Title: The Young Franc Tireurs - And Their Adventures in the Franco-Prussian War
Author: Henty, G. A. (George Alfred), 1832-1902
Language: English
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The Young Franc Tireurs
And Their Adventures in the Franco-Prussian War
By G. A. Henty.



Contents

Preface.
Chapter 1:   The Outbreak Of War.
Chapter 2:   Terrible News.
Chapter 3:   Death To The Spy!
Chapter 4:   Starting For The Vosges.
Chapter 5:   The First Engagement.
Chapter 6:   The Tunnel Of Saverne.
Chapter 7:   A Baffled Project.
Chapter 8:   The Traitor.
Chapter 9:  A Desperate Fight.
Chapter 10: The Bridge Of The Vesouze.
Chapter 11: A Fight In The Vosges.
Chapter 12: The Surprise.
Chapter 13: The Escape.
Chapter 14: A Perilous Expedition.
Chapter 15: The Expedition.
Chapter 16: A Desperate Attempt.
Chapter 17: A Balloon Voyage.
Chapter 18: A Day Of Victory.
Chapter 19: Down At Last.
Chapter 20: Crossing The Lines.
Chapter 21: Home.

Illustrations

Rescue of a Supposed Spy.
Among the German Soldiers.
The Children on the Battlefield.
The Sea! The Sea!



Preface.


My Dear Lads,

The present story was written and published a few months, only,
after the termination of the Franco-German war. At that time the
plan--which I have since carried out in The Young Buglers, Cornet
of Horse, and In Times of Peril, and which I hope to continue, in
further volumes--of giving, under the guise of historical tales,
full and accurate accounts of all the leading events of great wars,
had not occurred to me. My object was only to represent one phase
of the struggle--the action of the bodies of volunteer troops known
as franc tireurs.

The story is laid in France and is, therefore, written from the
French point of view. The names, places, and dates have been
changed; but circumstances and incidents are true. There were a
good many English among the franc tireurs, and boys of from fifteen
to sixteen were by no means uncommon in their ranks. Having been
abroad during the whole of the war, I saw a good deal of these
irregulars, and had several intimate friends amongst them. Upon the
whole, these corps did much less service to the cause of France
than might have been reasonably expected. They were too often badly
led, and were sometimes absolutely worse than useless.

But there were brilliant exceptions, and very many of those daring
actions were performed which--while requiring heroism and courage
of the highest kind--are unknown to the world in general, and find
no place in history. Many of the occurrences in this tale are
related, almost in the words in which they were described to me, by
those who took part in them; and nearly every fact and circumstance
actually occurred, according to my own knowledge. Without aspiring
to the rank of a history, however slight, the story will give you a
fair idea of what the life of the franc tireurs was, and of what
some of them actually went through, suffered, and performed.

Yours sincerely,

The Author.



Chapter 1: The Outbreak Of War.


The usually quiet old town of Dijon was in a state of excitement.
There were groups of people in the streets; especially round the
corners, where the official placards were posted up. Both at the
Prefecture and the Maine there were streams of callers, all day.
Every functionary wore an air of importance, and mystery; and
mounted orderlies galloped here and there, at headlong speed. The
gendarmes had twisted their mustaches to even finer points than
usual, and walked about with the air of men who knew all about the
matter, and had gone through more serious affairs than this was
likely to be.

In the marketplace, the excitement and buzz of conversation were at
their highest. It was the market day, and the whole area of the
square was full. Never, in the memory of the oldest inhabitant, had
such a market been seen in Dijon. For the ten days preceding,
France had been on the tiptoe of expectation; and every peasant's
wife and daughter, for miles round the town, had come with their
baskets of eggs, fowls, or fruits, to attend the market and to hear
the news. So crowded was it, that it was really difficult to move
about. People were not, however, unmindful of bargains--for the
French peasant woman is a thrifty body, and has a shrewd eye to
sous--so the chaffering and haggling, which almost invariably
precede each purchase, went on as briskly as usual but, between
times, all thoughts and all tongues ran upon the great event of the
day.

It was certain--quite certain, now--that there was to be war with
Prussia. The newspapers had said so, for some days; but then, bah!
who believes a newspaper? Monsieur le Prefect had published the
news, today; and everyone knows that Monsieur le Prefect is not a
man to say a thing, unless it were true. Most likely the Emperor,
himself, had written to him. Oh! There could be no doubt about it,
now.

It was singular to hear, amidst all the talk, that the speculation
and argument turned but little upon the chances of the war, itself;
it being tacitly assumed to be a matter of course that the Germans
would be defeated, with ease, by the French. The great subject of
speculation was upon the points which directly affected the
speakers. Would the Mobiles be called out, and forced to march;
would soldiers who had served their time be recalled to the
service, even if they were married; and would next year's
conscripts be called out, at once? These were the questions which
everyone asked, but no one could answer. In another day or two, it
was probable that the orders respecting these matters would arrive
and, in the meantime, the merry Burgundian girls endeavored to hide
their own uneasiness by laughingly predicting an early summons to
arms to the young men of their acquaintance.

At the Lycee--or great school--the boys are just coming out. They
are too excited to attend to lessons, and have been released hours
before their usual time. They troop out from the great doors,
talking and gesticulating. Their excitement, however, takes a
different form to that which that of English boys would do, under
the same circumstances. There was no shouting, no pushing, no
practical jokes. The French boy does not play; at least, he does
not play roughly. When young he does, indeed, sometimes play at
buchon--a game something similar to the game of buttons, as played
by English street boys. He may occasionally play at marbles but,
after twelve years of age, he puts aside games as beneath him.
Prisoners' base, football, and cricket are alike unknown to him;
and he considers any exertion which would disarrange his hair, or
his shirt collar, as barbarous and absurd. His amusements are
walking in the public promenade, talking politics with the gravity
of a man of sixty, and discussing the local news and gossip.

This is the general type of French school boy. Of course, there are
many exceptions and, in the Lycee of Dijon, these were more
numerous than usual. This was due, to a great extent, to the
influence of the two boys who are coming out of the school, at the
present moment. Ralph and Percy Barclay are--as one can see at
first sight--English; that is to say, their father is English, and
they have taken after him, and not after their French mother. They
are French born, for they first saw the light at the pretty cottage
where they still live, about two miles out of the town; but their
father, Captain Barclay, has brought them up as English boys, and
they have been for two years at a school in England.

Their example has had some effect. Their cousins, Louis and
Philippe Duburg, are almost as fond of cricket, and other games,
and of taking long rambles for miles round, as they are themselves.
Other boys have also taken to these amusements and, consequently,
you would see more square figures, more healthy faces at the Lycee
at Dijon than at most other French schools. The boys who joined in
these games formed a set in themselves, apart from the rest. They
were called either the English set or, contemptuously, the
"savages;" but this latter name was not often applied to them
before their faces, for the young Barclays had learned to box, in
England; and their cousins, as well as a few of the others, had
practised with the gloves with them. Consequently, although the
"savages" might be wondered at, and sneered at behind their backs,
the offensive name was never applied in their hearing.

At the present moment, Ralph Barclay was the center of a knot of
lads of his own age.

"And so, you don't think that we shall get to Berlin, Ralph
Barclay? You think that these Prussian louts are going to beat the
French army? Look now, it is a little strong to say that, in a
French town."

"But I don't say that, at all," Ralph Barclay said. "You are
talking as if it was a certainty that we were going to march over
the Prussians. I simply say, don't be too positive. There can be no
doubt about the courage of the French army; but pluck, alone, won't
do. The question is, are our generals and our organization as good
as those of the Prussians? And can we put as many, or anything like
as many, men into the field? I am at least half French, and hope
with all my heart that we shall thrash these Germans; but we know
that they are good soldiers, and it is safer not to begin to brag,
till the work is over."

There was silence, for a minute or two, after Ralph ceased
speaking. The fact was, the thought that perhaps France might be
defeated had never once, before, presented itself to them as
possible. They were half disposed to be angry with the English boy
for stating it; but it was in the first place, evident now that
they thought of it, that it was just possible and, in the second
place, a quarrel with Ralph Barclay was a thing which all his
schoolfellows avoided.

Ralph Barclay was nearly sixteen, his brother a year younger. Their
father, Captain Barclay, had lost a leg in one of the innumerable
wars in India, two or three years before the outbreak of the
Crimean war. He returned to England, and was recommended by his
doctors to spend the winter in the south of France. This he did
and, shortly after his arrival at Pau, he had fallen in love with
Melanie Duburg; daughter of a landed proprietor near Dijon, and who
was stopping there with a relative. A month later he called upon
her father at Dijon and, in the spring, they were married. Captain
Barclay's half pay, a small private income, and the little fortune
which his wife brought him were ample to enable him to live
comfortably, in France; and there, accordingly, he had settled
down.

His family consisted of Ralph, Percy, and a daughter--called, after
her mother, Melanie, and who was two years younger than Percy. It
had always been Captain Barclay's intention to return to England,
when the time came for the boys to enter into some business or
profession; and he had kept up his English connection by several
visits there, of some months' duration, with his whole family. The
boys, too, had been for two years at school in England--as well as
for two years in Germany--and they spoke the three languages with
equal fluency.

A prettier abode than that of Captain Barclay would be difficult to
find. It was in no particular style of architecture, and would have
horrified a lover of the classic. It was half Swiss, half Gothic,
and altogether French. It had numerous little gables, containing
the funniest-shaped little rooms. It had a high roof, with
projecting eaves; and round three sides ran a wide veranda, with a
trellis work--over which vines were closely trained--subduing the
glare of the summer sun, casting a cool green shade over the
sitting rooms, and affording a pretty and delightfully cool
retreat; where Mrs. Barclay generally sat with her work and taught
Melanie, moving round the house with the sun, so as to be always in
the shade.

The drawing and dining rooms both opened into this veranda The road
came up to the back of the house; and upon the other three sides
was a garden, which was a compromise between the English and French
styles. It had a smooth, well-mown lawn, with a few patches of
bright flowers which were quite English; and mixed up among them,
and beyond them, were clumps of the graceful foliaged plants and
shrubs in which the French delight. Beyond was a vineyard, with its
low rows of vines while, over these, the view stretched away to the
towers of Dijon.

In the veranda the boys, upon their return, found Captain Barclay
reading the papers, and smoking. He looked up as they entered.

"You are back early, boys."

"Yes, papa, there was so much talking going on, that the professor
gave it up as hopeless. You have heard the news, of course?"

"Yes, boys, and am very sorry to hear it."

Captain Barclay spoke so gravely that Ralph asked, anxiously:

"Don't you think we shall thrash them, papa?"

"I consider it very doubtful, Ralph," his father said. "Prussia has
already gained an immense moral victory. She has chosen her own
time for war; and has, at the same time, obliged France to take the
initiative, and so to appear to be the aggressor--and therefore to
lose the moral support of Europe. She has forced this quarrel upon
France, and yet nine-tenths of Europe look upon France as the
inciter of the war. History will show the truth, but it will then
be too late. As it is, France enters upon the war with the weight
of public opinion dead against her and, what is worse, she enters
upon it altogether unprepared; whereas Prussia has been getting
ready, for years."

"But the French always have shown themselves to be better soldiers
than the Prussians, papa."

"So they have, Percy, and--equally well led, disciplined, and
organized--I believe that, in anything like equal forces, they
would do so again. The question is, have we generals to equal those
who led the Prussians to victory against Austria? Is our discipline
equal--or anything like equal--to that of the Prussians? Is our
organization as good as theirs? And lastly, have we anything like
their numbers?

"I don't like the look of it, boys, at all. We ought, according to
published accounts, to be able to put a larger army than theirs in
the field, just at first and, if we were but prepared, should
certainly be able to carry all before us, for a while. I question
very much if we are so prepared. Supposing it to be so, however,
the success would, I fear, be but temporary; for the German
reserves are greatly superior to ours. Discipline, too, has gone
off sadly, since I first knew the French army.

"Radical opinions may be very wise, and very excellent for a
nation, for aught I know; but it is certain that they are fatal to
the discipline of an army. My own opinion, as you know, is that
they are equally fatal for a country, but that is a matter of
opinion, only; but of the fact that a good Radical makes an
extremely bad soldier, I am quite clear, and the spread of Radical
opinion among the French army has been very great. Then, too, the
officers have been much to blame. They think of pleasure far more
than duty. They spend four times as much time in the cafes and
billiard rooms as they do in the drill ground. Altogether, in my
opinion, the French army has greatly gone off in all points--except
in courage which, being a matter of nationality, is probably as
high as ever. It is a bad lookout, boys--a very bad lookout.

"There, don't talk about it any more. I do not want to make your
mother unhappy. Remember not to express--either as my or your own
opinion--anything I have said, in the town. It would only render
you obnoxious, and might even cause serious mischief. If things go
wrong, French mobs are liable to wreak their bad temper on the
first comer."

"Percy," Mrs. Barclay said, coming into the room, "please to run
down to the end of the garden, and cut some lettuces for salad.
Marie is so upset that she can do nothing."

"What is the matter with her, mamma?" both the boys asked, at once.

"Victor Harve--you know him, the son of the blacksmith Harve, who
had served his time in the army, and came back two months ago to
join his father in his forge, and to marry our Marie--has left to
join his regiment. He was here, an hour since, to say goodbye. By
this time he will have started. It is not wonderful that she weeps.
She may never see him again. I have told her that she must be
brave. A Frenchwoman should not grudge those she loves most to
fight for France."

"Ah! Melanie," Captain Barclay said, smiling, "these little
patriotic outbursts are delightful, when one does not have to
practice them at one's own expense. 'It is sweet and right to die
for one's country,' said the old Roman, and everyone agrees with
him but, at the same time, every individual man has a strong
objection to put himself in the way of this sweet and proper death.

"Although, as you say, no Frenchwoman should grudge her love to her
country; I fancy, if a levee en masse took place, tomorrow, and the
boys as well as the cripples had to go--so that Ralph, Percy, and I
were all obliged to march--you would feel that you did grudge us to
the country, most amazingly."

Mrs. Barclay turned a little pale at the suggestion.

"Ah! I can't suppose that, Richard. You are English, and they
cannot touch you, or the boys; even if you could march, and if they
were old enough."

Captain Barclay smiled.

"That is no answer, Melanie. You are shirking the question. I said,
if they were to make us go."

"Ah, yes! I am afraid I should grudge you, Richard, and the boys,
except the enemy were to invade France; and then everyone, even we
women, would fight. But of that there is no chance. It is we who
will invade."

Captain Barclay made no reply.

"The plums want gathering, papa," Percy said, returning from
cutting the lettuces. "It was arranged that our cousins should come
over, when they were ripe, and have a regular picking. They have no
plums, and Madame Duburg wants them for preserving. May we go over
after dinner, and ask them to come in at three o'clock, and spend
the evening?"

"Certainly," Captain Barclay said; "and you can give your mamma's
compliments, and ask if your uncle and Madame Duburg will come in,
after they have dined. The young ones will make their dinner at our
six o'clock tea."

In France early dinner is a thing scarcely known, even among the
peasantry; that is to say, their meals are taken at somewhat the
same time as ours are, but are called by different names. The
Frenchman never eats what we call breakfast; that is, he never
makes a really heavy meal, the first thing in the morning. He
takes, however, coffee and milk and bread and butter, when he gets
up. He does not call this breakfast. He speaks of it as his morning
coffee; and takes his breakfast at eleven, or half-past eleven, or
even at twelve. This is a regular meal, with soup, meat, and wine.
In England it would be called an early lunch. At six o'clock the
Frenchman dines, and even the working man calls this meal--which an
English laborer would call supper--his dinner. The Barclays' meals,
therefore, differed more in name than in reality from those of
their neighbors.

Louis and Philippe Duburg came in at five o'clock, but brought a
message that their sisters would come in with their father and
mother, later. Melanie was neither surprised nor disappointed at
the non-arrival of her cousins. She greatly preferred being with
the boys, and always felt uncomfortable with Julie and Justine;
who, although little older than herself, were already as prim,
decorous, and properly behaved as if they had been women of thirty
years old. After tea was over, the four boys returned to their work
of gathering plums; while Melanie--or Milly, as her father called
her, to distinguish her from her mother--picked up the plums that
fell, handed up fresh baskets and received the full ones, and
laughed and chattered with her brothers and cousins.

While so engaged, Monsieur and Madame Duburg arrived, with their
daughters, Julie and Justine. Monsieur Duburg--Mrs. Barclay's
brother--was proprietor of a considerable estate, planted almost
entirely with vines. His income was a large one, for the soil was
favorable, and he carried on the culture with such care and
attention that the wines fetched a higher price than any in the
district. He was a clear-headed, sensible man, with a keen eye to a
bargain. He was fond of his sister and her English husband, and had
offered no opposition to his boys entering into the games and
amusements of their cousins--although his wife was constantly
urging him to do so. It was, to Madame Duburg, a terrible thing
that her boys--instead of being always tidy and orderly, and ready,
when at home, to accompany her for a walk--should come home
flushed, hot, and untidy, with perhaps a swelled cheek or a black
eye, from the effects of a blow from a cricket ball or boxing
glove.

Upon their arrival at Captain Barclay's, the two gentlemen strolled
out to smoke a cigar together, and to discuss the prospects of the
war and its effect upon prices.

Mrs. Barclay had asked Julie and Justine if they would like to go
down to the orchard; but Madame Duburg had so hurriedly answered in
their name, in a negative--saying that they would stroll round the
garden until Melanie returned--that Mrs. Barclay had no resource
but to ask them, when they passed near the orchard, to call
Milly--in her name--to join them in the garden.

"My dear Melanie," Madame Duburg began, when her daughters had
walked away in a quiet, prim manner, hand in hand, "I was really
quite shocked, as we came along. There was Melanie, laughing and
calling out as loudly as the boys themselves, handing up baskets
and lifting others down, with her hair all in confusion, and
looking--excuse my saying so--more like a peasant girl than a young
lady."

Mrs. Barclay smiled quietly.

"Milly is enjoying herself, no doubt, sister-in-law; and I do not
see that her laughing, or calling out, or handing baskets will do
her any serious harm. As for her hair, five minutes' brushing will
set that right."

"But, my dear sister-in-law," Madame Duburg said, earnestly, "do
you recall to yourself that Milly is nearly fourteen years old;
that she will soon be becoming a woman, that in another three years
you will be searching for a husband for her? My faith, it is
terrible--and she has yet no figure, no manner;" and Madame Duburg
looked, with an air of gratified pride, at the stiff figures of her
own two girls.

"Her figure is not a bad one, sister-in-law," Mrs. Barclay said,
composedly; "she is taller than Julie--who is six months her
senior--she is as straight as an arrow. Her health is admirable;
she has never had a day's illness."

"But she cannot walk; she absolutely cannot walk!" Madame Duburg
said, lifting up her hands in horror.

"She walked upwards of twelve miles with her father, yesterday,"
Mrs. Barclay said, pretending to misunderstand her sister-in-law's
meaning.

"I did not mean that," Madame Duburg said, impatiently, "but she
walks like a peasant girl. My faith, it is shocking to say, but she
walks like a boy. I should be desolated to see my daughter step out
in that way.

"Then, look at her manners. My word, she has no manners at all. The
other day when I was here, and Monsieur de Riviere with his sons
called, she was awkward and shy; yes, indeed, she was positively
awkward and shy. It is dreadful for me to have to say so,
sister-in-law, but it is true. No manners, no ease! Julie, and even
Justine, can receive visitors even as I could do, myself."

"Her manners are not formed yet, sister-in-law," Mrs. Barclay said,
quietly, "nor do I care that they should be. She is a young girl at
present, and I do not wish to see her a woman before her time. In
three years it will be time enough for her to mend her manners."

"But in three years, sister-in-law, you will be looking for a
husband for her."

"I shall be doing nothing of the sort," Mrs. Barclay said,
steadily. "In that, as in many other matters, I greatly prefer the
English ways. As you know, we give up our house in two years, and
go to England to reside. We have economized greatly, during the
seventeen years since our marriage. We can afford to live in
England, now.

"At sixteen, therefore, Milly will have good masters; and for two
years her education will be carried on, and her walk and manner
will, no doubt, improve. In England, fathers and mothers do not
arrange the marriage of their children; and Milly will have to do
as other girls do--that is--wait until someone falls in love with
her, and she falls in love with him. Then, if he is a proper
person, and has enough to keep her, they will be married."

Madame Duburg was too much shocked at the expression of these
sentiments to answer at once. She only sighed, shook her head, and
looked upwards.

"It is strange," she said at last, "to hear you, sister-in-law--a
Frenchwoman--speak so lightly of marriage. As if a young girl could
know, as well as her parents, who is a fit and proper person for
her to marry. Besides, the idea of a young girl falling in love,
before she marries, is shocking, quite shocking!"

"My dear sister-in-law," Mrs. Barclay said, "we have talked this
matter over before, and I have always stated my opinion, frankly. I
have been a good deal in England; and have seen, therefore, and
know the result of English marriages. I know also what French
marriages are; and no one, who does know the state of things in the
two countries, can hesitate for a moment in declaring that married
life in England is infinitely happier, in every respect, than it is
in France. The idea of telling your daughter that she is to marry a
man whom she has never seen--as we do in France--is, to my mind,
simply monstrous. Fortunately, I myself married for love; and I
have been happy, ever since. I intend Milly, when the time comes,
to do the same thing."

Before Madame Duburg had time to answer, the gentlemen joined them,
and the conversation turned upon the war. In a short time the three
girls came up.

"What a rosy little thing you are, Milly," her uncle said; "where
do you get your plump cheeks, and your bright color? I wish you
could give the receipt to Julie and Justine. Why, if you were to
blow very hard, I do think you would blow them both down."

"I am really surprised at you, Monsieur Duburg," his wife said,
angrily. "I am sure I do not wish Julie and Justine to have as much
color as their cousin. I consider it quite a misfortune for poor
Milly. It is so very commonplace. Poor child, she looks as if she
had been working at the vintage."

"That is right, madame; stand up for your own," and her husband,
who was accustomed to his wife's speeches, laughed. "But for all
that, commonplace or not commonplace, I should like to see some of
Milly's bright, healthy color in my girls' cheeks; and I should
like to see them walk as if they had forgotten, for a moment, their
tight boots and high heels."

His wife was about to make an angry reply, when the arrival of the
four boys--bearing in triumph the last basket of plums--changed the
conversation; and shortly afterwards, Madame Duburg remarking that
the evening was damp, and that she did not like Julie and Justine
to be out in it any later, the Du burgs took their leave.



Chapter 2: Terrible News.


The ten days succeeding the declaration of war were days of
excitement, and anticipation. The troops quartered at Dijon moved
forward at once; and scarcely an hour passed but long trains,
filled with soldiers from Lyons and the South, were on their way up
towards Metz. The people of Dijon spent half their time in and
around the station. The platform was kept clear; but bands of
ladies relieved each other every few hours, and handed soup, bread,
fruit, and wine to the soldiers as they passed through. Each
crowded train was greeted, as it approached the station, with
cheers and waving of handkerchiefs; to which the troops as heartily
responded. Most of the trains were decorated with boughs, and
presented a gay appearance as, filled with the little line men, the
sunburned Zouaves, swarthy Turcos, gay hussars, or sober
artillerymen, they wound slowly into the town.

Some of the trains were less gay, but were not less significant of
war. Long lines of wagons, filled with cannon; open trucks with the
deadly shell--arranged side by side, point upwards, and looking
more like eggs in a basket than deadly missiles--came and went.
There, too, were long trains of pontoons for forming bridges while,
every half hour, long lines of wagons filled with biscuits, barrels
of wine, sacks of coffee, and cases of stores of all sorts and
kinds passed through.

The enthusiasm of Dijon, at the sight of this moving panorama of
war, rose to fever heat. The sound of the Marseillaise resounded
from morning to night. Victory was looked upon as certain, and the
only subject of debate was as to the terms which victorious France
would impose upon conquered Prussia. The only impatience felt was
for the news of the first victory.

Captain Barclay sent down several casks of wine, for the use of the
passing troops; and his wife went down, each day, to assist at the
distribution. In the evening she and Milly scraped old rags, to
make lint for the wounded. The Lycee was still closed--as it was
found impossible to get the boys to attend to their studies--and
Ralph and Percy spent their time in watching the trains go past,
and in shouting themselves hoarse.

Captain Barclay did not share in the general enthusiasm and, each
morning at breakfast, he looked more and more grave as, upon
opening the papers, he found there was still no news of the
commencement of hostilities.

"What difference does it make, papa?" Ralph asked, one day; "we are
sending fresh troops up, every hour, and I do not see how a few
days' delay can be any disadvantage to us."

"It makes all the difference, Ralph, all the difference in the
world. We had a considerably larger standing army than the
Prussians, and had the advantage that the main body of our troops
were very much nearer to the frontier than those of the Prussians.
If things had been ready, we ought to have marched two hundred
thousand men into Germany, three or four days--at latest--after the
declaration of war. The Germans could have had no force capable of
resisting them. We should have had the prestige of a first
success--no slight thing with a French army--and we should also
have had the great and solid advantage of fighting in an enemy's
country, instead of upon our own.

"The German reserves are far greater than our own. We know how
perfect their organization is, and every hour of delay is an
immense advantage to them. It is quite likely now that, instead of
the French invading Germany, it will be the Prussians who will
invade France."

The boys were but little affected by their father's forebodings. It
was scarcely possible to suppose that everyone could be wrong;
still more impossible to believe that those great hosts which they
saw passing, so full of high hope and eager courage, could be
beaten. They were, however, very glad to sit round the table of an
evening, while Captain Barclay opened a great map on the table,
explained the strength of the various positions, and the
probability of this or that line of attack being selected by one or
the other army.

Day after day went by until, on the 2nd of August, the news came at
last. The first blow had been struck, the first blood shed--the
French had taken Saarbruck.

"It is too late," Captain Barclay said, as Ralph and Percy rushed
in, to say that the news was posted up at the Prefecture. "It is
too late, boys. The English papers, of this morning, have brought
us the news that the Germans are massing at least seven or eight
hundred thousand men, along the line from Saar Louis to Spiers. It
is evident that they fell back from Saarbruck without any serious
resistance. In another two or three days they will be in readiness
and, as they must far outnumber our men, you will see that the
advantage at Saarbruck will not be followed up, and that the
Prussians will assume the offensive."

"Then what do you really think will be the result, papa?"

"I think, Ralph, that we shall be forced to do what--not having, at
once, taken the offensive--we ought to have done from the first. We
shall have to fall back, to abandon the line of frontier--which is
altogether indefensible--and to hold the line of the Moselle, and
the spurs of the Vosges; an immensely strong position, and which we
ought to be able to hold against all the efforts of Prussia."

The exultation of Dijon was but short lived for, on the 5th, the
boys came up in the afternoon, from the town, with very serious
faces.

"What is the matter, Ralph?"

"There is a rumor in the town, papa, that the Swiss papers have
published an account of the capture of Weissenburg, by the
Prussians. A great many French are said to be prisoners. Do you
think it can be true?"

"It is probable, at any rate, Ralph. The Swiss papers would, of
course, get the news an hour or so after it is known in Germany. We
must not begin by believing all that the telegram says, because
both sides are certain to claim victories; still, the absolute
capture of a town is a matter upon which there can be no dispute,
and is therefore likely enough to be true. We know the Prussians
were massed all along that line and, as I expected, they have taken
the offensive. Their chances of success in so doing were evident;
as neither party know where the others are preparing to strike a
blow, and each can therefore concentrate, and strike with an
overwhelming force at any given point.

"Now that the Germans have made the first move, and shown their
intention, both parties will concentrate in that direction. You
see, from Weissenburg the Germans can either march south upon
Strasburg, or southwest upon Metz or Nancy; but to reach this
latter place they will have to cross the spurs of the Vosges. The
French will, of course, try to bar their further advance. We may
expect a great battle, in a day or two."

The news came but too soon for--two days later--Dijon, as well as
all France, stood aghast at the news of the utter rout of
MacMahon's division, after the desperately contested battle of
Woerth; and the not less decided, though less disastrous, defeats
of the French left, at Forbach, by the troops of Steinmetz. Some
little consolation was, however, gleaned by the fact that the
French had been beaten in detail; and had shown the utmost
gallantry, against greatly superior numbers. They would now, no
doubt, fall back behind the Moselle; and hold that line, and the
position of the Vosges, until fresh troops could come up, and a
great battle be fought upon more even terms.

Fresh levies were everywhere ordered, and a deep and general
feeling of rage prevailed. No one thought of blaming the troops--it
was evident that they had done their best; the fault lay with the
generals, and with the organization.

Captain Barclay pointed out, to the boys, that the officers and men
were somewhat to blame, also; for the utter confusion which
prevailed among MacMahon's troops, in their retreat, showed that
the whole regimental system was faulty; and that there could have
been no real discipline, whatever, or the shattered regiments would
have rallied, a few miles from the field of battle.

In Dijon, the change during the last fortnight was marvelous The
war spirit was higher than ever. Cost what it might, this disgrace
must be wiped out. The Mobiles were hard at work, drilling. The
soldiers who had long left the army were starting, by every train,
to the depots. The sound of the Marseillaise rang through the
streets, night and day. The chorus, "To arms," gained a fresh
meaning and power and, in spite of these first defeats, none
dreamed of final defeat.

Every day, however, the news became worse. Strasburg was cut off;
and the Prussians marched unopposed across the spurs of the Vosges,
where a mere handful of men might have checked them.

"Boys, there are terrible days in store, for France," Captain
Barclay said, when the news came that the enemy had entered Nancy.
"The line of the Moselle is turned. Bazaine will be cut off, unless
he hurries his retreat; and then nothing can stop the Prussians
from marching to Paris."

The boys sat speechless at this terrible assurance.

"Surely it cannot be as bad as that," Mrs. Barclay said. "Frenchmen
cannot have lost all their old qualities; and all France will rise,
like one man, to march to the defense of Paris."

