights glimmered ahead. It was Totes. The coach had been on the road eleven hours, which, with the

three hours allotted the horses in four periods for feeding and breathing, made fourteen. It entered the town,

The coach door opened; a wellknown noise made all the travellers start; it was the clanging of a scabbard,

Although the coach had come to a standstill, no one got out; it looked as if they were afraid of being

murdered the moment they left their seats. Thereupon the driver appeared, holding in his hand one of his

lanterns, which cast a sudden glow on the interior of the coach, lighting up the double row of startled faces,

Beside the driver stood in the full light a German officer, a tall young man, fair and slender, tightly encased in

his uniform like a woman in her corset, his flat shiny cap, tilted to one side of his head, making him look like

an English hotel runner. His exaggerated mustache, long and straight and tapering to a point at either end in a

single blond hair that could hardly be seen, seemed to weigh down the corners of his mouth and give a droop

The two nuns were the first to obey, manifesting the docility of holy women accustomed to submission on

every occasion. Next appeared the count and countess, followed by the manufacturer and his wife, after

"Goodday, sir," he said to the officer as he put his foot to the ground, acting on an impulse born of prudence

rather than of politeness. The other, insolent like all in authority, merely stared without replying.

Boule de Suif and Cornudet, though near the door, were the last to alight, grave and dignified before the

enemy. The stout girl tried to control herself and appear calm; the democrat stroked his long russet beard with

a somewhat trembling hand. Both strove to maintain their dignity, knowing well that at such a time each

individual is always looked upon as more or less typical of his nation; and, also, resenting the complaisant

attitude of their companions, Boule de Suif tried to wear a bolder front than her neighbors, the virtuous

women, while he, feeling that it was incumbent on him to set a good example, kept up the attitude of

resistance which he had first assumed when he undertook to mine the high roads round Rouen.

They entered the spacious kitchen of the inn, and the German, having demanded the passports signed by the

general in command, in which were mentioned the name, description and profession of each traveller,

inspected them all minutely, comparing their appearance with the written particulars.

They breathed freely, All were still hungry; so supper was ordered. Half an hour was required for its

preparation, and while two servants were apparently engaged in getting it ready the travellers went to look at

their rooms. These all opened off a long corridor, at the end of which was a glazed door with a number on it.

They were just about to take their seats at table when the innkeeper appeared in person. He was a former

horse dealera large, asthmatic individual, always wheezing, coughing, and clearing his throat. Follenvie

They moved restlessly around her; every one wondered and speculated as to the cause of this order. The

"You are wrong, madame, for your refusal may bring trouble not only on yourself but also on all your

companions. It never pays to resist those in authority. Your compliance with this request cannot possibly be

fraught with any danger; it has probably been made because some formality or other was forgotten."

All added their voices to that of the count; Boule de Suif was begged, urged, lectured, and at last convinced;

every one was afraid of the complications which might result from headstrong action on her part. She said

She left the room. All waited for her return before commencing the meal. Each was distressed that he or she

had not been sent for rather than this impulsive, quicktempered girl, and each mentally rehearsed platitudes

But at the end of ten minutes she reappeared breathing hard, crimson with indignation.

All were anxious to know what had happened; but she declined to enlighten them, and when the count

Then they took their places round a high soup tureen, from which issued an odor of cabbage. In spite of this

coincidence, the supper was cheerful. The cider was good; the Loiseaus and the nuns drank it from motives of

economy. The others ordered wine; Cornudet demanded beer. He had his own fashion of uncorking the bottle

and making the beer foam, gazing at it as he inclined his glass and then raised it to a position between the

lamp and his eye that he might judge of its color. When he drank, his great beard, which matched the color of

his favorite beverage, seemed to tremble with affection; his eyes positively squinted in the endeavor not to

lose sight of the beloved glass, and he looked for all the world as if he were fulfilling the only function for

which he was born. He seemed to have established in his mind an affinity between the two great passions of

his lifepale ale and revolutionand assuredly he could not taste the one without dreaming of the other.

Monsieur and Madame Follenvie dined at the end of the table. The man, wheezing like a brokendown

locomotive, was too shortwinded to talk when he was eating. But the wife was not silent a moment; she told

how the Prussians had impressed her on their arrival, what they did, what they said; execrating them in the

first place because they cost her money, and in the second because she had two sons in the army. She

addressed herself principally to the countess, flattered at the opportunity of talking to a lady of quality.

Then she lowered her voice, and began to broach delicate subjects. Her husband interrupted her from time to

"Yes, madame, these Germans do nothing but eat potatoes and pork, and then pork and potatoes. And don't

imagine for a moment that they are clean! No, indeed! And if only you saw them drilling for hours, indeed

for days, together; they all collect in a field, then they do nothing but march backward and forward, and

wheel this way and that. If only they would cultivate the land, or remain at home and work on their high

roads! Really, madame, these soldiers are of no earthly use! Poor people have to feed and keep them, only in

order that they may learn how to kill! True, I am only an old woman with no education, but when I see them

wearing themselves out marching about from morning till night, I say to myself: When there are people who

make discoveries that are of use to people, why should others take so much trouble to do harm? Really, now,

isn't it a terrible thing to kill people, whether they are Prussians, or English, or Poles, or French? If we

revenge ourselves on any one who injures us we do wrong, and are punished for it; but when our sons are

shot down like partridges, that is all right, and decorations are given to the man who kills the most. No,

"War is a barbarous proceeding when we attack a peaceful neighbor, but it is a sacred duty when undertaken

"Yes; it's another matter when one acts in selfdefence; but would it not be better to kill all the kings, seeing

Monsieur CarreLamadon was reflecting profoundly. Although an ardent admirer of great generals, the

peasant woman's sturdy common sense made him reflect on the wealth which might accrue to a country by

the employment of so many idle hands now maintained at a great expense, of so much unproductive force, if

they were employed in those great industrial enterprises which it will take centuries to complete.

But Loiseau, leaving his seat, went over to the innkeeper and began chatting in a low voice. The big man

chuckled, coughed, sputtered; his enormous carcass shook with merriment at the pleasantries of the other; and

he ended by buying six casks of claret from Loiseau to be delivered in spring, after the departure of the

But Loiseau, who had been making his observations on the sly, sent his wife to bed, and amused himself by

placing first his ear, and then his eye, to the bedroom keyhole, in order to discover what he called "the

At the end of about an hour he heard a rustling, peeped out quickly, and caught sight of Boule de Suif,

looking more rotund than ever in a dressinggown of blue cashmere trimmed with white lace. She held a

candle in her hand, and directed her steps to the numbered door at the end of the corridor. But one of the side

doors was partly opened, and when, at the end of a few minutes, she returned, Cornudet, in his shirt sleeves,

followed her. They spoke in low tones, then stopped short. Boule de Suif seemed to be stoutly denying him

admission to her room. Unfortunately, Loiseau could not at first hear what they said; but toward the end of

the conversation they raised their voices, and he caught a few words. Cornudet was loudly insistent.

"No, my good man, there are times when one does not do that sort of thing; besides, in this place it would be

Apparently he did not understand, and asked the reason. Then she lost her temper and her caution, and,

"Why? Can't you understand why? When there are Prussians in the house! Perhaps even in the very next

He was silent. The patriotic shame of this wanton, who would not suffer herself to be caressed in the

neighborhood of the enemy, must have roused his dormant dignity, for after bestowing on her a simple kiss

he crept softly back to his room. Loiseau, much edified, capered round the bedroom before taking his place

Then silence reigned throughout the house. But soon there arose from some remote partit might easily

have been either cellar or attica stertorous, monotonous, regular snoring, a dull, prolonged rumbling,

varied by tremors like those of a boiler under pressure of steam. Monsieur Follenvie had gone to sleep.

As they had decided on starting at eight o'clock the next morning, every one was in the kitchen at that hour;

but the coach, its roof covered with snow, stood by itself in the middle of the yard, without either horses or

driver. They sought the latter in the stables, coachhouses and barns but in vain. So the men of the party

resolved to scour the country for him, and sallied forth. They found them selves in the square, with the church

at the farther side, and to right and left lowroofed houses where there were some Prussian soldiers. The first

soldier they saw was peeling potatoes. The second, farther on, was washing out a barber's shop. An other,

bearded to the eyes, was fondling a crying infant, and dandling it on his knees to quiet it; and the stout

peasant women, whose menfolk were for the most part at the war, were, by means of signs, telling their

obedient conquerors what work they were to do: chop wood, prepare soup, grind coffee; one of them even

The count, astonished at what he saw, questioned the beadle who was coming out of the presbytery. The old

"Oh, those men are not at all a bad sort; they are not Prussians, I am told; they come from somewhere farther

off, I don't exactly know where. And they have all left wives and children behind them; they are not fond of

war either, you may be sure! I am sure they are mourning for the men where they come from, just as we do

here; and the war causes them just as much unhappiness as it does us. As a matter of fact, things are not so

very bad here just now, because the soldiers do no harm, and work just as if they were in their own homes.

You see, sir, poor folk always help one another; it is the great ones of this world who make war."

Cornudet indignant at the friendly understanding established between conquerors and conquered, withdrew,

But they could not find the coach driver. At last he was discovered in the village cafe, fraternizing cordially

"I don't know. Go and ask him. I am forbidden to harness the horses, so I don't harness themthat's all."

They asked for Monsieur Follenvie, but the servant replied that on account of his asthma he never got up

before ten o'clock. They were strictly forbidden to rouse him earlier, except in case of fire.

They wished to see the officer, but that also was impossible, although he lodged in the inn. Monsieur

Follenvie alone was authorized to interview him on civil matters. So they waited. The women returned to

Cornudet settled down beside the tall kitchen fireplace, before a blazing fire. He had a small table and a jug

of beer placed beside him, and he smoked his pipea pipe which enjoyed among democrats a consideration

almost equal to his own, as though it had served its country in serving Cornudet. It was a fine meerschaum,

admirably colored to a black the shade of its owner's teeth, but sweetsmelling, gracefully curved, at home in

its master's hand, and completing his physiognomy. And Cornudet sat motionless, his eyes fixed now on the

dancing flames, now on the froth which crowned his beer; and after each draught he passed his long, thin

fingers with an air of satisfaction through his long, greasy hair, as he sucked the foam from his mustache.

Loiseau, under pretence of stretching his legs, went out to see if he could sell wine to the country dealers. The

count and the manufacturer began to talk politics. They forecast the future of France. One believed in the

Orleans dynasty, the other in an unknown saviora hero who should rise up in the last extremity: a Du

Guesclin, perhaps a Joan of Arc? or another Napoleon the First? Ah! if only the Prince Imperial were not so

young! Cornudet, listening to them, smiled like a man who holds the keys of destiny in his hands. His pipe

As the clock struck ten, Monsieur Follenvie appeared. He was immediately surrounded and questioned, but

could only repeat, three or four times in succession, and without variation, the words:

"The officer said to me, just like this: 'Monsieur Follenvie, you will forbid them to harness up the coach for

those travellers tomorrow. They are not to start without an order from me. You hear? That is sufficient.'"

Then they asked to see the officer. The count sent him his card, on which Monsieur CarreLamadon also

inscribed his name and titles. The Prussian sent word that the two men would be admitted to see him after his

The ladies reappeared, and they all ate a little, in spite of their anxiety. Boule de Suif appeared ill and very

Loiseau joined the other two; but when they tried to get Cornudet to accompany them, by way of adding

greater solemnity to the occasion, he declared proudly that he would never have anything to do with the

Germans, and, resuming his seat in the chimney corner, he called for another jug of beer.

The three men went upstairs, and were ushered into the best room in the inn, where the officer received them

lolling at his ease in an armchair, his feet on the mantelpiece, smoking a long porcelain pipe, and enveloped

in a gorgeous dressinggown, doubtless stolen from the deserted dwelling of some citizen destitute of taste in

dress. He neither rose, greeted them, nor even glanced in their direction. He afforded a fine example of that

"I would respectfully call your attention, monsieur, to the fact that your general in command gave us a permit

to proceed to Dieppe; and I do not think we have done anything to deserve this harshness at your hands."

The afternoon was wretched. They could not understand the caprice of this German, and the strangest ideas

came into their heads. They all congregated in the kitchen, and talked the subject to death, imagining all kinds

of unlikely things. Perhaps they were to be kept as hostages but for what reason? or to be extradited as

prisoners of war? or possibly they were to be held for ransom? They were panicstricken at this last

supposition. The richest among them were the most alarmed, seeing themselves forced to empty bags of gold

into the insolent soldier's hands in order to buy back their lives. They racked their brains for plausible lies

whereby they might conceal the fact that they were rich, and pass themselves off as poorvery poor.

Loiseau took off his watch chain, and put it in his pocket. The approach of night increased their apprehension.

The lamp was lighted, and as it wanted yet two hours to dinner Madame Loiseau proposed a game of trente et

un. It would distract their thoughts. The rest agreed, and Cornudet himself joined the party, first putting out

The count shuffled the cardsdealtand Boule de Suif had thirtyone to start with; soon the interest of the

game assuaged the anxiety of the players. But Cornudet noticed that Loiseau and his wife were in league to

They were about to sit down to dinner when Monsieur Follenvie appeared, and in his grating voice

"The Prussian officer sends to ask Mademoiselle Elisabeth Rousset if she has changed her mind yet."

Boule de Suif stood still, pale as death. Then, suddenly turning crimson with anger, she gasped out:

"Kindly tell that scoundrel, that cur, that carrion of a Prussian, that I will never consentyou

The fat innkeeper left the room. Then Boule de Suif was surrounded, questioned, entreated on all sides to

reveal the mystery of her visit to the officer. She refused at first; but her wrath soon got the better of her.

No one was shocked at the word, so great was the general indignation. Cornudet broke his jug as he banged it

down on the table. A loud outcry arose against this base soldier. All were furious. They drew together in

common resistance against the foe, as if some part of the sacrifice exacted of Boule de Suif had been

demanded of each. The count declared, with supreme disgust, that those people behaved like ancient

barbarians. The women, above all, manifested a lively and tender sympathy for Boule de Suif. The nuns, who

They dined, however, as soon as the first indignant outburst had subsided; but they spoke little and thought

The ladies went to bed early; and the men, having lighted their pipes, proposed a game of ecarte, in which

Monsieur Follenvie was invited to join, the travellers hoping to question him skillfully as to the best means of

vanquishing the officer's obduracy. But he thought of nothing but his cards, would listen to nothing, reply to

nothing, and repeated, time after time: "Attend to the game, gentlemen! attend to the game!" So absorbed was

his attention that he even forgot to expectorate. The consequence was that his chest gave forth rumbling

sounds like those of an organ. His wheezing lungs struck every note of the asthmatic scale, from deep, hollow

tones to a shrill, hoarse piping resembling that of a young cock trying to crow.

He refused to go to bed when his wife, overcome with sleep, came to fetch him. So she went off alone, for

she was an early bird, always up with the sun; while he was addicted to late hours, ever ready to spend the

night with friends. He merely said: "Put my eggnogg by the fire," and went on with the game. When the

other men saw that nothing was to be got out of him they declared it was time to retire, and each sought his

They rose fairly early the next morning, with a vague hope of being allowed to start, a greater desire than

ever to do so, and a terror at having to spend another day in this wretched little inn.

Alas! the horses remained in the stable, the driver was invisible. They spent their time, for want of something

Luncheon was a gloomy affair; and there was a general coolness toward Boule de Suif, for night, which

brings counsel, had somewhat modified the judgment of her companions. In the cold light of the morning

they almost bore a grudge against the girl for not having secretly sought out the Prussian, that the rest of the

Besides, who would have been the wiser? She might have saved appearances by telling the officer that she

had taken pity on their distress. Such a step would be of so little consequence to her.

In the afternoon, seeing that they were all bored to death, the count proposed a walk in the neighborhood of

the village. Each one wrapped himself up well, and the little party set out, leaving behind only Cornudet, who

preferred to sit over the fire, and the two nuns, who were in the habit of spending their day in the church or at

The cold, which grew more intense each day, almost froze the noses and ears of the pedestrians, their feet

began to pain them so that each step was a penance, and when they reached the open country it looked so

mournful and depressing in its limitless mantle of white that they all hastily retraced their steps, with bodies

The four women walked in front, and the three men followed a little in their rear.

Loiseau, who saw perfectly well how matters stood, asked suddenly "if that trollop were going to keep them

waiting much longer in this Godforsaken spot." The count, always courteous, replied that they could not

exact so painful a sacrifice from any woman, and that the first move must come from herself. Monsieur

CarreLamadon remarked that if the French, as they talked of doing, made a counter attack by way of

Dieppe, their encounter with the enemy must inevitably take place at Totes. This reflection made the other

"How can you think of such a thing, in this snow? And with our wives? Besides, we should be pursued at

once, overtaken in ten minutes, and brought back as prisoners at the mercy of the soldiery."

The ladies talked of dress, but a certain constraint seemed to prevail among them.

Suddenly, at the end of the street, the officer appeared. His tall, wasplike, uniformed figure was outlined

against the snow which bounded the horizon, and he walked, knees apart, with that motion peculiar to

He bowed as he passed the ladies, then glanced scornfully at the men, who had sufficient dignity not to raise

Boule de Suif flushed crimson to the ears, and the three married women felt unutterably humiliated at being

met thus by the soldier in company with the girl whom he had treated with such scant ceremony.

Then they began to talk about him, his figure, and his face. Madame CarreLamadon, who had known many

officers and judged them as a connoisseur, thought him not at all badlooking; she even regretted that he was

not a Frenchman, because in that case he would have made a very handsome hussar, with whom all the

When they were once more within doors they did not know what to do with themselves. Sharp words even

were exchanged apropos of the merest trifles. The silent dinner was quickly over, and each one went to bed

They came down next morning with tired faces and irritable tempers; the women scarcely spoke to Boule de

A church bell summoned the faithful to a baptism. Boule de Suif had a child being brought up by peasants at

Yvetot. She did not see him once a year, and never thought of him; but the idea of the child who was about to

be baptized induced a sudden wave of tenderness for her own, and she insisted on being present at the

As soon as she had gone out, the rest of the company looked at one another and then drew their chairs

together; for they realized that they must decide on some course of action. Loiseau had an inspiration: he

proposed that they should ask the officer to detain Boule de Suif only, and to let the rest depart on their way.