"Raw levies will be of no use, whatever, against the Prussian
troops, flushed with victory," Captain Barclay said; "even if they
were armed--and where are the arms, for a levy en masse, to come
from? If Bazaine be beaten, the only hope of France is for all the
troops who remain to fall back under the guns of the forts of
Paris; and for France to enter upon an immense guerrilla war. For
hosts of skirmishers to hang upon their flanks and rear; cutting
every road, destroying every bridge, checking the movements of
every detached body, and so actually starving them out, on the
ground which they occupy.

"This, however, will demand an immense amount of pluck, of
endurance, of perseverance, of sacrifice, and of patriotism. The
question is, does France possess these qualities?"

"Surely, Richard, you cannot doubt the patriotism of the French,"
Mrs. Barclay said, a little reproachfully.

"My dear Melanie," her husband said, "I am sorry to say that I very
greatly doubt the patriotism of the French. They are--more than any
people, more even than the English, whom they laugh at as a nation
of shopkeepers--a money-making race. The bourgeoise class, the
shopkeepers, the small proprietors, are selfish in the extreme.
They think only of their money, their business, and their comforts.
The lower class are perhaps better, but their first thoughts will
be how the war will affect themselves and, unless there is some
chance of the enemy approaching their homes, driving off their
cattle, and plundering their cottages, they will look on with a
very calm eye at the general ruin.

"I believe, remember, that those who will be called out will go
and, if affairs go as I fear that they will do, every man under
fifty years old in France will have to go out; but it is not enough
to go out. For a war like this, it will require desperate courage
and endurance, and an absolute disregard of life; to counterbalance
the disadvantages of want of discipline, want of arms, want of
artillery, and want of organization I may be wrong--I hope that I
am so--but time will show."

"And do you think that there is any chance of their coming down
here, as well as of going to Paris, papa?" Percy asked.

"That would depend upon the length of the resistance, Percy. If
France holds out, and refuses to grant any terms which the
Prussians might try to impose upon them, they may overrun half the
country and, as this town is directly upon their way for Lyons--the
second town of France--they are exceedingly likely to come this
way."

"Well, if they do, papa," Ralph said, with heightened color, "I
feel sure that every man who can carry a gun will go out, and that
every home will be defended."

"We shall see, Ralph," Captain Barclay said, "we shall see."

Another pause, and then came the news of that terrible three days'
fighting--on the 14th, 16th, and 18th--near Metz; when Bazaine, his
retreat towards Paris cut off, vainly tried to force his way
through the Prussian army and, failing, fell back into Metz. Even
now, when the position was well-nigh desperate--with the only great
army remaining shut up and surrounded; and with nothing save the
fragment of MacMahon's division, with a few other regiments,
collected in haste, and the new levies, encamped at Chalons,
between the victorious enemy and the capital--the people of France
were scarcely awake to the urgency of the position. The Government
concealed at least a portion of the truth, and the people were only
too ready to be deceived.

In Dijon, however, the facts were better known, and more
understood. The Swiss newspapers, containing the Prussian official
telegrams and accounts, arrived daily; and those who received them
speedily spread the news through the town. The consternation was
great, and general, but there was no sign of despair. Those of the
Mobiles who were armed and equipped were sent off, at once, to
Chalons. At every corner of the street were placards, calling out
the Mobiles and soldiers who had served their time; and, although
not yet called to arms, the national guard drilled in the Place
d'Armes, morning and evening.

"You will allow, Richard, that you were mistaken as to the
patriotism of the people," Mrs. Barclay said, one evening, to her
husband. "Everyone is rushing to arms."

"They are coming out better than I had expected, Melanie; but at
the same time, you will observe that they have no choice in the
matter. The Mobiles are called out, and have to go. All who can
raise the most frivolous pretext for exemption do so. There is a
perfect rush of young men to the Prefecture, to obtain places in
the clothing, medical, arming, and equipping departments; in any
sort of service, in fact, which will exempt its holder from taking
up arms.

"At the same time, there is a great deal of true, earnest
patriotism. Many married men, with families, have volunteered; and
those belonging to the categories called out do go, as you say,
cheerfully, if not willingly and, once enrolled, appear determined
to do their duty.

"France will need all the patriotism, and all the devotion of her
people to get through the present crisis. There is no saying how it
will end. I have no hope, whatever, that MacMahon's new army can
arrest the march of the enemy; and his true course is to fall back
upon Paris. Our chance, here, of remaining free from a visit of the
enemy depends entirely upon the length of time which Strasburg and
Metz hold out. Bazaine may be able to cut his way out but, at any
rate, he is likely to remain where he is, for some little time,
under the walls of Metz; for he occupies the attention of a
considerably larger force than that which he commands.

"The vital point, at present, is to cut the roads behind the
Germans. If it were not for this cork leg of mine, Melanie, I would
try and raise a small guerrilla corps, and set out on my own
account. I have lived here for seventeen years, now, and the French
fought by our side, in the Crimea. Could I do so, I should
certainly fight for France, now. It is clearly the duty of anyone
who can carry a musket to go out."

Just at this moment the door opened, and Ralph and Percy entered
hastily. They both looked excited, but serious.

"What is it, boys?"

"Papa," Ralph said, "there is a notice up, signed by your friend
Captain Tempe. He calls for a hundred volunteers, to join a corps
of franc tireurs--a sort of guerrillas, I believe--to go out to
harass the Germans, and cut their communication. Those who can are
to provide their own arms and equipments. A meeting is to be held,
tonight, for subscribing the money for those who cannot afford to
do so.

"We have come to ask you to let us join, papa. Louis and Philippe
have just gone to ask uncle's leave."

Captain Barclay listened in silence, with a very grave face. Their
mother sat down in a chair, with a white face.

"Oh, my boys, you are too young," she gasped out.

"We are stronger, mamma, than a great many of the men who have been
called out; and taller and stouter, in every way. We can walk
better than the greater portion of them. We are accustomed to
exercise and fatigue. We are far more fit to be soldiers than many
young men who have gone from here. You said yourself, mamma, that
everyone who could carry a gun ought to go out."

"But you are not French, boys," Mrs. Barclay said, piteously.

"We are half French, mamma. Not legally, but it has been home to
us, since we were born and, even if you had not been French, we
ought to fight for her."

Mrs. Barclay looked at her husband for assistance, but Captain
Barclay had leaned his face in his hands, and said nothing.

"Ah, Ralph; but Percy at least, he is only fifteen."

"I am nearly as big, nearly as strong as Ralph, mamma. Besides,
would it not be better to have two of us? If one is ill or--or
wounded--the other could look after him, you know.

"Mamma, dearest, we have talked it over, and we think we ought to
go. We are very strong for our ages; and it is strength, not years,
which matters. Mamma, you said a Frenchwoman should not grudge
those she loves to France; and that if France was invaded all, even
the women, should go out."

Mrs. Barclay was silent. She could not speak. She was so deadly
pale, and her face had such an expression of misery, that the boys
felt their resolution wavering.

Captain Barclay looked up.

"Boys," he said, very gravely, "I have one question to ask; which
you will answer me truly, upon your faith and honor Do you wish to
go merely--or principally--from a desire to see the excitement and
the adventure of a guerrilla war; or do you go out because you
desire earnestly to do your best, to defend the country in which
you were born, and lived? Are you prepared to suffer any hardship
and, if it is the will of God, to die for her?"

"We are, papa," both boys said.

And Ralph went on:

"When we first talked over the possibility of everyone being called
out--and of our going, too--we did look upon it as a case of fun
and excitement; but when the chance really came, we saw how serious
it was. We knew how much it would cost you, and dear mamma; and we
would not have asked you, had we not felt that we ought to go, even
if we knew we should be killed."

"In that case, boys," Captain Barclay said, solemnly, rising and
laying one hand on the shoulder of each of his sons, "in that case,
I say no more. You are a soldier's sons, and your example may do
good. It is your duty, and that of everyone, to fight for his
country. I give you my full consent to go. I should not have
advised it. At your age, there was no absolute duty. Still, if you
feel it so, I will not stand in your way.

"Go then, my boys, and may God watch over you, and keep you, and
send you safe home again."

So saying, he kissed them both on the forehead, and walked from the
room without saying another word.

Then the boys turned to their mother, who was crying silently and,
falling upon her neck, they kissed her and cried with her. It was
understood that her consent was given, with their father's.

Milly, coming in and hearing what was the matter, sat down in
sudden grief and astonishment on the nearest chair, and cried
bitterly. It was a sad half hour, and the boys were almost inclined
to regret that they had asked for leave to go. However, there was
no drawing back now and, when they left their mother, they went on
to tell their cousins that they were going.

They found Louis and Philippe in a state of great disappointment,
because their father had altogether refused to listen to their
entreaties. Upon hearing, however, that Ralph and Percy were going,
they gained fresh hope; for they said, if English boys could go and
fight for France, it was shameful that French boys should stay at
home, in idleness.

Captain Barclay, after giving permission to his sons to go as franc
tireurs, first went for a walk by himself, to think over the
consequences of his decision. He then went down into Dijon, and
called upon Captain Tempe. The commander of the proposed corps had
served for many years in the Zouaves, and was known to be an able
and energetic officer. He had left the service, five or six years
previously, upon his marriage. He lived a short distance, only,
from Captain Barclay; and a warm friendship had sprung up between
them.

Upon Captain Barclay telling him why he had come to see him,
Captain Tempe expressed his satisfaction at the decision of the
young Barclays.

"I have already the names of one or two lads little, if any, older
than your eldest boy," he said; "and although the other is
certainly very young yet, as he is very stout and strong for his
age, I have no doubt he will bear the fatigue as well as many of
the men."

"I wish I could go with you," Captain Barclay said.

"I wish you could, indeed," Captain Tempe replied, warmly; "but
with your leg you never could keep up, on foot; and a horse would
be out of the question, among the forests of the Vosges mountains.

"You might, however--if you will--be of great use in assisting me
to drill and discipline my recruits, before starting."

"That I will do, with pleasure," Captain Barclay said. "I had been
thinking of offering my services, in that way, to the municipality;
as very few of the officers of the Mobiles, still less of the
national guard, know their duty. As it is, I will devote myself to
your corps, till they march.

"In the first place, how strong do you mean them to be?"

"One strong company, say one hundred and twenty men," Captain Tempe
answered. "More than that would be too unwieldy for guerrilla work.
I would rather have twenty less, than more; indeed, I should be
quite satisfied with a hundred. If I find that volunteers come in,
in greater numbers than I can accept, I shall advise them to get up
other, similar corps. There ought to be scores of small parties,
hanging upon the rear and flank of the enemy, and interrupting his
communication."

"How do you think of arming them?"

"Either with chassepots, or with your English rifles. It is of no
use applying to Government. They will not be able to arm the
Mobiles, for months; to say nothing of the national guard. We must
buy the rifles in England, or Belgium. It will be difficult to get
chassepots; so I think the best plan will be to decide, at once,
upon your Sniders."

"I know a gentleman who is connected with these matters, in
England; and will, if you like, send out an order at once for, say,
eleven dozen Sniders; to be forwarded via Rouen, and thence by
rail."

"I should be very glad if you would do so," Captain Tempe said. "I
have no doubt about getting that number of recruits, easily enough.
I have had a good many calls already, this morning; and several
thousand francs of subscription have been promised. In another
three or four days, the money will be ready; so if you write to
your friends, to make an agreement with a manufacturer, I can give
you the money by the time his answer arrives. When the guns arrive,
those who can pay for them will do so, and the rest will be paid
for by the subscriptions.

"Of course, we shall want them complete with bayonets. If, at the
same time, you can order ammunition--say, two hundred rounds for
each rifle--it would be, perhaps, a saving of time; as the
Government may not be able to supply any, at first. However, after
the meeting, this evening, I shall see how the subscriptions come
in; and we can settle on these points, tomorrow. The municipality
will help, I have no doubt."

"What is your idea as to equipment, Tempe?"

"As light as possible. Nothing destroys the go of men more than to
be obliged to carry heavy weights on their shoulders. We shall be
essentially guerrillas Our attacks, to be successful, must be
surprises. Speed, therefore, and the power to march long distances,
are the first of essentials.

"I do not propose to carry knapsacks--mere haversacks, bags capable
of containing a spare shirt, a couple of pairs of socks, and three
days' biscuits. Each man must also carry a spare pair of boots,
strapped to his belt, behind. A thick blanket--with a hole cut for
the head, so as to make a cloak by day, a cover by night--will be
carried, rolled up over one shoulder like a scarf; and each man
should carry a light, waterproof coat.

"I do not propose to take even tents d'abri. They add considerably
to the weight and, unless when we are actually engaged in
expeditions, we shall make our headquarters at some village; when
the men can be dispersed among the cottages, or sleep in stables,
or barns. When on expeditions, they must sleep in the open air."

"I quite approve of your plan," Captain Barclay said. "Exclusive of
his rifle and ammunition, the weight need not be above fifteen
pounds a man and, with this, they ought to be able to march, and
fight, with comfort. The way your soldiers march out, laden like
beasts of burden, is absurd. It is impossible for men either to
march, or fight, with a heavy load upon their backs.

"Have you thought about uniform?"

"No, I have not settled at all. I thought of letting the men fix
upon one of their own choice."

"Do nothing of the sort," Captain Barclay said. "The men will only
think of what is most becoming, or picturesque. You cannot do
better than fix upon some good, serviceable uniform of a
dark-grayish color; something similar to that of some of our
English Volunteer Corps. I will give you a drawing of it.

"Let the tunics be made of a thick and good cloth. Let the men have
short trousers--or, as we call them, knickerbockers--with leather
gaiters and lace boots. The shoes of your soldier are altogether a
mistake. I will bring you a sketch, tomorrow; and you will see that
it is neat, as well as serviceable."

"Thank you.

"By the way, I suppose that you have no objection to my mentioning,
at the meeting this evening, that your sons have joined? If there
should be any inclination to hang back--which I hope there will not
be--the fact that your boys have joined may decide many who would
otherwise hesitate."

"Certainly.

"I will not detain you longer, at present. I shall see you in a day
or two, and any assistance which I can give is at your service."

"Thanks very much. I only wish that you could go with us.

"Goodbye. Tell the boys that their names are down, and that we
shall begin drill in a day or two."



Chapter 3: Death To The Spy!


The next morning Madame Duburg arrived, at ten o'clock; an hour at
which she had never, as far as Mrs. Barclay knew, turned out of her
house since her marriage. She was actually walking fast, too. It
was evident that something serious was the matter.

Mrs. Barclay was in the garden, and her visitor came straight out
from the house to her.

"Is anything the matter?" was Mrs. Barclay's first question.

"Yes, a great deal is the matter," Madame Duburg began, vehemently.
"You and your English husband are mad. Your wretched boys are mad.
They have made my sons mad, also; and--my faith--I believe that my
husband will catch it. It is enough to make me, also, mad."

Notwithstanding the trouble in which Mrs. Barclay was, at the
resolution of her sons, she could scarcely help smiling at the
excitement of Madame Duburg; the cause of which she at once
guessed. However, she asked, with an air of astonishment:

"My dear sister-in-law, what can you be talking about?"

"I know what I say," Madame Duburg continued. "I always said that
you were mad, you and your husband, to let your boys go about and
play, and tear and bruise themselves like wild Indians. I always
knew that harm would come of it, when I saw my boys come in
hot--oh, so unpleasantly hot, to look at--but I did not think of
such harm as this. My faith, it is incredible. When I heard that
you were to marry yourself to an Englishman, I said at once:

"'It is bad, harm will come of it. These English are islanders.
They are eccentric. They are mad. They sell their wives in the
market, with a cord round their neck.'"

"My dear sister-in-law," Mrs. Barclay interrupted, "I have so often
assured you that that absurd statement was entirely false; and due
only to the absolute ignorance, of our nation, of everything
outside itself."

"I have heard it often," Madame Duburg went on, positively. "They
are a nation of singularities. I doubt not that it is true, he has
hidden the truth from you. True or false, I care not. They are mad.
For this I care not. My faith, I have not married an Englishman.
Why, then, should I care for the madness of this nation of
islanders?

"This I said, when I heard that you were to marry an Englishman.
Could I imagine that I, also, was to become a victim? Could I
suppose that my husband--a man sensible in most things--would also
become mad; that my boys would grow up like young savages, and
would offer themselves to go out to sleep without beds, to catch
colds, to have red noses and coughs, perhaps even--my faith--to be
killed by the balls of German pigs? My word of honor, I ask myself:

"'Am I living in France? Am I asleep? Am I dreaming? Am I, too,
mad?'

"I said to myself:

"'I shall go to my sister-in-law, and I will demand of her, is it
possible that these things are true?'"

"If you mean by all this, sister-in-law, is it true that I have
consented to my boys going out to fight for France, it is quite
true," Mrs. Barclay said, quietly.

Madame Duburg sat down upon a garden seat, raised her hands, and
nodded her head slowly and solemnly.

"She says it is true, she actually says that it is true."

"Why should they not go?" Mrs. Barclay continued, quietly. "They
are strong enough to carry arms, and why should they not go out to
defend their country? In a short time, it is likely that everyone
who can carry arms will have to go. I shall miss them sorely, it is
a terrible trial; but other women have to see their sons go out,
why should not I?"

"Because there is no occasion for it, at all," Madame Duburg said,
angrily; "because they are boys and not men, because their father
is English; and stupid men like my husband will say, if these young
English boys go, it will be a shame upon us for our own to remain
behind.

"What, I ask you, is the use of being well off? What is the use of
paying taxes for an army, if our boys must fight? It is absurd, it
is against reason, it is atrocious."

Madame Duburg's anger and remonstrance were, alike, lost upon Mrs.
Barclay; and she cut her visitor short.

"My dear sister-in-law, it is of no use arguing or talking. I
consider, rightly or wrongly, that the claims of our country stand
before our private convenience, or inconvenience. If I were a man,
I should certainly go out to fight; why should not my boys do so,
if they choose? At any rate, I have given my consent, and it is too
late to draw back, even if I wished to do so--which I say, frankly,
that I do not."

Madame Duburg took her departure, much offended and, late in the
evening, her husband came in and had a long talk with Captain
Barclay. The following morning Louis and Philippe came in--in a
high state of delight--to say that their father had, that morning,
given his consent to their going.

In three days after the opening of the list, a hundred and twenty
men had inscribed their names; and Captain Tempe refused to admit
more. Numbers were, he argued, a source of weakness rather than of
strength, when the men were almost entirely ignorant of drill. For
sudden attacks, for night marches, for attacks upon convoys, number
is less needed than dash and speed. Among large bodies discipline
cannot be kept up, except by immense severity upon the part of the
officers; or by the existence of that feeling of discipline and
obedience, among the men, which is gained only by long custom to
military habits. Besides which, the difficulty of obtaining
provisions for a large body of men would be enormous.

Indeed, Captain Tempe determined to organize even this small corps
into four companies, each of thirty men; to act under one head, and
to join together upon all occasions of important expeditions; but
at other times to be divided among villages, at such distance as
would enable them to watch a large extent of country, each company
sending out scouts and outposts in its own neighborhood.

By far the larger proportion of those who joined were either
proprietors, or the sons of proprietors, in and around Dijon. At
that time Government had made no arrangement, whatever, concerning
franc tireurs; and no pay was, therefore, available. The invitation
was, therefore, especially to those willing and able to go out upon
their own account, and at their own expense. Other recruits had
been invited but, as these could join the regular forces and
receive pay, and other advantages, the number who sent in their
names was small. The men who did so were, for the most part, picked
men; foresters, wood cutters, and others who preferred the
certainty of active and stirring service, among the franc tireurs,
to the pay and comparative monotony of the regular service. There
were some forty of these men among the corps, the rest being all
able to provide at least their outfit. Subscriptions had come in
rapidly and, in a week, an ample sum was collected to arm and equip
all those not able to do so for themselves; and to form a military
chest sufficient to pay for the food of the whole corps, in the
field, for some time.

When the list of volunteers was complete, a meeting was held at
which, for the first time, the future comrades met. Besides Ralph
and Percy, and their cousins, there were six or eight others of
their school friends, all lads of about sixteen. It was an
important moment in their lives, when they then felt themselves--if
not actually men--at least, as going to do the work of men. Upon
the table in the room in which the meeting was held was a document,
which each in turn was to sign and, behind this, Captain Tempe took
his seat.

As many of those present knew each other, there was a considerable
buzz and talk in the room, until Captain Tempe tapped the table for
silence, and then rose to speak.

"My friends," he began, "--for I cannot call you comrades, until
you have formally entered your names--before you irrevocably commit
yourselves to this affair, I wish you each to know exactly what it
is that we are going to do. This will be no holiday expedition. I
can promise all who go with me plenty of excitement, and a great
deal of fighting; but I can also promise them, with equal
certainty, an immense deal of suffering--an amount of hardship and
privation of which, at present, few here have any idea, whatever.
The winter is fast coming on, and winter in the Vosges mountains is
no trifle. Let no one, then, put down his name here who is not
prepared to suffer every hardship which it is well possible to
suffer.

"As to the danger, I say nothing. You are Frenchmen; and have come
forward to die, if needs be, for your country."

Here the speaker was interrupted by loud cheering, and cries of
"Vive la France!"

"Next, as to discipline. This is an extremely important point. In
our absence from military stations, it is essential that we,
ourselves, should keep and enforce the strictest discipline. I have
this morning received from General Palikao--under whom I served,
for many years--an answer to an application I wrote to him, a week
since. He highly approves of my plan of cutting the roads behind
the Prussians, and only wishes that he had a hundred small corps
out upon the same errand. He has already received other proposals
of the same nature. He enclosed, with his letter, my formal
appointment as Commandant of the Corps of Franc Tireurs of Dijon;
with full military authority, and power."

Great cheering again broke out.

"This power, in case of need, I warn you that I shall use
unhesitatingly. Discipline, in a corps like ours, is everything.
There must be no murmuring, under hardships; no hesitation in
obeying any order, however unpleasant. Prompt, willing, cheerful
obedience when at work; a warm friendship, and perfect good
fellowship at other times: this is my programme."

The speaker was again interrupted with hearty cheering.

"I intend to divide the corps into four companies, each of thirty
men. Each company will have an officer; and will, at times, act
independently of each other. I have deliberated whether it is best
to allow each company to choose its own officer, or whether to
nominate them myself. I have determined to adopt the latter course.
You can hardly be such good judges, as to the qualities required by
officers during an expedition like the present, as I am; and as I
know every man here, and as I shall have the opportunity of seeing
more of each man, during the three weeks which we shall spend here
upon drill, I shall then choose an officer for each company; but I
will leave it to each company to decide whether to accept my
choice, or not. There may be points in a man's character which may
make him unpopular.

"Now, as to drill. We have three weeks before us. Not long enough
to make men good soldiers; but amply sufficient--with hard work--to
make them good skirmishers. I have already arranged with four men
who have served as non-commissioned officers in the army, one of
whom will take each company.

"Captain Barclay--who is well known to most of you--has kindly
offered to give musketry instruction, for four hours each morning.
Ten men of each company will go, each morning for a week, to drill
at the range; so that, in three weeks, each man will have had a
week's instruction. The hours will be from seven to eleven. The
others will drill during the same hours.

"All will drill together, in the afternoon, from three to six. The
officer commanding the troops, here, has promised us the loan of a
hundred and twenty old guns, which are in store; and also of twenty
chassepots for rifle practice.

"That is all I have to say. All who are ready and willing to enter,
upon these terms, can now sign their names. Those who are not
perfectly sure of their own willingness can draw back, before it is
too late."

When the cheering ceased, each man came forward and signed his
name.

"The first parade will take place, at seven tomorrow morning, in
the Place d'Armes. A suit of uniform, complete, will be exhibited
here at twelve o'clock. A man has offered to supply them, at
contract prices; but any who prefer it can have it made by their
own tailor.

"Now, good night, boys."

"Vive les franc tireurs du Dijon!"

"Vive la France!" and, with a cheer, the men separated.

The next morning the corps met, and were divided into companies.
The division was alphabetical, and the young Barclays and Duburgs
were all in the first company. This was a matter of great pleasure
to them, as they had been afraid that they might have been
separated.

The following day, drill began in earnest and, accustomed as the
boys were to exercise, they found seven hours a day hard work of
it. Still, they felt it very much less than many of the young men
who, for years, had done little but lounge in cafes, or stroll at
the promenade. All, however, stuck to their work and, as their
hearts were in it, it was surprising how quickly they picked up the
rudiments of drill. Fortunately, they were not required to learn
anything beyond the management of their firearms, the simplest
movements, and the duty of skirmishers; as all complicated
maneuvers would have been useless, in a small corps whose duties
would be confined entirely to skirmishing.

With this branch of their work, Captain Tempe was determined that
they should be thoroughly acquainted, and they were taught how to
use cover of all kinds with advantage; how to defend a building,
crenelate a wall, fell trees to form an obstacle across roads, or a
breastwork in front of them; and how to throw themselves into
square, rapidly, to repel cavalry.

Captain Barclay was indefatigable as a musketry instructor and,
with the aid of a few friends, got up a subscription which was
spent in a number of small prizes, so as to give the men as much
interest as possible in their work. Captain Tempe impressed most
strenuously, upon the men, the extreme importance of proficiency in
shooting; as it was upon the accuracy and deadliness of their fire
that they would have to rely, to enable them to contend with
superior forces in the combats they would have to go through; and
each man would probably have frequently to depend, for his life,
upon the accuracy of his fire.

The original plan--of instructing a third of the men, each week, in
musketry--was abandoned; and the parties were changed each day, in
order to enable all to advance at an equal rate. Besides, their
ammunition was supplied; so that those who chose to do so could
practice shooting, for their own amusement, between their morning
and afternoon drill.

The Barclays were constant in their attendance at the shooting
ground; and the steady hand and eye which cricket, fencing, and
other exercises had given them now stood them in good stead for, by
the end of the time, they became as good marksmen as any in the
corps. They still lived at home, as did all those members of the
corps whose residences were in and around Dijon. For those who
lived too far away to come in and out every day to drill, a large
empty barn was taken, and fitted up as a temporary barracks.

The time did not pass away without great excitement for, as the end
of August drew on, everyone was watching, in deep anxiety, for the
news of a battle near Chalons--where MacMahon had been organizing a
fresh army. Then came the news that the camp at Chalons was broken
up, and that MacMahon was marching to the relief of Bazaine. Two or
three days of anxious expectation followed; and then--on the 3rd of
September--came the news, through Switzerland, of the utter defeat
and surrender of the French army, at Sedan.

At first, the news seemed too terrible to be true. People seemed
stunned at the thought of a hundred thousand Frenchmen laying down
their arms. Two days later came the news of the revolution in
Paris. This excited various emotions among the people; but the
prevailing idea seemed to be that--now there was a republic--past
disasters would be retrieved.

"What do you think of the news, papa?" the boys asked as, drill
over, they hurried up to talk the matter over with their father.

"With any other people, I should consider it to be the most
unfortunate event which could have possibly occurred," Captain
Barclay said. "A change of Government--involving a change of
officials throughout all the departments, and a perfect upset of
the whole machinery of organization--appears little short of
insanity. At the same time, it is possible that it may arouse such
a burst of national enthusiasm that the resistance which, as far as
the civil population is concerned, has as yet been contemptible--in
fact, has not been attempted at all--may become of so obstinate and
desperate a character that the Prussians may be fairly wearied out.

"There is scarcely any hope of future victories in the field. Raw
levies, however plucky, can be no match for such troops as the
Prussians, in the open. The only hope is in masses of franc tireurs
upon the rear and flanks of the enemy. Every bridge, every wood,
every village should be defended to the death. In this way the
Prussians would only hold the ground they stand on; and it would be
absolutely impossible for them to feed their immense armies, or to
bring up their siege materiel against Paris.

"The spirit to do this may possibly be excited by the revolution;
otherwise, France is lost. Success alone can excuse it; for a more
senseless, more unjustifiable, more shameful revolution was, in my
mind, never made. It has been effected purely by the Radicals and
roughs of Paris--the men who have, for years, been advocating a war
with Prussia; and who, a month ago, were screaming 'To Berlin.' For
these men to turn round upon the Emperor in his misfortune and,
without consulting the rest of France, to effect a revolution, is
in my mind simply infamous.

"Even regarded as a matter of policy, it is bad in the extreme.
Austria, Italy, and Russia--to say nothing of England--would,
sooner or later, have interfered in favor of an established empire;
but their sympathies will be chilled by this revolution. The
democratic party in all these countries may exult, but the extreme
democratic party do not hold the reins of power anywhere; and their
monarchs will certainly not feel called upon to assist to establish
a republic.

"Prussia herself--intensely aristocratic in her institutions--will
probably refuse to treat, altogether, with the schemers who have
seized the power; for the King of Prussia is perhaps the greatest
hater of democracy in Europe.

"Still, boys, these changes make no difference in your duty. You
are fighting for France, not for an empire or a republic and, as
long as France resists, it is your duty to continue. In fact, it is
now more than ever the duty of you, and of every Frenchman, to
fight. Her army is entirely gone; and it is simply upon the pluck
and energy of her population that she has to trust."

"Do you think Paris will hold out, papa?"

"She is sure to do so, boys. She has made the revolution, and she
is bound to defend it. I know Paris well. The fortifications are
far too strong to be taken by a sudden attack, and it will be a
long time before the Prussians can bring up a siege train. Paris
will only be starved out and, if her people are only half as brave
as they are turbulent, they ought to render it impossible for the
Prussians to blockade such an immense circle. At any rate, France
has two months; perhaps much longer, but two months ought to be
quite enough, if her people have but spirit to surround the enemy,
to cut off his supplies, and to force him to retreat."

The next morning, when the corps assembled for drill, Captain Tempe
addressed them on the subject of the events in Paris. He told them
that, whether they approved or disapproved of what had taken place
there, their duty as Frenchmen was plain. For the present they were
not politicians, but patriots; and he hoped that not a word of
politics would be spoken in the corps, but that everyone would give
his whole thought, his whole strength and, if must be, his life in
the cause of France.

His address was greatly applauded, and gave immense satisfaction to
the men; for already differences of opinion were becoming manifest
among them. Some had exulted loudly at the downfall of Napoleon;
others had said little, but their gloomy looks had testified
sufficiently what were their opinions; while many among the
gentlemen in the corps, especially those belonging to old families,
were well known to be attached either to a Legitimist or Orleanist
Prince. The proposal, therefore, that no politics should be
discussed during the war, but that all should remember only that
they were fighting for France, gave great satisfaction; and
promised a continuance of the good fellowship which had hitherto
reigned in the corps.

It was a great day when, a fortnight from its first organization,
the corps turned out for the first time in their uniforms. The band
of the national guard headed them, as they marched down the high
street of Dijon to the parade ground; and--as the spectators
cheered, the ladies waved their handkerchiefs, and the whole corps
joined in cheers, to the stirring notes of the Marseillaise--the
young Barclays felt their cheeks flush, their hands tighten upon
their rifles, and their hearts beat with a fierce longing to be
face to face with the hated Prussians.

A day or two after this, the Snider rifles ordered from England by
Captain Barclay arrived; and although the men at first preferred
the chassepots, with which they were familiar, they were soon
accustomed to the new weapons; and readily acknowledged the
advantage which--as their commander pointed out to them--the
dark-brown barrels possessed, for skirmishers, over the bright
barrels of the chassepots which, with the sun shining upon them,
would betray them to an enemy miles away.

A day or two afterwards, as Ralph and Percy were returning in the
evening from drill, they heard a great tumult in the streets. They
hurried forward to see what was the matter, and found an excited
crowd shouting and gesticulating.

"Death to the spy!"

"Death to the spy!"

"Hang him!"

"Kill the dog!" were the shouts, and two gendarmes in the center of
the crowd were vainly trying to protect a man who was walking
between them. He was a tall, powerful-looking man; but it was
impossible to see what he was like, for the blood was streaming
down his forehead, from a blow he had just received.

Just as the boys came up, another blow from a stick fell on his
head; and this served to rouse him to desperation, for he turned
round, with one blow knocked down the fellow who had struck him,
and then commenced a furious attack upon his persecutors. For a
moment they drew back, and then closed upon him again. Blows from
sticks and hands rained upon him, but he struggled desperately. At
last, overwhelmed by numbers, he fell; and as he did so he raised a
wild shout, "Hurroo for ould Ireland."

"He is an Englishman, Percy," Ralph exclaimed; "he is not a
Prussian, at all. Come on!

"Here, Louis, Philippe, help; they are killing an Englishman."

Followed by their cousins--who had just arrived at the spot--the
boys made a rush through the crowd; and arrived in another moment
by the prostrate man, whom his assailants were kicking savagely.
The rush of the four boys--aided by the butt-end of their rifles,
which they used freely on the ribs of those who stood in their
way--cleared off the assailants for an instant; and the two
gendarmes--who had been hustled away--drawing their swords, again
took their place by the side of their insensible prisoner.

The mob had only recoiled for a moment; and now, furious at being
baulked of their expected prey, prepared to rush upon his
defenders; shouting, as they did so:

"Death to the spy!"

The moment's delay had, however, given time to the boys to fix
bayonets.

Illustration: Rescue of a Supposed Spy.

"Keep off," Ralph shouted, "or we run you through! The man is not a
spy, I tell you. He is an Englishman."

The noise was too great for the words to be heard and, with cries
of "Death to the spy!" the men in front prepared for a rush. The
leveled bayonets and drawn swords, however, for a moment checked
their ardor; but those behind kept up the cry, and a serious
conflict would have ensued, had not a party of five or six of the
franc tireurs come along at the moment.

These--seeing their comrades standing with leveled bayonets,
keeping the mob at bay--without asking any questions, at once burst
their way through to their side; distributing blows right and left,
heartily, with the butt-end of their rifles. This reinforcement put
an end to the threatened conflict; and the gendarmes, aided by two
of the franc tireurs, lifted the insensible man and carried him to
the Maine; the rest of the franc tireurs marching on either side as
a guard, and the yelling crowd following them.

Once inside the Maine the gates were shut and--the supposed spy
being laid down on the bench--cold water was dashed in his face;
and in a few minutes he opened his eyes.

"The murdering villains!" he muttered to himself. "They've kilt me
entirely, bad luck to them! A hundred to one, the cowardly
blackguards!

"Where am I?" and he made an effort to rise.

"You're all right," Ralph said. "You're with friends. Don't be
afraid, you're safe now."

"Jabers!" exclaimed the Irishman in astonishment, sitting up and
looking round him, "here's a little French soldier, speaking as
illegant English as I do, meself."

"I'm English," laughed Ralph, "and lucky it was for you that we
came along. We heard you call out, just as you fell; and got in in
time, with the help of our friends, to save your life. Another
minute or two, and we should have been too late."

"God bless your honor!" the man--who had now thoroughly recovered
himself--said earnestly. "And it was a tight shave, entirely.
You've saved Tim Doyle's life; and your honor shall see that he's
not ungrateful. Whenever you want a lad with a strong arm and a
thick stick, Tim's the boy."

"Thank you, Tim," Ralph said, heartily. "Now you had better let the
surgeon look at your head. You have got some nasty cuts."

"Sure, and my head's all right, your honor It isn't a tap from a
Frenchman that would break the skull of Tim Doyle."

The gendarmes now intimated that, as the prisoner was restored, he
must go in at once before the Maire. The young Barclays accompanied
him, and acted as interpreters at the examination. The story was a
simple one, and the passport and other papers upon the Irishman
proved its truth conclusively.

Tim was an Irishman, who had come out as groom with an English
gentleman. His master had fallen ill at Lyons, had parted with his
horses and carriage, and returned to England. Tim had accepted the
offer of the horse dealer who had purchased the horses to remain in
his service, and had been with him six months when the war broke
out. He had picked up a little French, but had been several times
arrested in Lyons, as a spy; and his master had at last told him
that it was not safe for him to remain, and that he had better
return to England.

He had reached Dijon on that morning; but the train, instead of
going on, had been stopped, as large numbers of Mobiles were
leaving for Paris, and the ordinary traffic was suspended. Tim had
therefore passed the day strolling about Dijon. The hour had
approached at which he had been told that a train might leave, and
Tim had asked a passer by the way to the station.

His broken French at once aroused suspicion. A crowd collected in a
few minutes; and Tim was, in the first place, saved from being
attacked by the arrival of two gendarmes upon the scene. He had at
once told them that he was English, and had produced his passport;
and they had decided upon taking him to the Maire, for the
examination of his papers--but on the way the crowd, increased by
fresh arrivals, had determined to take the law into their own
hands; and only the arrival of the young Barclays, and their
cousins, had saved his life.

The Maire saw at once, upon examination of the papers, that the
story was correct; and pronounced that Tim was at liberty to go
where he pleased. The poor fellow, however--though he made light of
his wounds and bruises--was much shaken; and it would, moreover,
have been dangerous for him to venture again into the streets of
Dijon. Ralph therefore at once offered to take him out, and to give
him a night's shelter; an offer which the Irishman accepted, with
many thanks.

It was now getting dark and, accompanied by their cousins, the
Barclays were let out with Tim Doyle from a back entrance to the
Maine; and made their way unnoticed through the town; and arrived,
half an hour later, at home. Captain and Mrs. Barclay, upon hearing
the story, cordially approved of what the boys had done; and
Captain Barclay having--in spite of Tim's earnest remonstrance that
it was of no consequence in the world--put some wet rags upon the
most serious of the wounds, bandaged up his head, and sent him at
once to bed.

In the morning, when the lads started for drill, the Irishman was
still in bed; but when they returned to dinner, they found him
working in the garden, as vigorously as if the events of the
previous day had been a mere dream. When he saw them coming, he
stuck his spade into the ground and went forward to meet them.

"God bless your honors, but I'm glad to see you again; and to thank
you for saving my life, which them bastes had made up their minds
they were going to have. I ain't good at talking, your honors; but
if it's the last drop of my blood that would be of any use to you,
you'd be heartily welcome to it."

"I am very glad we arrived in time, Tim," Ralph said. "And it's
lucky for you that you shouted 'Hurrah for old Ireland!' as you
went down; for of course we had no idea you were a countryman and,
although we were disgusted at the brutality of that cowardly mob,
we could hardly have interfered between them and a German spy.

"What are you thinking of doing now? It will hardly be safe for you
to travel through France while this madness about spies lasts for,
with your broken French, you would be getting taken up continually."

"I'm not thinking of it at all, your honor," the Irishman said.
"The master has been telling me that your honors are starting for
the war, and so I've made up my mind that I shall go along wid ye."

The boys laughed.

"You are not in earnest, Tim?"

"As sure as the Gospels, your honor I've served five years in the
Cork Militia, and wore the badge as a marksman; and so I mean to
'list, and go as your honors' sarvint."

"But you can't do that, Tim, even if we would let you," Ralph
laughed. "There won't be any servants at all."

"Sure, your honor is mistaken, entirely," Tim said, gravely. "In
the sarvice, a soldier is always told off as a sarvint for each
officer."

"But we are not going as officers, Tim," Percy said. "We are going
as simple soldiers."

"What! Going as privates?" Tim Doyle said, in astonishment. "Does
your honor mane to say that you are going to shoulder a firelock,
and just go as privates?"

"That's it, Tim. You see, this is not a regular regiment; it is a
corps of irregulars, and more than half the privates are
gentlemen."

"Holy Mother!" ejaculated Tim, in astonishment, "did one ever hear
of the like?"

Then, after a pause:

"Then your honor will want a sarvint more than iver. Who is to
clean your boots, and to pipeclay your belts; to wash your linen,
to clean your firelock, and cook your dinners, and pitch your tent,
if you don't have a sarvint? The thing's against nature, entirely."

"We shall do it all ourselves, Tim--that is to say, as far as
cleaning the rifles, washing our linen, and cooking the dinner. As
for the other things, I don't suppose we shall ever have our boots
cleaned; we have no white belts to pipeclay, for they are made of
buff leather; and we shall not have to pitch tents, for we don't
take them with us, but shall, when necessary, sleep in the open
air."

Tim was too surprised to speak, for a time. At last, he said
doggedly:

"Sarvint or no sarvint, your honor, it is evident that it's rough
times you're going to have; and Tim Doyle will be there with you,
as sure as the piper."

"We should like you with us very much, Tim, if you make up your
mind to go," Ralph said; "but the corps is quite full. We have
refused dozens of recruits."

Tim looked downcast. At last he said:

"Well, your honor, it may be that they won't have me as a soldier;
but I'll go sure enough, if I die for it. There's no law to punish
a man for walking after a regiment of soldiers and, wherever your
regiment goes, sure enough I'll tramp after ye. There's many an odd
way I might make myself useful, and they'll soon get used to see me
about, and let me come and go into the camp."

No persuasion could alter Tim's determination and, as they felt
that having so attached a fellow near them might be of real
utility, and comfort, when the boys went down in the afternoon they
spoke to Captain Tempe about it. At first he said that it was
impossible, as he had already refused so many offers of service;
but upon hearing all the story, and thinking the matter over, he
said suddenly:

"By the bye, there is a way by which he might go with us. You know
I have ordered a light two-wheel cart, built very strong for the
mountains, to carry our spare ammunition, powder for blowing up
bridges, cooking pots, and stores. I have not engaged a driver as
yet. If your Irishman--who you say understands horses--likes to go
as a driver, to begin with, I will promise him the first vacant
rifle. I fear that he will not have long to wait, after we once get
near the enemy; and as he has already served, you say, he will be
better than a new recruit, and we can get a countryman to take his
place with the cart."

Upon their return in the evening with the news, Tim Doyle's joy
knew no bound; and he whooped and shouted, till Milly laughed so
that she had to beg of him to stop.

The next day, Tim went down with Captain Barclay and signed the
engagement. He remained with the captain during the time that the
latter was giving his instructions in musketry--entering upon his
duties in connection with the corps by going down to the butts, and
acting as marker--and then returned with him to the cottage; as it
was agreed that he had better remain there, quietly, until the
corps was ready to march--as, if he were to venture alone in the
town, he might at any time be subject to a repetition of the attack
upon the day of his arrival.

At the cottage he soon became a general favorite His desire to make
himself useful in any way, his fund of fun and good temper, pleased
everyone. Even Marie and Jeannette--the two servants, who could not
understand a word of what he said--were in a constant broad grin,
at the pantomime by which he endeavored to eke out his few words of
French. Milly became quite attached to him; and Captain and Mrs.
Barclay both felt cheered, and comforted, at the thought that this
devoted fellow would be at hand to look after and assist the boys,
in time of danger, suffering, or sickness.



Chapter 4: Starting For The Vosges.


The day for the departure of the corps was near at hand. The party
at the Barclays were all filled with sadness, at the thoughts of
separation; but all strove to hide their feelings, for the sake of
the others. Captain and Mrs. Barclay were anxious that the boys
should leave in good spirits, and high hope; while the boys wished
to keep up an appearance of merely going upon an ordinary
excursion, in order to cheer their parents.

The day before starting, the whole corps marched to the cathedral;
where mass was celebrated, a sermon preached, and a blessing
solemnly prayed for for them. The boys had asked their father if he
had any objections to their taking part in this ceremonial, in a
Roman Catholic Church; but Captain Barclay had at once said that,
upon the contrary, he should wish them to do so. Protestants might
not approve of many things in the Catholic Church; but that could
be no reason, whatever, against a Protestant taking part in a
solemn prayer to God, wherever that prayer might be offered up.

The young Duburgs were unaffectedly glad that the time for their
departure had come, for the month that had passed had been a most
unpleasant one to them. Their mother had in vain tried to persuade
them to stay; first by entreaty, and then by anger and, finding
these means fail, she had passed her time either in sullen silence,
or in remaining in bed; declaring that her nerves were utterly
shattered, and that she should never survive it. She had refused to
see Mrs. Barclay when the latter called, a day or two after their
visit to the cottage, and she had not been near her since. Julie
and Justine were forbidden to go in to see Milly and, altogether,
there was quite an estrangement between the two families.

The boys however were, of course, constantly together; and Monsieur
Duburg came in as usual, every day or two, for a chat with Captain
Barclay.

September the fifteenth--the day of separation--arrived. They were
to march at eight in the morning; and left home, therefore, at
seven. This was so far fortunate that it left less time for the
painful adieus. Captain Barclay had a long talk with the boys the
night before, repeating all the hints and instructions which he had
before given them.

It is not necessary to describe the parting. Every one of my
readers can imagine for themselves how sad was the scene. How Milly
sobbed aloud, in spite of her efforts; how Mrs. Barclay kissed her
boys, and then ran up to her own room to cry alone; how their
father wrung their hands and, after giving them his blessing,
turned hastily away, that they might not see the tears which he
could not keep back; and how the boys, in spite of their uniform
and their dignity as soldiers, cried, too. Tim Doyle had gone on an
hour before, taking their blankets; so they had nothing to do but
to snatch up their guns and hasten away, half blinded with tears,
towards the town. They reached it just as the bugle sounded the
assembly. By this time they had steadied themselves and, in the
work of preparing for the start, soon lost all feeling of
despondency.

It would be difficult to find a more workmanlike little corps than
the franc tireurs of Dijon as, with the band of the national guard
at their head, playing the Marseillaise, they marched through the
old city. Their uniform was a brownish gray Their blankets--rolled
up tight and carried, like a scarf, over one shoulder and under the
other arm--were brown, also. Their belts and gaiters were of buff
leather. Their caps had flat peaks, to shade their eyes; but round
the cap was rolled a flap lined with fur, which let down over the
ears and back of the neck, tying under the chin. On the outer side
of the fur was thin India-rubber, to throw the rain off down over
the light waterproof cloaks; which each man carried in a small
case, slung to his belt. The waterproof on the caps, when rolled
up, did not show; the caps then looking like fur caps, with a peak.

Slung over the shoulder, on the opposite side to the blanket, was a
haversack--or stout canvas bag--brown like the rest of the
equipments. Each bag was divided into two compartments; the larger
one holding a spare shirt, a few pairs of socks and handkerchiefs,
a comb, and other small necessaries. In the other, bread, biscuits
or other provisions could be carried. Each man had also a water
bottle, slung over his shoulder.

On either side of the ammunition pouch, behind, was strapped a new
boot; so placed that it in no way interfered with the bearer
getting at the pouch. Next was fastened the tin box; the lid of
which forms a plate, the bottom a saucepan or frying pan. On one
side hung the bayonet; upon the other a hatchet, a pick, or a
short-handled shovel--each company having ten of each implement.

It will be judged that this was a heavy load, but the articles were
all necessaries; and the weight over and above the rifle and
ammunition was not--even including the pick or shovel--more than
half that ordinarily carried by a French soldier.

At the head of the corps marched its commandant. The French term
commandant answers to an English major, and he will therefore in
future be termed Major Tempe. Each of the four companies was also
headed by its officer. Major Tempe had chosen for these posts four
men who, like himself, had served--three in the army, and one in
the navy. He had written to them as soon as the corps was
organized, and they had arrived ten days before the start. One or
two only of the franc tireurs--who had entertained a hope of being
made officers--were at first a little discontented but, as it was
evidently vastly to the advantage of the corps to have experienced
officers, the appointments gave great satisfaction to the rest of
the men. Fortunately, there were in the ranks several men who had
served as privates or non-commissioned officers; and from these
Major Tempe selected a sergeant, and a corporal, for each company.

Behind the corps followed the cart; loaded with the stores of the
corps, a considerable amount of ammunition, two or three cases of
gun cotton for blowing up bridges, several small barrels of powder,
a large quantity of fine iron wire, three or four crowbars, bags of
coffee and rice, and a keg of brandy, four kettles and as many
large saucepans, together with all sorts of odds and ends. By the
side of the horse walked Tim Doyle; dressed in the uniform of the
corps, but without the equipments, and with a long blouse worn over
his tunic. He was, in fact, already enrolled as an active member of
the corps. This was done, in the first place, at his own earnest
request; and upon the plea that thus only could he escape the
chance of being seized as a spy, whenever he might for a moment be
separated from the corps; and also that, unless he had a uniform
like the rest, how could he take any vacancy in the ranks, even
when it should occur?

Major Tempe, in exceeding the hundred and twenty determined upon,
was influenced partly by these arguments; but more by the fact that
difficulties would arise about food, cooking, and various other
points, if the driver were not upon the same footing as the rest of
the corps.

The march was not a long one--only to the railway station. A few
carriages, with a truck for the cart, and a horse box, were drawn
up alongside the platform in readiness; and in ten minutes more all
were in their places, the carriages attached to the ordinary train
and--amidst great cheering and waving of handkerchiefs and hats,
from hundreds of people collected in the station to see them
off--they started for the Vosges.

Railway traveling, at no time rapid, was extremely slow at this
period; and it was evening before they arrived at Epinal, where
they were to pass the night. The journey, shortened by innumerable
songs and choruses, had scarcely seemed long. The railway ran
throughout its whole distance through pretty, undulating country;
indeed, towards the end of their journey, when they were fairly
among the Vosges, the scenery became wild and savage. At Vesoul,
which was about halfway, the train had stopped for two hours; and
here wine, bread and cheese, cold sausages, and fruits were
distributed to the men by the inhabitants--who were assembled in
large numbers at the station, and gave the corps an enthusiastic
reception. They were the first band of franc tireurs who had passed
through, and the inhabitants regarded them as protectors against
the wandering Uhlans; whose fame, although as yet far off, had
caused them to be regarded with an almost superstitious fear.

At Epinal, a similar and even warmer greeting awaited them; Epinal
being so much nearer to the enemy that the fear of Uhlans was more
acute. The station was decorated with green boughs; and the Maire,
with many of the leading inhabitants, was at the station to receive
them. The corps formed upon the platform; and then marched through
the little town to the Hotel de Ville, loudly cheered by the people
as they passed along. Here they were dismissed, with the order to
parade again at half-past four in the morning.

There was no trouble as to billets for the night, as the Maire had
already made out a list of the inhabitants who had offered
accommodation--the number being greatly in excess of the strength
of the corps. These persons now came forward, and each took off the
number of franc tireurs who had been allotted to them.

The sergeant of the first company, knowing the relationship and
friendship of the young Barclays and Duburgs, had promised them
that--when practicable--he would always quarter them together. Upon
the present occasion, the four were handed over to a gentleman
whose house was a short distance outside the town. Upon the way, he
chatted to them on the proposed course of the corps, upon its
organization and discipline; and they asked for the first time the
question which was so often, in future, to be upon their lips:

"Had he any news of the enemy?"

The answer was that none, as yet, had come south of Luneville; and
that indeed, at present they were too much occupied at Metz, and
Strasburg, to be able to detach any formidable parties. Small
bodies of Uhlans occasionally had made raids, and driven in sheep
and cattle; but they had not ventured to trust themselves very far
into the mountains.

Upon arriving at the residence of their host, they were most kindly
received by his wife and daughter; who, however, could not refrain
from expressing their surprise at the youthfulness of their guests.

"But these are mere boys!" the lady said to her husband, in German;
"are all the franc tireurs like these?"

"Oh no," her husband said, in the same language, "the greater part
are sturdy fellows but, as they marched by, I observed some twelve
or fourteen who were scarcely out of their boyhood.

"It is cruelty to send such youngsters out as these. What can they
do against these Prussians, who have beaten our best soldiers?"

"Fortunately," Ralph said in German--which he spoke fluently, as
has already been stated--and with a merry laugh--which showed that
he was not offended at the remark--"fortunately, fighting now is
not an affair of spears and battle axes Age has nothing to do with
shooting; and as for fatigue, we shall not be the first in the
corps to give up."

"I must really apologize very much, but I had no idea that you
understood German, or I should not have made any remarks," the lady
said, smiling; "but so few French boys, out of Alsace, do
understand it that it never struck me that you spoke the language.
You will find it an immense advantage for, outside the towns, you
will scarcely meet a person understanding French. But I am sure you
must be all very hungry, and supper is quite ready."

They were soon seated at a well-spread table--waited upon by the
daughter of the family--while their host and hostess sat and
chatted with them, as to their corps, while the meal went on.

"Excuse another remark upon your personal appearance," the lady
said, smiling, "but two of you look more like Alsatians than
French. You have the fair complexion and brown, wavy hair. You do
not look like Frenchmen."

"Nor are we," Ralph laughed. "My brother and myself, although
French born, are actually English. Our father is an English
officer, but our mother is French and, as you see, we take after
him rather than her."

"But I wonder that, as your father is English, he lets you go out
upon this expedition--which is very perilous."

"We wished to go--that is, we thought it was our duty," Ralph said;
"and although they were very sad at our leaving, they both agreed
with us."

"I wish all Frenchmen were animated by the same feeling," their
host said warmly. "Your gallant example should shame hundreds of
thousands of loiterers and skulkers.

"You speak French perfectly. I should have had no idea that you
were anything but French--or rather, from the way you speak German,
that you were Alsatian."

"We have lived in France all our lives, except for two years which
we passed in Germany; and two years at one time, together with one
or two shorter visits, in England."

"And do you speak English as well as French?"

"Oh yes, we always speak English at home. Our father made a rule
that we should always do so; as he said it would be an immense
disadvantage to us, when we returned to England, if we had the
slightest French accent. Our mother now speaks English as purely
and correctly as our father."

"Are your friends any relations of yours?"

"They are our cousins," Ralph said; "their father is our mother's
brother."

For some time longer they chatted, and then their host said:

"It is half-past nine; and we are early people, here. You will have
to be up by five, so I think that it is time you were off to bed. We
shall scarcely be up when you start; but you will find a spirit lamp
on the table, with coffee--which only requires heating--together with
some bread and butter. You will have some miles to march before you
breakfast.

"And now, you must all promise me that, if you come to this place
again, you will come straight up here, and look upon it as your
home. If you get ill or wounded--which I hope will not happen--you
will, of course, go home; but something may occur not sufficiently
important for you to leave the corps, but which could be set
straight by a few days' nursing, and rest. In that case, you will
come to us, will you not?"

The boys all gratefully promised to avail themselves of the
invitation, in case of need; and then said good night and goodbye
to their host, and went off to the room prepared for them. In the
morning they were up in good time, dressed as quietly as they
could--so as not to disturb their host--and went downstairs; lit
the spirit lamp under a glass bowl full of coffee and milk and, in
ten minutes, were on their way towards the town.

"We shall be lucky if we are often as comfortable as that," Percy
said, looking back; and there was a general assent.

"There goes the bugle," Louis Duburg said; "we have a quarter of an
hour, yet.

"What pretty girls those were!"

Louis was nearly seventeen and, at seventeen, a French lad
considers himself a competent judge as to the appearance and
manners of young ladies.

"Were they?" Percy said carelessly, with the indifference of an
English boy of his age as to girls. "I did not notice it. I don't
care for girls; they are always thinking about their dress, and one
is afraid of touching them, in case you should spoil something.
There is nothing jolly about them."

The others laughed.

"I am sure Milly is jolly enough," Philippe Duburg said.

"Yes, Milly is jolly," Percy answered. "You see, she has been with
us boys, and she can play, and doesn't screech if you touch her, or
mind a bit if she tears her frock. So are our cousins in
England--some of them. Yes, there are some jolly girls, of course;
still, after all, what's the good of them, taking them altogether?
They are very nice in their way--quiet and well behaved, and so
on--but they are better indoors than out."

The clock was just striking half-past five, as the boys reached the
place of assembly. Most of the men were already upon the spot, and
the bugler was blowing lustily. In another five minutes all were
assembled; including Tim Doyle, with his horse and cart.

"Good-morning, Tim," the boys said, as they came up to him. "I hope
you had as comfortable quarters as we had, last night."

"Splendid, your honor--downright splendid; a supper fit for a lord,
and a bed big enough for a duchess."

The boys laughed at the idea of a duchess wanting a bed bigger than
anyone else, and Tim went on:

"Ah, your honor, if campaigning was all like this, sure I'd
campaign all my life, and thank you; but it's many a time I shall
look back upon my big supper, and big bed. Not that I should like
it altogether entirely; I should get so fat, and so lazy, that I
shouldn't know my own shadow."

And now the bugle sounded again, and the men fell in. As they
started, they struck up a lively marching song; and several windows
opened, and adieus were waved to them as they passed down the
street into the open country. Everyone was in high spirits. The
weather, which had for some time been unfavorable, had cleared up;
the sun was rising brightly, and they felt that they had fairly
started for work. The road was rough, the country wild and
mountainous, thick forests extended in every direction, as far as
the eye could carry.

"There is one comfort, Percy," Ralph said, "if we are beaten and
driven back, we might get into this forest, and laugh at the
Prussians."

Percy cast rather a doubtful eye at the dark woods.

"The Prussians might not be able to discover us, Ralph; but I would
as leave be killed by Prussian balls as die of hunger, and our
chances of getting food there, for a hundred men, would be very
slight."

"They don't look hospitable, certainly, Percy. I agree with you. We
had better keep in the open country, as long as possible."

The first village at which they arrived was Deyvilliers. Here a
halt was called for ten minutes, five miles having already been
marched. Many of the men--less fortunate than the Barclays and
Duburgs--had had nothing to eat upon starting and, when the arms
were piled, there was a general dispersal through the village, in
search of provisions. Bread had been bought over night, at Epinal,
and brought on in the cart; which was fortunate, for the village
was a very small one, and there would have been a difficulty in
obtaining more than a loaf or two. Cheese and fruit were in
abundance; and the boys bought some apples, and sat down by the
little feeder of the Moselle which passes through the village, and
watched it tumbling past on its way to join the main stream, a few
miles below Epinal.

In a quarter of an hour, they were again on the march. In another
five miles they reached Fontaine, lying a little off the road to
their right. They had now marched ten miles, and Major Tempe
ordered a halt for three hours. A piece of level ground was chosen,
arms were piled, blankets and haversacks taken off, and then
preparations began for their first meal. Men were sent off with
kettles, for water. Others went up to the village with cans for
wine--or beer for, in Alsace, beer is more common than wine. Tim
took the horse out of the shafts, and gave him some oats. Some of
the men were sent from each company to fetch wood, and the old
soldiers prepared for the important operation of cooking.

Several little fireplaces were made, with stones and turf, open on
the side facing the wind. In these sticks were placed and, when
they were fairly alight, the saucepans--each holding the allowance
of ten men--were placed on them. In these the meat--cut up in
pieces of about half a pound--was placed; with pepper, salt,
onions, rice, and potatoes peeled and cut up, and the whole filled
up with water.

When the preparations were finished, the men threw themselves down
under the shade of some trees; and smoked and chatted until, in
about an hour, the cooking was complete. Each man then brought up
his tin canteen, and received his portion of soup in the deep side,
and his meat and vegetables in the shallow can. The bread had
already been cut up. The tin drinking pots which, with knives,
forks, and spoons, were carried in the canteens, were filled with
beer and, with much laughing and fun, each man sat down on the
grass, or scattered rocks, to eat his breakfast.

Many of the villagers had come down; and these brought, for the
most part, little presents: a few apples, a little fresh cheese, or
a bunch of grapes. It was a merry meal, and the boys agreed that it
was the jolliest picnic that they had ever been at.

At two o'clock the bugle sounded. The cooking things were packed up
and placed in the cart again; the blankets and haversacks slung on,
and the rifles shouldered and, with many a good wish from the
peasants, they marched forward again.

Eight miles further marching brought them to the end of their day's
journey, the village of Destord. It was a tiny place, with scarcely
over a half-dozen houses. Major Tempe in consequence determined, as
the weather was fine, upon bivouacking in the open air. For a time,
all were busy collecting wood. A sheltered place was chosen, for
the village lay very high, close to the source of a little stream
running into the river Mortagne.

The cooking places were again prepared for supper. At seven o'clock
the meal was served, differing but little from that of the morning;
except that after the men had eaten the soup, and the meat from it
(in France called bouilli), they fried some thin slices of meat in
the lids of their canteens, and concluded the meal with a cup of
coffee.

Then four large fires were lit--one for each company--and a smaller
one for the officers. Blankets were spread out on the ground round
these fires, and the men lit their pipes and chatted gaily. All
were more or less tired for, although their month's hard drill had
accustomed them to work, eighteen miles with arms, ammunition, and
accouterments had tired them more than they had anticipated.