Monsieur Follenvie was intrusted with this commission, but he returned to them almost immediately. The

German, who knew human nature, had shown him the door. He intended to keep all the travellers until his

"We're not going to die of old age here!" she cried. "Since it's that vixen's trade to behave so with men I don't

see that she has any right to refuse one more than another. I may as well tell you she took any lovers she

could get at Roueneven coachmen! Yes, indeed, madamethe coachman at the prefecture! I know it for a

fact, for he buys his wine of us. And now that it is a question of getting us out of a difficulty she puts on

virtuous airs, the drab! For my part, I think this officer has behaved very well. Why, there were three others

of us, any one of whom he would undoubtedly have preferred. But no, he contents himself with the girl who

is common property. He respects married women. Just think. He is master here. He had only to say: 'I wish

The two other women shuddered; the eyes of pretty Madame CarreLamadon glistened, and she grew pale,

The men, who had been discussing the subject among themselves, drew near. Loiseau, in a state of furious

resentment, was for delivering up "that miserable woman," bound hand and foot, into the enemy's power. But

the count, descended from three generations of ambassadors, and endowed, moreover, with the lineaments of

The women drew together; they lowered their voices, and the discussion became general, each giving his or

her opinion. But the conversation was not in the least coarse. The ladies, in particular, were adepts at delicate

phrases and charming subtleties of expression to describe the most improper things. A stranger would have

understood none of their allusions, so guarded was the language they employed. But, seeing that the thin

veneer of modesty with which every woman of the world is furnished goes but a very little way below the

surface, they began rather to enjoy this unedifying episode, and at bottom were hugely delighted feeling

themselves in their element, furthering the schemes of lawless love with the gusto of a gourmand cook who

Their gaiety returned of itself, so amusing at last did the whole business seem to them. The count uttered

several rather risky witticisms, but so tactfully were they said that his audience could not help smiling.

Loiseau in turn made some considerably broader jokes, but no one took offence; and the thought expressed

with such brutal directness by his wife was uppermost in the minds of all: "Since it's the girl's trade, why

should she refuse this man more than another?" Dainty Madame CarreLamadon seemed to think even that in

The blockade was as carefully arranged as if they were investing a fortress. Each agreed on the role which he

or she was to play, the arguments to be used, the maneuvers to be executed. They decided on the plan of

campaign, the stratagems they were to employ, and the surprise attacks which were to reduce this human

So absorbed was the attention of all that Boule de Suif's entrance was almost unnoticed. But the count

whispered a gentle "Hush!" which made the others look up. She was there. They suddenly stopped talking,

and a vague embarrassment prevented them for a few moments from addressing her. But the countess, more

The girl, still under the stress of emotion, told what she had seen and heard, described the faces, the attitudes

of those present, and even the appearance of the church. She concluded with the words:

Until lunch time the ladies contented themselves with being pleasant to her, so as to increase her confidence

As soon as they took their seats at table the attack began. First they opened a vague conversation on the

subject of selfsacrifice. Ancient examples were quoted: Judith and Holofernes; then, irrationally enough,

Lucrece and Sextus; Cleopatra and the hostile generals whom she reduced to abject slavery by a surrender of

her charms. Next was recounted an extraordinary story, born of the imagination of these ignorant

millionaires, which told how the matrons of Rome seduced Hannibal, his lieutenants, and all his mercenaries

at Capua. They held up to admiration all those women who from time to time have arrested the victorious

progress of conquerors, made of their bodies a field of battle, a means of ruling, a weapon; who have

vanquished by their heroic caresses hideous or detested beings, and sacrificed their chastity to vengeance and

All was said with due restraint and regard for propriety, the effect heightened now and then by an outburst of

A listener would have thought at last that the one role of woman on earth was a perpetual sacrifice of her

person, a continual abandonment of herself to the caprices of a hostile soldiery.

The two nuns seemed to hear nothing, and to be lost in thought. Boule de Suif also was silent.

During the whole afternoon she was left to her reflections. But instead of calling her "madame" as they had

done hitherto, her companions addressed her simply as "mademoiselle," without exactly knowing why, but as

if desirous of making her descend a step in the esteem she had won, and forcing her to realize her degraded

Just as soup was served, Monsieur Follenvie reappeared, repeating his phrase of the evening before:

"The Prussian officer sends to ask if Mademoiselle Elisabeth Rousset has changed her mind."

But at dinner the coalition weakened. Loiseau made three unfortunate remarks. Each was cudgeling his brains

for further examples of selfsacrifice, and could find none, when the countess, possibly without ulterior

motive, and moved simply by a vague desire to do homage to religion, began to question the elder of the two

nuns on the most striking facts in the lives of the saints. Now, it fell out that many of these had committed

acts which would be crimes in our eyes, but the Church readily pardons such deeds when they are

accomplished for the glory of God or the good of mankind. This was a powerful argument, and the countess

made the most of it. Then, whether by reason of a tacit understanding, a thinly veiled act of complaisance

such as those who wear the ecclesiastical habit excel in, or whether merely as the result of sheer stupiditya

stupidity admirably adapted to further their designs the old nun rendered formidable aid to the conspirator.

They had thought her timid; she proved herself bold, talkative, bigoted. She was not troubled by the ins and

outs of casuistry; her doctrines were as iron bars; her faith knew no doubt; her conscience no scruples. She

looked on Abraham's sacrifice as natural enough, for she herself would not have hesitated to kill both father

and mother if she had received a divine order to that effect; and nothing, in her opinion, could displease our

Lord, provided the motive were praiseworthy. The countess, putting to good use the consecrated authority of

her unexpected ally, led her on to make a lengthy and edifying paraphrase of that axiom enunciated by a

"Then, sister," she asked, "you think God accepts all methods, and pardons the act when the motive is pure?"

"Undoubtedly, madame. An action reprehensible in itself often derives merit from the thought which inspires

And in this wise they talked on, fathoming the wishes of God, predicting His judgments, describing Him as

All was said with the utmost care and discretion, but every word uttered by the holy woman in her nun's garb

weakened the indignant resistance of the courtesan. Then the conversation drifted somewhat, and the nun

began to talk of the convents of her order, of her Superior, of herself, and of her fragile little neighbor, Sister

St. Nicephore. They had been sent for from Havre to nurse the hundreds of soldiers who were in hospitals,

stricken with smallpox. She described these wretched invalids and their malady. And, while they themselves

were detained on their way by the caprices of the Prussian officer, scores of Frenchmen might be dying,

whom they would otherwise have saved! For the nursing of soldiers was the old nun's specialty; she had been

in the Crimea, in Italy, in Austria; and as she told the story of her campaigns she revealed herself as one of

those holy sisters of the fife and drum who seem designed by nature to follow camps, to snatch the wounded

from amid the strife of battle, and to quell with a word, more effectually than any general, the rough and

insubordinate troopersa masterful woman, her seamed and pitted face itself an image of the devastations of

No one spoke when she had finished for fear of spoiling the excellent effect of her words.

As soon as the meal was over the travellers retired to their rooms, whence they emerged the following day at

Luncheon passed off quietly. The seed sown the preceding evening was being given time to germinate and

In the afternoon the countess proposed a walk; then the count, as had been arranged beforehand, took Boule

He began talking to her in that familiar, paternal, slightly contemptuous tone which men of his class adopt in

speaking to women like her, calling her "my dear child," and talking down to her from the height of his

exalted social position and stainless reputation. He came straight to the point.

"So you prefer to leave us here, exposed like yourself to all the violence which would follow on a repulse of

the Prussian troops, rather than consent to surrender yourself, as you have done so many times in your life?"

He tried kindness, argument, sentiment. He still bore himself as count, even while adopting, when desirable,

an attitude of gallantry, and making prettynay, even tenderspeeches. He exalted the service she would

render them, spoke of their gratitude; then, suddenly, using the familiar "thou":

"And you know, my dear, he could boast then of having made a conquest of a pretty girl such as he won't

As soon as they returned she went to her room, and was seen no more. The general anxiety was at its height.

The dinner hour struck; they waited for her in vain. At last Monsieur Follenvie entered, announcing that

Mademoiselle Rousset was not well, and that they might sit down to table. They all pricked up their ears. The

Out of regard for propriety he said nothing to his companions, but merely nodded slightly toward them. A

great sigh of relief went up from all breasts; every face was lighted up with joy.

"By Gad!" shouted Loiseau, "I'll stand champagne all round if there's any to be found in this place." And

great was Madame Loiseau's dismay when the proprietor came back with four bottles in his hands. They had

all suddenly become talkative and merry; a lively joy filled all hearts. The count seemed to perceive for the

first time that Madame CarreLamadon was charming; the manufacturer paid compliments to the countess.

The conversation was animated, sprightly, witty, and, although many of the jokes were in the worst possible

taste, all the company were amused by them, and none offendedindignation being dependent, like other

emotions, on surroundings. And the mental atmosphere had gradually become filled with gross imaginings

At dessert even the women indulged in discreetly worded allusions. Their glances were full of meaning; they

had drunk much. The count, who even in his moments of relaxation preserved a dignified demeanor, hit on a

muchappreciated comparison of the condition of things with the termination of a winter spent in the icy

solitude of the North Pole and the joy of shipwrecked mariners who at last perceive a southward track

Loiseau, fairly in his element, rose to his feet, holding aloft a glass of champagne.

All stood up, and greeted the toast with acclamation. Even the two good sisters yielded to the solicitations of

the ladies, and consented to moisten their lips with the foaming wine, which they had never before tasted.

"It is a pity," said Loiseau, "that we have no piano; we might have had a quadrille."

Cornudet had not spoken a word or made a movement; he seemed plunged in serious thought, and now and

then tugged furiously at his great beard, as if trying to add still further to its length. At last, toward midnight,

when they were about to separate, Loiseau, whose gait was far from steady, suddenly slapped him on the

Cornudet threw back his head, cast one swift and scornful glance over the assemblage, and answered:

A chill fell on all. Loiseau himself looked foolish and disconcerted for a moment, but soon recovered his

Pressed for an explanation, he related the "mysteries of the corridor," whereat his listeners were hugely

amused. The ladies could hardly contain their delight. The count and Monsieur CarreLamadon laughed till

The count was choking with laughter. The manufacturer held his sides. Loiseau continued:

"So you may well imagine he doesn't think this evening's business at all amusing."

And all three began to laugh again, choking, coughing, almost ill with merriment.

Then they separated. But Madame Loiseau, who was nothing if not spiteful, remarked to her husband as they

were on the way to bed that "that stuckup little minx of a CarreLamadon had laughed on the wrong side of

"You know," she said, "when women run after uniforms it's all the same to them whether the men who wear

The next morning the snow showed dazzling white tinder a clear winter sun. The coach, ready at last, waited

before the door; while a flock of white pigeons, with pink eyes spotted in the centres with black, puffed out

their white feathers and walked sedately between the legs of the six horses, picking at the steaming manure.

The driver, wrapped in his sheepskin coat, was smoking a pipe on the box, and all the passengers, radiant

with delight at their approaching departure, were putting up provisions for the remainder of the journey.

She seemed rather shamefaced and embarrassed, and advanced with timid step toward her companions, who

with one accord turned aside as if they had not seen her. The count, with much dignity, took his wife by the

The girl stood still, stupefied with astonishment; then, plucking up courage, accosted the manufacturer's wife

with a humble "Goodmorning, madame," to which the other replied merely with a slight arid insolent nod,

accompanied by a look of outraged virtue. Every one suddenly appeared extremely busy, and kept as far from

Boule de Suif as if tier skirts had been infected with some deadly disease. Then they hurried to the coach,

followed by the despised courtesan, who, arriving last of all, silently took the place she had occupied during

The rest seemed neither to see nor to know herall save Madame Loiseau, who, glancing contemptuously in

At first no one spoke. Boule de Suif dared not even raise her eyes. She felt at once indignant with her

neighbors, and humiliated at having yielded to the Prussian into whose arms they had so hypocritically cast

But the countess, turning toward Madame CarreLamadon, soon broke the painful silence:

"Delightful! Exceptionally talented, and an artist to the finger tips. She sings marvellously and draws to

The manufacturer was chatting with the count, and amid the clatter of the windowpanes a word of their

conversation was now and then distinguishable: "Sharesmaturitypremiumtimelimit."

Loiseau, who had abstracted from the inn the timeworn pack of cards, thick with the grease of five years'

The good sisters, taking up simultaneously the long rosaries hanging from their waists, made the sign of the

cross, and began to mutter in unison interminable prayers, their lips moving ever more and more swiftly, as if

they sought which should outdistance the other in the race of orisons; from time to time they kissed a medal,

and crossed themselves anew, then resumed their rapid and unintelligible murmur.

Ah the end of three hours Loiseau gathered up the cards, and remarked that he was hungry.

His wife thereupon produced a parcel tied with string, from which she extracted a piece of cold veal. This she

"We may as well do the same," said the countess. The rest agreed, and she unpacked the provisions which

had been prepared for herself, the count, and the CarreLamadons. In one of those oval dishes, the lids of

which are decorated with an earthenware hare, by way of showing that a game pie lies within, was a

succulent delicacy consisting of the brown flesh of the game larded with streaks of bacon and flavored with

other meats chopped fine. A solid wedge of Gruyere cheese, which had been wrapped in a newspaper, bore

The two good sisters brought to light a hunk of sausage smelling strongly of garlic; and Cornudet, plunging

both hands at once into the capacious pockets of his loose overcoat, produced from one four hardboiled eggs

and from the other a crust of bread. He removed the shells, threw them into the straw beneath his feet, and

began to devour the eggs, letting morsels of the bright yellow yolk fall in his mighty beard, where they

Boule de Suif, in the haste and confusion of her departure, had not thought of anything, and, stifling with

rage, she watched all these people placidly eating. At first, illsuppressed wrath shook her whole person, and

she opened her lips to shriek the truth at them, to overwhelm them with a volley of insults; but she could not

No one looked at her, no one thought of her. She felt herself swallowed up in the scorn of these virtuous

creatures, who had first sacrificed, then rejected her as a thing useless and unclean. Then she remembered her

big basket full of the good things they had so greedily devoured: the two chickens coated in jelly, the pies, the

pears, the four bottles of claret; and her fury broke forth like a cord that is overstrained, and she was on the

verge of tears. She made terrible efforts at self control, drew herself up, swallowed the sobs which choked

her; but the tears rose nevertheless, shone at the brink of her eyelids, and soon two heavy drops coursed

slowly down her cheeks. Others followed more quickly, like water filtering from a rock, and fell, one after

another, on her rounded bosom. She sat upright, with a fixed expression, her face pale and rigid, hoping

But the countess noticed that she was weeping, and with a sign drew her husband's attention to the fact. He

shrugged his shoulders, as if to say: "Well, what of it? It's not my fault." Madame Loiseau chuckled

The two nuns had betaken themselves once more to their prayers, first wrapping the remainder of their

Then Cornudet, who was digesting his eggs, stretched his long legs under the opposite seat, threw himself

back, folded his arms, smiled like a man who had just thought of a good joke, and began to whistle the

The faces of his neighbors clouded; the popular air evidently did not find favor with them; they grew nervous

and irritable, and seemed ready to howl as a dog does at the sound of a barrelorgan. Cornudet saw the

discomfort he was creating, and whistled the louder; sometimes he even hummed the words:

The coach progressed more swiftly, the snow being harder now; and all the way to Dieppe, during the long,

dreary hours of the journey, first in the gathering dusk, then in the thick darkness, raising his voice above the

rumbling of the vehicle, Cornudet continued with fierce obstinacy his vengeful and monotonous whistling,

forcing his weary and exasperated hearers to follow the song from end to end, to recall every word of every

And Boule de Suif still wept, and sometimes a sob she could not restrain was heard in the darkness between

Besieged Paris was in the throes of famine. Even the sparrows on the roofs and the rats in the sewers were

As Monsieur Morissot, watchmaker by profession and idler for the nonce, was strolling along the boulevard

one bright January morning, his hands in his trousers pockets and stomach empty, he suddenly came face to

Before the war broke out Morissot had been in the habit, every Sunday morning, of setting forth with a

bamboo rod in his hand and a tin box on his back. He took the Argenteuil train, got out at Colombes, and

walked thence to the Ile Marante. The moment he arrived at this place of his dreams he began fishing, and

Every Sunday he met in this very spot Monsieur Sauvage, a stout, jolly, little man, a draper in the Rue Notre

Dame de Lorette, and also an ardent fisherman. They often spent half the day side by side, rod in hand and

feet dangling over the water, and a warm friendship had sprung up between the two.

Some days they did not speak; at other times they chatted; but they understood each other perfectly without

In the spring, about ten o'clock in the morning, when the early sun caused a light mist to float on the water

and gently warmed the backs of the two enthusiastic anglers, Morissot would occasionally remark to his

In the autumn, toward the close of day, when the setting sun shed a bloodred glow over the western sky, and

the reflection of the crimson clouds tinged the whole river with red, brought a glow to the faces of the two

friends, and gilded the trees, whose leaves were already turning at the first chill touch of winter, Monsieur

As soon as they recognized each other they shook hands cordially, affected at the thought of meeting under

"And to think of the fishing!" said Morissot. "What good times we used to have!"

They entered a small cafe and took an absinthe together, then resumed their walk along the pavement.

They were quite unsteady when they came out, owing to the effect of the alcohol on their empty stomachs. It

The fresh air completed the effect of the alcohol on Monsieur Sauvage. He stopped suddenly, saying:

"Why, to the old place. The French outposts are close to Colombes. I know Colonel Dumoulin, and we shall

An hour later they were walking side by side on thehighroad. Presently they reached the villa occupied by

the colonel. He smiled at their request, and granted it. They resumed their walk, furnished with a password.

Soon they left the outposts behind them, made their way through deserted Colombes, and found themselves

on the outskirts of the small vineyards which border the Seine. It was about eleven o'clock.

Before them lay the village of Argenteuil, apparently lifeless. The heights of Orgement and Sannois

dominated the landscape. The great plain, extending as far as Nanterre, was empty, quite emptya waste of

And the sight of the deserted country filled the two friends with vague misgivings.

The Prussians! They had never seen them as yet, but they had felt their presence in the neighborhood of Paris

for months pastruining France, pillaging, massacring, starving them. And a kind of superstitious terror

mingled with the hatred they already felt toward this unknown, victorious nation.