As this was their first night out, Major Tempe told them that he
should not place a regular cordon of sentries; but that in future
he should do so, whether they were near the enemy or not. By nine
o'clock the fires began to burn low, the talking gradually ceased,
and the men--rolling themselves up in their blankets, and putting
their haversacks under their heads, for pillows--soon dropped off
to sleep; a solitary sentry keeping guard against pilferers.

A short march of ten miles took them, next day, to Rambervillers,
where they were billeted among the inhabitants; and fourteen miles
on the day after to Baccarat, on the river Meurthe, where they also
obtained quarters. They were now approaching the neighborhood of
the enemy, and Major Tempe advised a halt for the next day; in
order that he might make inquiries, and investigate thoroughly the
best route to be pursued.



Chapter 5: The First Engagement.


The news which the commandant of the franc tireurs heard, at
Baccarat, determined him to change his intentions; and to push on
without delay to Halloville--a tiny hamlet on the lower spurs of
the Vosges, some four miles from Blamont; and overlooking the
valley of the Vexouse, in which the latter town was situated.

It was a long march, and the weather had again changed, the rain
descending all day in a steady pour. The men--in their light,
waterproof cloaks, and the flaps of their forage caps down--plodded
steadily on; their spirit sustained by the thought that, ere
another twenty-four hours, they might be in action. The news which
hurried them forwards had been to the effect that a body of two
hundred Uhlans had left Sarrebourg, and were advancing towards
Blamont. They were going quietly, stopping to levy contributions at
the villages on the way. It was probable that they would enter
Blamont on the same evening that the franc tireurs reached
Halloville. It was supposed that they would proceed, with the sheep
and cattle that they had swept up, by the valley of the Vexouse to
Luneville.

To within four miles of Halloville, the road had been a fair one;
but it was here necessary to turn off, by a track that was little
better than a goat path. In vain, a dozen of the men were told off
to help with the cart; in vain they pushed behind, and shoved at
the spokes of the wheels. The road was altogether impracticable. At
last the horse and cart were taken aside into a thick wood and left
there; with Tim Doyle, a corporal, and six of the men who were the
most footsore, and incapable of pushing on. Tim was dreadfully
disgusted at being thus cut off from the chance of seeing, and
joining in, any fighting; and only consoled himself with the hope
that a vacancy would be likely to occur the next day, and that he
would then be able to exchange his whip for a rifle.

The rest of the corps plodded on until, long after dusk, they
arrived at the half-dozen houses which form the village of
Halloville. Their appearance, as they marched up to it, was greeted
by a scream from a woman, followed by a perfect chorus of screams
and cries. Men, women, and children were seen rushing out of the
houses, and taking to flight; and it was with the greatest
difficulty that they were made to understand the truth, that the
formidable body, which had so suddenly dropped upon them, was not
composed of the dreaded invaders.

When the truth was known, they did their best to receive them
hospitably. Their means, however, were small; their houses equally
so. However, in a short time blazing fires were lighted on the
hearths; blankets having been put up before the windows, to prevent
any light being visible from the valley. A fire was allotted for
the cooking of each company, and preparations for supper were soon
commenced. Then an examination was made of the facilities in the
way of sleeping; and two barns were found, well provided with
straw. This was shaken out and, after eating their suppers, the men
packed close together upon the straw, and soon forgot both damp and
fatigue; numerous sentries being thrown out, in various directions,
to prevent the possibility of surprise--for the peasants had
informed them that the information which they had received was
correct; and that the Uhlans, about two hundred strong, had entered
Blamont that afternoon, and had laid a requisition of twenty
thousand francs upon the inhabitants, besides a considerable amount
of stores of all sorts.

At three o'clock they were roused and found, to their great
pleasure, that the rain had ceased. Guided by one of the villagers,
they made their way down to a point where the wood approached quite
close to the road, at a narrow point of the valley. Here Major
Tempe posted his men along in the wood. Several coils of wire had
been brought with them; and these were now stretched tightly from
tree to tree, at a distance of about eighteen inches from the
ground. Some forty yards farther back, young trees were felled and
branches cut; and these were laid with the bushy parts towards the
road, wires being twisted here and there among them, so as to form
abattis perfectly impenetrable for horsemen, and difficult in the
extreme for infantry. All worked hard and, by eight o'clock in the
morning, everything was in readiness.

A small party had been left upon the high ground near Halloville,
and one of them had brought down news every half hour. Soon after
daybreak, a party of Uhlans had been seen to leave Blamont, and to
visit Barbas and Harboise--two villages in the flat of Blamont--and
then to retire, driving some cattle and sheep before them. At ten
o'clock the rest of the men from Halloville came down, with the
news that the Uhlans--about two hundred strong--had just left
Blamont, and were coming down the valley.

Each man now took the station allotted to him: thirty men behind
the trees, next to the road; the main body being stationed behind
the abattis, each man having previously settled upon a spot where
he could fire through the leaves, which entirely concealed them
from view from the road. Number one company was placed to the right
and, consequently, near to Blamont. Ralph and Percy were both in
the front line, behind the trees.

Not a shot was to be fired, on any consideration, until Major Tempe
gave the word. The men behind the trees were all ordered to lie
down among the low undergrowth and brushwood. The line extended
nearly a hundred yards. The waterproofs, blankets, and all other
impediments had been left behind at Halloville, so that the men had
the free use of their arms. The rifles were loaded, the pouches
shifted round so as to be ready at hand and--orders having been
given that not a word should be spoken, even in a whisper--a
perfect silence reigned over the spot.

Ralph and Percy were near to each other. They had exchanged a
hearty grip of the hand, before lying down; and now lay, with
beating hearts and hands firmly grasping their rifles, in readiness
for the signal.

The time was not very long--only a few minutes--but it seemed to
them an age before they heard the tramp of horses. Nearer and
nearer they came, and now they could hear the jingling of
accouterments First, through their leafy screen, they could see two
Uhlans pass at a walk; scanning keenly the woods, and looking for
possible danger. The bushes were thick, and they noticed nothing,
and kept on at the same pace. It is probable, indeed, that they
really anticipated no possibility of an attack, as the Dijon franc
tireurs were the first who appeared upon the scene of action; and
the Prussians were, consequently, in entire ignorance of the
vicinity of any armed body of the enemy and, at worst, apprehended
a stray shot from a straggler from one of the French armies, hidden
in the woods.

In another minute or two four more Uhlans passed; and after the
same interval came the main body, escorting a number of cattle and
sheep. The greater portion had passed the spot where the boys were
lying, and were opposite the whole line of franc tireurs, when the
silence of the wood was broken by Major Tempe's shout:

"Now!"

Before the Uhlans had time to rein in their horses, or to ask each
other what was the meaning of the cry, the flash of thirty rifles
broke from the trees, and several men fell from their horses. There
was a momentary panic, followed by a hurried discharge of carbines
at the invisible foe.

The captain of the Uhlans--a handsome young officer, with light
mustache and beard--shouted to his men:

"Steady, they are only a handful. Form line, charge!"

Quickly as the maneuver was executed, the franc tireurs had time to
fire again; and then--in accordance with their orders--retreated,
and joined their comrades by passages left in the abattis, on
purpose. In another instant the Uhlans charged but, as quickly, the
direst confusion reigned, where before had been a regular line. The
wire had served its purpose. Horses and men went down on the top of
each other, and thirty rifles again fumed their deadly hail into
the confused mass.

The second line of Uhlans--who had not charged--returned the fire
of their invisible enemies and, although they could not see them,
several of the balls took effect. Nothing could be cooler than the
officers of the Uhlans, and their voice and example steadied their
men. Under cover of the fire of their comrades the men, in part,
extricated themselves and their horses, and drew back behind the
wood. Orders were then given for all to dismount and, leaving their
horses to be held by parties of their comrades--four horses to one
man--the rest advanced on foot against their apparently greatly
inferior foe, keeping up a heavy fire with their carbines. This was
what the commandant of the franc tireurs had hoped for, and
expected.

The wire had been broken down by the weight of the horses; and the
Prussians advanced, opposed only by a feeble return to their heavy
fire, until within five paces of the leafy wall. Then the fire from
a hundred rifles flashed out upon them.

The effect was terrible, and a cry of surprise and rage burst from
those who had escaped its effect. It was evident that they had fallen
into an ambush. The captain--wild with rage and mortification, at
the fault he had committed--rushed forward; and his men gallantly
seconded his efforts. In vain, however, did they try to separate the
interlaced boughs while, as they struggled, the shots from the enemy
flashed out thick and fast. In another moment the young captain
threw up his arms and fell, shot through the heart. The officer next
in command ordered a retreat, the horses were regained and, amidst a
continuous fire from the franc tireurs, the diminished troop
galloped back towards Blamont.

The franc tireurs now quitted their leafy fortress. A small party
was at once sent forward up the valley, to give notice if the
Uhlans showed any signs of returning. A strong body set to work to
drive in the scattered animals--which were galloping wildly about
the valley--while the rest collected the dead and wounded.

Of the franc tireurs eight were killed, fourteen wounded. Of the
Uhlans forty-seven were killed, and nineteen wounded remained on
the ground. Their large number of killed, in proportion to the
wounded, was accounted for by the fact that the firing was so close
that, in many cases, the coats of the dead men were actually singed
by the explosion; while the slightly wounded men had been able to
regain their horses, and escape.

The first impulse of the young Barclays, when the fire ceased, was
to turn round and to embrace each other with delight--on finding
that they had each escaped without a scratch--and then to shake
hands heartily with their cousins, whose fortune had been equally
good. There was no time for words, however; for Major Tempe's order
came, sharp and decisive:

"You the Barclays, you also the Duburgs, sling your arms, and go
assist to drive in the cattle. Quick, lose no time.

"You have done well. I am content with you, my boys."

With a flush of pleasure, the boys started off to carry out the
orders; which had been given, by their commander, with the kind
thought of sparing the lads the terrible sight of the battle
ground.

The short but desperate conflict through which they had passed
seemed, to the young Barclays, almost like a dream. In the
excitement of loading and firing, in the tumult and the rattle,
they had scarcely had time even to give a thought to the danger.

Fear is seldom felt by the soldier when engaged in close conflict.
The time when his nerves are most tried is while waiting inactive,
at a distance, exposed to a heavy shell fire; or while advancing to
an attack, under a storm of musketry and artillery. In a
hand-to-hand conflict, he has no time to think. His nerves are
strung up to so high a pitch that he no longer thinks of danger, or
death. His whole thoughts are given to loading and firing.

Any thought that the boys had given to danger was not for
themselves, but for each other; and Ralph--though his own position
was unsheltered--had once or twice spoken, to Percy, to keep his
body better sheltered by the trees behind which he was standing.

It was a long chase before the frightened animals were collected
together, and driven up towards the spot where the fight had taken
place. By the time that it was accomplished, the wounded had been
collected, and the surgeons had bandaged many of their wounds. A
qualified surgeon had accompanied the corps, as its regular doctor,
and two other young surgeons had enlisted in its ranks; and these,
their arms laid by, were now assisting to stanch the wounds and to
apply bandages. Of the franc tireurs, there were only four so
seriously wounded that they were unable to walk.

By that time two carts arrived from the village of Douteppe, which
stood in the valley, half a mile only from the scene of action; and
to which place Major Tempe had sent off a messenger directly the
affair had terminated. In one of these the wounded were placed,
while in the other were piled the arms and accouterments of the
fallen Uhlans. One of the young surgeons was to accompany the
wounded as far as Baccarat, where they were to remain for
treatment.

Twenty-three horses of the Uhlans had also been captured, by the
party who had driven in the cattle--among whom they were galloping.
Four men were told off to take them back to Epinal, and there
dispose of them, with their accouterments, for the benefit of the
military chest of the corps.

The question then arose as to what was to be done with the Prussian
wounded. Major Tempe decided this by saying that, as it was quite
impossible for the corps to be burdened with wounded men, the best
plan was to allow one of the slightly wounded among the prisoners
to walk back to Blamont; with a message that the Uhlans could come
back to fetch their wounded without molestation, as the franc
tireurs were upon the point of taking their departure.

The corps then assembled round a grave which had already been dug,
and into it the bodies of their comrades who had fallen were
placed. Major Tempe then said a few brief words of adieu, hoping
that all who fell might die equally bravely, and victoriously. Then
the sods were shoveled in; and the men, saddened by the
scene--though still flushed with the triumph of their first, and
signal, success--prepared to leave the spot.

Major Tempe had already held a consultation with his officers, and
their plan of operation had been decided upon. The difficulty which
they had encountered the evening before, with the horse and cart,
had already proved that it would be impossible to drag it about
with them. They had also taken thirty fine cattle, and upwards of a
hundred sheep from the enemy; and it was therefore resolved to
establish a sort of headquarters in the mountains, where they could
retire after their expeditions, and defy the efforts of the
Prussians to disturb them. The spot fixed upon was the forest of
Bousson, high up among the Vosges, and distant two hard days'
marching.

A portion of the troop, therefore, went round to Halloville, to
fetch the accouterments, blankets, etc. which had been left there;
while the rest marched, by the road, to the place where the cart
had been left the night before. Two peasants were engaged as guides
and, in the afternoon, the corps started for their destination.

It was a terrible march. The roads were mere tracks, and the
weather was terrible. Over and over again, the men had to unload
the carts, shoulder the contents, and carry them for a considerable
distance, until ground was reached where the cart could again be
loaded.

It was not until late on the evening of the third day's march that,
thoroughly done up by fatigue and hardship, the corps reached the
little village of Raon, in the heart of the forest of Bousson.
There was no possible fear of attack, here; and the commandant
decided that, for the night, there was no occasion for any of the
men to be out as sentries. The villagers at once took charge of the
animals, and turned them into a rough enclosure. The men were too
much done up even to care about keeping awake until supper could be
cooked and--being divided among the houses of the village--they
threw themselves down, and were fast asleep in a few minutes.

The next morning, the sun shone out brightly; and the men, turning
out after a long sleep, felt quite different creatures to the tired
band who had wearily crawled into the village. The bright sky, the
fresh morning air, the pleasant odor of the great pine forest
around them, and the bracing atmosphere--at the height of fifteen
hundred feet above the sea--at once refreshed and cheered them.

There was a brief morning parade--at which Tim Doyle, for the first
time, took his place with a rifle on his shoulder--and then the
major dismissed them, saying that there would be no further parade
that day, and that the men could amuse themselves as they liked. In
a short time, every man was following the bent of his own
inclination. First, however, there was a general cleaning of the
rifles and accouterments; then most of the men went down to the
stream, and there was a great washing of clothes, accompanied with
much laughing and joking. Then needles and thread were obtained,
from the women of the village, and there was much mending and
darning--for the past three days' work, among rocks and woods, had
done no little damage to their uniforms.

Next came the grand operation of breakfast, for which two of the
sheep had been killed. This, being the first regular meal that they
had had, for three days, was greatly enjoyed. After it was eaten
most of the men lit their pipes, and prepared to pass a day of
delightful idleness. Two or three of the village boys had been
engaged, as cowherds and shepherds; and the animals were all driven
out into the woods where, in the open glades, they would find an
abundance of food.

The cart was unanimously condemned as worse than useless. An empty
shed was turned into a storehouse; and it was determined that such
stores of powder, etc. as might be required, upon each expedition,
should be packed upon the horse's back and, if the horse could not
take all required, that other horses should be hired.

The Barclays, with their cousins, started for a ramble in the wood;
taking with them the Irishman, whose good humor and unflagging
spirits, during the last three days, had made him a general
favorite.

"Sure, and are there any wild bastes in the wood, your honor
Because, if there be, it would be well to take our rifles with us.
It would be mighty unpleasant to come across a lion, or a tiger,
and not to be able to pass him the time of day."

"No, Tim, we shall meet neither lions nor tigers, so you need not
trouble yourself with a rifle. A hundred years ago, we might have
met with a bear, or a wild boar; but they have disappeared, long
since. It is possible that there are a few wolves scattered about;
but they are never formidable to any but a solitary person, even in
winter; and at all other times fly from man's approach."

The party had a charming ramble, for the scenery here was very
fine. At times, the forest was so thick that they could see no
glimpse of the sky, and the trunks of the trees seemed to make a
wall, all round them; then again, it would open, and they would
obtain a glimpse over the country far away, rise beyond rise, to
the plain of Champagne or--if the view were behind, instead of in
front of them--they could see the tops of the highest range of the
Vosges, rising hill above hill, and often wooded to the very
summit--the Donon, one of the highest points of the range, being
immediately behind them.

The villages are, here, few and far between, and the people
extremely poor; for the soil is poor, and although in summer the
cattle--which form their only wealth--are able to pick up an
abundance of food, in the forests, they have a hard struggle to
keep them alive during the winter. Their language is German, and
their appearance and dress rather German than French but,
notwithstanding this, they were thoroughly French in spirit, and
regarded the invaders with an intense hatred.

Another day, passed in rest, completely restored the most exhausted
of the band. Orders were therefore issued for an early start, the
next morning; the object, this time, being to endeavor to cut the
railway. The band were to march in a body for the slopes of the
Vosges, behind Sarrebourg and Saverne; and were then to divide into
companies, and scatter themselves among the villages between
Lorquin and Marmontier, so as to act together or separately, as it
might seem expedient.



Chapter 6: The Tunnel Of Saverne.


It is needless to follow the corps, step by step, through their
marches; for the names of the little villages through which they
passed would not be found in any maps published in England, and
would therefore possess little interest for English readers. After
two days' long marches, the main body of the corps reached a
village situated in a wood, at about four miles from the great rock
tunnel of Saverne. The fourth company had been left at a village,
five miles to the left; while the third company were, next day, to
march forward to a place at about the same distance to the right.
Their orders were to keep a sharp lookout, to collect news of the
movements and strength of the enemy; but not to undertake any
expedition, or to do anything, whatever, to lead the enemy to guess
at their presence in the neighborhood--as it was of vital
importance that they should not be put upon their guard, until the
great blow was struck.

As soon as they had marched into the village, the principal
inhabitants came forward, and a consultation was held as to
providing lodgings. After some conversation, it was agreed that the
officers should have quarters in the village; and that the
schoolrooms--two in number--should be placed at the disposal of the
men. They were good-sized rooms, and would hold thirty men each,
without difficulty. The company who were to march forward in the
morning were provided with quarters in the village.

Ralph and Percy Barclay, as usual, acted as interpreters between
Major Tempe and the inhabitants; for neither the major, nor any of
his officers, spoke German. That language, indeed, was spoken only
by a few men in the whole corps; and these the commandant had
divided among the other companies, in order that each company might
be able to shift for itself, when separated from the main body.

"Have you seen this proclamation?" one of the villagers asked. "You
see that we are running no little risk, in taking you in."

Ralph read it, and as he did so his face flushed with indignation,
and he exclaimed:

"This is infamous! Infamous!"

"What is it?" Major Tempe asked.

"It is a proclamation from the Prussian General commanding the
district, major, giving notice that he will shoot every franc
tireur he may catch; and also giving notice to the inhabitants that
if any Prussian soldier be killed, or even shot at, by a franc
tireur--if a rail be pulled up, or a road cut--that he will hold
the village near the spot accountable; will burn the houses, and
treat the male inhabitants according to martial law, and that the
same penalties will be exacted for sheltering or hiding franc
tireurs."

"Impossible!" Major Tempe said, astounded. "No officer of a
civilized army could issue such an edict. Besides, during an
invasion of Germany, the people were summoned by the King of
Prussia to take up arms, to cut roads, destroy bridges, and shoot
down the enemy--just as we are going to do, now. It is too
atrocious to be true."

"There it is, in black and white," Ralph said. "There can be no
mistake as to the wording."

Major Tempe looked grieved, as well as indignant.

"This will be a terrible business," he said, "if the war is to be
carried on in this way. Of course, if they give us no quarter, we
shall give them none. That is, we must make as many prisoners as we
can in order that, if any of our men are taken prisoners, we may
carry out reprisals if they shoot them.

"It will, besides this, do us great harm. Naturally, the villagers,
instead of looking upon us as defenders, will regard us as the most
dangerous of guests. They will argue:

"'If we make no resistance, the Prussians may plunder us, but at
least our houses and our lives are safe; whereas if these franc
tireurs are found to have been with us, or if they make any attack
in our neighborhood, we are not only plundered, but burnt out, and
shot!'

"Of course, we are always liable to treachery. There are scoundrels
always to be found who would sell their own mothers, but now even
the most patriotic cannot but feel that they are running an immense
risk in sheltering us.

"Never before, I believe, in the annals of civilized nations, did a
man in authority dare to proclaim that persons should suffer for a
crime with which they had nothing, whatever, to do. If we arrive at
a little village, how are the people to say to us, 'We will not
allow you to pull up a rail!'? And yet, if they do not prevent us,
they are to be punished with fire and sword. And these people call
themselves a civilized nation!

"One of the evil consequences of this proclamation is that we shall
never dare trust to the inhabitants to make inquiries for us. They
will be so alarmed, in case we should attempt anything in their
neighborhood, that they would be sure to do and say everything they
could to dissuade us from it and, if inclined to treachery, might
even try to buy their own safety by betraying us."

Major Tempe was speaking to the other officers, who thoroughly
agreed with his opinion. Ralph and Percy had remained in the room,
in case any further questions might be asked in reference to the
proclamation. They now asked if anything else were required and,
upon a negative answer being given, saluted and took their leave.
It was dusk when they went out and, as they walked towards the
schoolroom, they heard a great tumult of voices raised in anger,
among which they recognized that of Tim Doyle.

"Howld yer jaw, you jabbering apes!" he exclaimed, in great wrath.
"Give me a lantern, or a candle, and let me begone. The boys are
all waiting for me to begin."

Hurrying up, they found Tim surrounded by a few of the principal
inhabitants of the village, and soon learned the cause of the
dispute. Supper was served, but it was too dark to see to eat it;
and Tim--always ready to make himself useful--had volunteered to go
in search of a light. He had in vain used his few words of French
with the villagers he met, and these had at last called the
schoolmaster, the only person in the village who understood French.
This man had addressed Tim first in French and then in German and,
upon receiving no coherent answer in either language, had arrived
at the conclusion that Tim was making fun of them. Hence the
dispute had arisen.

The boys explained matters, and the villagers--whose knowledge of
England was of the very vaguest description; and most of whom,
indeed, had previously believed that all the world spoke either
French or German--were profuse in apologies, and immediately
procured some candles, with which Tim and the boys hastened to the
schoolroom. Two candles were given to each company and--one being
lighted at each end of the room, and stuck upon nails in the
wall--the boys were enabled to see what the place was like.

Clean straw had been littered, a foot deep, down each side of the
room; and fifteen blankets were folded, side by side, along by each
wall. Upon pegs above--meant for the scholars' caps--hung the
haversacks, water bottles, and other accouterments; while the
rifles were piled along the center of the room, leaving space
enough to walk down upon either side, between them and the beds. At
the farther end of the room was a large fireplace, in which a log
fire was blazing; and a small shed, outside, had been converted
into a kitchen.

"We might be worse off than this, a long way, Ralph," said Louis
Duburg, as Ralph took his place on the straw next to him.

"That we might, Louis. The fire looks cheerful, too, and the nights
are getting very cold."

"That they are, Ralph.

"Ah! Here is supper. I am quite ready for that, too."

The men who officiated as cooks--and who, by agreement, had been
released from all night duty in consideration of their regularly
undertaking that occupation--now brought in a large saucepan full
of soup; and each man went up with his canteen, and received his
portion, returning to his bed upon the straw to eat it.

"Anything new, Barclay?" one of the men asked, from the other side
of the room.

"Yes, indeed," Ralph said. "New, and disagreeable. Mind none of you
get taken prisoners, for the Prussian General has issued a
proclamation that he shall shoot all franc tireurs he catches."

"Impossible!" came in a general chorus, from all present.

"Well, it sounds like it, but it is true enough," and Ralph
repeated, word for word, the proclamation which he had translated
to Major Tempe.

As might have been expected, it raised a perfect storm of
indignation; and this lasted until, at nine o'clock, the sergeant
gave the word:

"Lights out."

In the morning, after parade, Ralph and Percy strolled away
together and had a long talk and, at the end of an hour, they
walked to the house where Major Tempe had established his
headquarters.

"Good morning, my friends," he said, as they entered. "Is there
anything I can do for you? Sit down."

"We have been thinking, sir--Percy and I--that we could very easily
dress up as peasants, and go down to Saverne, or anywhere you might
think fit, and find out all particulars as to the strength and
position of the enemy. No one would suspect two boys of being franc
tireurs. It would be unlikely in the extreme that anyone would ask
us any questions and, if we were asked, we should say we belonged
to some village in the mountains, and had come down to buy coffee,
and other necessaries. The risk of detection would be next to
nothing, for we speak German quite well enough to pass for lads
from the mountains."

Major Tempe was silent a minute.

"You know you would be shot, at once, if you were detected."

"No doubt, sir, but there is no reason in the world why we should
be detected. The Prussians can't know everyone by sight, even
within the town itself; and will not notice us, at all. If they do,
our answer is sufficient."

"I tell you frankly, boys, I was thinking only last night of the
matter; but--however much you may make light of it--there is, of
course, a certain amount of danger in acting as spies; and your
father--my friend Captain Barclay--might say to me, if evil came of
it:

"'I gave you my boys to fight for France, and you have sent them to
their death, as spies.'

"So I resolved to say nothing about it."

"But now we have offered, sir, the case is different," Ralph said.
"From our knowledge of the language, and from our age, we are
better fitted than anyone in the corps to perform this service; and
therefore it would be clearly our duty to perform it, were it
greatly more dangerous than it is. Our father said to us, at
starting:

"'Do your duty, boys, whatever the danger.'

"We will see about our clothes--there can be no difficulty about
that, there are several lads in the village whose things would fit
us. Shall we come in this afternoon, for instructions?"

"Thank you, lads," Major Tempe said, warmly. "I trust, with you,
that no harm will come of it. But your offer is of too great
advantage to the corps for me to persist in my refusal."

Upon leaving the quarters of the commandant, the boys went at once
to the house of a farmer a short distance from the village where,
the day before, they had noticed two boys of about their own size.
They explained to the farmer that they wanted to buy of him a suit
of the working clothes of each of his sons. Greatly surprised at
this request, the farmer had inquired what they could possibly want
them for; and Ralph--who thought it better not to trust him with
the secret--replied that, as the Prussian General had given notice
that he should shoot all franc tireurs he might take prisoners,
they wanted a suit of clothes, each, which they might slip on in
case of defeat or danger of capture. The pretense was a plausible
one; and the farmer sold them the required clothes, charging only
about twice their cost, when new.

The boys took the parcel and, instead of returning to the village
direct, they hid it carefully in a wood, at a short distance away.
They then returned and, in the afternoon, received detailed
instructions from Major Tempe.

It was arranged that the matter should be kept entirely secret,
lest any incautious word might be overheard and reported. They were
to start at daybreak, upon the following morning. Their cousins and
Tim Doyle being--alone--taken into their confidence, their friends
regretted much that they could not accompany them, and share their
danger. The boys pointed out however that--even could they have
spoken German fluently--they could not have gone with them as,
although two strangers would excite no attention, whatever, five
would be certain to do so.

The next morning they started together, as if for a walk. Upon
reaching the spot in the wood where the peasants' clothes were
hidden, the boys took off their uniforms--which were wrapped up,
and concealed in the same place--and put on the clothes. They
fitted fairly; and more than that was not necessary, as peasants'
clothes are seldom cut accurately to the figure. Rounding their
shoulders, and walking with a clumping sort of stride, no one would
have imagined that they were other than they pretended to be--two
awkward-looking young Alsatian lads.

They cut two heavy sticks, exchanged a hearty goodbye with their
friends, and started for Saverne. Two hours later they were walking
in its streets; staring into the shop windows, and at everything
that was going on, with the open-mouthed curiosity of two young
country lads. Then they made a few purchases--some coffee, sugar,
and pepper--tied them in a colored pocket handkerchief, and then
went into a small cabaret--where they saw some German soldiers
drinking--sat down at a table, and called for some bread and cheese
and beer.

While they were taking them, they listened to the conversation of
the soldiers. The only information that they gleaned from it was
that the men seemed to have no expectation, whatever, of any early
movement; and that they were heartily sick of the monotony of the
place, and the hard work of patrolling the line of railway, night
and day. Presently the soldiers paid for their beer, and left; and
some of the townspeople came in, and took the places they had left.
Their conversation, of course, turned on the Prussian occupation,
and deep were the curses heaped upon the invaders. The only thing
mentioned in their favor was the smallness of their number. There
were not over two hundred men; and this amount weighed but lightly
upon Saverne, compared with the fifty, sixty, or a hundred
quartered at every little village along the line of railway.

The boys had now learned what they most wanted to know and, paying
for their refreshment, went out again into the street. Then they
walked to the railway station--where they saw several soldiers, on
guard--and then set off to a point where they could see the
entrance to the tunnel. There two soldiers were on guard; while
others were stationed, at short distances, all along the line.

The boys now went up to a wood whence, unseen themselves, they
could watch the trains passing. They came along nearly every half
hour; immensely long trains, filled with stores of all kinds. As it
became dusk, they saw a body of Prussian soldiers marching down the
line; relieving the sentries, and placing fresh ones at distances
of little more than fifty yards apart. These marched backwards and
forwards, until they met each other; then returning, until they
faced their comrade at the other end of their beat.

"We can be off now, Percy," Ralph said, rising. "Our news is bad,
for it will be by no means so easy to cut the line as we had
expected. These weasels won't be very easily caught asleep."

"No, indeed," Percy said. "The idea of cutting the line sounded so
easy, when we were at a distance; but it is quite a different
matter, now we are here."

Upon their return they found--with some difficulty--the place where
they had hidden their uniforms; again changed clothes, and
then--carrying those they had just taken off, made up into
bundles--they re-entered the village, and went straight to
headquarters.