"We'd offer them some fish," replied Monsieur Sauvage, with that Parisian lightheartedness which nothing

Still, they hesitated to show themselves in the open country, overawed by the utter silence which reigned

And they made their way through one of the vineyards, bent double, creeping along beneath the cover

A strip of bare ground remained to be crossed before they could gain the river bank. They ran across this,

and, as soon as they were at the water's edge, concealed themselves among the dry reeds.

Morissot placed his ear to the ground, to ascertain, if possible, whether footsteps were coming their way. He

Before them the deserted Ile Marante hid them from the farther shore. The little restaurant was closed, and

Monsieur Sauvage caught the first gudgeon, Monsieur Morissot the second, and almost every moment one or

other raised his line with a little, glittering, silvery fish wriggling at the end; they were having excellent sport.

They slipped their catch gently into a closemeshed bag lying at their feet; they were filled with joythe joy

The sun poured its rays on their backs; they no longer heard anything or thought of anything. They ignored

But suddenly a rumbling sound, which seemed to come from the bowels of the earth, shook the ground

Morissot turned his head and could see toward the left, beyond the banks of the river, the formidable outline

The next instant a second puff followed the first, and in a few moments a fresh detonation made the earth

Others followed, and minute by minute the mountain gave forth its deadly breath and a white puff of smoke,

which rose slowly into the peaceful heaven and floated above the summit of the cliff.

Morissot, who was anxiously watching his float bobbing up and down, was suddenly seized with the angry

impatience of a peaceful man toward the madmen who were firing thus, and remarked indignantly:

And the two began placidly discussing political problems with the sound common sense of peaceful,

matteroffact citizensagreeing on one point: that they would never be free. And MontValerien

thundered ceaselessly, demolishing the houses of the French with its cannon balls, grinding lives of men to

powder, destroying many a dream, many a cherished hope, many a prospective happiness; ruthlessly causing

endless woe and suffering in the hearts of wives, of daughters, of mothers, in other lands.

But they suddenly trembled with alarm at the sound of footsteps behind them, and, turning round, they

perceived close at hand four tall, bearded men, dressed after the manner of livery servants and wearing flat

In the space of a few seconds they were seized, bound, thrown into a boat, and taken across to the Ile

And behind the house they had thought deserted were about a score of German soldiers.

A shaggylooking giant, who was bestriding a chair and smoking a long clay pipe, addressed them in

Then a soldier deposited at the officer's feet the bag full of fish, which he had taken care to bring away. The

"Not bad, I see. But we have something else to talk about. Listen to me, and don't be alarmed:

"You must know that, in my eyes, you are two spies sent to reconnoitre me and my movements. Naturally, I

capture you and I shoot you. You pretended to be fishing, the better to disguise your real errand. You have

"But as you came here through the outposts you must have a password for your return. Tell me that password

The two friends, pale as death, stood silently side by side, a slight fluttering of the hands alone betraying their

"No one will ever know," continued the officer. "You will return peacefully to your homes, and the secret

"Just think that in five minutes you will be at the bottom of that water. In five minutes! You have relations, I

The two fishermen remained silent. The German turned and gave an order in his own language. Then he

moved his chair a little way off, that he might not be so near the prisoners, and a dozen men stepped forward,

Then he rose quickly, went over to the two Frenchmen, took Morissot by the arm, led him a short distance

Then the Prussian took Monsieur Sauvage aside in like manner, and made him the same proposal.

Then by chance Morissot's eyes fell on the bag full of gudgeon lying in the grass a few feet from him.

A ray of sunlight made the still quivering fish glisten like silver. And Morissot's heart sank. Despite his

They shook hands, trembling from head to foot with a dread beyond their mastery.

Monsieur Sauvage fell forward instantaneously. Morissot, being the taller, swayed slightly and fell across his

friend with face turned skyward and blood oozing from a rent in the breast of his coat.

His men dispersed, and presently returned with ropes and large stones, which they attached to the feet of the

Two soldiers took Morissot by the head and the feet; two others did the same with Sauvage. The bodies,

swung lustily by strong hands, were cast to a distance, and, describing a curve, fell feet foremost into the

The water splashed high, foamed, eddied, then grew calm; tiny waves lapped the shore.

Suddenly he caught sight of the net full of gudgeons, lying forgotten in the grass. He picked it up, examined

A whiteaproned soldier responded to the summons, and the Prussian, tossing him the catch of the two

"Have these fish fried for me at once, while they are still alive; they'll make a tasty dish."

It was after Bourbaki's defeat in the east of France. The army, broken up, decimated, and worn out, had been

obliged to retreat into Switzerland after that terrible campaign, and it was only its short duration that saved a

hundred and fifty thousand men from certain death. Hunger, the terrible cold, forced marches in the snow

without boots, over bad mountain roads, had caused us 'francstireurs', especially, the greatest suffering, for

we were without tents, and almost without food, always in the van when we were marching toward Belfort,

and in the rear when returning by the Jura. Of our little band that had numbered twelve hundred men on the

first of January, there remained only twentytwo pale, thin, ragged wretches, when we at length succeeded in

There we were safe, and could rest. Everybody knows what sympathy was shown to the unfortunate French

army, and how well it was cared for. We all gained fresh life, and those who had been rich and happy before

the war declared that they had never experienced a greater feeling of comfort than they did then. Just think.

Meanwhile, the war continued in the east of France, which had been excluded from the armistice. Besancon

still kept the enemy in check, and the latter had their revenge by ravaging Franche Comte. Sometimes we

heard that they had approached quite close to the frontier, and we saw Swiss troops, who were to form a line

That pained us in the end, and, as we regained health and strength, the longing to fight took possession of us.

It was disgraceful and irritating to know that within two or three leagues of us the Germans were victorious

and insolent, to feel that we were protected by our captivity, and to feel that on that account we were

One day our captain took five or six of us aside, and spoke to us about it, long and furiously. He was a fine

fellow, that captain. He had been a sublieutenant in the Zouaves, was tall and thin and as hard as steel, and

during the whole campaign he had cut out their work for the Germans. He fretted in inactivity, and could not

"Confound it!" he said to us, "does it not pain you to know that there is a number of uhlans within two hours

of us? Does it not almost drive you mad to know that those beggarly wretches are walking about as masters in

our mountains, when six determined men might kill a whole spitful any day? I cannot endure it any longer,

"How? It is not very difficult! Just as if we had not done a thing or two within the last six months, and got out

of woods that were guarded by very different men from the Swiss. The day that you wish to cross over into

"You are forgetting the treaty," another soldier said; "we shall run the risk of doing the Swiss an injury, if

"Come," said the captain, "those are all bad reasons. I mean to go and kill some Prussians; that is all I care

about. If you do not wish to do as I do, well and good; only say so at once. I can quite well go by myself; I do

Naturally we all protested, and, as it was quite impossible to make the captain alter his mind, we felt obliged

to promise to go with him. We liked him too much to leave him in the lurch, as he never failed us in any

The captain had a plan of his own, that he had been cogitating over for some time. A man in that part of the

country whom he knew was going to lend him a cart and six suits of peasants' clothes. We could hide under

some straw at the bottom of the wagon, which would be loaded with Gruyere cheese, which he was supposed

to be going to sell in France. The captain told the sentinels that he was taking two friends with him to protect

his goods, in case any one should try to rob him, which did not seem an extraordinary precaution. A Swiss

officer seemed to look at the wagon in a knowing manner, but that was in order to impress his soldiers. In a

"Get up," the captain said to the horses, as he cracked his whip, while our three men quietly smoked their

pipes. I was half suffocated in my box, which only admitted the air through those holes in front, and at the

"Get up," the captain said again, and the wagon loaded with Gruyere cheese entered France.

The Prussian lines were very badly guarded, as the enemy trusted to the watchfulness of the Swiss. The

sergeant spoke North German, while our captain spoke the bad German of the Four Cantons, and so they

could not understand each other. The sergeant, however, pretended to be very intelligent; and, in order to

make us believe that he understood us, they allowed us to continue our journey; and, after travelling for seven

hours, being continually stopped in the same manner, we arrived at a small village of the Jura in ruins, at

What were we going to do? Our only arms were the captain's whip, our uniforms our peasants' blouses, and

our food the Gruyere cheese. Our sole wealth consisted in our ammunition, packages of cartridges which we

had stowed away inside some of the large cheeses. We had about a thousand of them, just two hundred each,

but we needed rifles, and they must be chassepots. Luckily, however, the captain was a bold man of an

While three of us remained hidden in a cellar in the abandoned village, he continued his journey as far as

Besancon with the empty wagon and one man. The town was invested, but one can always make one's way

into a town among the hills by crossing the tableland till within about ten miles of the walls, and then

following paths and ravines on foot. They left their wagon at Omans, among the Germans, and escaped out of

it at night on foot; so as to gain the heights which border the River Doubs; the next day they entered

Besancon, where there were plenty of chassepots. There were nearly forty thousand of them left in the

arsenal, and General Roland, a brave marine, laughed at the captain's daring project, but let him have six

rifles and wished him "good luck." There he had also found his wife, who had been through all the war with

us before the campaign in the East, and who had been only prevented by illness from continuing with

Bourbaki's army. She had recovered, however, in spite of the cold, which was growing more and more

intense, and in spite of the numberless privations that awaited her, she persisted in accompanying her

husband. He was obliged to give way to her, and they all three, the captain, his wife, and our comrade, started

Going was nothing in comparison to returning. They were obliged to travel by night, so as to avoid meeting

anybody, as the possession of six rifles would have made them liable to suspicion. But, in spite of everything,

a week after leaving us, the captain and his two men were back with us again. The campaign was about to

The first night of his arrival he began it himself, and, under pretext of examining the surrounding country, he

I must tell you that the little village which served as our fortress was a small collection of poor, badly built

houses, which had been deserted long before. It lay on a steep slope, which terminated in a wooded plain. The

country people sell the wood; they send it down the slopes, which are called coulees, locally, and which lead

down to the plain, and there they stack it into piles, which they sell thrice a year to the wood merchants. The

spot where this market is held in indicated by two small houses by the side of the highroad, which serve for

He had been gone about half an hour, and we were on the lookout at the top of the ravine, when we heard a

shot. The captain had ordered us not to stir, and only to come to him when we heard him blow his trumpet. It

was made of a goat's horn, and could be heard a league off ; but it gave no sound, and, in spite of our cruel

It is nothing to go down these coulees; one just lets one's self slide down; but it is more difficult to get up

again; one has to scramble up by catching hold of the hanging branches of the trees, and sometimes on all

fours, by sheer strength. A whole mortal hour passed, and he did not come; nothing moved in the brushwood.

The captain's wife began to grow impatient. What could he be doing? Why did he not call us? Did the shot

that we had heard proceed from an enemy, and had he killed or wounded our leader, her husband? They did

not know what to think, but I myself fancied either that he was dead or that his enterprise was successful; and

Suddenly we heard the sound of his trumpet, and we were much surprised that instead of coming from below,

as we had expected, it came from the village behind us. What did that mean? It was a mystery to us, but the

same idea struck us all, that he had been killed, and that the Prussians were blowing the trumpet to draw us

into an ambush. We therefore returned to the cottage, keeping a careful lookout with our fingers on the

trigger, and hiding under the branches; but his wife, in spite of our entreaties, rushed on, leaping like a

tigress. She thought that she had to avenge her husband, and had fixed the bayonet to her rifle, and we lost

sight of her at the moment that we heard the trumpet again; and, a few moments later, we heard her calling

We hastened on, and saw the captain smoking his pipe at the entrance of the village, but strangely enough, he

"Ah! ah !" he said to us, "you see that there is something to be done here. Here I am on horseback already; I

knocked over an uhlan yonder, and took his horse; I suppose they were guarding the wood, but it was by

drinking and swilling in clover. One of them, the sentry at the door, had not time to see me before I gave him

a sugarplum in his stomach, and then, before the others could come out, I jumped on the horse and was off

like a shot. Eight or ten of them followed me, I think; but I took the crossroads through the woods. I have got

scratched and torn a bit, but here I am, and now, my good fellows, attention, and take care! Those brigands

will not rest until they have caught us, and we must receive them with rifle bullets. Come along; let us take

We set out. One of us took up his position a good way from the village on the crossroads; I was posted at the

entrance of the main street, where the road from the level country enters the village, while the two others, the

captain and his wife, were in the middle of the village, near the church, whose towerserved for an

We had not been in our places long before we heard a shot, followed by another, and then two, then three.

The first was evidently a chassepot one recognized it by the sharp report, which sounds like the crack of a

The captain was furious. He had given orders to the outpost to let the enemy pass and merely to follow them

at a distance if they marched toward the village, and to join me when they had gone well between the houses.

Then they were to appear suddenly, take the patrol between two fires, and not allow a single man to escape;

for, posted as we were, the six of us could have hemmed in ten Prussians, if needful.

"That confounded Piedelot has roused them," the captain said, "and they will not venture to come on

blindfolded any longer. And then I am quite sure that he has managed to get a shot into himself somewhere or

other, for we hear nothing of him. It serves him right; why did he not obey orders?" And then, after a

moment, he grumbled in his beard: "After all I am sorry for the poor fellow; he is so brave, and shoots so

The captain was right in his conjectures. We waited until evening, without seeing the uhlans; they had

retreated after the first attack; but unfortunately we had not seen Piedelot, either. Was he dead or a prisoner?

When night came, the captain proposed that we should go out and look for him, and so the three of us started.

At the crossroads we found a broken rifle and some blood, while the ground was trampled down; but we did

not find either a wounded man or a dead body, although we searched every thicket, and at midnight we

"It is very strange," the captain growled. "They must have killed him and thrown him into the bushes

somewhere; they cannot possibly have taken him prisoner, as he would have called out for help. I cannot

understand it at all." Just as he said that, bright flames shot up in the direction of the inn on the high road,

"Scoundrels! cowards!" he shouted. "I will bet that they have set fire to the two houses on the marketplace, in

order to have their revenge, and then they will scuttle off without saying a word. They will be satisfied with

having killed a man and set fire to two houses. All right. It shall not pass over like that. We must go for them;

"It would be a great stroke of luck if we could set Piedelot free at the same time," some one said.

The five of us set off, full of rage and hope. In twenty minutes we had got to the bottom of the coulee, and

had not yet seen any one when we were within a hundred yards of the inn. The fire was behind the house, and

all we saw of it was the reflection above the roof. However, we were walking rather slowly, as we were afraid

of an ambush, when suddenly we heard Piedelot's wellknown voice. It had a strange sound, however; for it

was at the same timedull and vibrating, stifled and clear, as if he were calling out as loud as he could with

a bit of rag stuffed into his mouth. He seemed to be hoarse and gasping, and the unlucky fellow kept

We sent all thoughts of prudence to the devil, and in two bounds we were at the back of the inn, where a

Piedelot was being burned alive. He was writhing in the midst of a heap of fagots, tied to a stake, and the

flames were licking him with their burning tongues. When he saw us, his tongue seemed to stick in his throat;

he drooped his head, and seemed as if he were going to die. It was only the affair of a moment to upset the

Poor fellow! In what a terrible state we found him. The evening before he had had his left arm broken, and it

seemed as if he had been badly beaten since then, for his whole body was covered with wounds, bruises and

blood. The flames had also begun their work on him, and he had two large burns, one on his loins and the

No one knows the terrible rage we felt at this sight! We would have rushed headlong at a hundred thousand

Prussians; our thirst for vengeance was intense. But the cowards had run away, leaving their crime behind

them. Where could we find them now? Meanwhile, however, the captain's wife was looking after Piedelot,

and dressing his wounds as best she could, while the captain himself shook hands with him excitedly, and in

"Goodmorning, captain; goodmorning, all of you," be said. "Ah! the scoundrels, the wretches! Why,

"Yes; there was a whole band of them, and that is why I disobeyed orders, captain, and fired on them, for

they would have killed you all, and I preferred to stop them. That frightened them, and they did not venture to

go farther than the crossroads. They were such cowards. Four of them shot at me at twenty yards, as if I had

been a target, and then they slashed me with their swords. My arm was broken, so that I could only use my

"I took good care not to do that, for you would all have come; and you would neither have been able to

"You know that we should not have allowed you to have been taken, poor old fellow."

"I preferred to die by myself, don't you see! I did not want to bring you here, for it would have been a mere

"No, I am suffocating. I know that I cannot live much longer. The brutes! They tied me to a tree, and beat me

till I was half dead, and then they shook my broken arm; but I did not make a sound. I would rather have

bitten my tongue out than have called out before them. Now I can tell what I am suffering and shed tears; it

"Yes, yes; I want you to do that. There is, in particular, a woman among them who passes as the wife of the

lancer whom the captain killed yesterday. She is dressed like a lancer, and she tortured me the most

yesterday, and suggested burning me; and it was she who set fire to the wood. Oh! the wretch, the brute! Ah!

how I am suffering! My loins, my arms!" and he fell back gasping and exhausted, writhing in his terrible

agony, while the captain's wife wiped the perspiration from his forehead, and we all shed tears of grief and

rage, as if we had been children. I will not describe the end to you; he died half an hour later, previously

telling us in what direction the enemy had gone. When he was dead we gave ourselves time to bury him, and

"We will throw ourselves on the whole Prussian army, if it be necessary," the captain said; "but we will

avenge Piedelot. We must catch those scoundrels. Let us swear to die, rather than not to find them; and if I

am killed first, these are my orders: All the prisoners that you take are to be shot immediately, and as for the

"She must not be shot, because she is a woman," the captain's wife said. "If you survive, I am sure that you

would not shoot a woman. Torturing her will be quite sufficient; but if you are killed in this pursuit, I want

one thing, and that is to fight with her; I will kill her with my own hands, and the others can do what they like

"We will outrage her! We will burn her! We will tear her to pieces! Piedelot shall be avenged!

The next morning we unexpectedly fell on an outpost of uhlans four leagues away. Surprised by our sudden

attack, they were not able to mount their horses, nor even to defend themselves; and in a few moments we

had five prisoner, corresponding to our own number. The captain questioned them, and from their answers we

felt certain that they were the same whom we had encountered the previous day. Then a very curious

operation took place. One of us was told off to ascertain their sex, and nothing can describe our joy when we

discovered what we were seeking among them, the female executioner who had tortured our friend.