Major Tempe was at dinner with the other officers, and received
them with great pleasure; for he had been anxious, all day, lest
any misfortune might befall them. Finding that they had had nothing
to eat, since early in the morning, he at once invited them to sit
down to dinner; for military discipline is far less strict in these
matters, in France, than it is in England; and among the corps of
franc tireurs especially--as among the English volunteers, where
the private is in many cases equal to, or superior to, his officer
in social standing--the difference of rank is very much put aside,
except on duty.

"And you say that they have a sentinel at every fifty or sixty
yards, along the line?" Major Tempe said, when Ralph had given an
account of their day's investigation. "That appears, to me, to be
fatal to our plans."

"Why so?" Lieutenant de Maupas--who commanded the first
company--asked. "It seems to me that nothing could be easier.
Suppose we fell upon any given point, the sentries near it would be
at once killed, or made prisoners; and even allowing--as young
Barclay says--that there are troops in all the villages, it would
be a good half hour before a force, sufficient to disturb us, could
arrive."

"That is true enough," Major Tempe answered. "But what could we do,
in half an hour? We might pull up two hundred yards of rail. What
real advantage would be gained by that? The line of sentries along
the rail would, by firing their rifles, pass the news ten miles, in
half as many minutes; and the trains would be stopped long before
they arrived at the break. Each train carries, I know, workmen and
materials for repairing the line; and as it would be impossible for
us to carry away the rails, after pulling them up, they would be
replaced in as short a time as it took us to tear them up; and the
consequence would be that the traffic would only be suspended for
an hour or two, at most. For a break to be of any real utility,
whatever, it must last for days, if not for weeks.

"The great coup, of course, would be the destruction of the rock
tunnel of Saverne, which was the special object of our presence
here. Failing that, we must try a bridge. The tunnel, however, is
the great affair. Once destroyed, there would be no repairing it,
for many weeks. My proposition is, therefore, that we turn our
attention at once to that point."

There was a general murmur of assent.

"The best course would be for Hardin's company to march direct to
the other end of the tunnel, seize it, and prevent interference
from that end; while the others then seize the Saverne end, and
hold it while preparations are made for blowing it up. Then, when
the match is lighted, fall back--if possible--before the arrival of
heavy bodies of the enemy."

"Nothing could be better," Lieutenant de Maupas exclaimed, and the
other officers agreed with him.

"What day do you propose for the movement?"

"The day after tomorrow, at daybreak," Major Tempe said. "That will
give us plenty of time to send orders to the other two companies;
and the sooner it is done, the better."

The conference was about to break up, when the surgeon--who had
listened in silence--said:

"The general plan is simple enough but, tell me, how do you propose
to set about blowing the tunnel up? You may be able to hold it for
half an hour, at most. How do you think of proceeding?"

Major Tempe and his officers looked at each other. They had not, as
yet, thought the matter over; but the instant it was put plainly
before them, they saw the difficulty.

"Oh," Lieutenant de Maupas said, confidently, "we shall, of course,
put the nitroglycerine somewhere in the middle of the tunnel, and
blow the whole affair up."

Lieutenant de Maupas had been a sailor; and his quickness of
decision and go-ahead, straight-forward way of doing everything
made him, at once, a favorite and an amusement to the men; who had
nicknamed him "Grande Vitesse," or, as we should say in English,
the "Express."

"I am afraid the matter is rather more difficult than you imagine,
De Maupas," Major Tempe said, with a smile. "This is in
Ribouville's way; as he was in the Engineers, he will know all
about it."

The officer named, however, did not reply for some little time; but
sat with his head on his hand, in deep thought.

"I feel ashamed to own it," he said, at last; "but I really do not
know how one could set about the matter so as to have a chance of
really destroying the tunnel, after so short a time for
preparation. Were the tunnel an ordinary, brick-lined tunnel, the
proposition of De Maupas--slightly modified--would no doubt have
the effect of bringing down the brick lining, and the earth behind
would fall in, of itself; but with a tunnel cut in the solid rock,
it would be difficult. The natural strength of the tunnel would be
so great that the force of the explosion would simply be lost,
through the ends. It might or might not bring down a few masses of
rock, but one could not rely upon it doing even that.

"If I had time, the matter would be easy enough. I should make a
deep chamber in the solid rock, at the side of the tunnel; insert
my charge, and then tamp or fasten it in, with masonry. This would
ensure its destruction, at the point of explosion; but I have no
hope of any great damage being done, by merely putting two barrels
of nitroglycerine down upon the line, and then firing them. I can
assure you the point mooted by the doctor is more serious and, as
far as I see at present, I could do nothing in half an hour which
would, in any way, ensure the destruction of the tunnel. To make
such a chamber as I speak of to hold two barrels of nitroglycerine
would be the work of four or five days, working night and day--even
with the aid of powder--and of course, it would be out of the
question to hope for as many hours."

There was a pause of consternation, as Lieutenant Ribouville spoke.
Here was the end of the grand scheme, from which they had expected
so much. At this time, the Germans had no other line of rail at
their command; and the destruction of the tunnel would have been a
disaster, equal to that of the loss of a pitched battle.

"There would be no chance, would there, of our hiding in the woods
under which the tunnel runs; so as to bore down to it, and blow it
in from above?" Major Tempe asked.

"None whatever. The depth to be bored would be considerable. The
stone is hard, and it could not be pierced without the use of
powder, which would betray our presence; and even could we use it,
and were the men all good miners, it would be a work of months, at
the very least."

There was a silence for some minutes, and then the commandant said:

"We cannot give it up, without a trial. Think it over, Ribouville,
for the next three or four days. You may be able to pitch upon some
plan. If you cannot do so, we must at least try the experiment of
exploding our nitroglycerine in the middle of the tunnel--or, at
any rate, as far in as we can carry it--and make our retreat in the
half hour, which is all the time we can calculate upon holding the
entrance."



Chapter 7: A Baffled Project.


Before leaving the headquarters of the commandant, the young
Barclays asked if he wished that they should continue to keep
silence upon the subject of their expedition. The commandant
replied that he did not see that it could do any harm, provided
that they impressed upon their comrades the necessity of
maintaining an absolute silence upon the subject, when any of the
people of the neighborhood were present. Although the villagers
might appear to understand no language but German, they might yet
know enough French to glean what was said and, if traitorously
inclined, to warn the Germans, and thus enormously increase the
danger when the Barclays should again go down to the town.

Their cousins had already heard of their return; for the boys, upon
sitting down to dinner at the commandant's, had requested leave to
send a line to their cousins, who would be anxiously expecting
them.

"Hallo! You Barclay, where have you been to, all day?" was the
general exclamation, as they entered.

"On duty," Ralph said.

"On duty--yes, but what duty? The Duburgs have been mysterious, and
would say nothing. The sergeant here knew nothing about it, except
that our lieutenant told him that you had leave; and Irish Tim has
been hanging about all day, as restless as a cow that has lost its
calf."

"We have been down to Saverne," Ralph said.

There was a general exclamation of astonishment. Those of the men
who had already lain down upon their straw for the night sat up
again, and all crowded round to hear Ralph's story, which he at
once told at length; and which, when finished, gave rise here--as
it had done at the officers' table--to an animated discussion.
Several of the men shook hands warmly with the Barclays,
congratulating them on their offer to undertake this dangerous
service, and upon the valuable--though unfavorable--information
which they had obtained.

From this time forward, the men ceased to attempt to pass jokes at
the expense of any of the boys. When the corps was first raised,
many of the young men had been inclined to protest against boys
being accepted, when the list could have been readily filled with
men but, by this time, the boys had proved that they were quite as
capable of supporting fatigue as were the men. They had behaved
equally well in action; and now the enterprise of the Barclays
testified to the fact that, in a dangerous expedition requiring
coolness, presence of mind, and nerve, they were equally to be
relied upon. Henceforward there was no distinction, or difference,
between the various members of the corps.

Another four days passed and--as the ex-officer of Engineers could
suggest no certain plan, for the destruction of the tunnel, which
could be carried out in the time which a surprise of the sentries
at its mouth would give them--Major Tempe resolved upon delaying no
longer; but on sending four men into the tunnel, under Lieutenant
Ribouville, with instructions to go as far as they could in a
quarter of an hour, to set down the barrels against the rock, to
light a fuse cut to burn a quarter of an hour, and then to return
at full speed to the mouth of the tunnel.

One company was to seize the other end, to tear up seven, eight, or
ten rails, and to retire at once into the woods; as the delay in
getting the rails into their places again would prevent any train
entering, from that end, in time for its occupants to see and
extinguish the burning fuse.

The other company--which was absent--was to join the headquarters,
the evening before the attempt; and it was hoped that the three
companies would be able to keep the enemy at bay for half an hour,
so as to give time to the party with the nitroglycerine to take it
to the required position, and rejoin their comrades. Immediately
upon their doing so the retreat was to commence; as the enemy could
not possibly penetrate the tunnel, and extinguish the fuse, before
the explosion took place.

The attempt was not to be made till the following evening; in order
that the Barclays might go down, and see that all was as before at
Saverne, and along the line. The next day, accordingly, the boys
again put on their disguises and started; as before, taking the
precaution to change in the wood, so as not to be seen by any of
the villagers. Upon reaching the spot from which a view of the
tunnel was obtainable, they stopped, with a simultaneous
exclamation of dismay. Not only were two sentries stationed near
the entrance; but some fifteen or twenty German soldiers were
sitting or standing by a small building, at a short distance, which
had evidently been turned into a guard house.

"This looks very much against us, Ralph. One would think that they
had got information of our being near."

"It looks bad, indeed, Percy. Let us go on into the town. We shall,
perhaps, learn something about it, there."

A sharp walk soon brought them to Saverne. A sentry was on duty at
the entrance to the town, and several of his comrades stood near.
The sentry looked as if about to stop them; but seeing, when they
came up, that they were only boys, he let them pass without
question.

"Worse and worse, Percy. Something is up, sure enough."

This became more evident at every step they took, for the little
town was absolutely crowded with German soldiers.

"Unless they are merely halting here, upon their march through, it
is all up with our plan, Percy. There must be over two thousand men
here, at the very least."

Upon questioning a lad of the town, of about their own age, they
found that the fresh troops had arrived upon the preceding day; the
infantry--two thousand strong--coming in by train, late in the
evening before; and three hundred cavalry marched in, only half an
hour before the boys' arrival. They were all quartered upon the
inhabitants, and there appeared to be no sign of their early
departure.

For some time the boys walked about, without obtaining any
information; although they entered a dozen cabarets, and drank
considerable quantities of beer. At last, before one of the
principal cafes, they saw ten or twelve German officers sitting,
talking. None of the inhabitants were sitting at the cafe; and the
boys dared not go in to ask for anything, there, as it would not
have been in accordance with their appearance.

"How are we to get within hearing, Percy?"

"Look here, Ralph; I will limp along, as if I had something in my
shoe which hurts me. Then I will sit down on a doorstep, close to
them, and take off my boot. You can sit down, too, and take some of
the bread and cheese which we put in our pockets, because we could
not eat it at the last place we went in. I will keep my boot off,
to ease my foot; and we can eat our bread and cheese, as slowly as
we like."

"That will do capitally, Percy."

In another couple of minutes the two lads were sitting, as agreed,
upon the step of a door close to the cafe. They could not hear all
that was said; but could catch the sense, as the German
officers--as is their custom--spoke in a very loud voice. They
belonged to the infantry; and were, it appeared, in ignorance of
the reason of their sudden move to Saverne.

Presently a captain of the cavalry came along the street.

"Ah, Von Rausen," a major in the infantry exclaimed, "are you here?
I have not seen you since the day you marched from Coblentz."

"No, indeed, major," the other said, saluting--as a Prussian
officer always does, to his superior in rank--the other infantry
officers all rising, and saluting in turn. "We have just come in
from Hagenau."

"Are you in a hurry?" asked the major. "If not, sit down and let us
talk."

The cavalry officer accepted the invitation and, for a few minutes,
their talk ran upon mutual friends. Then the major said:

"By the way, do you know what we are here for? We were bustled off
at a moment's notice; no one knows why, except of course the
colonel, and he has not thought necessary to tell us and,
naturally, we have not asked him."

"Do you not know?" Captain Von Rausen said. "It is no secret--at
least, no secret from us, but a secret from the people here. I will
speak in French; no doubt there are plenty of spies about."

"There is no one in hearing," the major said, "except those two
stupid-looking lads, munching bread and cheese."

"The more likely to be spies," Von Rausen said. "Fellows who look
like fools are just the people chosen."

"Well, speak in English then, Von Rausen," the major said; "we both
understand it, and we should be safe, then, if all Saverne were
listening."

"Yes, that will be safe.

"Well, then, the general received information, yesterday, that that
corps of franc tireurs who cut up our cavalry near Blamont, the
other day, are hid up in some village in the woods, four or five
miles from here; no doubt with the intention of making an attempt
to blow up the tunnel. The idea is a daring one and, if the plan
had succeeded, it would have done us incalculable harm. As it is,
we are safe; and tomorrow night we shall, I believe, make an
expedition, and sweep the woods clear of these troublesome gentry.

"These franc tireurs will be mischievous if we do not give them a
sharp lesson. The general's proclamation gave notice that every one
of them taken would be shot, and our colonel is just the man to
carry out the order."

"This is indeed important," the major said. "But how did we get the
information? Is it certain?"

"Quite certain. A scoundrel of a schoolmaster at Grunsdorf--a
village somewhere up in the woods--turned traitor; and sent a
letter to the general, bargaining that he should be taken on as a
spy, at some fabulous salary, and offering to begin by leading the
troops to the village where these franc tireurs are hidden."

"An infamous scoundrel!" the major said warmly. "Of course, one
cannot refuse to deal with traitors, when the information is of
importance; but one longs to put a pistol bullet into them. Badly
as the French have come out in many particulars, since the war
began, there is not one which gives me such a mean idea of them as
the number of offers which have been sent in to supply information,
and betray their countrymen."

"Put on your boots, Percy," Ralph said, in a low voice. "It is time
for us to be off. Don't hurry; and above all, if they should take
it into their heads to address us suddenly in French, or English,
don't start or seem to notice."

The major was, however, so absorbed in the information he had
received--and so confident that the English, in which it had been
told, would be unintelligible to anyone who might overhear it--that
he paid no attention to the boys who--one of them limping
badly--went slowly down the street; stopping, occasionally, to look
in at the shop windows. It was not until they were fairly outside
the town, and out of sight of the German sentries, that they either
spoke or quickened their pace.

"The franc tireurs of Dijon may thank their lucky stars that they
sent down spies to Saverne today, Percy; and especially that we, of
all the members of the corps, were selected. If we had not been
where we were, just at that moment, and if we had not understood
English, it would have been all up with the corps, and no mistake."

"What an infamous scoundrel, as the major said, that schoolmaster
must be, Ralph! What do you think the commandant will do?"

"He has nothing to do but to retreat, as quickly as we can go,
Percy; but if it costs him half the corps, I hope he will hang that
schoolmaster, before he goes."

"I hope so, too," Percy said; and scarcely another word was spoken,
until they reached the village.

It was still early, scarcely two o'clock, and Major Tempe was
drilling the whole corps--the two detached companies having arrived
that morning--when the boys, having again put on uniform,
approached him.

Major Tempe nodded to them, as they came up.

"You are back early," he said. "You are excused from drill. I will
see you at my quarters, when it is over."

"If you please, major," Ralph said, respectfully, "you had better
dismiss the men, at once. We have news of the highest importance to
tell you."

The major looked surprised but, seeing by the boys' faces that the
news was very serious, he at once dismissed the men; telling them
to keep near, as they might be wanted. Then, calling his officers,
he proceeded at once with the Barclays towards his quarters.

"Excuse me, major," Ralph said, "but instead of going to your
quarters, would you move to some open space, where we can speak
without a possibility of being overheard by anyone?"

Still more surprised, Major Tempe led the way to some felled trees
at the edge of the forest, a short distance from the village. Here
he sat down, and motioned to the others to do the same. Ralph then
told his story, interrupted many times by exclamations of rage,
upon the part of his auditors; and giving full credit to Percy for
his idea of the plan by which, unnoticed, they had managed to get
within hearing of the German officers. The fury of the French
officers knew no bounds. They gesticulated, they stamped up and
down, they swore terribly, they were ready to cry from sheer rage.

Major Tempe, alone, uttered no remark during the whole narration.
When it was concluded, he sat silent for a minute or two; with his
lips pressed together, and a look of deep indignation on his face.
Then he rose, and said in a solemn tone:

"As sure as the sun shines, and as sure as my name is Edward Tempe,
so sure shall that schoolmaster, of Grunsdorf, be hung before
tomorrow morning!

"Lieutenant Ribouville, order the assembly to be sounded, and form
the men here in hollow square.

"Messieurs Barclay, you will fall in with your company."

A little surprised--and hurt that the commandant had said no word
of commendation to them, for the service they had performed--the
boys hurried off to their quarters, to get their rifles.

"Sure, Master Ralph, and what is the matter, at all?" Tim Doyle
said, as they entered. "Sure the major, honest man, must have gone
off his head, entirely! Scarcely had we finished our male, and
began to smoke the first pipe in aise and comfort, when the bugle
blows for parade.

"'Confound the bugle!' says I, and I shoved me pipe aside, and put
on my belt and fell in.

"Hardly had we begun the maneuvers when your honors arrived and
said a word, private, to the major. The words weren't out of your
mouth before he dismisses us from drill.

"'Botheration!' says I, 'is there no pace for the wicked?'

"Back I comes again, and takes off me belt and piles me firelock;
and before I had got three draws at me pipe, and was just beginning
to enjoy the creetur when, crack! and there goes the assimbly
again. Sure and the major, honest man, has lost his head entirely;
and it's a pity, for he is an illegant man, and a good officer,
says I."

"Come along, Tim," Ralph said, laughing, "else you'll be late for
parade. You will hear all about it in time, I have no doubt."

In five minutes the men were all assembled in a hollow square, two
deep, facing the officers in the center The men saw at once, by the
faces of Major Tempe and the officers, that something very serious
had happened; and they had no sooner taken their places than there
was a deep hush of expectancy, for it was evident that the
commandant was about to address them.

"My men," he said, after a pause of a minute or two, "a great
calamity has happened; and a still greater one would have happened,
had we not providentially received warning in time. It had been
resolved--as you would have heard this evening, had all gone
well--that tonight we should attack the German sentries, and blow
up the rock tunnel of Saverne. The affair would have been hot, but
it would have been a vital service to France; and the franc tireurs
of Dijon would have merited, and obtained, the thanks of all
France. It was for the purpose of the attack that the two companies
detached from us were recalled.

"All promised well for success. Two of your number had been down
into Saverne, in disguise, and had brought us full information
respecting the force and disposition of the enemy. All was
prepared, the chance of success favorable, and the force the enemy
could have brought against us was no larger than our own. We should
have saved France, and immortalized ourselves.

"At the present moment there are two thousand five hundred men in
Saverne. Tomorrow night this village is to be attacked, and every
franc tireur found here put to the sword."

A cry of surprise and rage broke from the men.

"And how, think you, has the change been wrought? By treachery!"

Those cries of rage were renewed.

"By treachery! A Frenchman has been found, base and vile enough to
sell us to Prussia. All hope of success is over, and we have only
to retreat."

"Who is he? Who is he?" burst from the infuriated men. "Death to
the traitor! Death to the traitor!"

"Yes, men, death to the traitor!" the major said, solemnly. "It is
the schoolmaster of Grunsdorf who has sold you to the Prussians;
who wrote that letter to their general, telling him of your
intentions, which has caused these great reinforcements to be sent;
and who has offered to guide a force to surround us, tomorrow
night."

Another low cry of horror and indignation broke from the men.

"Is it your opinion that this man has deserved death?"

"Yes," was the unanimous answer.

"Then he dies," Major Tempe said, solemnly. "You were to have been
his victims; you are his judges.

"Grunsdorf is three miles from here, in the woods, not far from
Saverne. A party will be told off, presently, who will be charged
with the execution of this sentence.

"I have now another duty. The corps has been saved from
destruction. You--all of us--have been preserved from death by the
intelligence and courage of two of your number.

"Ralph and Percy Barclay, stand forward!"

The two boys stepped two paces forward into the hollow square.

"Selected by me," continued Major Tempe, "for the duty, from their
perfect acquaintance with German; they, upon their first visit to
Saverne, obtained all the information required. Upon their second
visit, this morning--finding the enemy had been immensely
reinforced--they perceived the extreme importance of discovering
the reason for the arrival of the reinforcements, and their
intention. With a coolness and tact which does them the greatest
credit, they contrived to arrive, and to remain within hearing of,
a number of officers; and then learned the whole particulars of the
treachery of this man, and of the intention of our enemies. So
important was the secret judged that the Germans were afraid of
telling it in German, or in French, lest they might be overheard.
To prevent the possibility of this, they conversed in English; and
the consequence is that we are saved, almost by a miracle.

"Ralph and Percy Barclay, your names will be inserted in the order
of the day, being the first of the corps to whom that honor has
been given; and I hereby offer you, in the name of myself, my
officers, and the whole corps, my hearty thanks for your courage,
coolness, and devotion.

"The parade is dismissed. The men will assemble at five o'clock, in
full marching order, with all necessaries and accouterments."

As Major Tempe ceased speaking, the men broke up from the order in
which they had been standing, and crowded round the young Barclays;
shaking them by the hand, patting them on the shoulder, and
congratulating them heartily upon the service that they had
rendered, and upon the terms in which their commandant had thus
publicly acknowledged it.

At five o'clock the corps assembled again in heavy marching order
and, after inspection, the second, third, and fourth companies
marched off; with their officers, who alone knew their destination,
at their head. Major Tempe remained on the ground, with the first
company. After waiting for a few minutes, they were marched off in
the direction which the others had taken but--after getting out of
sight of the village, and fairly entering the forest--they turned
sharp off, and took the direction of Saverne.



Chapter 8: The Traitor.


After the company had marched for half an hour, a halt was called,
and their commandant said:

"I daresay you have all guessed the object which we have in view.
We are going to carry out the sentence pronounced by the whole
corps. We are going to have that schoolmaster--that traitor--who
has sold our lives to the Prussians; and who--which is of
infinitely greater importance--has done immense injury to France,
by betraying our intention of blowing up the tunnel. That traitor I
intend to have, tonight; and if I have him, I will hang him, as
sure as fate.

"This lane which we are following leads to Grunsdorf; which,
according to the information I collected before leaving, cannot be
above a mile distant. Now, we must be cautious. It is quite
possible that a detachment of the enemy may have been sent up to
the village, and in that case we might catch a Tartar. Even if
there are no Germans there, we must be cautious, or the bird will
escape. We neither know him, nor the house he lives in and--as he
would naturally guess that his treachery had been discovered, and
that we had come for him--he would slip out into the forest, the
instant he saw the first bayonet approaching. It is essential,
therefore, that we should obtain accurate information of the state
of affairs, and of the position of this traitor's house.

"In another half hour it will be dusk. The Barclays have again
volunteered to go in, and find out what we require. They will go on
at once; and in an hour we will follow, and remain concealed, just
outside the village, until they return.

"Sergeant, you will go forward with them, and agree upon the place
where we shall remain hid, until they join us.

"Now, my lads, you have already received your instructions. Change
your things, and go forward at once."

The distance was farther than they had expected, and it was nearly
dark before the boys entered Grunsdorf. There was no one moving in
the quiet village, for a fine rain was falling as the boys walked
slowly along.

"There is no one to ask, Percy. We must go into the public house,
as arranged, and ask where the priest's house is. It would not do
for two strangers to ask for the schoolmaster. The priest will tell
us where he lives."

So saying, they entered the little cabaret, walked down a long
passage leading from the door, and paused for a moment at the
threshold--for in the room were some eight or ten Prussian
soldiers.

"It is too late to retreat, Percy. Come in boldly."

Lifting their caps, they walked up to an unoccupied table; and
called for some bread, cheese, and beer. The landlord brought the
refreshments, and the boys had scarcely begun to eat when a
Prussian sergeant--who had exchanged a word with the landlord,
evidently in reference to them--strode up to them and, laying his
hand upon Ralph's shoulder, said:

"Who are you, young fellows? The landlord says you do not belong to
the village."

"We belong to a party of woodcutters, from Colmar," Ralph said,
quietly.

Illustration: Among the German Soldiers.

"Oh, indeed!" the sergeant said, in an incredulous voice, "and
where are your party?"

"Out in the forest, at the place where we have begun to fell
trees," Ralph said.

"But people do not come to cut wood without horses, or carts to
take it away," the sergeant persisted.

"They are up in the forest with our father," Ralph said.

"Have you heard anything about this party?" the sergeant asked the
landlord.

The man hesitated a moment. He evidently suspected, also, that the
boys might belong to the franc tireurs; and was anxious to say
nothing which could harm them.

"No," he said, after a pause, "I can't say that I have heard of
them; but I know some of the forest was sold, not long ago, and
they might have come from Colmar without coming this way."

"We only arrived this morning," Percy said, quietly, "so that you
could hardly have heard of us, unless some of the people of your
place happened to pass, when we were at work; and we have not seen
anyone, all day."

"At any rate," the sergeant said, "I shall see if your story be
true, and you will at once take us to the place.

"Corporal, get ten men in readiness."

"Certainly," Ralph said, "if you will allow us to finish our
supper, we will show you the way, at once."

The sergeant nodded, and resumed his seat.

"Look here, Percy," Ralph said, quietly, "we are in a nasty fix,
this time. There is only one thing to be done, that I can see. If
we both go they will shoot us, to a certainty; for although one
might make a bolt in the wood, it is certain we could not both get
away.

"Only one thing is to be done. I will say your foot is bad, and ask
for you to stay here. Directly we have gone, you slip out and
go--as hard as you can--to the place where our men are hid. I will
bring them in that direction. We shall have passed the place before
you can reach it--at least, unless you can get out, at once--and
pass on in the darkness. Take off your shoes, so as to run lightly.
As we pass, fire a volley right into us; and I will make a dart
into the wood, in the confusion."

"But you might be shot by our men, Ralph. They could not possibly
distinguish you, in the dark. No, I will go with the men, and you
make your way to Tempe."

"No, no, Percy, I won't have that."

"Very well," Percy said, doggedly, "then we will go together."

There was a silence for a minute or two, and then Ralph said:

"Look here, Percy, this is madness; however, as you won't do as I
tell you, we will draw lots. I will put a piece of crumb in one of
my hands. You shall guess which it is in. If you guess right, I
will go with the Germans. If you guess wrong, you shall go."

"Very well," Percy said; "I agree to that."

Ralph then broke off a small piece of bread, and put it in one of
his hands--having already, before he made the proposition, broken
off a similar piece, unobserved by Percy. He then put both hands
under the table, and then lifted them again; all the time trying to
appear not to be engaged upon anything out of the way, as he knew
that some of the Germans were watching them.

"Left," Percy said.

Ralph replied by opening the left hand, and dropping the piece of
bread on the table; at the same time putting his right hand back
into his pocket, as if to get out his handkerchief--and dropping,
as he did so, the piece of bread it contained into the place.

"There, Percy, fortune has decided it.

"Goodbye; God bless you. I daresay I shall get out of it but, if
not, give my love to them all, at home."

Then he finished his beer and rose, without giving Percy time to
reply, even could he have done so; but the lad was so much choked,
with the effort to keep from crying, that he could not have spoken.
Ralph turned to the sergeant and--stretching his arms, with the
natural air of a tired boy, objecting to be disturbed--said:

"Now, sir, I am ready to start. I suppose there is no occasion for
us both to go, for my brother has hurt his foot. We shouldn't have
come in, tonight; but it is his first time out with the woodmen,
and he is not accustomed to sleeping out, in the wet."

"Yes, one is enough. He can stay," the sergeant said.

"You had better ask the landlord to show you a corner, where you
can sleep on the straw, Karl," Ralph said. "It is no use waiting
for me. I shall be back in an hour."

With a nod to Percy, Ralph now walked steadily to the door. The
sergeant, with the men told off for the duty, accompanied him. When
they reached the street, it was raining heavily.

"I wonder," Ralph said, "whether the landlord would lend me a sack,
to put on my shoulders."

"Is this place far off, youngster?" the sergeant asked, peering out
into the darkness.

Ralph's heart gave a jump; for he detected, in the tone, a certain
hesitation as to taking the men out in such a night, upon such
slight suspicion. He was, however, too shrewd to show any desire to
dissuade the sergeant from it, so he replied:

"No, it is no distance to speak of; not a mile, at most. We should
be there and back in half an hour, if it was light; but there is
only a path among the woods and it is dark.

"I think we had better have some lanterns, for I do not think I
could find my way without them, tonight; at any rate, it would take
us much longer."

"There, boy, that will do," the sergeant said, laying his hand on
his shoulder. "I am satisfied, now, with the truth of your story. I
thought, for a bit, you had something to do with the franc tireurs
who are about here, but I see I was mistaken.

"Turn in again, lads. It is no use taking you out on a useless
search, such a night as this, among these forests."

Ralph laughed aloud, as they turned to go down the passage again to
the corner.

"Won't father laugh," he said, "when he hears that you thought I
was a franc tireur. We haven't seen any, about Colmar. I don't
think you need be afraid of them, if they ain't bigger or older
than I am."

By this time they had entered the room again, and Ralph saw that
Percy was already talking to the landlord--with whom, indeed, he
was on the point of leaving the room. He turned round, upon hearing
the party come in again, and gave a slight start of pleasure.

"I am soon back, Karl, and am glad that it is so for, frankly, I
too am tired; and it is not a night for a dog to be out. I will go
in with you."

"Stay, landlord," the sergeant said. "Give the boys another glass,
each, before they go off."

"Thank you," Ralph said. "A glass of good beer never comes amiss."

The boys stopped, while the landlord filled their glasses.

"Now," said the sergeant, raising his arm. "Here's a health, to
King William."

"Here's a health, to King William," Ralph repeated. "I am sure I
wish him no harm.

"And now, with your permission, I will be off."

The landlord led them to an outhouse, in which were some trusses of
straw. Just as he was about to leave them, Ralph said, suddenly:

"Ah! I had nearly forgotten about the priest. You have a priest
here, have you not?"

"Of course," the landlord said. "Do you take us for heathens?"