The four others were shot on the spot, with their backs to us and close to the muzzles of our rifles; and then

we turned our attention to the woman. What were we going to do with her? I must acknowledge that we were

all of us in favor of shooting her. Hatred, and the wish to avenge Piedelot, had extinguished all pity in us, and

we had forgotten that we were going to shoot a woman, but a woman reminded us of it, the captain's wife; at

The next day we heard that the armistice had been extended to the eastern part of France, and we had to put

an end to our little campaign. Two of us, who belonged to the neighborhood, returned home, so there were

only four of us, all told: the captain, his wife, and two men. We belonged to Besancon, which was still being

"Let us stop here," said the captain. "I cannot believe that the war is going to end like this. The devil take it!

Surely there are men still left in France; and now is the time to prove what they are made of. The spring is

coming on, and the armistice is only a trap laid for the Prussians. During the time that it lasts, a new army

will be raised, and some fine morning we shall fall upon them again. We shall be ready, and we have a

We fixed our quarters there. It was terribly cold, and we did not go out much, and somebody had always to

She was sullen, and never said anything, or else spoke of her husband, whom the captain had killed. She

looked at him continually with fierce eyes, and we felt that she was tortured by a wild longing for revenge.

That seemed to us to be the most suitable punishment for the terrible torments that she had made Piedelot

Alas! we who knew how to avenge our comrade ought to have thought that this woman would know how to

avenge her husband, and have been on our guard. It is true that one of us kept watch every night, and that at

first we tied her by a long rope to the great oak bench that was fastened to the wall. But, by and by, as she had

never tried to escape, in spite of her hatred for us, we relaxed our extreme prudence, and allowed her to sleep

somewhere else except on the bench, and without being tied. What had we to fear? She was at the end of the

room, a man was on guard at the door, and between her and the sentinel the captain's wife and two other men

used to lie. She was alone and unarmed against four, so there could be no danger.

One night when we were asleep, and the captain was on guard, the lancer's wife was lying more quietly in her

corner than usual, and she had even smiled for the first time since she had been our prisoner during the

evening. Suddenly, however, in the middle of the night, we were all awakened by a terrible cry. We got up,

groping about, and at once stumbled over a furious couple who were rolling about and fighting on the ground.

It was the captain and the lancer's wife. We threw ourselves on them, and separated them in a moment. She

was shouting and laughing, and he seemed to have the death rattle. All this took place in the dark. Two of us

held her, and when a light was struck a terrible sight met our eyes. The captain was lying on the floor in a

pool of blood, with an enormous gash in his throat, and his sword bayonet, that had been taken from his rifle,

was sticking in the red, gaping wound. A few minutes afterward he died, without having been able to utter a

His wife did not shed a tear. Her eyes were dry, her throat was contracted, and she looked at the lancer's wife

"This woman belongs to me," she said to us suddenly. "You swore to me not a week ago to let me kill her as I

chose, if she killed my husband; and you must keep your oath. You must fasten her securely to the fireplace,

upright against the back of it, and then you can go where you like, but far from here. I will take my revenge

on her myself. Leave the captain's body, and we three, he, she and I, will remain here."

We obeyed, and went away. She promised to write to us to Geneva, as we were returning thither.

Two days later I received the following letter, dated the day after we had left, that had been written at an inn

"MY FRIEND: I am writing to you, according to my promise. For the moment I am at the inn, where I have

"I must tell you, my friend, that this poor woman has left two children in Germany. She had followed her

husband, whom she adored, as she did not wish him to be exposed to the risks of war by himself, and as her

children were with their grandparents. I have learned all this since yesterday, and it has turned my ideas of

vengeance into more humane feelings. At the very moment when I felt pleasure in insulting this woman, and

in threatening her with the most fearful torments, in recalling Piedelot, who had been burned alive, and in

"'What have you got to reproach me with, Frenchwoman? You think that you will do right in avenging your

"'Very well, then; in killing him, I did what you are going to do in burning me. I avenged my husband, for

"And in fact she did not seem to have lost courage. Her face was calm, and she looked at me without

trembling, while I brought wood and dried leaves together, and feverishly threw on to them the powder from

"I hesitated in my thoughts of persecution for a moment. But the captain was there, pale and covered with

blood, and he seemed to be looking at me with his large, glassy eyes, and I applied myself to my work again

after kissing his pale lips. Suddenly, however, on raising my head, I saw that she was crying, and I felt rather

"'No, but when I saw you kiss your husband, I thought of mine, of all whom I love.'

"She continued to sob, but stopping suddenly, she said to me in broken words and in a low voice:

"A shiver rare over me, for I guessed that this poor woman had some. She asked me to look in a pocketbook

which was in her bosom, and in it I saw two photographs of quite young children, a boy and a girl, with those

kind, gentle, chubby faces that German children have. In it there were also two locks of light hair and a letter

"I could not restrain my tears, my dear friend, and so I untied her, and without venturing to look at the face of

my poor dead husband, who was not to be avenged, I went with her as far as the inn. She is free; I have just

left her, and she kissed me with tears. I am going upstairs to my husband; come as soon as possible, my dear

I set off with all speed, and when I arrived there was a Prussian patrol at the cottage; and when I asked what it

all meant, I was told that there was a captain of francstireurs and his wife inside, both dead. I gave their

names; they saw that I knew them, and I begged to be allowed to arrange their funeral.

"Somebody has already undertaken it," was the reply. "Go in if you wish to, as you know them. You can

I went in. The captain and his wife were lying side by side on a bed, and were covered by a sheet. I raised it,

and saw that the woman had inflicted a similar wound in her throat to that from which her husband had died.

At the side of the bed there sat, watching and weeping, the woman who had been mentioned to me as their

There was not a sound in the forest save the indistinct, fluttering sound of the snow falling on the trees. It had

been snowing since noon; a little fine snow, that covered the branches as with frozen moss, and spread a

silvery covering over the dead leaves in the ditches, and covered the roads with a white, yielding carpet, and

Before the door of the forester's dwelling a young woman, her arms bare to the elbow, was chopping wood

with a hatchet on a block of stone. She was tall, slender, stronga true girl of the woods, daughter and wife of

"We are alone tonight, Berthine; you must come in. It is getting dark, and there may be Prussians or wolves

"I've just finished, mother," replied the young woman, splitting as she spoke an immense log of wood with

strong, deft blows, which expanded her chest each time she raised her arms to strike. "Here I am; there's no

Then she gathered up her sticks and logs, piled them in the chimney corner, went back to close the great

oaken shutters, and finally came in, drawing behind her the heavy bolts of the door.

Her mother, a wrinkled old woman whom age had rendered timid, was spinning by the fireside.

"I am uneasy," she said, "when your father's not here. Two women are not much good."

"Oh," said the younger woman, "I'd cheerfully kill a wolf or a Prussian if it came to that."

Her husband had been called upon to serve in the army at the beginning of the Prussian invasion, and the two

women had remained alone with the old father, a keeper named Nicolas Pichon, sometimes called Longlegs,

This town was Rethel, an ancient stronghold built on a rock. Its inhabitants were patriotic, and had made up

their minds to resist the invaders, to fortify their native place, and, if need be, to stand a siege as in the good

old days. Twice already, under Henri IV and under Louis XIV, the people of Rethel had distinguished

themselves by their heroic defence of their town. They would do as much now, by gad! or else be slaughtered

They had, therefore, bought cannon and rifles, organized a militia, and formed themselves into battalions and

companies, and now spent their time drilling all day long in the square. Allbakers, grocers, butchers,

lawyers, carpenters, booksellers, chemiststook their turn at military training at regular hours of the day,

under the auspices of Monsieur Lavigne, a former noncommissioned officer in the dragoons, now a draper,

having married the daughter and inherited the business of Monsieur Ravaudan, Senior.

He had taken the rank of commanding officer in Rethel, and, seeing that all the young men had gone off to

the war, he had enlisted all the others who were in favor of resisting an attack. Fat men now invariably

walked the streets at a rapid pace, to reduce their weight and improve their breathing, and weak men carried

And they awaited the Prussians. But the Prussians did not appear. They were not far off, however, for twice

already their scouts had penetrated as far as the forest dwelling of Nicolas Pichon, called Longlegs.

The old keeper, who could run like a fox, had come and warned the town. The guns had been got ready, but

Longlegs' dwelling served as an outpost in the Aveline forest. Twice a week the old man went to the town

On this particular day he had gone to announce the fact that a small detachment of German infantry had

halted at his house the day before, about two o'clock in the afternoon, and had left again almost immediately.

When the old man set out like this he took with him his dogstwo powerful animals with the jaws of

lionsas a safeguard against the wolves, which were beginning to get fierce, and he left directions with the

two women to barricade themselves securely within their dwelling as soon as night fell.

The younger feared nothing, but her mother was always apprehensive, and repeated continually:

"Oh, not before eleven, for certain. When he dines with the commandant he's always late."

And Berthine was hanging her pot over the fire to warm the soup when she suddenly stood still, listening

"There are people walking in the wood," she said; "seven or eight men at least."

She had scarcely finished speaking when a succession of violent blows shook the door.

Berthine took the heavy revolver from its hook, slipped it into the pocket of her skirt, and, putting her ear to

"My men and I have lost our way in the forest since morning. Open the door or I'll break it down!"

The forester's daughter had no choice; she shot back the heavy bolts, threw open the ponderous shutter, and

perceived in the wan light of the snow six men, six Prussian soldiers, the same who had visited the house the

"I lost my bearings," replied the officer; "lost them completely. Then I recognized this house. I've eaten

"Never mind," replied the soldier, who seemed a decent sort of fellow. "We won't do you any harm, but you

Then entered, covered with snow, their helmets sprinkled with a creamy looking froth, which gave them the

The young woman pointed to the wooden benches on either side of the large table.

"Sit down," she said, "and I'll make you some soup. You certainly look tired out, and no mistake."

She put more water in the pot, added butter and potatoes; then, taking down a piece of bacon from a hook in

The six men watched her movements with hungry eyes. They had placed their rifles and helmets in a corner

The old mother had resumed her spinning, casting from time to time a furtive and uneasy glance at the

soldiers. Nothing was to be heard save the humming of the wheel, the crackling of the fire, and the singing of

But suddenly a strange noisea sound like the harsh breathing of some wild animal sniffing under the

The German officer sprang toward the rifles. Berthine stopped him with a gesture, and said, smilingly:

The incredulous man wanted to see with his own eyes, and as soon as the door was opened he perceived two

The men devoured their meal voraciously, with mouths stretched to their ears that they might swallow the

more. Their round eyes opened at the same time as their jaws, and as the soup coursed down their throats it

The two women watched in silence the movements of the big red beards. The potatoes seemed to be engulfed

But, as they were thirsty, the forester's daughter went down to the cellar to draw them some cider. She was

gone some time. The cellar was small, with an arched ceiling, and had served, so people said, both as prison

and as hidingplace during the Revolution. It was approached by means of a narrow, winding staircase,

When Berthine returned she was smiling mysteriously to herself. She gave the Germans her jug of cider.

The soldiers had finished eating, and were all six falling asleep as they sat round the table. Every now and

then a forehead fell with a thud on the board, and the man, awakened suddenly, sat upright again.

"Go and lie down, all of you, round the fire. There's lots of room for six. I'm going up to my room with my

And the two women went upstairs. They could be heard locking the door and walking about overhead for a

The Prussians lay down on the floor, with their feet to the fire and their heads resting on their rolledup

They had been sleeping for some time when a shot rang out so loudly that it seemed directed against the very

wall's of the house. The soldiers rose hastily. Twothen threemore shots were fired.

The door opened hastily, and Berthine appeared, barefooted and only half dressed, with her candle in her

"There are the French," she stammered; "at least two hundred of them. If they find you here they'll burn the

house down. For God's sake, hurry down into the cellar, and don't make a 'sound, whatever you do. If you

The young woman hurriedly raised the small, square trapdoor, and the six men disappeared one after

But as soon as the spike of the out of the last helmet was out of sight Berthine lowered the heavy oaken

lidthick as a wall, hard as steel, furnished with the hinges and bolts of a prison cellshot the two heavy

bolts, and began to laugh long and silently, possessed with a mad longing to dance above the heads of her

They made no sound, inclosed in the cellar as in a strongbox, obtaining air only from a small, ironbarred

Berthine lighted her fire again, hung the pot over it, and prepared more soup, saying to herself:

Then she sat and waited. The heavy pendulum of the clock swung to and fro with a monotonous tick.

Every now and then the young woman cast an impatient glance at the diala glance which seemed to say:

But soon there was a sound of voices beneath her feet. Low, confused words reached her through the

masonry which roofed the cellar. The Prussians were beginning to suspect the trick she had played them, and

presently the officer came up the narrow staircase, and knocked at the trapdoor.

"What do you want?" she said, rising from her seat and approaching the cellarway.

He struck with the buttend of his gun at the closed oaken door. But it would have resisted a batteringram.

The forester's daughter heard him go down the stairs again. Then the soldiers came one after another and tried

their strength against the trapdoor. But, finding their efforts useless, they all returned to the cellar and began

The young woman heard them for a short time, then she rose, opened the door of the house; looked out into

A sound of distant barking reached her ear. She whistled just as a huntsman would, and almost immediately

two great dogs emerged from the darkness, and bounded to her side. She held them tight, and shouted at the

"Don't go in front of the venthole!" shouted his daughter. "There are Prussians in the cellar!"

Suddenly the man's tall figure could be seen to the left, standing between two tree trunks.

"They are the same as were here yesterday. They lost their way, and I've given them free lodgings in the

She told the story of how she had alarmed them by firing the revolver, and had shut them up in the cellar.

"Go and fetch Monsieur Lavigne with his men," she replied. "He'll take them prisoners. He'll be delighted."

The old keeper sat down at the table, and began to eat his soup, having first filled two plates and put them on

Longlegs set off a quarter of an hour later, and Berthine, with her head between her hands, waited.

The prisoners began to make themselves heard again. They shouted, called, and beat furiously with the butts

Then they fired shots through the venthole, hoping, no doubt, to be heard by any German detachment which

The forester's daughter did not stir, but the noise irritated and unnerved her. Blind anger rose in her heart

against the prisoners; she would have been only too glad to kill them all, and so silence them.

Then, as her impatience grew, she watched the clock, counting the minutes as they passed.

Her father had been gone an hour and a half. He must have reached the town by now. She conjured up a

vision of him telling the story to Monsieur Lavigne, who grew pale with emotion, and rang for his servant to

bring him his arms and uniform. She fancied she could bear the drum as it sounded the call to arms.

Frightened faces appeared at the windows. The citizensoldiers emerged from their houses half dressed, out

Then the troop of soldiers, with Longlegs at its head, set forth through the night and the snow toward the

A nervous impatience possessed her. The minutes seemed interminable. Would the time never come?

At last the clock marked the moment she had fixed on for their arrival. And she opened the door to listen for

their approach. She perceived a shadowy form creeping toward the house. She was afraid, and cried out. But

"They have sent me," he said, "to see if there is any change in the state of affairs."

Then he gave a shrill whistle. Soon a dark mass loomed up under the trees; the advance guard, composed of

And the first arrivals pointed out the muchdreaded venthole to those who came after.

At last the main body of the troop arrived, in all two hundred men, each carrying two hundred cartridges.

Monsieur Lavigne, in a state of intense excitement, posted them in such a fashion as to surround the whole

house, save for a large space left vacant in front of the little hole on a level with the ground, through which

Still no response. For the space of twenty minutes Monsieur Lavigne called on this silent officer to surrender

with bag and baggage, promising him that all lives should be spared, and that he and his men should be

accorded military honors. But he could extort no sign, either of consent or of defiance. The situation became

The citizensoldiers kicked their heels in the snow, slapping their arms across their chest, as cabdrivers do, to

warm themselves, and gazing at the venthole with a growing and childish desire to pass in front of it.

At last one of them took the riska man named Potdevin, who was fleet. of limb. He ran like a deer across the

And another soldier crossed the open space before the dangerous vent hole. Then this hazardous sport

developed into a game. Every minute a man ran swiftly from one side to the other, like a boy playing

baseball, kicking up the snow behind him as he ran. They had lighted big fires of dead wood at which to

warm themselves, and the, figures of the runners were illumined by the flames as they passed rapidly from

Maloison was a fat baker, whose corpulent person served to point many a joke among his comrades.

He hesitated. They chaffed him. Then, nerving himself to the effort, he set off at a little, waddling gait, which

He had accomplished about twothirds of his journey when a long, crimson flame shot forth from the

venthole. A loud report followed, and the fat baker fell. face forward to the ground, uttering a frightful

scream. No one went to his assistance. Then he was seen to drag himself, groaning, on allfours through the

After the first surprise and fright were over they laughed at him again. But Monsieur Lavigne appeared on the

threshold of the forester's dwelling. He had formed his plan of attack. He called in a loud voice "I want

Next, with infinite precaution, he had a small round hole drilled in the trapdoor; then, making a conduit with

the troughs from the pump to this opening, he said, with an air of extreme satisfaction

A shout of frenzied admiration, mingled with uproarious laughter, burst from his followers. And the

commandant organized relays of men, who were to relieve one another every five minutes. Then he

And, the pump handle having been set in motion, a stream of water trickled throughout the length of the

piping, and flowed from step to step down the cellar stairs with a gentle, gurgling sound.

An hour passed, then two, then three. The commandant, in a state of feverish agitation, walked up and down

the kitchen, putting his ear to the ground every now and then to discover, if possible, what the enemy were

The enemy was astir now. They could be heard moving the casks about, talking, splashing through the water.

Then, about eight o'clock in the morning, a voice came from the venthole "I want to speak to the French

A rifle immediately protruded from the hole, and fell into the snow, then another and another, until all were

Then, having filled the kitchen with armed and waiting soldiers, he slowly raised the oaken trapdoor.

Four heads appeared, soaking wet, four fair heads with long, sandy hair, and one after another the six

They were seized and bound. Then, as the French feared a surprise, they set off at once in two convoys, one

in charge of the prisoners, and the other conducting Maloison on a mattress borne on poles.

Monsieur Lavigne was decorated as a reward for having captured a Prussian advance guard, and the fat baker

Every Sunday, as soon as they were free, the little soldiers would go for a walk. They turned to the right on

leaving the barracks, crossed Courbevoie with rapid strides, as though on a forced march; then, as the houses

grew scarcer, they slowed down and followed the dusty road which leads to Bezons.

They were small and thin, lost in their illfitting capes, too large and too long, whose sleeves covered their

hands; their ample red trousers fell in folds around their ankles. Under the high, stiff shako one could just

barely perceive two thin, hollowcheeked Breton faces, with their calm, naive blue eyes. They never spoke

during their journey, going straight before them, the same idea in each one's mind taking the place of

conversation. For at the entrance of the little forest of Champioux they had found a spot which reminded

At the crossing of the Colombes and Chatou roads, when they arrived under the trees, they would take off

They always stopped for a while on the bridge at Bezons, and looked at the Seine. They stood there several

minutes, bending over the railing, watching the white sails, which perhaps reminded them of their home, and

As soon as they had crossed the Seine, they would purchase provisions at the delicatessen, the baker's, and

the wine merchant's. A piece of bologna, four cents' worth of bread, and a quart of wine, made up the

luncheon which they carried away, wrapped up in their handkerchiefs. But as soon as they were out of the

Before them was a plain with a few clumps of trees, which led to the woods, a little forest which seemed to

remind them of that other forest at Kermarivan. The wheat and oat fields bordered on the narrow path, and

And they went on, side by side, their minds full of dim memories of home. They saw the fields, the hedges,

Each time they stopped near a large stone on the edge of the private estate, because it reminded them of the

As soon as they reached the first clump of trees, Luc Le Ganidec would cut off a small stick, and, whittling it

From time to time Luc would mention a name, or allude to some boyish prank which would give them food

for plenty of thought. And the home country, so dear and so distant, would little by little gain possession of

their minds, sending them back through space, to the wellknown forms and noises, to the familiar scenery,

with the fragrance of its green fields and sea air. They no longer noticed the smells of the city. And in their

dreams they saw their friends leaving, perhaps forever, for the dangerous fishing grounds.

They were walking slowly, Luc Le Ganidec and Jean Kerderen, contented and sad, haunted by a sweet

sorrow, the slow and penetrating sorrow of a captive animal which remembers the days of its freedom.

And when Luc had finished whittling his stick, they came to a little nook, where every Sunday they took their

meal. They found the two bricks, which they had hidden in a hedge, and they made a little fire of dry

When their last crumb of bread had been eaten and the last drop of wine had been drunk, they stretched

themselves out on the grass side by side, without speaking, their halfclosed eyes looking away in the

distance, their hands clasped as in prayer, their redtrousered legs mingling with the bright colors of the wild

Towards noon they glanced, from time to time, towards the village of Bezons, for the dairy maid would soon

be coming. Every Sunday she would pass in front of them on the way to milk her cow, the only cow in the

Soon they would see the girl, coming through the fields, and it pleased them to watch the sparkling sunbeams

reflected from her shining pail. They never spoke of her. They were just glad to see her, without

She was a tall, strapping girl, freckled and tanned by the open aira girl typical of the Parisian suburbs.

Once, on noticing that they were always sitting in the same place, she said to them:

That was all. But the following Sunday, on seeing them, she smiled with the kindly smile of a woman who

She went on. But when she came back with her pail full of milk, she stopped before them and said:

Both were moved. Then not without difficulty, she poured some milk into the bottle in which they had

brought their wine. Luc started to drink, carefully watching lest he should take more than his share. Then he

passed the bottle to Jean. She stood before them, her hands on her hips, her pail at her feet, enjoying the

pleasure that she was giving them. Then she went on, saying: "Well, byebye until next Sunday!"

For a long time they watched her tall form as it receded in the distance, blending with the background, and

They were sorely perplexed by the problem of choosing something to bring to the dairy maid. Luc was in

favor of bringing her some chitterlings; but Jean, who had a sweet tooth, thought that candy would be the best

thing. He won, and so they went to a grocery to buy two sous' worth, of red and white candies.

Jean was the first one to notice her. "There she is," he said; and Luc answered: "Yes, there she is."

Then she started to talk of simple things which might interest them; of the weather, of the crops, of her

They didn't dare to offer their candies, which were slowly melting in Jean's pocket. Finally Luc, growing

Then Jean, blushing to the tips of his ears, reached in his pocket, and drawing out the little paper bag, handed

She began to eat the little sweet dainties. The two soldiers sat in front of her, moved and delighted.

At last she went to do her milking, and when she came back she again gave them some milk.

They thought of her all through the week and often spoke of her: The following Sunday she sat beside them

The three of them sat there, side by side, their eyes looking far away in the distance, their hands clasped over

their knees, and they told each other little incidents and little details of the villages where they were born,

while the cow, waiting to be milked, stretched her heavy head toward the girl and mooed.

Soon the girl consented to eat with them and to take a sip of wine. Often she brought them plums pocket for

plums were now ripe. Her presence enlivened the little Breton soldiers, who chattered away like two birds.

One Tuesday something unusual happened to Luc Le Ganidec; he asked for leave and did not return until ten

Jean, worried and racked his brain to account for his friend's having obtained leave.

The following Friday, Luc borrowed ten sons from one of his friends, and once more asked and obtained

When he started out with Jean on Sunday he seemed queer, disturbed, changed. Kerderen did not understand;

Soon the girl appeared. They watched her approach as they always did. When she was near, Luc arose and

went towards her. She placed her pail on the ground and kissed him. She kissed him passionately, throwing

her arms around his neck, without paying attention to Jean, without even noticing that he was there.

Poor Jean was dazed, so dazed that he could not understand. His mind was upset and his heart broken,

Jean was not looking at them. He understood now why his friend had gone out twice during the week. He felt

Jean followed them with his eyes. He saw them disappear side by side, the red trousers of his friend making a

scarlet spot against the white road. It was Luc who sank the stake to which the cow was tethered. The girl

stooped down to milk the cow, while he absentmindedly stroked the animal's glossy neck. Then they left the

Jean could no longer see anything but the wall of leaves through which they had passed. He was unmanned

so that he did not have strength to stand. He stayed there, motionless, bewildered and grievingsimple,

passionate grief. He wanted to weep, to run away, to hide somewhere, never to see anyone again.

Then he saw them coming back again. They were walking slowly, hand in hand, as village lovers do. Luc was

After kissing him again, the girl went on, nodding carelessly to Jean. She did not offer him any milk that day.

The two little soldiers sat side by side, motionless as always, silent and quiet, their calm faces in no way

betraying the trouble in their hearts. The sun shone down on them. From time to time they could hear the

Luc was whittling a stick. Jean carried the empty bottle. He left it at the wine merchant's in Bezons. Then

they stopped on the bridge, as they did every Sunday, and watched the water flowing by.

Jean leaned over the railing, farther and farther, as though he had seen something in the stream which

He had hardly said the last word when Jean's head carried away the rest of his body, and the little blue and

Luc, paralyzed with horror, tried vainly to shout for help. In the distance he saw something move; then his

Farther down he again noticed a hand, just one hand, which appeared and again went out of sight. That was

Luc ran back to the barracks, crazed, and with eyes and voice full of tears, he related the accident: "He

leanedhehe was leaningso far overthat his head carried him awayandhefellhe fell"

For a month the hot sun has been parching the fields. Nature is expanding beneath its rays; the fields are

green as far as the eye can see. The big azure dome of the sky is unclouded. The farms of Normandy,

scattered over the plains and surrounded by a belt of tall beeches, look, from a distance, like little woods. On

closer view, after lowering the wormeaten wooden bars, you imagine yourself in an immense garden, for all

the ancient appletrees, as gnarled as the peasants themselves, are in bloom. The sweet scent of their

blossoms mingles with the heavy smell of the earth and the penetrating odor of the stables. It is noon. The

family is eating under the shade of a pear tree planted in front of the door; father, mother, the four children,

and the helptwo women and three men are all there. All are silent. The soup is eaten and then a dish of

From time to time one of the women gets up and takes a pitcher down to the cellar to fetch more cider.

The man, a big fellow about forty years old, is watching a grape vine, still bare, which is winding and

At last he says: "Father's vine is budding early this year. Perhaps we may get something from it."

It was during the war of 1870. The Prussians were occupying the whole country. General Faidherbe, with the

The Prussians had established their headquarters at this farm. The old farmer to whom it belonged, Father

For a month the German vanguard had been in this village. The French remained motionless, ten leagues

Of all the isolated scouts, of all those who were sent to the outposts, in groups of not more than three, not one

They were picked up the next morning in a field or in a ditch. Even their horses were found along the roads

The country was terrorized. Farmers were shot on suspicion, women were imprisoned; children were

frightened in order to try and obtain information. Nothing could be ascertained.

But, one morning, Father Milon was found stretched out in the barn, with a sword gash across his face.

Two Uhlans were found dead about a mile and a half from the farm. One of them was still holding his bloody

sword in his hand. He had fought, tried to defend himself. A courtmartial was immediately held in the open

He was sixtyeight years old, small, thin, bent, with two big hands resembling the claws of a crab. His

colorless hair was sparse and thin, like the down of a young duck, allowing patches of his scalp to be seen.

The brown and wrinkled skin of his neck showed big veins which disappeared behind his jaws and came out

again at the temples. He had the reputation of being miserly and hard to deal with.

They stood him up between four soldiers, in front of the kitchen table, which had been dragged outside. Five

"Father Milon, since we have been here we have only had praise for you. You have always been obliging and

even attentive to us. But today a terrible accusation is hanging over you, and you must clear the matter up.

"Your silence accuses you, Father Milon. But I want you to answer me! Do you understand? Do you know

The colonel, surprised, was silent for a minute, looking straight at the prisoner. Father Milon stood impassive,

with the stupid look of the peasant, his eyes lowered as though he were talking to the priest. Just one thing

betrayed an uneasy mind; he was continually swallowing his saliva, with a visible effort, as though his throat

The man's family, his son Jean, his daughterinlaw and his two grandchildren were standing a few feet

"Do you also know who killed all the scouts who have been found dead, for a month, throughout the country,

This time the man seemed moved; the necessity for talking any length of time annoyed him visibly. He

"I warn you that you will have to tell me everything. You might as well make up your mind right away. How

The man cast a troubled look toward his family, standing close behind him. He hesitated a minute longer, and

"I was coming home one night at about ten o'clock, the night after you got here. You and your soldiers had

taken more than fifty ecus worth of forage from me, as well as a cow and two sheep. I said to myself: 'As

much as they take from you; just so much will you make them pay back.' And then I had other things on my

mind which I will tell you. Just then I noticed one of your soldiers who was smoking his pipe by the ditch

behind the barn. I went and got my scythe and crept up slowly behind him, so that he couldn't hear me. And I

cut his head off with one single blow, just as I would a blade of grass, before he could say 'Booh!' If you

should look at the bottom of the pond, you will find him tied up in a potatosack, with a stone fastened to it.

"I got an idea. I took all his clothes, from his boots to his cap, and hid them away in the little wood behind the

The old man stopped. The officers remained speechless, looking at each other. The questioning began again,

Once this murder committed, the man had lived with this one thought: "Kill the Prussians!" He hated them

with the blind, fierce hate of the greedy yet patriotic peasant. He had his idea, as he said. He waited several

He was allowed to go and come as he pleased, because he had shown himself so humble, submissive and

obliging to the invaders. Each night he saw the outposts leave. One night he followed them, having heard the

name of the village to which the men were going, and having learned the few words of German which he

He left through the back yard, slipped into the woods, found the dead man's clothes and put them on. Then he

began to crawl through the fields, following along the hedges in order to keep out of sight, listening to the

As soon as he thought the time ripe, he approached the road and hid behind a bush. He waited for a while.

Finally, toward midnight, he heard the sound of a galloping horse. The man put his ear to the ground in order

An Uhlan came galloping along, carrying des patches. As he went, he was all eyes and ears. When he was

only a few feet away, Father Milon dragged himself across the road, moaning: "Hilfe! Hilfe!" ( Help! Help!)

The horseman stopped, and recognizing a German, he thought he was wounded and dismounted, coming

nearer without any suspicion, and just as he was leaning over the unknown man, he received, in the pit of his

stomach, a heavy thrust from the long curved blade of the sabre. He dropped without suffering pain,

quivering only in the final throes. Then the farmer, radiant with the silent joy of an old peasant, got up again,

and, for his own pleasure, cut the dead man's throat. He then dragged the body to the ditch and threw it in.

The horse quietly awaited its master. Father Milon mounted him and started galloping across the plains.

About an hour later he noticed two more Uhlans who were returning home, side by side. He rode straight for

The Prussians, recognizing the uniform, let him approach without distrust. The old man passed between them

like a cannonball, felling them both, one with his sabre and the other with a revolver.

Then he killed the horses, German horses! After that he quickly returned to the woods and hid one of the

horses. He left his uniform there and again put on his old clothes; then going back into bed, he slept until

For four days he did not go out, waiting for the inquest to be terminated; but on the fifth day he went out

again and killed two more soldiers by the same stratagem. From that time on he did not stop. Each night he

wandered about in search of adventure, killing Prussians, sometimes here and sometimes there, galloping

through deserted fields, in the moonlight, a lost Uhlan, a hunter of men. Then, his task accomplished, leaving

behind him the bodies lying along the roads, the old farmer would return and hide his horse and uniform.

He went, toward noon, to carry oats and water quietly to his mount, and he fed it well as he required from it a

But one of those whom he had attacked the night before, in defending himself slashed the old peasant across

However, he had killed them both. He had come back and hidden the horse and put on his ordinary clothes

again; but as he reached home he began to feel faint, and had dragged himself as far as the stable, being

When he had finished his tale, he suddenly lifted up his head and looked proudly at the Prussian officers.

"Nothing more; I have finished my task; I killed sixteen, not one more or less."

"Yes, I served my time. And then, you had killed my father, who was a soldier of the first Emperor. And last

month you killed my youngest son, Francois, near Evreux. I owed you one for that; I paid. We are quits."

"Eight for my father, eight for the boywe are quits. I did not seek any quarrel with you. I don't know you. I

don't even know where you come from. And here you are, ordering me about in my home as though it were

And, straightening up his bent back, the old man folded his arms in the attitude of a modest hero.

The Prussians talked in a low tone for a long time. One of them, a captain, who had also lost his son the

previous month, was defending the poor wretch. Then the colonel arose and, approaching Father Milon, said

But the man was not listening, and, his eyes fixed on the hated officer, while the wind played with the downy

hair on his head, he distorted his slashed face, giving it a truly terrible expression, and, swelling out his chest,

The colonel, furious, raised his hand, and for the second time the man spat in his face.

In less than a minute the old man, still impassive, was pushed up against the wall and shot, looking smilingly

the while toward Jean, his eldest son, his daughterinlaw and his two grandchildren, who witnessed this

Paris had just heard of the disaster at Sedan. A republic had been declared. All France was wavering on the

brink of this madness which lasted until after the Commune. From one end of the country to the other

Capmakers became colonels, fulfilling the duties of generals; revolvers and swords were displayed around

big, peaceful stomachs wrapped in flaming red belts; little tradesmen became warriors commanding

battalions of brawling volunteers, and swearing like pirates in order to give themselves some prestige.

The sole fact of handling firearms crazed these people, who up to that time had only handled scales, and

made them, without any reason, dangerous to all. Innocent people were shot to prove that they knew how to

kill; in forests which had never seen a Prussian, stray dogs, grazing cows and browsing horses were killed.

Each one thought himself called upon to play a great part in military affairs. The cafes of the smallest

The town of Canneville was still in ignorance of the maddening news from the army and the capital;

nevertheless, great excitement had prevailed for the last month, the opposing parties finding themselves face

The mayor, Viscount de Varnetot, a thin, little old man, a conservative, who had recently, from ambition,

gone over to the Empire, had seen a determined opponent arise in Dr. Massarel, a big, fullblooded man,

leader of the Republican party of the neighborhood, a high official in the local masonic lodge, president of

the Agricultural Society and of the firemen's banquet and the organizer of the rural militia which was to save

In two weeks, he had managed to gather together sixtythree volunteers, fathers of families, prudent farmers

and town merchants, and every morning he would drill them in the square in front of the townhall.

When, perchance, the mayor would come to the municipal building, Commander Massarel, girt with pistols,

would pass proudly in front of his troop, his sword in his hand, and make all of them cry: "Long live the

Fatherland!" And it had been noticed that this cry excited the little viscount, who probably saw in it a

On the morning of the fifth of September, the doctor, in full uniform, his revolver on the table, was giving a

consultation to an old couple, a farmer who had been suffering from varicose veins for the last seven years

and had waited until his wife had them also, before he would consult the doctor, when the postman brought in

M. Massarel opened it, grew pale, suddenly rose, and lifting his hands to heaven in a gesture of exaltation,

And as the peasant resumed: "It started with the ants, which began to run up and down my legs" Dr.

"Shut up! I haven't got time to bother with your nonsense. The Republic has been proclaimed, the emperor

The servant, affrighted, hastened in; he was trying to talk so rapidly, that he could only stammer:

"My boots, my sword, my cartridgebox and the Spanish dagger which is on my nighttable! Hasten!"

As the persistent peasant, taking advantage of a moment's silence, continued, "I seemed to get big lumps

But professional sentiment soon calmed him, and he pushed the bewildered couple out, saying:

As he equipped himself from head to foot, he gave a series of important orders to his servant:

"Run over to Lieutenant Picart and to Second Lieutenant Pommel, and tell them that I am expecting them

When Celeste had gone out, he sat down and thought over the situation and the difficulties which he would

The three men arrived together in their working clothes. The commandant, who expected to see them in

"Don't you people know anything? The emperor has been taken prisoner, the Republic has been proclaimed.

He reflected for a few moments before his bewildered subordinates, then he continued:

"We must act and not hesitate; minutes count as hours in times like these. All depends on the promptness of

our decision. You, Picart, go to the cure and order him to ring the alarmbell, in order to get together the

people, to whom I am going to announce the news. You, Torchebeuf beat the tattoo throughout the whole

neighborhood as far as the hamlets of Gerisaie and Salmare, in order to assemble the militia in the public

square. You, Pommel, get your uniform on quickly, just the coat and cap. We are going to the townhall to

"Now carry out those orders quickly. I will go over to your house with you, Pommel, since we shall act

Five minutes later, the commandant and his subordinates, armed to the teeth, appeared on the square, just as

the little Viscount de Varnetot, his legs encased in gaiters as for a hunting party, his gun on his shoulder, was

coming down the other street at doublequick time, followed by his three greencoated guards, their swords

While the doctor stopped, bewildered, the four men entered the townhall and closed the door behind them.