"Not at all," Ralph said, apologetically; "but father told me to
call, and pay him for some masses. My eldest sister was very ill,
when we came away, and father worries about her.

"Where does the priest live?"

"The last house on the left, as you go out from the farther end of
the village. But anyone will show you it, in the morning.

"You don't want the light any longer?"

For the boys had, while speaking, been taking off their boots, and
making a show of preparing to lie down on the straw.

"No, thank you. Good night.

"Oh, I forgot--what do you charge, a cask, for your best beer?
Father wanted to know and, if the price suits, will send down a
cart to fetch it."

The landlord named the price, and then said good night, and left
them.

When he returned to the room where he had left the German soldiers,
the sergeant asked him a question or two concerning the boys; and
the landlord repeated the substance of the conversation which he
had just had. This allayed the last suspicions which had remained
in the sergeant's mind; and he congratulated himself, greatly, that
he had not taken his men out, in such a night, upon a mere
groundless suspicion.

"If the landlord repeats that yarn to the Germans, it will allay
all suspicion," Ralph said, when they were left alone. "Otherwise
the sergeant might have taken it into his head to come to have a
look at us and, although it would not very much matter that he
should discover that the birds had flown, still it would have put
him on his guard, and he might have doubled the sentries, and made
it much more difficult for us.

"We have had a very narrow squeak for it this time, Percy, old
boy."

"Very, Ralph! I would rather go through twenty battles, again, than
feel as I felt when I saw you start, and thought that I should
never see you again, alive."

"Well, we have no time to lose now, Percy. Have you got your boots
on again? If so, let us start at once. The major and men must be
very anxious, long before this. It must be full an hour since we
came."

"It has been the longest hour I ever passed, Ralph. There now, I am
ready, if you are."

"We must go out very quietly, Percy. I have no doubt that they have
got sentries posted all about. They know that we are in the
neighborhood I wish I knew how many there are of them."

"I found out, from the landlord, that all the fifteen men we saw
here were billeted upon him," Percy said. "He told me at first,
when I asked him, that he could do nothing for me in the way of a
bed, because there were three or four in every room. I said that a
stable and a little straw would do for us, very well, and then he
thought of this outhouse.

"At the same rate, there must be at least a hundred men in the
village."

They now opened the door of the outhouse, went quietly out, and
made their way through a garden at the back of the house towards
the wood.

"Stand still a few minutes, Percy," Ralph said, in a whisper, "and
let us see if we can find out where the sentries are placed. I
expect that they form a cordon round the village.

"Lie down by this wall. We can see them, there, and they cannot see
us."

It was well that they did so for, in another minute, they heard a
tread quite close to them; and a Prussian soldier passed, within a
yard of where they were lying. They could dimly see that his hood
was over his head, and hear that he was humming to himself a scrap
of some German air. They lay there until he had again passed the
spot; and then--having found out the direction of his beat--they
crawled noiselessly away and, in five minutes, had reached the edge
of the forest.

They did not enter it, as it would have been impossible--in the
dense darkness--to have made their way without running against
trees, and snapping off boughs, which would have given the alarm.
They therefore skirted the edge--knowing that, with the trees
behind them, they would be invisible at the distance of a yard or
two--and in ten minutes reached the place where their company was
awaiting them. As they approached the spot, they gave a short, low
whistle; which was the agreed sign, among the band, for knowing
each other on night expeditions. It was answered at once and, in
another minute, they were among their friends.

"What has happened?" Major Tempe asked. "We were getting very
anxious about you. I sent Favarts to reconnoiter, ten minutes ago;
and he has just returned, saying that he can hear someone pacing
backwards and forwards on the road, and that he believes it to be a
sentry."

"He was quite right," Ralph said; "the village is full of Germans.
There must--as far as we can see--be seventy or eighty of them, at
the very lowest; and there are probably a hundred. We have been
prisoners, or something very like it, and have had a monstrously
close shave of it.

"But I will tell you all that, when we have time. Do you still
think of carrying out your plans?"

"Certainly," Major Tempe said, "that schoolmaster I am determined
to have, even if we fight our way in, and shoot him in bed. Have
you found out where he lives?"

"No, sir, but we have found out where the priest lives. It is this
end house: the end of the village, on the left-hand side as you
come out."

"Are the sentries very close together?"

"They are pretty close, but not too close to prevent our crawling
between them, unobserved, on such a night as this."

Major Tempe hesitated for a while.

"It would be too hazardous," he said. "We know nothing of the
ground over which we should have to crawl, and it would be hardly
possible for thirty men--with our accouterments, and firearms--to
crawl along without snapping sticks, or striking rifles against a
stone and giving the alarm.

"No, the sentry at the entrance of the village must be silenced."

So saying, the commandant turned to the men who were standing
round, and explained briefly the purport of the whispered
conversation which he had had with Ralph. He then chose two active
young men, and told them to take off their cloaks, belts, and
accouterments of all kinds; and to leave them, with their rifles,
with the men who were to remain at the spot at which they then
were--to cover their retreat, if necessary. They were to take
nothing with them but their sword bayonets--which were not to be
used, except in case of necessity--and a coil of light rope.
Definite instructions were given them as to the manner in which
their attack was to be made.

They then took off their boots, and set off noiselessly upon their
enterprise. They went on rapidly, until they were within plain
hearing of the footsteps of the sentinel; and then very cautiously
and, crouching almost to the ground, so as not to bring their
bodies on a level with his eye, they crept up foot by foot to the
end of his beat. Here they waited a short time, while he passed and
repassed them, unthinking of the deadly foe who, had they stretched
out their hands, could have touched his cloak as he went past them.

At last, the second time he passed them on his way towards the
village, they rose together behind him. In an instant one had
garroted him--with a choking grip, that almost strangled him, and
prevented him uttering the slightest sound--while the other grasped
his rifle by the lock, so as to prevent the possibility of its
being fired. In another instant, the rifle was torn from the grasp
of the almost stupefied man; cords were passed tightly round his
arms and legs; a handkerchief was thrust into his mouth, and
fastened there by a cord going across the mouth and tied behind the
head and, before the bewildered man fairly knew what had happened,
he was lying bound and gagged by the roadside.

One of the franc tireurs now ran back, to tell the commandant that
the men could advance; while the other--selected specially because
he understood a little German--put on the spiked helmet of the
captured sentry, and began to walk up and down, in readiness to
repeat the cry of "All well," should it be passed round.

The whole company were now moved up. Ten men were left at the point
where the sentry was posted, to cover a retreat; or to assist the
sentry, in case of any party coming out to relieve guard, and so
discovering the change which had taken place. The others, led by
the commandant, proceeded forward until opposite the priest's
house, in which lights were still burning; for it was not, as yet,
ten o'clock.

Major Tempe, accompanied only by two men--and by Ralph Barclay, to
interpret, if necessary--now went cautiously up to the house. The
light was in a room on the ground floor. To this Major Tempe
advanced and, looking in, saw the priest sitting reading, alone. He
tapped very gently at the window; and the priest, looking up, gave
a start upon seeing an armed man looking in at the window.

Major Tempe put his finger to his lips, to enforce the necessity
for silence, and made signs to him to open the window. After a
moment's hesitation the priest rose from his seat, came to the
window, and unfastened it; taking great precautions against noise.

"Are you French?" he asked, in a whisper.

"Yes; a commandant of franc tireurs."

"Hush, then, for your life," the priest said, earnestly. "The
village is full of Prussians. The officer, with a soldier as his
servant, is upstairs. He arrived in a state of fever; and is,
tonight, quite ill. The soldier is up with him. I believe the
sergeant, who is at the inn, is in command for to-night. A soldier
was dispatched, this evening, to ask for another officer to be sent
out.

"What can I do for you?"

"I only want you to tell me in which house the schoolmaster lives.
He is a traitor, and has betrayed us to the Prussians. It is owing
to him that they are here."

"He has a bad name, in the village," the priest said; "and we had
applied to have him removed. He lives in the third house from here,
on the same side of the road."

"Has he any Germans quartered upon him?"

"Twenty or thirty men," the priest said. "The schoolroom is full of
them."

"Do you know which is his room?" Major Tempe asked. "It would be a
great thing, if we could get at him without alarming the enemy. I
have thirty men here, but I do not want to have a fight in the
village, if I can help it."

"I know his house," the priest said. "The schoolroom is at the side
of the house, and his sitting room and kitchen on the ground floor
of the house itself. There are three bedrooms over. His room is in
front of the house, to the right as you face it."

"Thank you," Major Tempe said. "Have you a ladder?"

"There is one lying on the ground by the wall, to the left. I hope
you do not intend to shed blood?"

"No," Major Tempe said, grimly. "I think that I can promise that
there will be no blood shed--that is to say, unless we are attacked
by the Prussians.

"Good night, and thank you. I need not say that--for your own
sake--you will not mention, in the morning, having seen us."

The commandant now rejoined his party, and they advanced to the
house indicated. He then chose ten men to accompany him; ordering
the rest to remain at a distance of twenty yards, with their rifles
cocked, and in readiness for instant action. The ladder was then
brought forward by the men selected, and placed against the window.

Major Tempe had, before starting, provided himself--from the
carpenter of the village--with an auger, a small and fine saw, a
bottle of oil, and a thin strip of straight iron. He now mounted
the ladder and, after carefully examining the window--which was of
the make which we call, in England, latticed--he inserted the strip
of iron, and tried to force back the fastening. This he failed in
doing, being afraid to use much force lest the fastening should
give suddenly, with a crash. He had, however, ascertained the exact
position of the fastening.

Having, before mounting, carefully oiled the auger and saw, he now
applied the former; and made a hole through the framework at the
junction of the two sides of the window, just above the fastening.
Introducing the saw into this hole, he noiselessly cut entirely
round the fastening, with a semi-circular sweep, to the junction of
the window below it; and as he did so, the window swung partially
open, by its own weight. He now descended the ladder again, took
off his boots; and ordered two of the men to do the same, and to
put aside all arms, and accouterments, that could strike against
anything and make a noise.

Then, taking a coil of strong rope in his hand, and followed by the
two men, he again mounted the ladder. The instructions to the men
were that one was to enter at once, with him; the other to remain
where he was, until he received the signal. The major entered the
room noiselessly, and dropped at once on to his hands and knees;
and was, a minute after, joined by his follower. He now crawled
forward--groping his way with the greatest caution, so as to make
no noise--until he found the bed. Then, rising to his feet, he
threw himself upon the sleeping man and, in a moment, had him
tightly by the throat with one hand, while the other was placed
firmly on his mouth.

Paralyzed by the suddenness of the attack, and with his arms
tightly kept down by the bedclothes, and the weight of his
assailant, the schoolmaster was unable to struggle.

"Now, light the light," Major Tempe said, quietly.

His follower at once struck one of the noiseless German
matches--which are used almost exclusively, in these parts of
France--and lighted a lamp which was standing upon the table. He
then came up to the bed, and assisted the major to securely gag and
bind the prisoner--whose looks, when he saw into whose hands he had
fallen, betokened the wildest terror.

"Search his pockets," Major Tempe said. "We may find something of
importance."

In the breast pocket of his coat was a pocket book; and in it among
the papers was a letter, from the colonel commanding at
Saverne--which had evidently been brought to him by the officer of
the detachment, that morning--telling him to come down to Saverne,
on the following evening, to guide the troops to the village in
which the franc tireurs were stationed. The letter also enclosed
ten hundred-thaler notes [a thaler is about equal to two
shillings].

"They are part of our blood money," the major said, grimly. "Bring
them away, they are the fair spoil of war.

"Tell Barre to come in."

The man on the ladder now joined them; and together they quietly
lifted the schoolmaster, and carried him to the window. They then
fastened a rope round the prisoner's body, lifted him out on to the
ladder, and lowered him gradually down to the men below.

They now blew out the light, and descended the ladder. The two men
who had waited at its foot raised the prisoner on their shoulders,
and carried him off to their comrades; while the commandant and the
other two men hastily put on their boots, seized their arms and
accouterments and, in two minutes, the whole party were marching
quietly down the village. No incident, whatever, marked their
retreat. The sentry had been undisturbed, during their absence; and
in a few minutes the whole party were out of the village, without
the slightest alarm having been raised.

They followed the road by which they had come, for about a mile;
and then turned off a side path in the forest, to the left. They
followed this for a short distance, only, into the forest; and
then, when they arrived at a small, open space, a halt was ordered.
The prisoner was dropped unceremoniously to the ground, by the two
franc tireurs who carried him on their shoulders, and a fire was
speedily lighted.

Major Tempe then ordered the prisoner to be unbound and ungagged
and, with a guard upon either side of him, to be placed in front of
the company--drawn up in a semi-circle by the fire. The prisoner
was a man of about fifty-five, with a sallow, cunning face. He
could scarcely stand and, indeed, would have sunk on his knees, in
his abject terror, had not the guards by his side held him by the
arms.

"Men," Major Tempe said, "undoubted as the guilt of the prisoner
appeared to be, we had got no absolute proof; and a mistake might
have been possible, as to the name of the village whose
schoolmaster had betrayed us. This letter found in his coat pocket,
and this German money--the price of our blood--leave no further
doubt possible."

And here the major read the Prussian colonel's letter.

"Are you still of opinion that he merits death?"

"Yes, yes," the men exclaimed, unanimously.

"Prisoner," Major Tempe said, "you have heard your sentence. You
are a convicted traitor--convicted of having betrayed your country,
convicted of having sold the blood of your countrymen. I give you
five minutes to ask that pardon, of God, which you cannot obtain
from man."

The miserable wretch gave a cry of terror, and fell on his knees;
and would have crawled towards his judge, to beg for mercy, had not
his guard restrained him. For the next five minutes, the forest
rang with alternate cries, entreaties, threats, and curses--so
horrible that the four boys, and several of the younger men, put
their hands to their ears and walked away, so as not to see or hear
the terrible punishment. At the end of that time there was a brief
struggle, and then a deep silence; and the body of the traitor
swung from a branch of one of the trees, with a paper pinned on his
breast:

"So perish all traitors."

"Louis Duburg," Major Tempe said, "take this paper, with 'Those who
seek a traitor will find him here,' and fasten it to a tree; so
that it may be seen at the point where this path turned from the
road."

Louis took it, and ran off. In a quarter of an hour, when he
returned, he found the company drawn up in readiness to march. He
fell in at once, and the troop moved off; leaving behind them the
smoldering fire, and the white figure swinging near it.



Chapter 9: A Desperate Fight.


Daylight was just breaking, when Major Tempe marched with his men
into Marmontier; at which place the other three companies had
arrived, the night previously. It was a large village--the chief
place of its canton--and the corps were most hospitably received by
the inhabitants. Had they arrived the evening before, it would have
been impossible to provide them all with beds; and they would have
been obliged, like the majority of their comrades, to sleep on
straw in the schoolroom. The inhabitants, however, were up and
about, very shortly after the arrival of Major Tempe's command; and
his men were soon provided for, in the beds which they had left.

Beds were now a luxury, indeed, as the corps had not slept in them
since they had been quartered at Baccarat, two nights before their
first encounter with the Prussians, near Blamont. It was with great
unwillingness, then, that they turned out when the bugle sounded,
at two o'clock in the afternoon. They partook of a hearty
meal--provided by the people upon whom they were quartered--and an
hour later the whole corps marched out towards Wasselonne, a small
town situated on the Breuche; a little river which, winding round
by Molsheim, falls into the Rhine at Strasburg. A branch line of
railroad terminates at this place.

When they arrived within three miles of it, they turned off to the
right--for Wasselonne had frequently been visited by the
Prussians--and slept at the little village of Casswiller, at the
edge of the forest of OEdenwald. Another day's short, but weary,
marching over the mountains brought them to the village of Still;
lying high upon the western slope of the Vosges, above Mutzig.

From this point they had a splendid view over the valley of the
Rhine. From their feet, at Mutzig, the railway ran through Molsheim
straight across the country to Strasburg; the beautiful spire of
whose cathedral rose above the flats, at a distance of about
fifteen miles. The day happened to be a quiet one, and the deep
booming of the guns of the besiegers could be distinctly heard. The
inhabitants reported that the German troops patrolled the whole
valley, pushing sometimes down to the walls of Schlestadt, levying
contributions and carrying off cattle.

The village was very poor, and was able to furnish little
accommodation in the way of quarters, still less in that of food.
Six of the villagers were, therefore, sent through the forest of
OEdenwald to Raon; with an order to fetch over two oxen, and thirty
sheep, of those left there in charge of the head man of the
village. They returned in three days, Raon being only about fifteen
miles east of Still.

The corps was now broken up into its four companies; who were
stationed in the villages on the Vosges, and at the edge of the
forest of Trieswald and Bar--the first company remaining at Still.
From these villages they commanded a view over the whole plain; and
could, with the aid of glasses, distinctly see any bodies of men
going south from Strasburg. Each company was to act independently
of the other, uniting their forces only when ordered to do so by
Major Tempe; who took up his headquarters with the second company,
that having the most central position. Each company was to keep a
sharp watch over the country, to attack any body of the enemy not
superior to themselves in force, and to cut off, if possible, any
small parties pillaging in the villages of the valley, near the
foot of the mountains.

The first company--under their lieutenant, De Maupas--turned their
special attention to Mutzig; which was not, they learned, actually
occupied by the Germans, but which was frequently visited by
parties from Molsheim, where a portion of the army of the besiegers
was stationed. The young Barclays, their cousins, and Tim Doyle
were quartered together, in one of the largest houses in the
village; and from thence a fine view over the plain was attainable.

They were not destined to remain long in inactivity. Upon the
fourth day after their arrival, they saw a party of some twenty
horsemen approaching Mutzig. In five minutes every man had
assembled and, at once, rapidly marched down the hill; taking
advantage of its irregularities, so as to follow a track in which
they would be invisible from the road. Making a long detour, they
gained the road about half a mile beyond Mutzig and, posting
themselves among some trees by its side, awaited the return of the
Uhlans.

It was upwards of two hours before they returned. They were
laughing, and singing; and the boys felt a sensation of repugnance,
as they raised their rifles to their shoulders, and awaited the
order to fire into their unsuspecting foes. They had not, as yet,
become hardened to the horrors of war. As the word was given, the
rifles flashed out; and six of the horsemen fell. The rest, putting
spurs to their horses, galloped furiously away. Molsheim was so
close--and the enemy might come back again, largely reinforced, in
so short a time--that the order was given to retreat, at once.

Reaching the hill and looking back, an hour later, they saw a dark
mass coming from Molsheim; and the glasses soon made them out to be
about a hundred cavalry, and as many infantry. It was dark as they
entered Mutzig and--although it was not probable that they would
ascend the hill, at night--sentries were thrown out, far down its
sides, to give the alarm; and the men were ordered to hold
themselves in readiness for an immediate retreat to the forest. It
happened that none of the boys were on duty and, just as they were
sitting down to dinner, Tim--who had been out to fetch some
wood--came running in.

"Heavenly Mother! The brutes are setting fire to Mutzig, your
honor."

The boys ran out. Below, a mass of red flame was rising; and it was
evident that several houses were in flames. The sight was a grand one,
for the light showed the outline of the slopes of the hills and,
reflected on the roofs of the houses of the little town, made them
look as if red hot. Out upon the plain, round Molsheim, were the
scattered lights of innumerable camp fires while, in the distance,
flickering flashes--like the play of summer lightning--told of the
ceaseless rain of fire kept up upon the unhappy town of Strasburg.

"What a shame!" Percy said, indignantly; "as if the inhabitants of
Mutzig could help our attacking the Uhlans.

"Look, Ralph, there are six distinct fires."

"I suppose that is one for each man we killed or wounded, Percy.
You may be sure they will make them pay, too. Thirty thousand
francs, I should think, at least.

"War used to be looked upon as a chivalrous proceeding. There is no
romance in German warfare. They call us a nation of shopkeepers;
they make war, themselves, in the spirit of a nation of petty
hucksterers."

"What do you think of that, lads?" Lieutenant de Maupas said,
coming up to where they were standing.

"It is shameful, sir, shameful," Ralph said.

"Yes," the officer said, gloomily. "This is to make war as the
Vandals made it, not as it is made in the nineteenth century. In
the Crimea, in Italy--ay, even in China--we did not make war in
this way. In China we burnt the Emperor's summer palace, because
his soldiers had murdered our prisoners in cold blood, but we did
not burn a single village."

"No," Ralph said; "and I have read that, in Abyssinia, we never as
much as took a fowl or a bundle of grass from the natives, without
paying for it; and we only burned the fortress of Magdala after
offering it, in succession, to the various kings of the country;
and destroyed it, at last, to prevent it becoming a stronghold of
the Gallas--the enemies of Abyssinia.

"Don't you think," he asked, after a pause, "we shall have fighting
tomorrow, sir?"

"I think it very likely, indeed," the lieutenant said. "I have just
sent off a messenger to the commandant, with a full report; and
asked him to send over a reply whether he will come to our
assistance, or if we are to fall back."

"Faith, and I hope that it's not falling back we'll be, till after
we've had the satisfaction of spaking to them a bit," Tim Doyle put
in. "Barring the little affair of today--which isn't worth
mentioning--I haven't had a chance of a scrimmage since I joined
the corps. It's been jist marching and counter-marching, over the
most onraisonable country; nothing but up hill and down hill and
through trees, with big stones breaking our poor feet into pieces,
and the rain running down us fit to give us the ague.

"Sure, lieutenant, ye won't be for marching us away, till we've had
a little divarshin?"

The boys all laughed at Tim's complaint, which had been delivered
in English; for although he could now understand French, he never
attempted to speak it, except to ask some necessary question. Percy
translated it to the lieutenant.

"You will have fighting enough, before you have done, Tim. Whether
you will have it tomorrow, I don't know. There are a hundred
infantry--they can't use their cavalry--and we are only twenty-six
men, all told. Fortunately, we have a strong line of retreat; or I
should not even wait for the chance of being attacked."

"At any rate, you think that we are safe until morning, sir?"

"Yes, I think so," the lieutenant said.

"Then we will go in to our dinner," Ralph said. "Who knows where we
may dine, tomorrow?"

Day was just beginning to break, when Percy Barclay started up in
his bed. He listened for an instant, and heard the crack of a
rifle.

"Up, Ralph; up all of you!" he shouted. "We are attacked."

The others were on their feet in an instant. None of them had
thought of undressing and, as they seized their arms and
equipments, the whistle of Lieutenant de Maupas sounded loud and
shrill. As they issued out there was, already, a scene of bustle
and confusion in the village. The franc tireurs were rushing from
the doors. The villagers were also pouring out, women screaming and
men swearing.

"You had better drive off your animals up into the forest, and
carry off whatever you can of value, and send the women and
children off, at once," De Maupas shouted, to the head man of the
village. "We will give you as much time as we can but, if they are
in full strength, it will not be long.

"Now, lads, forward! Don't throw away a shot. Take advantage of
every possible cover, and fall back as slowly and steadily as you
can. The commandant will be here, with the second company, in half
an hour. I had a message from him, late last night."

The men advanced at once, at the double, and in an instant had a
view of what was going on. The six men out, as sentries, were
falling back rapidly towards the village; and two dark bodies of
infantry were approaching, abreast of each other, but at a distance
of two or three hundred yards apart. They were some five hundred
yards beyond the retreating sentries; who were, themselves, a few
hundred yards below the village. The enemy had, at present, made no
reply whatever to the fire of the sentries.

"Advance slowly, in skirmishing order," De Maupas said. "One flank
of the company oppose each column. Open fire at once, sight for
seven hundred yards, take advantage of cover, and fire steadily."

A steady fire was at once opened and, although its effects could
not be perceived, they were evidently sensible; for the columns
immediately threw out half their strength, as skirmishers, and
opened fire. In a hundred paces De Maupas halted his men, and told
them to lie down behind shelter.

The enemy were now five hundred yards off, and the franc tireurs
had been joined by the sentries. The numbers were four to one and,
although the position was of considerable advantage to the smaller
force--as well as the fact that they were lying quiet, in shelter,
while their adversaries had to fire as they advanced--the odds were
far too great to hope for success. Every moment, however, it was
getting lighter; and the franc tireurs could see that their fire
was doing considerable execution, whereas only two of their men had
received slight wounds. The enemy, however, pushed on steadily; and
were now little more than three hundred yards distant.

"Fall back," the lieutenant shouted; "six men, alternately, of each
half company. Back fifty paces, at the double!"

At the word, twelve men retreated, at full speed, for fifty yards;
the others redoubling the fire from their breechloaders, to cover
the retreat. The instant that the first men had gone fifty yards,
they turned, threw themselves upon the ground, and opened fire;
while those in front ran back at full speed, passed them, and
halted, in turn, fifty paces in the rear. The maneuver was repeated
three times, and they then gained the end house of the village.

Under shelter of a low wall, another stand was made; but the
superior force of the enemy enabled them to threaten to outflank
them. Many of the Germans had fallen; but the rest advanced, with
as much coolness and precision as if on parade.

"How beautifully these fellows do fight!" Ralph exclaimed, in
admiration.

"Now, lads, we must retreat," the lieutenant said. "We have done
very well. Now, across the village, and then make for the forest as
hard as you can. It's not over five hundred yards. When you are
once there, make a stand again."

The men turned and, in another moment, would have carried out the
order when--from a house in a line with them, but about fifty yards
off--a heavy fire of musketry suddenly broke out.

"Hurrah, lads, there's the commandant! Stand to your wall; we'll
thrash them, yet."

Staggered by this sudden and heavy fire, the Germans paused; and
then fell back, to a spot where a dip in the ground sheltered them
from the fire from above. For a short time, there was a cessation
of the fight. At this moment, the commandant joined the first
company.

"Well done, indeed!" he exclaimed. "Gallantly done, lads! We heard
the firing, and feared you would be crushed before we could get up.
It is fortunate I started half an hour before daybreak. We have
done the last two miles at a run.

"Have you suffered much?"

There was a general look round. Four men had fallen, in the
retreat. Another lay dead, shot through the head as he fired over
the wall. Four others were wounded; three seriously, while Ralph
Barclay had a ball through the fleshy part of his arm.

"Fortunately," Major Tempe said, "half a dozen men from the other
village volunteered to come over to help the wounded. I will send
them over here, at once. They can take some doors off their hinges,
and carry these three men right back into the forest, at once. We
have not done yet.

"Get your men into skirmishing line, De Maupas. I will form mine to
join you. Occupy the line of gardens, and walls."

Scarcely was the movement effected, when the Germans again appeared
on the hillside. They had still a very great superiority in
numbers; for the two companies of franc tireurs only numbered, now,
forty-five men, while the Germans--who had lost upwards of twenty
men--were still nearly eighty strong.

Ralph Barclay still kept his place in the ranks. Tim Doyle had
bandaged up his arm; for Percy, who had at first attempted it, had
nearly fainted at the sight of the blood. The Irishman was in the
highest glee; and occasionally indulged in whoops of defiance, and
in taunting remarks--which would not have flattered the enemy,
could they have heard and understood them.

The Germans, as they emerged from their shelter, were about four
hundred yards distant; and the fire at once recommenced. The franc
tireurs were all lying down, and this gave them a great advantage
over the Germans and, the disparity of numbers being less, the
fight raged with greater obstinacy than before. Very gradually, the
enemy won their way--taking advantage of every rock and inequality
of ground--until they were within two hundred yards of the village.
Nearer than this they could not come, for the ground was open and,
in the face of the force in shelter, armed with breech loaders, it
would have been madness to have attempted a rush.

For some time, the combatants remained in the same position; merely
exchanging an occasional shot, when a head or a hat was exposed. At
last, Major Tempe became uneasy at the prolonged inaction upon the
part of the enemy.

"De Maupas," he said, "run up to the upper story of that house, and
try and see what they are doing. Look all round. I don't like this
long hesitation. They are greatly superior in force, and know it. I
think that they must be going to try some flanking movement."

The lieutenant obeyed and, going up to the upper story of the house
pointed out by his commander, peered cautiously out. As far as he
could see, nothing was stirring. The Germans appeared to be lying
in the little hollow in which they were sheltered. He was about to
descend, when he remembered his orders to look around in all
directions. He therefore went to a window at the end of the house,
and looked carefully out.

As he did so he gave a start; and his heart seemed, for a moment,
to stand still. Then, with a bound, he reached the door, sprang
downstairs, and rushed out to where Major Tempe was standing,
behind a wall.

"The cavalry are upon us," he said. "They are not five hundred
yards off. They have made a great detour and are--"

Major Tempe stopped to hear no more.

"Fall back, men," he shouted. "Keep well together. The cavalry are
upon us. Now, at a double to the forest, for your lives.

"Steady, steady!"

The men sprang from the position behind which they had been firing,
fell in hurriedly in the street; and then went off, at a fast
double, towards the forest. There were a few trees near, but no
shelter sufficient to be of any use nearer than five hundred yards.
Fortunately they were unimpeded by wounded, every man having been
carried back into the forest, immediately he was struck. Still, it
was evident that they could not gain the forest in time. They had
seen the leading horsemen turn into the end of the village, not
more than three hundred yards distant, as they started; and the
carbine balls were already whizzing over their heads.

With the rapidity and steadiness which mark the movements of the
Prussian cavalry, they formed in line as they issued from the
village and, before the fugitives were halfway to the forest, a
line of horsemen, fifty abreast, were in full gallop behind. Then
followed another, of equal strength, fifty yards behind. The franc
tireurs, with their rifles and accouterments, were already
slackening their speed.

"We must form square, major. They are not a hundred and fifty yards
behind," De Maupas exclaimed. "We can beat them off, easily
enough."

Major Tempe shook his head, and shouted cheerily:

"Keep on to the last moment, men, well together. I will tell you
when the moment is come. Hold your rifles in readiness."

In ten more seconds, he gave the word. The men were in readiness,
and the square was formed as if by magic. The Uhlans were not more
than eighty yards off.

"File firing," the major shouted. "Steady! Don't throw away a
shot."

Now was the time for breech-loading weapons, and so deadly was the
fire that the center of the Prussian line melted away before it;
and the men who remained reined aside their horses, as they reached
the hedge of bayonets. The flanks kept on, and united again behind
the square; drawing up near the edge of the wood, a hundred and
fifty yards distant.