"They have outstripped us," muttered the physician, "we must now wait for reenforcements. There is nothing

"The priest refuses to obey," he said. "He has even locked himself in the church with the sexton and beadle."

On the other side of the square, opposite the white, tightly closed town hall, stood the church, silent and

But just as the perplexed inhabitants were sticking their heads out of the windows or coming out on their

doorsteps, the drum suddenly began to be heard, and Torchebeuf appeared, furiously beating the tattoo. He

crossed the square running, and disappeared along the road leading to the fields.

The commandant drew his sword, and advanced alone to half way between the two buildings behind which

the enemy had intrenched itself, and, waving his sword over his head, he roared with all his might:

The butcher, the baker and the druggist, much disturbed, were anxiously pulling down their shades and

However, the militia were arriving by degrees, each man in a different uniform, but all wearing a black cap

with gold braid, the cap being the principal part of the outfit. They were armed with old rusty guns, the old

guns which had hung for thirty years on the kitchen wall; and they looked a good deal like an army of tramps.

When he had about thirty men about him, the commandant, in a few words, outlined the situation to them.

"Lieutenant Picart, you will advance under the windows of this townhall and summon Monsieur de

"You're smart, you are. I don't care to get killed, thank you. Those people in there shoot straight, don't you

All the notables, gathered in a group near by, began to laugh. One of them cried:

And, leaving his sword and his revolver in the hands of a soldier, he advanced slowly, his eye fastened on the

When he was within a few feet of the building, the doors at both ends, leading into the two schools, opened

and a flood of children ran out,. boys from one side, girls from the ether, and began to play around the doctor,

in the big empty square, screeching and screaming, and making so much noise that he could not make himself

Most of the youngsters finally dispersed, and the commandant called in a loud voice:

"Monsieur, you know that great events have just taken place which have changed the entire aspect of the

government. The one which you represented no longer exists. The one which I represent is taking control.

Under these painful, but decisive circumstances, I come, in the name of the new Republic, to ask you to turn

"Doctor, I am the mayor of Canneville, duly appointed, and I shall remain mayor of Canneville until I have

been dismissed by a decree from my superiors. As mayor, I am in my place in the townhall, and here I stay.

The commandant returned to his troop. But before giving any information, eyeing Lieutenant Picart from

"You're a great one, you are! You're a fine specimen of manhood! You're a disgrace to the army! I degrade

Then the doctor hesitated. What could he do? Attack? But would his men obey orders? And then, did he have

An idea struck him. He ran to the telegraph office, opposite the town hall, and sent off three telegrams:

He explained the situation, pointed out the danger which the town would run if it should remain in the hands

of the royalist mayor; offered his faithful services, asked for orders and signed, putting all his titles after his

Then he returned to his battalion, and, drawing ten francs from his pocket, he cried: "Here, my friends, go eat

and drink; only leave me a detachment of ten men to guard against anybody's leaving the townhall."

But exLieutenant Picart, who had been talking with the watchmaker, heard him; he began to laugh, and

exclaimed: "By Jove, if they come out, it'll give you a chance to get in. Otherwise I can see you standing out

In the afternoon, he disposed his men about the town as though they were in immediate danger of an ambush.

Several times he passed in front of the townhall and of the church without noticing anything suspicious; the

Everybody was talking about the affair. If the emperor were a prisoner, there must have been some kind of

treason. They did not know exactly which of the republics had returned to power.

Toward nine o'clock, the doctor, alone, noiselessly approached the entrance of the public building, persuaded

that the enemy must have gone to bed; and, as he was preparing to batter down the door with a pickaxe, the

Armed militia occupied the square. All the citizens had gathered around this troop awaiting developments.

Then the doctor, seeing that his reputation was at stake, resolved to put an end to the matter in one way or

another; and he was about to take some measures, undoubtedly energetic ones, when the door of the telegraph

station opened and the little servant of the postmistress appeared, holding in her hands two papers.

First she went to the commandant and gave him one of the despatches; then she crossed the empty square,

confused at seeing the eyes of everyone on her, and lowering her head and running along with little quick

steps, she went and knocked softly at the door of the barricaded house, as though ignorant of the fact that

The door opened wide enough to let a man's hand reach out and receive the message; and the young girl

returned blushing, ready to cry at being thus stared at by the whole countryside.

He wastriumphant; his heart was throbbing with joy and his hands were trembling; but Picart, his former

"That's all right; but supposing the others don't come out, what good is the telegram going to do you?"

M. Massarel grew pale. He had not thought of that; if the others did not come out, he would now have to take

He looked anxiously at the townhall, hoping to see the door open and his adversary give in.

The door remained closed. What could he do? The crowd was growing and closing around the militia. They

One thought especially tortured the doctor. If he attacked, he would have to march at the head of his men; and

as, with him dead, all strife would cease, it was at him and him only that M. de Varnetot and his three guards

would aim. And they were good shots, very good shots, as Picart had just said. But an idea struck him and,

He would make a flag of truce, a white flag, at the sight of which the royalist heart of the mayor would

Pommel returned with the cloth and a broomstick. With some twine they completed the flag, and M.

Massarel, grasping it in both hands and holding it in front of him, again advanced in the direction of the

town hall. When he was opposite the door, he once more called: "Monsieur de Varnetot!" The door

suddenly opened and M. de Varnetot and his three guards appeared on the threshold.

Instinctively the doctor stepped back; then he bowed courteously to his enemy, and, choking with emotion,

he announced: "I have come, monsieur, to make you acquainted with the orders which I have received."

The nobleman, without returning the bow, answered: "I resign, monsieur, but understand that it is neither

through fear of, nor obedience to, the odious government which has usurped the power." And, emphasizing

every word, he declared: "I do not wish to appear, for a single day, to serve the Republic. That's all."

Massarel, stunned, answered nothing; and M. de Varnetot, walking quickly, disappeared around the corner of

The doctor, puffed up with pride, returned to the crowd. As soon as he was near enough to make himself

The motionless villagers were looking at him without any signs of triumph shining in their eyes.

He looked at them, indignant at their indifference, thinking of what he could say or do in order to make an

impression to electrify this calm peasantry, to fulfill his mission as a leader.

He had an inspiration and, turning to Pommel, he ordered: "Lieutenant, go get me the bust of the exemperor

which is in the meeting room of the municipal council, and bring it here with a chair."

The man presently reappeared, carrying on his right shoulder the plaster Bonaparte, and holding in his left

M. Massarel went towards him, took the chair, placed the white bust on it, then stepping back a few steps, he

"Tyrant, tyrant, you have fallen down in the mud. The dying fatherland was in its death throes under your

oppression. Vengeful Destiny has struck you. Defeat and shame have pursued you; you fall conquered, a

prisoner of the Prussians; and from the ruins of your crumbling empire, the young and glorious Republic

He waited for applause. Not a sound greeted his listening ear. The peasants, nonplussed, kept silent; and the

white, placid, wellgroomed statue seemed to look at M. Massarel with its plaster smile, ineffaceable and

Thus they stood, face to face, Napoleon on his chair, the physician standing three feet away. Anger seized the

commandant. What could he do to move this crowd and definitely to win over public opinion?

He happened to carry his hand to his stomach, and he felt, under his red belt, the butt of his revolver.

Not another inspiration, not another word cane to his mind. Then, he drew his weapon, stepped back a few

The bullet made a little black hole:, like a spot, in his forehead. No sensation was created. M. Massarel shot a

second time and made a second hole, then a third time, then, without stopping, he shot off the three remaining

shots. Napoleon's forehead was blown away in a white powder, but his eyes, nose and pointed mustache

Then in exasperation, the doctor kicked the chair over, and placing one foot on what remained of the bust in

the position of a conqueror, he turned to the amazed public and yelled: "Thus may all traitors die!"

As no enthusiasm was, as yet, visible, the spectators appearing to be dumb with astonishment, the

commandant cried to the militia: "You may go home now." And he himself walked rapidly, almost ran,

As soon as he appeared, the servant told him that some patients had been waiting in his office for over three

hours. He hastened in. They were the same two peasants as a few days before, who had returned at daybreak,

Since the beginning of the campaign Lieutenant Lare had taken two cannon from the Prussians. His general

As he was as cautious as he was brave, wary, inventive, wily and resourceful, he was entrusted with a

hundred soldiers and he organized a company of scouts who saved the army on several occasions during a

But the invading army entered by every frontier like a surging sea. Great waves of men arrived one after the

other, scattering all around them a scum of freebooters. General Carrel's brigade, separated from its division,

retreated continually, fighting each day, but remaining almost intact, thanks to the vigilance and agility of

Lieutenant Lare, who seemed to be everywhere at the same moment, baffling all the enemy's cunning,

"Lieutenant," said he, "here is a dispatch from General de Lacere, who will be destroyed if we do not go to

his aid by sunrise tomorrow. He is at Blainville, eight leagues from here. You will start at nightfall with

three hundred men, whom you will echelon along the road. I will follow you two hours later. Study the road

It had been freezing hard for a week. At two o'clock it began to snow, and by night the ground was covered

Two men walked alone as scouts about three yards ahead. Then came a platoon of ten men commanded by

the lieutenant himself. The rest followed them in two long columns. To the right and left of the little band, at

a distance of about three hundred feet on either side, some soldiers marched in pairs.

The snow,,which was still falling, covered them with a white powder in the darkness, and as it did not melt

on their uniforms, they were hardly distinguishable in the night amid the dead whiteness of the landscape.

From time to time they halted. One heard nothing but that indescribable, nameless flutter of falling snowa

sensation rather than a sound, a vague, ominous murmur. A command was given in a low tone and when the

troop resumed its march it left in its wake a sort of white phantom standing in the snow. It gradually grew

"Turn to the right," said the lieutenant; "it is the Ronfi wood; the chateau is more to the left."

Presently the command "Halt" was passed along. The detachment stopped and waited for the lieutenant, who,

accompanied by only ten men, had undertaken a reconnoitering expedition to the chateau.

They advanced, creeping under the trees. Suddenly they all remained motionless. Around them was a dead

silence. Then, quite near them, a little clear, musical young voice was heard amid the stillness of the wood.

All at once a woman's shrill cry was heard through the darkness. Two prisoners were brought back, an old

"Twelve Uhlans passed by this evening. They shot three keepers and hanged the gardener. I was alarmed on

They rejoined the column and resumed their march across country. The old man walked in silence beside the

And she sat down. She was shaking with cold and seemed about to lose consciousness. Her father wanted to

"Lieutenant," said he, sobbing, "we shall only impede your march. France before all. Leave us here."

The officer had given a command. Some men had started off. They came back with branches they had cut,

and in a minute a litter was ready. The whole detachment had joined them by this time.

"Here is a woman dying of cold," said the lieutenant. "Who will give his cape to cover her?"

Two hundred capes were taken off. The young girl was wrapped up in these warm soldiers' capes, gently laid

in the litter, and then four' hardy shoulders lifted her up, and like an Eastern queen borne by her slaves she

was placed in the center of the detachment of soldiers, who resumed their march with more energy, more

courage, more cheerfulness, animated by the presence of a woman, that sovereign inspiration that has stirred

At the end of an hour they halted again and every one lay down in the snow. Over yonder on the level country

a big, dark shadow was moving. It looked like some weird monster stretching itself out like a serpent, then

suddenly coiling itself into a mass, darting forth again, then back, and then forward again without ceasing.

Some whispered orders were passed around among the soldiers, and an occasional little, dry, metallic click

was heard. The moving object suddenly came nearer, and twelve Uhlans were seen approaching at a gallop,

one behind the other, having lost their way in the darkness. A brilliant flash suddenly revealed to them two

hundred mete lying on the ground before them. A rapid fire was heard, which died away in the snowy silence,

After a long rest the march was resumed. The old man whom they had captured acted as guide.

They made another halt; some conferences took place. It had stopped snowing. A cold wind was driving the

clouds, and innumerable stars were sparkling in the sky behind them, gradually paling in the rosy light of

A staff officer came forward to receive the detachment. But when he asked who was being carried in the

litter, the form stirred; two little hands moved aside the big blue army capes and, rosy as the dawn, with two

eyes that were brighter than the stars that had just faded from sight, and a smile as radiant as the morn, a

The soldiers, wild with delight, clapped their hands and bore the young girl in triumph into the midst of the

camp, that was just getting to arms. Presently General Carrel arrived on the scene. At nine o'clock the

That evening, as Lieutenant Lare, overcome by fatigue, was sleeping on a bundle of straw, he was sent for by

the general. He found the commanding officer in his tent, chatting with the old man whom they had come

across during the night. As soon as he entered the tent the general took his hand, and addressing the stranger,

"My dear comte, this is the young man of whom you were telling me just now; he is one of my best officers."

Then, turning to the astonished lieutenant, he presented "Comte de Ronfi Quedissac."

"My dear lieutenant, you have saved my daughter's life. I have only one way of thanking you. You may come

One year later, on the very same day, Captain Lare and Miss Louise HortenseGenevieve de

She brought a dowry of six thousand francs, and was said to be the prettiest bride that had been seen that

The shadows of a balmy night were slowly falling. The women remained in the drawingroom of the villa.

The men, seated, or astride of garden chairs, were smoking outside the door of the house, around a table laden

Their lighted cigars shone like eyes in the darkness, which was gradually becoming more dense. They had

been talking about a frightful accident which had occurred the night beforetwo men and three women

"Horrible, that wellknown word, means much more than terrible. A frightful accident like this affects,

upsets, terrifies; it does not horrify. In order that we should experience horror, something more is needed than

emotion, something more than the spectacle of a dreadful death; there must be a shuddering sense of mystery,

or a sensation of abnormal terror, more than natural. A man who dies, even under the most tragic

circumstances, does not excite horror; a field of battle is not horrible; blood is not horrible; the vilest crimes

"Here are two personal examples which have shown me what is the meaning of horror.

"It was during the war of 1870. We were retreating toward PontAudemer, after having passed through

Rouen. The army, consisting of about twenty thousand men, twenty thousand routed men, disbanded,

"The earth was covered with snow. The night was falling. They had not eaten anything since the day before.

"All the Norman country, sombre, dotted with the shadows of the trees surrounding the farms, stretched out

"Nothing else could be heard in the wan twilight but the confused sound, undefined though rapid, of a

marching throng, an endless tramping, mingled with the vague clink of tin bowls or swords. The men, bent,

roundshouldered, dirty, in many cases even in rags, dragged themselves along, hurried through the snow,

"The skin of their hands froze to the butt ends of their muskets, for it was freezing hard that night. I

frequently saw a little soldier take off his shoes in order to walk barefoot, as his shoes hurt his weary feet; and

at every step he left a track of blood. Then, after some time, he would sit down in a field for a few minutes'

"Should we have left behind us those poor, exhausted soldiers, who fondly counted on being able to start

afresh as soon as they had somewhat refreshed their stiffened legs? But scarcely had they ceased to move,

and to make their almost frozen blood circulate in their veins, than an unconquerable torpor congealed them,

nailed them to the ground, closed their eyes, and paralyzed in one second this overworked human mechanism.

And they gradually sank down, their foreheads on their knees, without, however, falling over, for their loins

and their limbs became as hard and immovable as wood, impossible to bend or to stand upright.

'And the rest of us, more robust, kept straggling on, chilled to the marrow, advancing by a kind of inertia

through the night, through the snow, through that cold and deadly country, crushed by pain, by defeat, by

despair, above all overcome by the abominable sensation of abandonment, of the end, of death, of

"I saw two gendarmes holding by the arm a curiouslooking little man, old, beardless, of truly surprising

"They were looking for an officer, believing that they had caught a spy. The word 'spy' at once spread

through the midst of the stragglers, and they gathered in a group round the prisoner. A voice exclaimed: 'He

must be shot!' And all these soldiers who were falling from utter prostration, only holding themselves on their

feet by leaning on their guns, felt all of a sudden that thrill of furious and bestial anger which urges on a mob

"I wanted to speak. I was at that time in command of a battalion; but they no longer recognized the authority

"One of the gendarmes said: 'He has been following us for the three last days. He has been asking

"He stammered out some words in some unintelligible dialect. He was, indeed, a strange being, with narrow

shoulders, a sly look, and such an agitated air in my presence that I really no longer doubted that he was a

spy. He seemed very aged and feeble. He kept looking at me from under his eyes with a humble, stupid,

"I had not ceased speaking when a terrible shove threw me on my back, and in a second I saw the man seized

by the furious soldiers, thrown down, struck, dragged along the side of the road, and flung against a tree. He

"And immediately they shot him. The soldiers fired at him, reloaded their guns, fired again with the desperate

energy of brutes. They fought with each other to have a shot at him, filed off in front of the corpse, and kept

on firing at him, as people at a funeral keep sprinkling holy water in front of a coffin.

"And all along the horizon I heard the great noise of this panicstricken army in full flight.

"A panic, the result of these shots fired at this vagabond, had filled his very executioners with terror; and,

without realizing that they were themselves the originators of the scare, they fled and disappeared in the

"I remained alone with the corpse, except for the two gendarmes whose duty compelled them to stay with me.

"'He must be searched,' I said. And I handed them a box of taper matches which I had in my pocket. One of

"The first match went out; we lighted a second. The man continued, as he turned out his pockets:

"'A hornhandled pocketknife, check handkerchief, a snuffbox, a bit of pack thread, a piece of bread.'

"The second match went out; we lighted a third. The gendarme, after having felt the corpse for a long time,

"And in order that the two soldiers might help each other in this task, I stood between them to hold the lighted

match. By the rapid and speedily extinguished flame of the match, I saw them take off the garments one by

one, and expose to view that bleeding bundle of flesh, still warm, though lifeless.

"I cannot describe to you the strange and poignant sensation of pain that moved my heart. I could not believe

it, and I knelt down in the snow before this shapeless pulp of flesh to see for myself: it was a woman.

"The two gendarmes, speechless and stunned, waited for me to give my opinion on the matter. But I did not

"'Perhaps she came to look for a son of hers in the artillery, whom she had not heard from.'

"And I, who had seen some very terrible things in my time, began to cry. And I felt, in the presence of this

corpse, on that icy cold night, in the midst of that gloomy plain; at the sight of this mystery, at the sight of

"I had the same sensation last year, while interrogating one of the survivors of the Flatters Mission, an

"You know the details of that atrocious drama. It is possible, however, that you are unacquainted with one of

"The colonel travelled through the desert into the Soudan, and passed through the immense territory of the

Touaregs, who, in that great ocean of sand which stretches from the Atlantic to Egypt and from the Soudan to

Algeria, are a kind of pirates, resembling those who ravaged the seas in former days.

"The guides who accompanied the column belonged to the tribe of the Chambaa, of Ouargla.

"Now, one day we encamped in the middle of the desert, and the Arabs declared that, as the spring was still

"One man alone warned the colonel that he had been betrayed. Flatters did not believe this, and accompanied

"The captain of the Arab Intelligence Department at Ouargla, who had remained in the camp, took command

of the survivors, spahis and sharpshooters, and they began to retreat, leaving behind them the baggage and

"Then they started on their journey through this solitude without shade and boundless, beneath the devouring

"One tribe came to tender its submission and brought dates as a tribute. The dates were poisoned. Nearly all

"There now only remained a few spahis with their quartermaster, Pobeguin, and some native sharpshooters of

the Chambaa tribe. They had still two camels left. They disappeared one night, along with two, Arabs.

"Then the survivors understood that they would be obliged to eat each other, and as soon as they discovered

the flight of the two men with the two camels, those who remained separated, and proceeded to march, one

by one, through the soft sand, under the glare of a scorching sun, at a distance of more than a gunshot from

"So they went on all day, and when they reached a spring each of them came to drink at it in turn, as soon as

each solitary marcher had moved forward the number of yards arranged upon. And thus they continued

marching the whole day, raising everywhere they passed, in that level, burntup expanse, those little columns

of dust which, from a distance, indicate those who are trudging through the desert.

"But one morning one of the travellers suddenly turned round and approached the man behind him. And they

"The man toward whom the famished soldier drew near did not flee, but lay flat on the ground, and took aim

at the one who was coming toward him. When he believed he was within gunshot, he fired. The other was not

hit, and he continued then to advance, and levelling his gun, in turn, he killed his comrade.

"Then from all directions the others rushed to seek their share. And he who had killed the fallen man, cutting

"And they once more placed themselves at fixed distances, these irreconcilable allies, preparing for the next

"For two days they lived on this human flesh which they divided between them. Then, becoming famished

again, he who had killed the first man began killing afresh. And again, like a butcher, he cut up the corpse

"The last Frenchman, Pobeguin, was massacred at the side of a well, the very night before the supplies

I was sitting on the pier of the small port of Obernon, near the village of Salis, looking at Antibes, bathed in

the setting sun. I had never before seen anything so wonderful and so beautiful.

The small town, enclosed by its massive ramparts, built by Monsieur de Vauban, extended into the open sea,

in the middle of the immense Gulf of Nice. The great waves, coming in from the ocean, broke at its feet,

surrounding it with a wreath of foam; and beyond the ramparts the houses climbed up the hill, one after the

other, as far as the two towers, which rose up into the sky, like the peaks of an ancient helmet. And these two

towers were outlined against the milky whiteness of the Alps, that enormous distant wall of snow which

Between the white foam at the foot of the walls and the white snow on the skyline the little city, dazzling

against the bluish background of the nearest mountain ranges, presented to the rays of the setting sun a

pyramid of redroofed houses, whose facades were also white, but so different one from another that they

And the sky above the Alps was itself of a blue that was almost white, as if the snow had tinted it; some

silvery clouds were floating just over the pale summits, and on the other side of the gulf Nice, lying close to

the water, stretched like a white thread between the sea and the mountain. Two great sails, driven by a strong

This view was one of those sweet, rare, delightful things that seem to permeate you and are unforgettable,

like the memory of a great happiness. One sees, thinks, suffers, is moved and loves with the eyes. He who can

feel with the eye experiences the same keen, exquisite and deep pleasure in looking at men and things as the

"This is certainly one of the rarest sights which it has been vouchsafed to me to admire.

"I have seen Mont SaintMichel, that monstrous granite jewel, rise out of the sand at sunrise.

"I have seen, in the Sahara, Lake Raianechergui, fifty kilometers long, shining under a moon as brilliant as

"I have seen, in the Lipari Islands, the weird sulphur crater of the Volcanello, a giant flower which smokes

and burns, an enormous yellow flower, opening out in the midst of the sea, whose stem is a volcano.

"But I have seen nothing more wonderful than Antibes, standing against the Alps in the setting sun.

"And I know not how it is that memories of antiquity haunt me; verses of Homer come into my mind; this is a

city of the ancient East, a city of the odyssey; this is Troy, although Troy was very far from the sea."

M. Martini drew the Sarty guidebook out of his pocket and read: "This city was originally a colony founded

by the Phocians of Marseilles, about 340 B.C. They gave it the Greek name of Antipolis, meaning counter

city, city opposite another, because it is in fact opposite to Nice, another colony from Marseilles.

"After the Gauls were conquered, the Romans turned Antibes into a municipal city, its inhabitants receiving

"I don't care what she was. I tell you that I see down there a city of the Odyssey. The coast of Asia and the

coast of Europe resemble each other in their shores, and there is no city on the other coast of the

Mediterranean which awakens in me the memories of the heroic age as this one does."

A footstep caused me to turn my head; a woman, a large, dark woman, was walking along the road which

"That is Madame Parisse, you know," muttered Monsieur Martini, dwelling on the final syllable.

No, I did not know, but that name, mentioned carelessly, that name of the Trojan shepherd, confirmed me in

I assured him that I did not know it, and I looked after the woman, who passed by without seeing us,

dreaming, walking with steady and slow step, as doubtless the ladies of old walked.

She was perhaps thirtyfive years old and still very beautiful, though a trifle stout.

Mademoiselle Combelombe was married, one year before the war of 1870, to Monsieur Parisse, a

government official. She was then a handsome young girl, as slender and lively as she has now become stout

Unwillingly she had accepted Monsieur Parisse, one of those little fat men with short legs, who trip along,

After the war Antibes was garrisoned by a single battalion commanded by Monsieur Jean de Carmelin, a

young officer decorated during the war, and who had just received his four stripes.

As he found life exceedingly tedious in this fortress this stuffy mole hole enclosed by its enormous double

walls, he often strolled out to the cape, a kind of park or pine wood shaken by all the winds from the sea.

There he met Madame Parisse, who also came out in the summer evenings to get the fresh air under the trees.

How did they come to love each other? Who knows? They met, they looked at each other, and when out of

sight they doubtless thought of each other. The image of the young woman with the brown eyes, the black

hair, the pale skin, this fresh, handsome Southerner, who displayed her teeth in smiling, floated before the

eyes of the officer as he continued his promenade, chewing his cigar instead of smoking it; and the image of

the commanding officer, in his close fitting coat, covered with gold lace, and his red trousers, and a little

blond mustache, would pass before the eyes of Madame Parisse, when her husband, half shaven and illclad,

As they met so often, they perhaps smiled at the next meeting; then, seeing each other again and again, they

felt as if they knew each other. He certainly bowed to her. And she, surprised, bowed in return, but very, very

slightly, just enough not to appear impolite. But after two weeks she returned his salutation from a distance,

He spoke to her. Of what? Doubtless of the setting sun. They admired it together, looking for it in each

other's eyes more often than on the horizon. And every evening for two weeks this was the commonplace and

Then they ventured to take a few steps together, talking of anything that came into their minds, but their eyes

were already saying to each other a thousand more intimate things, those secret, charming things that are

reflected in the gentle emotion of the glance, and that cause the heart to beat, for they are a better revelation

And then he would take her hand, murmuring those words which the woman divines, without seeming to hear

And it was agreed between them that they would love each other without evidencing it by anything sensual or

She would have remained indefinitely at this stage of intimacy, but he wanted more. And every day he urged

But one evening she said to him casually: "My husband has just gone to Marseilles. He will be away four

Jean de Carmelin threw himself at her feet, imploring her to open her door to him that very night at eleven

o'clock. But she would not listen to him, and went home, appearing to be annoyed.

The commandant was in a bad humor all the evening, and the next morning at dawn he went out on the

ramparts in a rage, going from one exercise field to the other, dealing out punishment to the officers and men

On going in to breakfast he found an envelope under his napkin with these four words: "Tonight at ten."

The day seemed endless to him. He passed part of it in curling his hair and perfuming himself.

As he was sitting down to the dinnertable another envelope was handed to him, and in it he found the

The commandant let loose such a vehement oath that the waiter dropped the souptureen on the floor.

What should he do? He certainly wanted her, that very, evening at whatever cost; and he would have her. He

would resort to any means, even to arresting and imprisoning the husband. Then a mad thought struck him.

Toward eight o'clock he sent for Captain Gribois, the second in command, and said, rolling between his

"Captain, I have just received a telegram of a very singular nature, which it is impossible for me to

communicate to you. You will immediately have all the gates of the city closed and guarded, so that no one,

mind me, no one, will either enter or leave before six in the morning. You will also have men patrol the

streets, who will compel the inhabitants to retire to their houses at nine o'clock. Any one found outside

beyond that time will be conducted to his home 'manu militari'. If your men meet me this night they will at

They clinked glasses drank down the brown liquor and Captain Gribois left the room.

The train from Marseilles arrived at the station at nine o'clock sharp, left two passengers on the platform and

One of them, tall and thin, was Monsieur Saribe, the oil merchant, and the other, short and fat, was Monsieur

Together they set out, with their valises, to reach the city, one kilometer distant.

But on arriving at the gate of the port the guards crossed their bayonets, commanding them to retire.

Frightened, surprised, cowed with astonishment, they retired to deliberate; then, after having taken counsel

But the soldiers evidently had strict orders, for they threatened to shoot; and the two scared travellers ran off,

Making the tour of the ramparts, they presented themselves at the gate on the route to Cannes. This likewise

was closed and guarded by a menacing sentinel. Messrs. Saribe and Parisse, like the prudent men they were,

desisted from their efforts and went back to the station for shelter, since it was not safe to be near the

The station agent, surprised and sleepy, permitted them to stay till morning in the waitingroom.

And they sat there side by side, in the dark, on the green velvet sofa, too scared to think of sleeping.

At halfpast six in the morning they were informed that the gates were open and that people could now enter

They set out for the city, but failed to find their abandoned valises on the road.

When they passed through the gates of the city, still somewhat anxious, the Commandant de Carmelin, with

sly glance and mustache curled up, came himself to look at them and question them.

Then he bowed to them politely, excusing himself for having caused them a bad night. But he had to carry

The people of Antibes were scared to death. Some spoke of a surprise planned by the Italians, others of the

landing of the prince imperial and others again believed that there was an Orleanist conspiracy. The truth was

suspected only later, when it became known that the battalion of the commandant had been sent away, to a

Monsieur Martini had finished his story. Madame Parisse returned, her promenade being ended. She passed

gravely near me, with her eyes fixed on the Alps, whose summits now gleamed rosy in the last rays of the

I longed to speak to her, this poor, sad woman, who would ever be thinking of that night of love, now long

past, and of the bold man who for the sake of a kiss from her had dared to put a city into a state of siege and

And today he had probably forgotten her, if he did not relate this audacious, comical and tender farce to his

Had she seen him again? Did she still love him? And I thought: Here is an instance of modern love, grotesque

and yet heroic. The Homer who should sing of this new Helen and the adventure of her Menelaus must be

gifted with the soul of a Paul de Kock. And yet the hero of this deserted woman was brave, daring,

Major Graf Von Farlsberg, the Prussian commandant, was reading his newspaper as he lay back in a great

easychair, with his booted feet on the beautiful marble mantelpiece where his spurs had made two holes,

which had grown deeper every day during the three months that he had been in the chateau of Uville.

A cup of coffee was smoking on a small inlaid table, which was stained with liqueur, burned by cigars,

notched by the penknife of the victorious officer, who occasionally would stop while sharpening a pencil, to

When he had read his letters and the German newspapers, which his orderly had brought him, he got up, and

after throwing three or four enormous pieces of green wood on the fire, for these gentlemen were gradually

cutting down the park in order to keep themselves warm, he went to the window. The rain was descending in

torrents, a regular Normandy rain, which looked as if it were being poured out by some furious person, a

slanting rain, opaque as a curtain, which formed a kind of wall with diagonal stripes, and which deluged

everything, a rain such as one frequently experiences in the neighborhood of Rouen, which is the

For a long time the officer looked at the sodden turf and at the swollen Andelle beyond it, which was

overflowing its banks; he was drumming a waltz with his fingers on the windowpanes, when a noise made

The major was a giant, with broad shoulders and a long, fanlike beard, which hung down like a curtain to

his chest. His whole solemn person suggested the idea of a military peacock, a peacock who was carrying his

tail spread out on his breast. He had cold, gentle blue eyes, and a scar from a swordcut, which he had received

in the war with Austria; he was said to be an honorable man, as well as a brave officer.

The captain, a short, redfaced man, was tightly belted in at the waist, his red hair was cropped quite close to

his head, and in certain lights he almost looked as if he had been rubbed over with phosphorus. He had lost

two front teeth one night, though he could not quite remember how, and this sometimes made him speak

unintelligibly, and he had a bald patch on top of his head surrounded by a fringe of curly, bright golden hair,

The commandant shook hands with him and drank his cup of coffee (the sixth that morning), while he

listened to his subordinate's report of what had occurred; and then they both went to the window and declared

that it was a very unpleasant outlook. The major, who was a quiet man, with a wife at home, could

accommodate himself to everything; but the captain, who led a fast life, who was in the habit of frequenting

low resorts, and enjoying women's society, was angry at having to be shut up for three months in that

There was a knock at the door, and when the commandant said, "Come in," one of the orderlies appeared, and

by his mere presence announced that breakfast was ready. In the diningroom they met three other officers of

lower ranka lieutenant, Otto von Grossling, and two sublieutenants, Fritz Scheuneberg and Baron von

Eyrick, a very short, fairhaired man, who was proud and brutal toward men, harsh toward prisoners and as

Since he had been in France his comrades had called him nothing but Mademoiselle Fifi. They had given him

that nickname on account of his dandified style and small waist, which looked as if he wore corsets; of his

pale face, on which his budding mustache scarcely showed, and on account of the habit he had acquired of

employing the French expression, 'Fi, fi donc', which he pronounced with a slight whistle when he wished to

The diningroom of the chateau was a magnificent long room, whose fine old mirrors, that were cracked by

pistol bullets, and whose Flemish tapestry, which was cut to ribbons, and hanging in rags in places from

swordcuts, told too well what Mademoiselle Fifi's occupation was during his spare time.

There were three family portraits on the walls a steelclad knight, a cardinal and a judge, who were all

smoking long porcelain pipes, which had been inserted into holes in the canvas, while a lady in a long,

pointed waist proudly exhibited a pair of enormous mustaches, drawn with charcoal. The officers ate their

breakfast almost in silence in that mutilated room, which looked dull in the rain and melancholy in its

dilapidated condition, although its old oak floor had become as solid as the stone floor of an inn.

When they had finished eating and were smoking and drinking, they began, as usual, to berate the dull life

they were leading. The bottles of brandy and of liqueur passed from hand to hand, and all sat back in their

chairs and took repeated sips from their glasses, scarcely removing from their mouths the long, curved stems,

As soon as their glasses were empty they filled them again, with a gesture of resigned weariness, but

Mademoiselle Fifi emptied his every minute, and a soldier immediately gave him another. They were

enveloped in a cloud of strong tobacco smoke, and seemed to be sunk in a state of drowsy, stupid

intoxication, that condition of stupid intoxication of men who have nothing to do, when suddenly the baron

sat up and said: "Heavens! This cannot go on; we must think of something to do." And on hearing this,

Lieutenant Otto and Sublieutenant Fritz, who preeminently possessed the serious, heavy German

He thought for a few moments and then replied: "What? Why, we must get up some entertainment, if the

commandant will allow us." "What sort of an entertainment, captain?" the major asked, taking his pipe out of

his mouth. "I will arrange all that, commandant," the baron said. "I will send Le Devoir to Rouen, and he will

bring back some ladies. I know where they can be found, We will have supper here, as all the materials are at

Graf von Farlsberg shrugged his shoulders with a smile: "You must surely be mad, my friend."

But all the other officers had risen and surrounded their chief, saying: "Let the captain have his way,

commandant; it is terribly dull here." And the major ended by yielding. "Very well," he replied, and the baron

immediately sent for Le Devoir. He was an old noncommissioned officer, who had never been seen to

smile, but who carried out all the orders of his superiors to the letter, no matter what they might be. He stood

there, with an impassive face, while he received the baron's instructions, and then went out, and five minutes

later a large military wagon, covered with tarpaulin, galloped off as fast as four horses could draw it in the

pouring rain. The officers all seemed to awaken from their lethargy, their looks brightened,, and they began to

Although it was raining as hard as ever, the major declared that it was not so dark, and Lieutenant von

Grossling said with conviction that the sky was clearing up, while Mademoiselle Fifi did not seem to be able

to keep still. He got up and sat down again, and his bright eyes seemed to be looking for something to

destroy. Suddenly, looking at the lady with the mustaches, the young fellow pulled out his revolver and said:

"You shall not see it." And without leaving his seat he aimed, and with two successive bullets cut out both the

"Let us make a mine!" he then exclaimed, and the conversation was suddenly interrupted, as if they had

found some fresh and powerful subject of interest. The mine was his invention, his method of destruction,

When he left the chateau, the lawful owner, Comte Fernand d'Amoys d'Uville, had not had time to carry

away or to hide anything except the plate, which had been stowed away in a hole made in one of the walls.