The charge of the second line was attended with precisely similar
results. The instant that they had passed, however, Major Tempe
shouted to his men:

"On again for the woods. Steady! Keep square. Reserve your fire
till I tell you. We must break through the cavalry. They only want
to keep us. Their infantry will be here in three minutes. They are
through the village, already."

The position of the franc tireurs was now critical in the extreme.
The enemy's cavalry--between them and safety, only a hundred yards
distant--had unslung their carbines, and opened fire. The infantry
were nearly two hundred yards behind but, fortunately, dared not
fire for fear of hitting their own cavalry.

At a rapid pace--for they were running for life--the little knot of
franc tireurs dashed forward. One or two fell from the fire of the
cavalry and, as they were fifty yards distant from the wood, there
was a cry and Philippe Duburg fell to the ground. In an instant Tim
Doyle--who was his next man--stopped, caught him up as if he had
been a feather and, with a desperate effort, again joined the
others, just as they were within twenty yards of the cavalry.

"Fire!" Major Tempe cried; and from the front, and from each side
of the little square--which was but six deep, either way--the
rifles flashed out.

"Level bayonets; charge!"

There was a short struggle. The second ranks poured their fire into
the cavalry line. There was a clashing of bayonets against swords,
and then the band ran through the broken line of cavalry. There was
a rush into the brushwood; and then, from behind the shelter of the
trees, the fire opened again; and the cavalry fell sullenly back,
having lost upwards of thirty men in that short five minutes since
they had left the village.

The German infantry halted, at a distance of two hundred yards; but
they would have lost too many men, in crossing the open, to make it
worth while to attack the sheltered foe--who could pick them off,
to the last moment, only to withdraw deeper into the forest when
they approached its edge. Accordingly they too fell back,
exchanging fire with the franc tireurs until they gained the
shelter of the village.

The conflict over. The men sank, exhausted, upon the ground where
they stood. Major Tempe went round to each; saying a word of
praise, and giving a little of the brandy--with which he had filled
his canteen, before starting--with some water from their own kegs.
Then he gave a sharp whistle, and the men again gathered round him.

"Once more, lads, I must thank you for your conduct," he said. "You
have defended yourselves against forces, altogether, four times
your own. You fairly kept at bay an infantry force of twice your
own number. You have withstood a charge of cavalry, also double
your own strength; and have performed the unusual feat of
successfully charging cavalry. You have inflicted a very heavy loss
upon the enemy. Not less than forty of the infantry must have been
placed hors de combat; and fifteen or twenty of the cavalry, at the
lowest estimate. Altogether, although forced to fall back, the
affair is more creditable than many a brilliant victory.

"Our own loss has been heavy--as heavy, in proportion to our
numbers, as that of the enemy--though, owing to an advantage of
position, while engaged with the infantry, it is actually far less
than theirs. Still, lads, it is very, very heavy," and the major
looked round, with a saddened face, on the diminished band.

"Our only consolation is that our friends have died doing their
duty, and setting a noble example. If all Frenchmen were but
animated with a spirit like that which, I am proud to say, animates
the franc tireurs of Dijon, there are few of the invaders who would
ever recross the Rhine.

"Lieutenant Ribouville, go through the muster roll of the two
companies. Our brave friend De Maupas has, alas! fallen. He was at
my side when a rifle ball struck him, in the temple."

The list was now called over, and the result was a sad one. The two
companies, including officers, had gone into the fight fifty-five
strong. Only thirty-one answered to their names. Besides these,
eight had been removed farther into the forest, severely wounded;
and Philippe Duburg lay a short distance off--the surgeon being
employed bandaging his leg, which a rifle ball had entered, above
the knee. Fifteen, therefore, were dead or missing--which, as the
Germans bayoneted all wounded franc tireurs, was the same thing. Of
the thirty-one who answered to their names, nine had wounds more or
less severe; and the surgeon, with his assistants, had work on his
hands which would take him far into the night.

The instant that they were dismissed from parade, the boys hurried
to their cousin. He was very pale from loss of blood, but was
perfectly sensible. His brother sat on a bench beside him, holding
his head on his knee.

Philippe smiled faintly as the boys came up.

"I am so glad you have escaped," he said, in a low voice.

They clasped his hand.

"Does it hurt you much, Philippe?"

"Not very much; not so much as I should have thought."

"Did the doctor say anything about it, Philippe?"

"Yes, he said that it had just missed the great arteries; and that
he thinks it struck the bone, and has glanced up somewhere; but he
can't say till he probes it, when--"

"Then your leg is not broken?"

"No, he says it is certainly not broken, but it may be splintered."

"Thank God for that, anyhow," the boys said.

"We owe his life to Tim Doyle," Louis said. "I was not next to him;
and did not see him fall, or know he was hit till I saw Tim come
up, with him on his shoulders--and even if I had, I could not have
lifted him, and carried him off. Tim saved his life. There is no
doubt about that."

As it was evident that Philippe was too weak to talk, and would be
better for being quiet awhile, the boys now left him with his
brother.

Looking through the trees towards the village, a dense smoke could
now be seen rising in several places and, in a few minutes, the
whole village was in a blaze. Moved by the sight, the unfortunate
inhabitants came out from their hiding places in the forest;
wringing their hands, crying, and cursing the invaders. In spite of
the advice of Major Tempe, several of the women went off towards
the scene of conflagration, to endeavor to save some little
household treasure from the flames. In a short time one of them
returned to fetch her husband, saying that the enemy had all left
before they reached the village, and were already far down the
hillside. Major Tempe at once sent forward the unwounded men; to
assist the villagers to put out the fire, and to save property.
Their efforts were, however, altogether unavailing; the Germans had
scattered large quantities of petroleum, before leaving, upon the
beds and such other furniture as they could not carry away, or
destroy.

It was a pitiable sight to see the poor homeless people sitting
about, looking at the ruins of their houses. Some cried piteously;
others gazed with listless faces, but with a cold despair even more
painful to see. Fortunately, they had saved all their animals but,
at present, they were too much absorbed in the thoughts of what
they had lost, to bestow even a thought of satisfaction on what
they had saved.

Major Tempe, grieved and touched at the painful scene of which he
and his men had been the cause, called the franc tireurs together;
and made a proposition to them, which was at once heartily agreed
to. He then called together the cure and schoolmaster and--after a
few well-chosen words of regret, at the ills which he and his had
involuntarily brought upon the village--he handed over to them, in
the name of the whole corps, the hundred pounds in thaler notes
which had been found upon the schoolmaster whom they had executed
for treachery; to be distributed among the inhabitants, according
to their necessities.

The offer was gratefully received, and the priest and schoolmaster
at once went round and told the poor people, whose gratitude and
delight were unbounded. To so poor a population, the sum seemed
immense; and although it would not replace what was destroyed, it
would go far towards making their abodes habitable. The village
only contained about twenty houses. The walls were still standing.
Timber for the roofs and floors was to be had for cutting, in the
forest. Bushes for thatching could be found in abundance. The
principal portion of the houses, therefore, would cost only labor,
and this money would suffice to keep them alive, while engaged upon
it; and enough would remain to get at least a few blankets to lay
upon the straw--which would, for the time, serve for beds--together
with a few other simple necessaries. The sale of a portion of the
animals would do the rest and, in their gratitude to the franc
tireurs, for having thus relieved their first and most pressing
difficulties, the inhabitants altogether forgot the ill-feeling
which they had before felt against them, as the authors of their
disaster.

After burying their dead, the men set to work to assist the
villagers in building temporary huts--or rather bowers--to the edge
of the forest; in which, before nightfall, they had the
satisfaction of seeing them installed. The few articles of bedding,
blankets, etc. saved at the approach of the Prussians were spread
on heaps of freshly-cut grass; and one of the oxen of the franc
tireurs, which had arrived the day before, was killed and divided.
Great fires were lighted and--had it not been for the bandages on
the heads, and the arms in slings of several of the franc
tireurs--no one coming upon the scene would have guessed how
desperate a skirmish had raged here.

The next day the carts which had been sent for arrived; and the
wounded were placed in them, upon heaps of straw, and sent off with
one of the surgeons; with instructions to travel among the hills,
until they reached a point where it would be quite safe to descend
into the valley, and take the train to Dijon, at the first station
at which it was open. Among them was Philippe Duburg, who was
accompanied by his brother. Louis had obtained a week's leave of
absence, for the purpose; and was the bearer of letters, and
innumerable messages, from the boys to their parents and sisters. A
few hours later, the remnants of the first and second companies
marched to join their comrades.



Chapter 10: The Bridge Of The Vesouze.


The very day after the fight, news arrived which induced a sudden
change of position. Upon the Sixteenth of September the Baden
troops occupied Mulhouse, having entered Colmar on the preceding
day. It was evident that the railway was so strongly guarded,
between Strasburg and Nancy, that it was hopeless to expect to be
able to interrupt it, seriously, with so small a force as that at
Major Tempe's command; still less possible was it to render any
assistance, whatever, to the doomed city of Strasburg. After taking
counsel, therefore, with his officers, Major Tempe decided to march
more to the south; so as to assist to oppose the passage of the
enemy west from Colmar, or Mulhouse, through the passes of the
Vosges.

The alarm was, however, but temporary for, having made requisitions
as usual, the Prussians retired; and the corps returned to their
old quarters. There another ten days passed; spent not in ease, but
in constant marchings and counter-marchings. Whenever news arrived
that any parties of Uhlans were approaching the mountains, with the
object of making requisitions, the corps were instantly set in
motion. Sometimes severe skirmishes were the result. Sometimes the
news turned out to be untrue and, after a long day's march, and a
night spent watching, the men had nothing to do but to march back
again.

Upon the 28th came the news of the surrender of Strasburg, upon the
preceding day, after one of the most heroic defenses in history.
There was now no doubt that the Germans would, ere long, advance
seriously. By this time, the total of the French forces among the
Vosges mountains was considerable. Scarce a day passed without the
arrival of a corps of franc tireurs and--had all these corps been
animated with a spirit such as that evinced by the franc tireurs of
Dijon; and had they acted in unity, with discipline and
intelligence--they might have rendered immense services to France.

Unfortunately, this was very far from being the case. Very many of
the men had entered the ranks only to avoid being called upon to go
out with the Mobiles--or mobilized national guard. Others had only
entered from the impulse of the moment. Very many were altogether
unwilling to submit to any steady discipline while, in a great
number of cases, the corps were completely paralyzed from the utter
incapacity of their officers. Owing to these various causes, the
corps of franc tireurs distinguished themselves, in a great number
of cases, only by the extreme ingenuity and foresight which they
displayed in keeping at a prudent distance from the enemy. Some,
too, earned a bad name not only for themselves, but for the whole
body of franc tireurs, by their conduct towards the villagers;
helping themselves freely to what they required, and making
themselves almost as much dreaded by the peasantry as even the
Germans, themselves.

At the same time the villagers had, in very many cases, only
themselves to blame for the rough measures adopted by the franc
tireurs; for often, instead of doing all in their power for the men
who had taken up arms in the cause of France, the villagers looked
upon them only as strangers, out of whom the richest possible
harvest was to be obtained; and charged the most exorbitant prices
for all articles of necessity supplied to them. In fact, they
sometimes did not hesitate to say that they would not provide them,
at any price, with the provisions required; as these would be
wanted to satisfy the requisition of the Germans, upon their
arrival.

Perhaps in the whole world there is no class of people so
completely engrossed by the thought of gain as are the French
bourgeois, and rustic population. Every change of Government, every
political alteration, every law passed, is regarded by them simply,
and solely, from the view of how it will affect their own pockets.
Thus, instead of driving away their flocks and herds, at the
approach of the invaders; the people remained quietly in their
houses, and shamelessly trafficked with the invaders. This apathy,
faint heartedness, and want of patriotism, upon the part of the
inhabitants of the small towns and villages, caused innumerable
difficulties to the franc tireurs; and Major Tempe was sometimes
obliged to take the law into his own hands, when the villagers
absolutely refused to sell provisions, or to give quarters to his
men.

In these cases he summoned the priest, the schoolmaster, and two
other head men of the place, and formed a committee with them and
his own officers. These fixed a fair price upon the articles
required, and Major Tempe then sent round a notice to the effect
that, if these articles were furnished in two hours, they would be
paid for at the agreed rates; but that if not furnished, he should
quarter his men upon the inhabitants, in accordance with the size
of their houses, and should remain there at least a week--a threat
that never failed in producing the required effect.

It was but seldom, however, that the major encountered any
difficulties of this sort. The corps was, for the most part,
composed of men with some money. They had now, too, sold the sheep
and cattle which they had captured at Blamont; finding the
inconvenience of sending for them, whenever meat was required. The
proceeds of these, and of the horses captured at the same time, had
given them a good sum in their regimental chest; and they were,
therefore, able and willing to pay a fair price for such articles
as they required. Besides this, the report of the actions of
Blamont and Still had now widely circulated and--as a general
thing--the people were glad to do all in their power, for a corps
composed of men who really meant work, and had given good proofs of
their courage and energy.

By this time, the boys had received several letters from home; and
it may be readily imagined the pleasure these letters afforded
them. Major Tempe's official report of the doings of his corps had
been published in the Dijon papers and, from these, had been copied
far and wide through France; and the people of Dijon were not a
little proud of their corps. The names of the two Barclays had
appeared, in the report, as specially distinguishing themselves;
and their father had written, saying how pleased and gratified he
was at their conduct. Mrs. Barclay and Milly had also written; but
their expressions of pleasure were mingled with many hopes that the
boys would not expose themselves, unnecessarily.

The band had dwindled much, in the month since they left Dijon.
Upwards of thirty had been killed, or disabled, in the fights of
Blamont and Still. Half as many more had been killed or wounded in
smaller skirmishes; and ten or twelve had gone home, or into
hospital, completely knocked up with the hard work and exposure.
Only about sixty men, therefore, remained.

Schlestadt and Neu Brisach were now invested by the Germans and,
after waiting for a few days, to ascertain the course that they
were likely to take, Major Tempe determined (as General Cambriels
was forming an army, down by Besancon) to defend the upper passes
of the Vosges and--as it was rumored that a second German army was
likely to advance south, from Nancy--that he would recross the
Vosges, and aid in the defense against this second army of
invaders.

Three days' fatiguing marches brought them to Epinal; where the
boys, in accordance with their promise, went straight to the house
of the gentleman who had so hospitably served them, at their last
visit. Their friends were delighted to see them, and expressed
great regret that one of the party was missing. The boys were,
however, able to say that their last letter from Dijon had given
good accounts of Philippe Duburg, who was now considered out of
danger. There was, however, no hope of his being able to rejoin
them; as the surgeon considered it probable that his leg would be a
very long time, before it would be sufficiently healed to allow him
to use it.

Their host had read the account in the papers of the doings of the
franc tireurs; and his wife laughingly made a further apology to
the Barclays, and their cousin, for her remark at their first visit
about boys.

"My girls have talked about nothing else but your doings, ever
since we had the news of your attack upon the Uhlans, near
Blamont," she said. "One would think, from the interest they take
in the corps, that the whole future of France depended upon the
franc tireurs of Dijon."

The young Barclays laughed, and Percy muttered something under his
breath; while Louis Duburg replied, seriously, that he hoped the
franc tireurs of Dijon would always do their best to deserve the
kind thoughts of mademoiselles--at which piece of politeness Percy
muttered, "Bosh!"

Epinal had, as yet, escaped; but it was feared that, ere long, the
enemy would advance. The town looked deserted, for all the young
men had left with the Mobiles--or mobilized national guard--and all
men under forty were drilling, in readiness to march at a moment's
notice. No serious movement of the enemy, south of Luneville, was
as yet signalized.

After two days' rest, the corps again marched north; their
destination being kept a profound secret, even from the men. So
anxious, apparently, was Major Tempe that, this time, their object
should not be foiled by treachery; that after the first day's march
he left the main road and, having secured the services of a
peasant, as a guide, he made two long days' marches through
forests, and over mountains--avoiding even small villages. Four led
horses accompanied the march; one laden with the gun cotton, and
the other three carrying provisions, so that they might be
independent of the local supply. Each night they bivouacked in the
forests but, as the weather was now fine--although the nights were
cold--this was no hardship, whatever.

Upon the morning of the fourth day from their leaving Epinal, Major
Tempe told his men that he had learned, at Epinal, that the line
was no longer so closely guarded as before--the Germans being
confident, now, of the impotence of the French to harm them--and
that they were now in the forest of Moudan, within three miles of
the railway between Luneville and Rechicourt, on the line to
Strasburg. His intention was to reconnoiter that day and--if
success should be found possible--to attempt, at daybreak next
morning, to blow up the railway bridge over the Vesouze.

The news was received with great satisfaction, as the corps were
burning to distinguish themselves; and in no way could they do such
service as to cut the line of communication--although, as the
Germans were no longer dependent upon a single line, the advantage
would not be of so signal a nature as it would have been, could
they have cut it at the time when they first made the attempt. The
Barclays were naturally selected to reconnoiter and, as their
change of clothes had been always--by Major Tempe's orders--carried
on the baggage horse, they had no difficulty upon that score.

Their expedition was uneventful. At the village nearest to the
bridge, they went in and bought some cheese and other articles
and--after gaining all the information they were able, without
exciting attention--they made their way, through broken ground, to
a point near enough to the bridge to enable them to reconnoiter it,
undiscovered.

A sentry was posted at each end. At a cottage hard by were ten
others, while there were twenty in the village they had just left.
There were also sentries down the line; but these were far enough
apart to render it certain that they could not muster in time to
interfere, seriously, with the enterprise. With this information,
they returned to the forest.

A council of war was held; and it was decided that the news was
satisfactory, and that the attack should take place at daybreak.
Each man was instructed in the work he would have to perform.
Lieutenant Houdin, with thirty men, was to surprise the German
party in the village. The rest--having made a detour to avoid the
village--were to be in readiness to attack the posts near the
bridge, immediately a gun was fired in the village. The attack was
to be made at daybreak. From the bridge, to the nearest point where
the forest was thick enough to afford a safe shelter, was a
distance of about two miles.

As soon as it became dark, the camp fires were allowed to bum low;
and shortly afterwards the whole corps, with the exception of the
sentries, were sound asleep. At four o'clock they were roused, and
marched silently off in the appointed direction. By five o'clock
each party was at its post and, for half an hour, they lay in
expectancy. The Barclays were with Major Tempe's party, near the
bridge. Louis Duburg, and Tim, were with the party at the village.

The attack upon the village was to take place at half-past five;
and never did moments appear so slow, to the boys, as those which
passed as they awaited the signal. At last the silence was broken
by the sharp crack of a rifle, followed by three or four others.

"There goes the Prussian sentry, and there is our reply," Major
Tempe said. "Now, lads, forward!"

As he spoke, the sentry on the bridge fired his rifle; immediately,
this was repeated by the next sentry on the line, and the signal
was taken up by each sentry, until the sound died in the distance.
As it had done so, the franc tireurs had made a rush forwards. They
were met by a straggling discharge from the Germans as, half
asleep, they hurried out from the guard room. This was answered by
the fire of the franc tireurs, who surrounded them. Five fell; and
the others, surprised and panic stricken, threw down their arms.
They were instantly secured, and the bridge was at once seized.

The firing still continued in the village; but in another five
minutes it ceased and, shortly afterwards, Louis Duburg ran up with
the tidings that the village was taken. The Germans, surprised in
their beds, had offered but a slight resistance. Four were killed,
and sixteen taken prisoners; one franc tireur, only, was slightly
wounded.

"Take two men with you," Major Tempe said, "and escort those five
prisoners to the village. Give them over to Lieutenant Houdin; and
tell him to send them, with the prisoners he has taken, under
charge of six men to the forest. Let their hands be tied behind
their backs, for we cannot spare a larger escort. Tell him to be
sure that the escort are loaded, and have fixed bayonets. Directly
he has sent off the prisoners let him join me here, with the rest
of his force."

Lieutenant Ribouville now set to work to inspect the bridge; and
ordered the men--who were provided with the necessary implements--to
set to, and dig a hole down to the crown of the principal arch. It
was harder work than they had expected. The roadway was solid, the
ballast pressed down very tightly, and the crown of the arch covered,
to a considerable depth, with concrete.  Only a few men could work at
once and, after a half-hour's desperate labor, the hole was nothing
like far enough advanced to ensure the total destruction of the
bridge, upon the charge being fired. In the meantime the Prussian
sentries were arriving from up and down the line and, although not
in sufficient force to attack, had opened fire from a distance.

"Don't you think that will do, Ribouville?" Major Tempe asked.

"No, sir," the other replied. "It might blow a hole through the top
of the arch, but I hardly think that it would do so. Its force
would be spent upwards."

At this moment Ralph--who had done his spell of work, and had been
down to the stream, to get a drink of water--came running up.

"If you please, Lieutenant Ribouville, there is a hole right
through the pier, just above the water's edge. It seems to have
been left to let any water that gets into the pier, from above,
make its escape. I should think that would do to hold the charge."

"The very thing," Lieutenant Ribouville said, delightedly. "What a
fool I was, not to have looked to see if such a hole existed!

"Stop work, men, and carry the barrels down to the edge of the
water."

The stream was not above waist deep; and the engineer officer
immediately waded into it, and examined the hole. He at once
pronounced it to be admirably suited to the purpose. It did not--as
Ralph had supposed--go straight through; but there were two holes,
one upon each side of the pier, nearly at the same level, and each
extending into the center of the pier. The holes were about four
inches square.

The barrels of gun cotton were now hastily opened on the bank, and
men waded out with the contents. Lieutenant Ribouville upon one
side, and Ralph upon the other, took the cotton and thrust it, with
long sticks, into the ends of the hole. In five minutes the
contents of the two barrels were safely lodged, the fuse inserted,
and the operation of tamping--or ramming--in dry sand, earth, and
stones commenced.

"Make haste!" Major Tempe shouted. "Their numbers are increasing
fast. There are some fifteen or twenty, on either side."

A brisk fire of rifles was now going on. The day had fairly broken;
and the franc tireurs, sheltered behind the parapet of the bridge,
on the bank of the river, were exchanging a lively fire with the
enemy. Three-quarters of an hour had passed since the first shot
was fired.

Suddenly a distant boom was heard, followed in a few seconds by a
slight whizzing noise, which grew rapidly into a loud scream and,
in another moment, there was an explosion close to the bridge. The
men all left off their work, for an instant.

"And what may that be, Mister Percy? A more unpleasant sound I
niver heard, since I was a baby."

"I quite agree with you, Tim, as to its unpleasantness. It is a
shell. The artillery are coming up from Luneville. The fire of the
sentries would take the alarm, in a couple of minutes; give them
another fifteen to get ready, and half an hour to get within range.

"Here comes another."

"Are you ready, Ribouville?" the commandant shouted. "They have
cavalry, as well as artillery. We must be off, or we shall get
caught in a trap."

"I am ready," was the answer.

"Barclay, strike a match, and put it to the end of your fuse, till
it begins to fizz.

"Have you lit it?"

"Yes, sir," Ralph said, a moment later.

"So have I," the lieutenant said. "They will burn about three
minutes.

"Now for a run!"

In a couple of minutes the franc tireurs were retreating, at the
double; and they had not gone a hundred yards when they heard the
sound of two tremendous explosions, following closely one upon
another. Looking back, they saw the pier had fallen in fragments;
and that the bridge lay, a heap of ruins, in the stream.

"Hurrah, lads!" shouted the commandant. "You have done your work
well. Those who get out of this with a whole skin may well be proud
of their day's work.

"Don't mind the shells," he continued, as two more of the missiles
burst, in quick succession, within a short distance of them. "They
make an ugly noise; but they won't hurt us, at this distance."

The German artillerymen had apparently arrived at the same
conclusion, for they now ceased to fire; and the retreating corps
were only exposed to an occasional shot from the infantry, who had
followed them from the bridge.

"The artillery and cavalry will be up, before we reach the wood,"
Percy said to his brother, as they trotted along, side by side.

"They may come up," Ralph said, "but they can do us no harm, on the
broken ground; and will catch a Tartar, if they don't mind."

The ground was indeed unfavorable for cavalry, and artillery. It
was broken up with the spurs of the hill. Here and there great
masses of rock cropped out of the ground, while patches of forest
extended over a considerable portion of the ground. In one of
these, standing upon rising and broken ground, Major Tempe halted
his men; and opened so heavy a fire upon the enemy's cavalry, when
the column appeared, that they were at once halted; and although,
when the artillery arrived, a few shells were fired into the wood,
the franc tireurs had already retired, and gained the forest
without further molestation. Upon calling the roll, it was
discovered that six men, only, were missing. These had fallen--either
killed or wounded--from the fire of the enemy's infantry, during the
time that the operation at the bridge were being carried out.

There was great rejoicing at the success of their enterprise, the
effect of which would certainly be to block the traffic along that
line, for at least a week. Their satisfaction was, however,
somewhat damped by the sight of several dense columns of smoke in
the plain; showing that the Germans had, as usual, wreaked their
vengeance upon the innocent villagers. The feeling of disgust was
changed to fury when some of the peasants--who had fled into the
woods, upon the destruction of their abodes--reported that the
Germans, having found that three of the franc tireurs were only
wounded, had dragged them along to the entrance to the village; and
had hung them there upon some trees, by the roadside. Had it not
been for Major Tempe's assurance, that their comrades should be
avenged, the franc tireurs would at once have killed their
prisoners.

In the evening the men were formed up, the prisoners ranged in
line, and twelve were taken by lot; and these, with the officer
taken with them--when night fell--were bound and marched off, under
a guard of thirty men. Neither of the boys formed part of the
escort, which was an immense relief to them for, although they were
as indignant as the rest, at the murder of their wounded comrades
by the Germans; and quite agreed in the justice of reprisal, still,
they were greatly relieved when they found that they would not have
to be present at the execution.

Two hours later Major Tempe returned, with the escort. The officer,
and eleven of his men, had been hung on trees by the roadside, at a
distance of half a mile, only, from the village; the twelfth man
had been released, as bearer of a note from Major Tempe to the
German commanding officer saying that, as a reprisal for the murder
of the three wounded franc tireurs, he had hung twelve Germans; and
that, in future, he would always hang four prisoners for every one
of his men who might be murdered, contrary to the rules of war.

This act of retributive justice performed, the corps retreated to
join the army of the Vosges, under General Cambriels. The news of
the destruction of the bridge across the Vesouze had preceded them;
and when, after three days' heavy marching, they reached the
village which formed the headquarters of the general, they were
received with loud cheers by the crowds of Mobiles who thronged its
little streets. It was out of the question to find quarters; and
the major therefore ordered the men to bivouac in the open, while
he reported himself to General Cambriels.

The commandant of the franc tireurs was personally known to General
Cambriels, having at one time served for some years under his
command; and he was most warmly received by the veteran, one of the
bravest and most popular of the French generals. As general of the
district, he had received all Major Tempe's reports; and was
therefore acquainted with the actions of the corps.

"Ah, major!" he said, after the first greetings, "if I had only a
few thousand men, animated with the spirit and courage of your
fellows, the Germans would never get through the Vosges. As it is I
shall, of course, do my best; but what can one do with an army of
plow boys, led by officers who know nothing of their duty, against
troops like the Germans?

"As for my franc tireurs, they are in many cases worse than
useless. They have no discipline, whatever. They embroil me with
the peasantry. They are always complaining. The whole of them,
together, have not done as much real service as your small band.
They shoot down Uhlans, when they catch them in very small parties;
but have no notion, whatever, of real fighting.

"However, I cannot thank you too warmly. Your name will appear in
the Gazette, tomorrow, as colonel; and I must ask you to extend the
sphere of your duties. We want officers, terribly; and I will
brigade four or five of these corps of franc tireurs under your
orders, so as to make up a force of a thousand men. You will have
full authority over them, to enforce any discipline you may choose.
I want you to make a body to act as an advanced guard of
skirmishers to my army of Mobiles. I have a few line troops, but I
want them as a nucleus for the force.

"What do you say?"

"Personally, general, I should greatly prefer remaining with my own
little corps, upon every man of whom I can rely. At the same time,
I should not wish for a moment to oppose my own likings, or
dislikings, to the general good of the service. Many of these corps
of franc tireurs are composed of excellent materials and, if well
led and disciplined, would do anything. I can only say I will do my
best."

"Thank you, Tempe. Is there anything else I can do for you?"

"I should like to see a step given to the three officers serving
under me," the major said. "They have all served in the regular
army, and all have equally well done their duty."

"It shall be done; and two of them shall be posted to other corps,
while one takes the command of your own," the general said. "Do you
wish commissions for any of the men?"

Major Tempe named three of the men, and then added:

"The two members of the corps who have most distinguished
themselves I have not mentioned, general, because they are too
young to place over the heads of the others; at the same time,
their services certainly deserve recognition. I mentioned them, in
the dispatches I sent to you, as having done immense service by
going down, in disguise, into the midst of the Germans. In fact, at
Saverne they saved the corps from destruction. They are two young
English lads, named Barclay."

"I remember distinctly," General Cambriels said. "They speak French
fluently, I suppose, as well as German?"

"Both languages like natives," the major answered.

"And can they ride?"

"Yes, admirably," Major Tempe said. "I knew them before the war,
and they are excellent horsemen."

"Then they are the very fellows for me," General Cambriels said. "I
will give them commissions in the provisional army, at once; and
put them upon my own staff. They would be of great value to me.

"You will spare them, I hope?"

"I shall be extremely sorry to do so, general; but for their own
sakes, and for the good of the service, I will of course do so."

"Thanks, colonel. I shall put the franc tireurs of Dijon in general
orders, tomorrow, as having performed good service to the country;
and please to thank them, in my name, for their services."

"Thank you very much, general. It will give me more pleasure than
even the step that you have been kind enough to give to myself."

"Good evening, colonel. We must have a long chat together, one of
these days.

"The chief of my staff will give you the names of the corps to be
placed under your orders. The matter was settled this morning, and
I have picked out the best of those here. Orders have been sent for
them to assemble at Raoul--a village, a mile from here--in the
morning; with a notification that they are placed under your
command.