As he was very rich and had good taste, the large drawingroom, which opened into the diningroom, looked

Expensive oil paintings, water colors and drawings hung against the walls, while on the tables, on the

hanging shelves and in elegant glass cupboards there were a thousand ornaments: small vases, statuettes,

groups of Dresden china and grotesque Chinese figures, old ivory and Venetian glass, which filled the large

Scarcely anything was left now; not that the things had been stolen, for the major would not have allowed

that, but Mademoiselle Fifi would every now and then have a mine, and on those occasions all the officers

thoroughly enjoyed themselves for five minutes. The little marquis went into the drawingroom to get what

he wanted, and he brought back a small, delicate china teapot, which he filled with gunpowder, and carefully

introduced a piece of punk through the spout. This he lighted and took his infernal machine into the next

room, but he came back immediately and shut the door. The Germans all stood expectant, their faces full of

childish, smiling curiosity, and as soon as the explosion had shaken the chateau, they all rushed in at once.

Mademoiselle Fifi, who got in first, clapped his hands in delight at the sight of a terracotta Venus, whose

head had been blown off, and each picked up pieces of porcelain and wondered at the strange shape of the

fragments, while the major was looking with a paternal eye at the large drawingroom, which had been

wrecked after the fashion of a Nero, and was strewn with the fragments of works of art. He went out first and

But there was such a cloud of smoke in the diningroom, mingled with the tobacco smoke, that they could

not breathe, so the commandant opened the window, and all the officers, who had returned for a last glass of

The moist air blew into the room, bringing with it a sort of powdery spray, which sprinkled their beards. They

looked at the tall trees which were dripping with rain, at the broad valley which was covered with mist, and at

the church spire in the distance, which rose up like a gray point in the beating rain.

The bells had not rung since their arrival. That was the only resistance which the invaders had met with in the

neighborhood. The parish priest had not refused to take in and to feed the Prussian soldiers; he had several

times even drunk a bottle of beer or claret with the hostile commandant, who often employed him as a

benevolent intermediary; but it was no use to ask him for a single stroke of the bells; he would sooner have

allowed himself to be shot. That was his way of protesting against the invasion, a peaceful and silent protest,

the only one, he said, which was suitable to a priest, who was a man of mildness, and not of blood; and every

one, for twentyfive miles round, praised Abbe Chantavoine's firmness and heroism in venturing to proclaim

The whole village, enthusiastic at his resistance, was ready to back up their pastor and to risk anything, for

they looked upon that silent protest as the safeguard of the national honor. It seemed to the peasants that thus

they deserved better of their country than Belfort and Strassburg, that they had set an equally valuable

example, and that the name of their little village would become immortalized by that; but, with that

The commandant and his officers laughed among themselves at this inoffensive courage, and as the people in

the whole country round showed themselves obliging and compliant toward them, they willingly tolerated

their silent patriotism. Little Baron Wilhelm alone would have liked to have forced them to ring the bells. He

was very angry at his superior's politic compliance with the priest's scruples, and every day begged the

commandant to allow him to sound "dingdong, dingdong," just once, only just once, just by way of a joke.

And he asked it in the coaxing, tender voice of some loved woman who is bent on obtaining her wish, but the

commandant would not yield, and to console himself, Mademoiselle Fifi made a mine in the Chateau

The five men stood there together for five minutes, breathing in the moist air, and at last Lieutenant Fritz said

with a laugh: "The ladies will certainly not have fine weather for their drive. Then they separated, each to his

When they met again toward evening they began to laugh at seeing each other as spick and span and smart as

on the day of a grand review. The commandant's hair did not look so gray as it was in the morning, and the

captain had shaved, leaving only his mustache, which made him look as if he had a streak of fire under his

In spite of the rain, they left the window open, and one of them went to listen from time to time; and at a

quarter past six the baron said he heard a rumbling in the distance. They all rushed down, and presently the

wagon drove up at a gallop with its four horses steaming and blowing, and splashed with mud to their girths.

Five women dismounted, five handsome girls whom a comrade of the captain, to whom Le Devoir had

They had not required much pressing, as they had got to know the Prussians in the three months during which

they had had to do with them, and so they resigned themselves to the men as they did to the state of affairs.

They went at once into the diningroom, which looked still more dismal in its dilapidated condition when it

was lighted up; while the table covered with choice dishes, the beautiful china and glass, and the plate, which

had been found in the hole in the wall where its owner had hidden it, gave it the appearance of a bandits' inn,

where they were supping after committing a robbery in the place. The captain was radiant, and put his arm

round the women as if he were familiar with them; and when the three young men wanted to appropriate one

each, he opposed them authoritatively, reserving to himself the right to apportion them justly, according to

their several ranks, so as not to offend the higher powers. Therefore, to avoid all discussion, jarring, and

suspicion of partiality, he placed them all in a row according to height, and addressing the tallest, he said in a

"What is your name?" "Pamela," she replied, raising her voice. And then he said: "Number One, called

Pamela, is adjudged to the commandant." Then, having kissed Blondina, the second, as a sign of

proprietorship, he proffered stout Amanda to Lieutenant Otto; Eva, "the Tomato," to Sub lieutenant Fritz,

and Rachel, the shortest of them all, a very young, dark girl, with eyes as black as ink, a Jewess, whose snub

nose proved the rule which allots hooked noses to all her race, to the youngest officer, frail Count Wilhelm

They were all pretty and plump, without any distinctive features, and all had a similarity of complexion and

The three young men wished to carry off their prizes immediately, under the pretext that they might wish to

freshen their toilets; but the captain wisely opposed this, for he said they were quite fit to sit down to dinner,

and his experience in such matters carried the day. There were only many kisses, expectant kisses.

Suddenly Rachel choked, and began to cough until the tears came into her eyes, while smoke came through

her nostrils. Under pretence of kissing her, the count had blown a whiff of tobacco into her mouth. She did

not fly into a rage and did not say a word, but she looked at her tormentor with latent hatred in her dark eyes.

They sat down to dinner. The commandant seemed delighted; he made Pamela sit on his right, and Blondina

on his left, and said, as he unfolded his table napkin: "That was a delightful idea of yours, captain."

Lieutenants Otto and Fritz, who were as polite as if they had been with fashionable ladies, rather intimidated

their guests, but Baron von Kelweinstein beamed, made obscene remarks and seemed on fire with his crown

of red hair. He paid the women compliments in French of the Rhine, and sputtered out gallant remarks, only

They did not understand him, however, and their intelligence did not seem to be awakened until he uttered

foul words and broad expressions, which were mangled by his accent. Then they all began to laugh at once

like crazy women and fell against each other, repeating the words, which the baron then began to say all

wrong, in order that he might have the pleasure of hearing them say dirty things. They gave him as much of

that stuff as he wanted, for they were drunk after the first bottle of wine, and resuming their usual habits and

manners, they kissed the officers to right and left of them, pinched their arms, uttered wild cries, drank out of

every glass and sang French couplets and bits of German songs which they had picked up in their daily

Soon the men themselves became very unrestrained, shouted and broke the plates and dishes, while the

soldiers behind them waited on them stolidly. The commandant was the only one who kept any restraint upon

Mademoiselle Fifi had taken Rachel on his knee, and, getting excited, at one moment he kissed the little

black curls on her neck and at another he pinched her furiously and made her scream, for he was seized by a

species of ferocity, and tormented by his desire to hurt her. He often held her close to him and pressed a long

kiss on the Jewess' rosy mouth until she lost her breath, and at last he bit her until a stream of blood ran down

For the second time she looked him full in the face, and as she bathed the wound, she said: "You will have to

At dessert champagne was served, and the commandant rose, and in the same voice in which he would have

drunk to the health of the Empress Augusta, he drank: "To our ladies!" And a series of toasts began, toasts

worthy of the lowest soldiers and of drunkards, mingled with obscene jokes, which were made still more

brutal by their ignorance of the language. They got up, one after the other, trying to say something witty,

forcing themselves to be funny, and the women, who were so drunk that they almost fell off their chairs, with

The captain, who no doubt wished to impart an appearance of gallantry to the orgy, raised his glass again and

said: "To our victories over hearts and, thereupon Lieutenant Otto, who was a species of bear from the Black

Forest, jumped up, inflamed and saturated with drink, and suddenly seized by an access of alcoholic

Drunk as they were, the women were silent, but Rachel turned round, trembling, and said: "See here, I know

some Frenchmen in whose presence you would not dare say that." But the little count, still holding her on his

knee, began to laugh, for the wine had made him very merry, and said: "Ha! ha! ha! I have never met any of

them myself. As soon as we show ourselves, they run away!" The girl, who was in a terrible rage, shouted

For a moment he looked at her steadily with his bright eyes upon her, as he had looked at the portrait before

he destroyed it with bullets from his revolver, and then he began to laugh: "Ah! yes, talk about them, my

dear! Should we be here now if they were brave?" And, getting excited, he exclaimed: "We are the masters!

France belongs to us!" She made one spring from his knee and threw herself into her chair, while he arose,

held out his glass over the table and repeated: "France and the French, the woods, the fields and the houses of

The others, who were quite drunk, and who were suddenly seized by military enthusiasm, the enthusiasm of

brutes, seized their glasses, and shouting, "Long live Prussia!" they emptied them at a draught.

The girls did not protest, for they were reduced to silence and were afraid. Even Rachel did not say a word, as

she had no reply to make. Then the little marquis put his champagne glass, which had just been refilled, on

the head of the Jewess and exclaimed: "All the women in France belong to us also!"

At that she got up so quickly that the glass upset, spilling the amber colored wine on her black hair as if to

baptize her, and broke into a hundred fragments, as it fell to the floor. Her lips trembling, she defied the looks

of the officer, who was still laughing, and stammered out in a voice choked with rage:

He sat down again so as to laugh at his ease; and, trying to speak with the Parisian accent, he said: "She is

good, very good! Then why did you come here, my dear?" She was thunderstruck and made no reply for a

moment, for in her agitation she did not understand him at first, but as soon as she grasped his meaning she

said to him indignantly and vehemently: "I! I! I am not a woman, I am only a strumpet, and that is all that

Almost before she had finished he slapped her full in the face; but as he was raising his hand again, as if to

strike her, she seized a small dessert knife with a silver blade from the table and, almost mad with rage,

stabbed him right in the hollow of his neck. Something that he was going to say was cut short in his throat,

All the officers shouted in horror and leaped up tumultuously; but, throwing her chair between the legs of

Lieutenant Otto, who fell down at full length, she ran to the window, opened it before they could seize her

In two minutes Mademoiselle Fifi was dead, and Fritz and Otto drew their swords and wanted to kill the

women, who threw themselves at their feet and clung to their knees. With some difficulty the major stopped

the slaughter and had the four terrified girls locked up in a room under the care of two soldiers, and then he

organized the pursuit of the fugitive as carefully as if he were about to engage in a skirmish, feeling quite sure

The table, which had been cleared immediately, now served as a bed on which to lay out the lieutenant, and

the four officers stood at the windows, rigid and sobered with the stern faces of soldiers on duty, and tried to

pierce through the darkness of the night amid the steady torrent of rain. Suddenly a shot was heard and then

another, a long way off; and for four hours they heard from time to time near or distant reports and rallying

In the morning they all returned. Two soldiers had been killed and three others wounded by their comrades in

the ardor of that chase and in the confusion of that nocturnal pursuit, but they had not caught Rachel.

Then the inhabitants of the district were terrorized, the houses were turned topsyturvy, the country was

scoured and beaten up, over and over again, but the Jewess did not seem to have left a single trace of her

When the general was told of it he gave orders to hush up the affair, so as not to set a bad example to the

army, but he severely censured the commandant, who in turn punished his inferiors. The general had said:

"One does not go to war in order to amuse one's self and to caress prostitutes." Graf von Farlsberg, in his

exasperation, made up his mind to have his revenge on the district, but as he required a pretext for showing

severity, he sent for the priest and ordered him to have the bell tolled at the funeral of Baron von Eyrick.

Contrary to all expectation, the priest showed himself humble and most respectful, and when Mademoiselle

Fifi's body left the Chateau d'Uville on its way to the cemetery, carried by soldiers, preceded, surrounded and

followed by soldiers who marched with loaded rifles, for the first time the bell sounded its funeral knell in a

lively manner, as if a friendly hand were caressing it. At night it rang again, and the next day, and every day;

it rang as much as any one could desire. Sometimes even it would start at night and sound gently through the

darkness, seized with a strange joy, awakened one could not tell why. All the peasants in the neighborhood

declared that it was bewitched, and nobody except the priest and the sacristan would now go near the church

tower. And they went because a poor girl was living there in grief and solitude and provided for secretly by

She remained there until the German troops departed, and then one evening the priest borrowed the baker's

cart and himself drove his prisoner to Rouen. When they got there he embraced her, and she quickly went

back on foot to the establishment from which she had come, where the proprietress, who thought that she was

A short time afterward a patriot who had no prejudices, and who liked her because of her bold deed, and who

afterward loved her for herself, married her and made her a lady quite as good as many others.

The war was over. The Germans occupied France. The whole country was pulsating like a conquered wrestler

The first trains from Paris, distracted, starving, despairing Paris, were making their way to the new frontiers,

slowly passing through the country districts and the villages. The passengers gazed through the windows at

the ravaged fields and burned hamlets. Prussian soldiers, in their black helmets with brass spikes, were

smoking their pipes astride their chairs in front of the houses which were still left standing. Others were

working or talking just as if they were members of the families. As you passed through the different towns

you saw entire regiments drilling in the squares, and, in spite of the rumble of the carriagewheels, you could

M. Dubuis, who during the entire siege had served as one of the National Guard in Paris, was going to join

his wife and daughter, whom he had prudently sent away to Switzerland before the invasion.

Famine and hardship had not diminished his big paunch so characteristic of the rich, peaceloving merchant.

He had gone through the terrible events of the past year with sorrowful resignation and bitter complaints at

the savagery of men. Now that he was journeying to the frontier at the close of the war, he saw the Prussians

for the first time, although he had done his duty on the ramparts and mounted guard on many a cold night.

He stared with mingled fear and anger at those bearded armed men, installed all over French soil as if they

were at home, and he felt in his soul a kind of fever of impotent patriotism, at the same time also the great

need of that new instinct of prudence which since then has, never left us. In the same railway carriage were

two Englishmen, who had come to the country as sightseers and were gazing about them with looks of quiet

curiosity. They were both also stout, and kept chatting in their own language, sometimes referring to their

Suddenly the train stopped at a little village station, and a Prussian officer jumped up with a great clatter of

his sabre on the double footboard of the railway carriage. He was tall, wore a tightfitting uniform, and had

whiskers up to his eyes. His red hair seemed to be on fire, and his long mustache, of a paler hue, stuck out on

The Englishmen at once began staring, at him with smiles of newly awakened interest, while M. Dubuis

made a show of reading a newspaper. He sat concealed in his corner like a thief in presence of a gendarme.

The train started again. The Englishmen went on chatting and looking out for the exact scene of different

battles; and all of a sudden, as one of them stretched out his arm toward the horizon as he pointed out a

village, the Prussian officer remarked in French, extending his long legs and lolling backward:

"I killed a dozen Frenchmen in that village and took more than a hundred prisoners."

The train rolled on, still passing through hamlets occupied by the victorious army. German soldiers could be

seen along the roads, on the edges of fields, standing in front of gates or chatting outside cafes. They covered

"If I had been in command, I'd have taken Paris, burned everything, killed everybody. No more France!"

"In twenty years all Europe, all of it, will belong to us. Prussia is more than a match for all of them."

The Englishmen, getting uneasy, no longer replied. Their faces, which had become impassive, seemed made

of wax behind their long whiskers. Then the Prussian officer began to laugh. And still, lolling back, he began

to sneer. He sneered at the downfall of France, insulted the prostrate enemy; he sneered at Austria, which had

been recently conquered; he sneered at the valiant but fruitless defence of the departments; he sneered at the

Garde Mobile and at the useless artillery. He announced that Bismarck was going to build a city of iron with

the captured cannon. And suddenly he placed his boots against the thigh of M. Dubuis, who turned away his

The Englishmen seemed to have become indifferent to all that was going on, as if they were suddenly shut up

The train whistled, and slackened its pace. They passed a station that had been burned down; and then they

A Prussian detachment occupied the station. Other soldiers were standing behind wooden gratings, looking

on. The engine was getting up steam before starting off again. Then M. Dubuis hurriedly jumped on the

platform, and, in spite of the warnings of the station master, dashed into the adjoining compartment.

He was alone! He tore open his waistcoat, his heart was beating so rapidly, and, gasping for breath, he wiped

The train drew up at another station. And suddenly the officer appeared at the carriage door and jumped in,

followed close behind by the two Englishmen, who were impelled by curiosity. The German sat facing the

The German had already pulled out a few hairs, and was still tugging at the mustache, when M. Dubuis, with

a back stroke of his hand, flung aside the officer's arm, and, seizing him by the collar, threw him down on the

seat. Then, excited to a pitch of fury, his temples swollen and his eyes glaring, he kept throttling the officer

with one hand, while with the other clenched he began to strike him violent blows in the face. The Prussian

struggled, tried to draw his sword, to clinch with his adversary, who was on top of him. But M. Dubuis

crushed him with his enormous weight and kept punching him without taking breath or knowing where his

blows fell. Blood flowed down the face of the German, who, choking and with a rattling in his throat, spat out

his broken teeth and vainly strove to shake off this infuriated man who was killing him.

The Englishmen had got on their feet and came closer in order to see better. They remained standing, full of

Suddenly M. Dubuis, exhausted by his violent efforts, rose and resumed his seat without uttering a word.

The Prussian did not attack him, for the savage assault had terrified and astonished the officer as well as

"Here is the town of Strasbourg. I'll get two officers to be my seconds, and there will be time before the train

In a minute the Prussian had found two comrades, who brought pistols, and they made their way toward the

The Englishmen were continually looking at their watches, shuffling their feet and hurrying on with the

While he was answering, "Yes, monsieur," he noticed that one of the Englishmen had opened his umbrella in

M. Dubuis fired at random without delay, and he was amazed to see the Prussian opposite him stagger, lift up

One of the Englishmen exclaimed: "Ah!" He was quivering with delight, with satisfied curiosity and joyous

impatience. The other, who still kept his watch in his hand, seized M. Dubuis' arm and hurried him in

doublequick time toward the station, his fellowcountryman marking time as he ran beside them, with

And all three, running abreast rapidly, made their way to the station like three grotesque figures in a comic

The train was on the point of starting. They sprang into their carriage. Then the Englishmen, taking off their

And gravely, one after the other, they extended their right hands to M. Dubuis and then went back and sat