"Goodbye."



Chapter 11: A Fight In The Vosges.


Upon Colonel Tempe's rejoining the men--who were already busy
preparing their suppers--he ordered the assembly to be sounded and,
when they were formed up, he formally thanked them, in the name of
the general, for the service that they had rendered; adding that
they would appear in general orders, upon the following day.

The men replied with a cheer of "Vive la France!"

Their commander then informed them that he, himself, had received a
step in rank and would, in future, command them with several other
corps; that Lieutenant Ribouville would, in future, be their
special commander, with the rank of captain; that the other two
lieutenants would be promoted; and that three of their number would
receive commissions and, while one of them remained under Captain
Ribouville, the others would--with the newly-made captains--be
attached to other corps. The two Barclays would receive commissions
as officers, on the staff of General Cambriels, himself.

When Colonel Tempe finished speaking, the boys could hardly believe
their ears; and looked at each other, to inquire if they heard
aright. There could be no mistake about it; for Colonel Tempe
called them forward and, shaking hands with them, congratulated
them on the promotion which, he said, they had well earned. The men
gave a hearty cheer; for the young English lads were general
favorites, for their good temper and willingness to oblige.

Directly the men were dismissed, the colonel again called the lads
to him.

"I am sorry to lose you," he said, "but of course it is for your
good. Come with me, at once, to General Cambriels. I will introduce
you, and you had better ask for four days' leave. You can get the
railway in four hours' ride from here. You will have no difficulty
in finding a place in some of the commissariat cities going to
fetch stores. If you start tonight, you can catch a train before
morning, and be in Dijon quite early. A couple of days will be
sufficient to get your uniforms made, and to buy horses.

"Your cousin will go with you. I gave him leave, last night, to
start upon our arrival here. He is not so strong as you are; and
the surgeon says that he must have rest, and quiet. He is quite
worn out.

"Now, pile your rifles--you will not want them any more--and come
with me. I have said good night to the general, but he will excuse
me."

Still bewildered, the boys did as they were ordered. As they were
piling their rifles, they heard a loud blubbering. Looking round,
they saw Tim Doyle, weeping most copiously.

"What is the matter, Tim?"

"Matter! Your honor, ain't yer going to lave us? What am I going to
do, at all?"

The boys hurried away, without reply--for Colonel Tempe was waiting
for them--and, on the way to headquarters, mentioned Tim's grief at
parting with them.

The general received the lads most kindly and, at once, granted
them four days' leave to go to Dijon, to procure uniform.

Colonel Tempe then said:

"You do not want orderlies, do you, general?"

"I do, indeed," the general answered. "I have about a dozen cavalry
men, of different regiments, who form my escort and act as
orderlies; but they are my entire force of cavalry."

"I have an Irishman in my corps, general, who only joined to be
near these young fellows. He was brought up among horses; and you
have only to put him in a hussar uniform, and he would make a
capital orderly, and would act as servant to your new staff
officers."

"By all means," the general said; "send him over, in the morning.
We will make a hussar of him, in half an hour; we have got a few
uniforms in store."

What a meeting that was, near Dijon! The boys, upon reaching the
station, had found a train on the point of starting; and it was
seven in the morning when they reached the town. The shops open
early, in French country towns; and although their tailor had not
as yet taken his shutters down, he was up and about, and willingly
measured them for their new uniforms--promising that they should
have them, without fail, the next afternoon. They then walked up to
the cottage; and dropped in just as the party, there, were sitting
down to breakfast.

There was a loud exclamation from Captain Barclay, and a scream of
delight from their mother, and Milly; and it was a good ten minutes
before they were sitting round the table, talking coherently. It
was but six weeks since they had left, but it seemed like years;
and there was as much to tell, and to talk about, as if they had
just returned, after an absence of half a lifetime, in India.

"How long have you got leave for?" was one of the first questions.

"Only four days," Percy said. "The corps has now joined the army of
the Vosges, and will act regularly with it. A move forward will
take place, in a few days, so that we could not ask for longer."

"Only four days!" Mrs. Barclay and Milly repeated, aghast.

"It is not much, mamma," Ralph put in, "but it is better than
nothing. You see, you did not expect us at all."

"Quite so," Captain Barclay said, cheerfully. "It is a clear gain,
and we waste the time in regretting that it is not longer. It is a
great delight to have you back again, even for a few hours. You
both look wonderfully well, and fully a year older than when you
left. Roughing it, and exposure, evidently suits you.

"Has Louis come back with you?"

"Yes, papa, he has come back to stay, for some time. He is
completely done up, and the surgeon has ordered rest and quiet, for
a while.

"How is Philippe?"

"He is getting on well; and will walk, the doctor hopes, in another
fortnight, or three weeks; but I have not seen him for--although
your uncle comes in, as usual, for a chat with me--Madame Duburg
has never forgiven me for having, as she says, influenced him in
allowing the boys to go; and of course, since this wound of
Philippe's, she has been more angry than ever."

The boys laughed. They understood their aunt's ways.

"Tim has not been hurt, I hope?" Milly asked.

"Oh no; Tim is as well as ever, and the life and soul of the
corps."

As breakfast went on, the boys gradually related the changes that
were taking place: Major Tempe's promotion to be colonel, and the
fact that he was placed in command of several corps of franc
tireurs, who were hereafter to act together. They said no word,
however, about their own promotion; having agreed to keep that
matter secret, until the uniforms were completed. They had also
asked their cousin to say nothing about it, at home; as otherwise
their uncle would have been sure to have come in to congratulate
them, and the secret would have been at an end, at once.

An hour later, Monsieur Duburg came in to see them. After the first
talk, he said to Captain Barclay:

"The way in which your boys have stood the fatigue is a proof, in
itself, how much the prosperity of a nation depends upon the
training of its boys. England is strong because her boys are all
accustomed, from their childhood, to active exercise and outdoor,
violent games. In case of a war, like this which we are going
through, almost every man could turn soldier, and go through the
fatigues of a campaign; and what is more, could make light of--not
to say enjoy--them.

"Here, upon the contrary, our young fellows do nothing and, in an
emergency like the present, want both spirit and strength to make
soldiers. Almost all the boys who went from here in Tempe's corps
have returned, completely worn out. Even Louis is a wreck;
although, thanks to the companionship of your boys, he has
supported it better, and longer, than the majority of them. Had he
began, as a child, to take pleasure in strong exercise; no doubt he
could have stood it as well as Ralph and Percy, who look absolutely
benefited by it. Unfortunately, I allowed my wife's silly objection
to prevail; until the last three years, when I insisted that they
should do as they liked.

"As I have said before, Barclay, I say again: I congratulate you on
your boys. You have a right to be proud of them. I wish the race of
young Frenchmen were only like them."

Great indeed was the astonishment--upon the afternoon of the
following day--when Ralph and Percy walked into the sitting room,
dressed as staff officers; feeling a little awkward with their
swords, but flushed with an honorable pleasure and pride--for their
epaulets had been gained by no family interests, no private
influence. They were worn as the reward of good service. Captain
Barclay wrung the boys' hands, silently. Their mother cried with
delight, and Milly danced round the boys like a small possessed
one.

"It is not for the absolute rank itself, boys, that I am pleased,"
their father said, when they had related the whole circumstances;
"for you have no idea of remaining in the French service and,
consequently, the rank will be of no use to you, after the end of
the war. Still, it is a thing all your lives to be proud of--that
you won your commission in the French army, by good service."

"What I am thinking of most," Mrs. Barclay said, "is that, now they
are officers in the regular army, they will run no risk of being
shot, if they are taken prisoners."

"We don't mean to be taken prisoners, mamma. Still, as you say, it
is certainly an advantage in favor of the regular uniform."

"And what is to become of Tim?" Milly asked.

"Oh, Tim is going to become a hussar, and act as one of the
general's orderlies; and be our servant, when he has nothing else
to do. You see, now we are officers, we have a right to servants."

"I am very glad Tim is going with you," Mrs. Barclay said. "My
brother tells us that he saved Philippe's life, and it seems a
comfort to know that he is with you."

The next morning Captain Barclay went down with them to the town,
and purchased a couple of capital horses which, by great good
fortune, were on sale.

Upon the morning of the fourth day of their visit, the boys took
leave of their father and mother, and left to join the headquarters
of General Cambriels. The parting was far less trying than it had
been, the first time they went away. The boys were not, now, going
out to an unknown danger. Although the risk that a staff officer
runs is, absolutely, somewhat greater than that incurred by a
regimental officer; still, it is slight in comparison with the risk
run by a franc tireur, employed in harassing an enemy, and in
cutting his communications--especially when capture means death.
Those who remained behind were encouraged partly by this thought,
but still more by the really irrational one that, as the boys had
gone away and come back safe, once, they would probably do so
again.

The evening of the same day, the Barclays reported themselves for
duty to the general and, next morning, began work. Their duty was
hard, though simple. By day they were constantly on duty--that is to
say, either riding over the country, or waiting near the general's
quarters in readiness for a start or--more seldom--writing, and
drawing up reports in the office. By night they took it in turns
with the other staff officers to be on duty--that is to say, to lie
down to sleep in uniform, with the horse saddled at the door, in
readiness to start at an instant's notice.

Tim's duties as an orderly were not heavy, and were generally over
by five o'clock; after which he acted as servant to the boys. It
was impossible, under the circumstances, for the staff to mess
together, as usual. There was neither a room available nor, indeed,
any of the appliances. Among Tim's other duties, therefore, was
that of cooking. They had also another orderly allotted to them,
and he devoted himself to the care of the horses; Tim undertaking
all other work.

The boys liked their new duties much. The work was hard, but
pleasant. Their fellow officers were pleasant companions, and their
general most kind, and genial.

A week after they had joined, General Cambriels advanced into the
Vosges to oppose the Prussians, who were marching south. The
progress of the army was slow, for they had to carry what supplies
they required with them. Colonel Tempe kept, with his command, a
few hours' march ahead; and one or other of the boys was frequently
dispatched with orders, etc. to obtain reports from him.

After three days' marching, they neared the enemy. All was now
watchfulness, and excitement. The franc tireurs were already
engaged in skirmishing and, early one morning, Ralph received
orders to ride forward and reconnoiter the enemy's position.
Passing through the posts of franc tireurs, he rode cautiously
along the road; with his hand on the butt of his revolver, and his
horse well in hand--ready to turn and ride for his life, on an
instant's notice.

Presently, as the road wound through a narrow gorge, lined with
trees, he heard a voice say, close in his ear, "Stop!"

He reined in his horse, and drew his pistol. The leaves parted; and
a man of some sixty years of age, armed with an old double-barreled
fowling piece, stepped out.

"The Germans are just beyond," he said. "I expect them every
moment."

"And what are you doing here?" Ralph asked.

"What am I doing?" repeated the peasant. "I am waiting to shoot
some of them."

"But they will hang you, to a certainty, if they catch you."

"Let them," the old man said, quietly; "they will do me no more
harm than they have done me. I had a nice farm, near Metz. I lived
there with my wife and daughter, and my three boys. Someone fired
at the Prussians from a wood near. No one was hit, but that made no
difference. The black-hearted scoundrels came to my farm; shot my
three boys, before their mother's eyes; ill treated her, so that
she died next day and, when I returned--for I was away, at the
time--I found a heap of ashes, where my house had stood; the dead
bodies of my three boys; my wife dying, and my daughter sitting by,
screaming with laughter--mad--quite mad!

"I took her away to a friend's house; and stayed with her till she
died, too, a fortnight after. Then I bought this gun, and some
powder and lead, with my last money; and went out to kill
Prussians. I have killed thirteen already and, please God," and the
peasant lifted his hat, devoutly, "I will kill two more, today."

"How is it that you have escaped so long?" Ralph asked, in
surprise.

"I never fire at infantry," the peasant said. "It was Uhlans that
did it, and it's only Uhlans I fire at. I put myself on a rock, or
a hillside, where they can't come--or in a thick wood--and I
content myself with my two shots, and then go. I don't want to be
killed, yet. I have set my mind on having fifty--just ten for each
of mine--and when I've shot the last of the fifty, the sooner they
finish me, the better.

"You'd better not go any farther, sir. The valley widens out, round
the corner; and there are Prussians in the nearest village."

"Thank you," Ralph said, "but my orders are to reconnoiter them,
myself, and I must do so. I am well mounted, and I don't think that
they will catch me, if I get a couple of hundred yards' start.
There are franc tireurs in the village, a mile back."

Ralph now rode carefully forward, while the peasant went back into
his hiding place by the wood. As he had said, the gorge widened
into a broad valley, a few hundred yards farther on. Upon emerging
from the gorge, Ralph at once saw a village--almost hidden among
trees--at a distance of less than a quarter of a mile. After what
he had heard, he dared not ride on farther. He therefore drew his
horse aside from the road, among some trees; dismounted, and made
his way carefully up the rocky side of the hill, to a point from
which he could command a view down the whole valley.

When he gained this spot, he looked cautiously round. Below, beyond
the village, he could see large numbers of men; could make out
lines of cavalry horses, and rows of artillery. A considerable
movement was going on, and Ralph had no doubt that they were about
to advance. In his interest in what he saw, he probably exposed his
figure somewhat; and caught the eye of some sharp-sighted sentry,
in the village.

The first intimation of his danger was given him by seeing some
twenty Uhlans dart suddenly out of the trees, in which the village
lay, at the top of their speed while, almost at the same moment,
eight or ten rifles flashed, and the balls whizzed round him in
most unpleasant propinquity. Ralph turned in an instant; and
bounded down the rock with a speed and recklessness of which, at
any other moment, he would have been incapable. Fierce as was the
pace at which the Uhlans were galloping, they were still a hundred
yards distant when Ralph leaped upon his horse, and galloped out in
front of them.

There was a rapid discharge of their carbines, but men at full
gallop make but poor shooting. Ralph felt he was untouched but, by
the convulsive spring which his horse gave, he knew the animal was
wounded. For a couple of hundred yards, there was but little
difference in his speed; and then Ralph--to his dismay--felt him
flag, and knew that the wound had been a severe one. Another
hundred yards, and the animal staggered; and would have fallen, had
not Ralph held him up well, with knee and bridle.

The Uhlans saw it; for they gave a shout, and a pistol bullet
whizzed close to his head. Ralph looked round. An officer, twenty
yards ahead of his men, was only about forty yards in his rear. In
his hand he held a revolver, which he had just discharged.

"Surrender!" he shouted, "or you are a dead man!"

Ralph saw that his pursuers were too close to enable him to carry
out his intention of dismounting, and taking to the wood--which,
here, began to approach thickly close to the road--and was on the
point of throwing up his arm, in token of surrender; when his horse
fell heavily, with him, at the moment when the Prussian again
fired. Almost simultaneously with the crack of the pistol came the
report of a gun; and the German officer fell off his horse, shot
through the heart.

Ralph leaped to his feet, and dashed up the bank in among the
trees; just as another shot was fired, with a like fatal result,
into the advancing Uhlans. The rest--believing that they had fallen
into an ambush--instantly turned their horses' heads, and galloped
back the road they had come.

Ralph's first impulse was to rush down into the road, and catch the
officer's horse; which had galloped on a short distance when its
master fell, and was now returning, to follow its companions. As he
did so, the old peasant appeared, from the wood.

"Thank you," Ralph said warmly. "You have saved my life or, at any
rate, have saved me from a German prison."

The peasant paid no attention to him; but stooped down to examine,
carefully, whether the Germans were both dead.

"Two more," he said, with a grim smile. "That makes fifteen. Three
apiece."

Then he picked up the officer's revolver, took the cartridge
belonging to it from the pouch and, with a wave of the hand to
Ralph, strode back into the wood.

Ralph removed the holsters from the saddle of his own horse--which
had fallen dead--placed them on the horse of the German officer and
then, mounting it, rode off at full speed, to inform General
Cambriels of the results of his investigation.

"Hallo, Barclay!" one of his fellow officers said, as he rode up to
the headquarters, "what have you been up to? Doing a little barter,
with a German hussar? You seem to have got the best of him, too;
for your own horse was a good one, but this is a good deal better,
unless I am mistaken.

"How has it come about?"

Quite a crowd of idlers had collected round, while the officer was
speaking; struck, like him, with the singularity of the sight of a
French staff officer upon a horse with German trappings. Ralph did
not wish to enter into explanations, there; so merely replied, in
the same jesting strain, that it had been a fair exchange--the
small difference in the value of the horses being paid for, with a
small piece of lead. Then, throwing his reins to his orderly--who
came running up--he went in to report, to the general, the evident
forward movements of the Germans.

"Are they as strong as we have heard?" the general asked.

"Fully, I should say, sir. I had no means of judging the infantry,
but they seemed in large force. They were certainly strong in
cavalry, and I saw some eight or ten batteries of artillery."

"Let the next for duty ride, with all speed, to Tempe; and tell him
to hold the upper end of this valley. Send Herve's battery forward
to assist him. Have the general assembly sounded."

Ralph left to obey these orders, while the general gave the colonel
of his staff the instructions for the disposition of his forces.

The army of the Vosges--pompous as was its name--consisted, at this
time, of only some ten thousand men; all Mobiles or franc tireurs,
with the exception of a battalion of line, and a battalion of
Zouaves. The Mobiles were almost undisciplined, having only been
out a month; and were, for the most part, armed only with the old
muzzle loader. Many were clothed only in the gray trousers, with a
red stripe, which forms part of the mobile's uniform; and in a blue
blouse. Great numbers of them were almost shoeless; having been
taken straight from the plow, or workshop, and having received no
shoes since they joined. Half disciplined, half armed, half
clothed, they were too evidently no match for the Germans.

The fact was patent to their general, and his officers. Still, his
instructions were to make a stand, at all hazards, in the Vosges;
and he now prepared to obey the orders--not hoping for victory, but
trusting in the natural courage of his men to enable him to draw
them off without serious disaster. His greatest weakness was his
artillery, of which he had only two batteries; against eight or ten
of the Germans--whose forces were, even numerically, superior to
his own.

In half an hour, the dispositions were made. The valley was wide,
at this point; and there were some five or six villages nestled in
it. It was pretty thickly wooded and, two miles behind, narrowed
again considerably. Just as the troops had gained their appointed
places, a faint sound of heavy musketry fire was heard, in the
gorge ahead; mingled, in a few minutes, with the deep boom of
cannon.

The general, surrounded by his staff, moved forward towards the
spot. From the road at the entrance to the narrow part of the
valley, nothing could be seen; but the cracking of rifles among the
trees and rocks on either side, the bursting of shells and the
whistling of bullets were incessant. The general and his staff
accordingly dismounted, handed their horses to the men of the
escort, and mounted the side of the hill.

After a sharp climb, they reached a point from whence they could
see right down the long narrow valley. On beyond, the trees--except
near the road--were thin; the steep sides of the hills being
covered with great blocks of stone, and thick brushwood. Among
these--all down one side, and up the other--at a distance of some
five hundred yards from the post taken up by the general, a
succession of quick puffs of smoke told where Colonel Tempe's franc
tireurs were placed; while among the trees below there came up
great wreaths of smoke from the battery, which was supporting them
by firing at the Germans.

These formed a long line, up and down the sides of the valley, at
three or four hundred yards distance from the French lines. Two
German batteries were down in the road, a few hundred yards to the
rear of their skirmishers; and these were sending shells thickly up
among the rocks, where the franc tireurs were lying hid; while two
other batteries--which the Germans had managed to put a short way
up on the mountain sides, still farther in the rear--were raining
shell, with deadly precision, upon the French batteries in the
road.

A prettier piece of warfare it would have been difficult to
imagine--the lofty mountain sides; the long lines of little puffs
of smoke, among the brushwood and rocks; the white smoke arising
from the trees, in the bottom; the quick, dull bursts of the
shells--as a spectacle, it was most striking. The noise was
prodigious. The steep sides of the mountain echoed each report of
the guns into a prolonged roar, like the rumble of thunder. The
rattle of the musketry never ceased for an instant, and loud and
distinct above the din rose the menacing scream of the shells.

"This is grand, indeed, Ralph!" Percy said, after a moment's
silence.

"Splendid!" Ralph said, "but it is evident we cannot hold the
gorge. Their skirmishers are three to our one, and their shells
must be doing terrible damage."

"Barclay," General Cambriels said, "go down to the battery, and
bring me back word how they are getting on."

The scene quite lost its beauty to Percy, now, as he saw Ralph
scramble rapidly down the hillside in the direction of the trees;
among which the French battery was placed, and over and among which
the shells were bursting, every second. It seemed like entering a
fiery furnace.

It was a terribly long ten minutes before Ralph was seen, climbing
up the hillside again; and Percy's heart gave a jump of delight,
when he first caught sight of his figure. As Ralph came near, his
brother saw that he was very pale, and had a handkerchief bound
round one arm. This was already soaked with blood. He kept on
steadily, however, until he reached the general; who had, upon
seeing he was wounded, advanced to meet him.

"One gun is dismounted, sir, and half the men are killed or
wounded."

"Go down, Harcourt, and tell Herve to fall back at once; and to
take position in the clump of trees, a quarter of a mile down the
valley, so as to sweep the entrance.

"Laon, go to the right, and you, Dubois, to the left. Order the
franc tireurs to retreat along the hillside and, when they get to
the end of the gorge, to form in the plain, and fall back to the
first village.

"You are wounded, Barclay. Not seriously, I hope?" he said, kindly,
as the officers hurried away on their respective missions.

"A splinter of a shell, sir," Ralph said, faintly. "I don't think
it has touched the bone, but it has cut the flesh badly."

Ralph was just able to say this, when his head swam; and he would
have fallen, had not Percy caught him in his arms, with a little
cry.

"He has only fainted from loss of blood," the general said. "Two or
three handkerchiefs, gentlemen.

"Now, major, bind them round his arm.

"Now take off his sash, and bind it as tightly as you can, over
them. That's right.

"Now carry him down the rocks, to the horses. We have no time to
lose."

Two of the officers at once put their arms under Ralph's shoulders,
while Percy took his feet; and they hastened down to the horses. As
they did so, Ralph opened his eyes.

"I am all right, now," he said, faintly.

"Lie quiet," the major said, kindly. "It is only loss of blood.
There is no real harm done.

"There, here are the horses."

Ralph was placed, sitting, on the ground; a little brandy and water
was given to him and, as the blood was oozing but slowly through
the bandage, he felt sufficiently restored to sit on his horse.

"Doyle, you go with Lieutenant Barclay," the colonel of the staff
said. "Ride slowly, and keep close beside him; so as to catch him,
if you see him totter. You will find the surgeons ready at the
general's quarters.

"Halt, stand aside for a moment. Here comes the artillery."

"Well done, lads, well done!" the general said, as the diminished
battery rattled past, at full gallop.

Then he himself, with his staff, put spurs to his horse and went
off at full speed; while Tim followed at a walk, riding by the side
of Ralph. The flow of blood had now stopped, and Ralph was able to
sit his horse until he reached the house which had served as the
general's headquarters, in the morning. Here one of the staff
surgeons had fitted up a temporary ambulance; and Ralph's bandages
were soon taken off, and his coat removed. Tim turned sick at the
sight of the ugly gash in his young master's arm, and was obliged
to go out into the air.

The artillery were already at work, and their fire told that the
franc tireurs had retired from the gorge, and that the Germans were
entering the wider valley.

"You have had a narrow escape," the surgeon said, after examining
Ralph's arm, "a quarter of an inch lower, and it would have cut the
main artery; and you would have bled to death in five minutes. As
it is, there is no great harm done. It is a deepish flesh wound
but, with your youth and constitution, it will heal up in a very
short time. I will draw the edges together, with a needle and
thread: put a few straps of plaster on, and a bandage; and then you
had better get into an ambulance wagon and go to the rear, at
once."

"Can't I go into the field again, now?" Ralph asked; "I feel as if
I could ride again, now."

"No, you can do nothing of the sort," the surgeon said. "You have
lost a lot of blood; and if you were to ride now, it might set off
the wound bleeding again, and you might be a dead man before you
could be brought back here. Keep quiet, and do as you are ordered,
and in a week you may be in the saddle again."

"It seems very hard," Ralph began.

"Not at all hard," the surgeon said. "You will see plenty more
fighting, before this war is over.

"This is a hard case, if you like; you have every reason to be
thankful."

As he spoke, he pointed to a young mobile who was brought in, his
chest literally torn open with a shell.

"I can do nothing for him," the surgeon said, after a brief
inspection of his wound; "he has not half an hour to live, and will
probably not recover consciousness. If he does, give him some weak
brandy, and water."

Wounded men were now being brought in fast, and Ralph went out and
sat down by the door.

"Fasten my horse up here, Tim. The ambulance will be full of poor
fellows who will want them more than I shall. If I see that we are
being driven back, I shall mount and ride quietly back.

"No, there is nothing more you can do for me. Go and join Percy."

The fight was now raging furiously. The Germans, covered by the
fire of their artillery, had debouched from the pass and were
steadily pressing forward. They had already carried the village
nearest to them. This the French had set fire to, before
retreating, to prevent its serving as a shelter for the enemy. The
Mobiles stood their ground, for the most part well, under the heavy
fire of shot and shell; but their muzzle loaders were no match for
the Germans' needle guns, and the enemy were pressing steadily
forward. Just as Tim Doyle rode up to the staff, the Germans had
taken another village.

"That village must be retaken," the general said. "Barclay, ride
and order the Zouaves to carry it, with the bayonet."

Percy galloped off to where the Zouaves, lying behind a ridge in
the ground, were keeping up a heavy fire in answer to the storm of
shot and shell which fell around them. He rode up to the officer in
command.

"The Zouaves are to retake the village, with the bayonet," he said.

The colonel gave the order, but the fire was so heavy that the men
would not face it. Again and again the officer reiterated the
order; standing exposed on the bank, in front of his men, to give
them confidence. It was in vain, and the colonel looked towards
Percy with an air of despair. Percy turned his horse, and galloped
back to the general.

"The colonel has done all he can, sir, but the men won't advance."

"The fire is very heavy," the general said, "but we must have the
village back again."

And he rode off, himself, to the battalion of Zouaves. The shot and
shell were flying around him, but he sat on his horse as immovable
as if at a review.

"My lads," he said, in a loud, clear tone, "generally the
difficulty has been to prevent the Zouaves rushing to an attack.
Don't let it be said that a French general had to repeat, to French
Zouaves, an order to charge before they obeyed him."

In an instant the Zouaves were on their feet and, with a cheer,
went at the village. The Germans in possession fired rapidly, as
the French approached, and then hastily evacuated it; the Zouaves
taking possession, and holding it, under a tremendous fire.

All the afternoon the battle raged, villages being taken and
retaken, several times. The Germans, however, were gradually
gaining ground. Some of the regiments of Mobiles had quite lost all
order and discipline, and their officers in vain tried to persuade
them to hold the position in which they were placed. Two of the
staff officers were killed, three others wounded.

Percy had escaped, almost by a miracle. Over and over again, he had
carried the general's orders across ground swept by the enemy's
shot and shell. A horse had been killed under him, but he had not
received even a scratch; and now, mounted upon the horse of one of
the officers, who was killed, he was returning from carrying an
order across a very open piece of ground, at full gallop. Suddenly
he came upon a sight which--hurried as he was, and exposed as was
the position--caused him instantly to draw his rein, and come to a
full stop.

Illustration: The Children on the Battlefield.

There, in the open field, were two children: the one a boy, of six
or seven years old; the other a little flaxen-haired, blue-eyed
girl, of five. They were quietly picking flowers.

"What are you doing here?" Percy asked, in astonishment.

He spoke in French and, receiving no answer, repeated the question
in German.

"What are you doing here?"

"If you please, sir," the boy answered, "I have been out in the
wood, with Lizzie, to pick flowers; and when I came back there was
a great fire in the house, and a great noise all round, and I
couldn't find father and mother; and so we came out, to look for
them."

Percy did not know what to do. It was too pitiful to leave the poor
little creatures where they were; and yet, he could not carry them
away. He had no doubt that their parents were hid in the woods.

"Look here," he said; "if I take Lizzie upon my horse, will you run
along after me?"

"No, no," the little girl said, vehemently.

There was no time for parley.

"Look here, do you see those soldiers lying down in a ditch?" Percy
asked, pointing to a line of Mobiles, not fifty yards in front.

The children nodded.

"Now look here, the best thing you can possibly do is to play at
being soldiers. It is capital fun. You lie down quite flat in that
ditch, and throw little stones over the bank. Don't you go away.
Don't get up, whatever you do; and if you are good children, and
play nicely, I will send father and mother to you, if I can find
them. If they don't come, you go on playing at soldiers till all
this noise stops; and then, when it is quite quiet, you go home,
and wait there till father and mother come back."

The children were delighted with the idea, and threw themselves
flat in the bottom of the ditch; and Percy went on again, at full
gallop. The French were now being driven back, towards the point
where the valley narrowed again; and many of the Mobiles were in
full flight. General Cambriels, therefore, withdrew his artillery
to a point where they could cover the movements; and then ordered a
rapid retreat--ten regiments of line, and the Zouaves, acting as
rear guard.

It was already getting dark, and the movements were carried out
with but slight loss. The Germans, contented with their success,
attempted no movement in pursuit.



Chapter 12: The Surprise.


After the check in the Vosges, General Cambriels found it
impossible to restore sufficient order, among the Mobiles, to
enable him to show face again to the enemy. He was, besides, in
want of many articles of urgent necessity. Half his force were
shoeless; and the thin blouses which were--as has been said--all
the covering that many of the Mobiles had, were ill calculated to
resist the bitter cold which was already setting in. Ammunition,
too, as well as food, was short.

The general determined, therefore, upon falling back upon Besancon,
and reorganizing his forces there. A wound in his head, too, which
was insufficiently healed when he took the command, had now broken
out again; and his surgeon ordered absolute repose, for a while.

Upon the day of the fight, Ralph had ridden slowly to the rear,
when he saw that the fight was going against the French. Hardened
as he was by his work, and with an excellent constitution, his
wound never for a moment assumed a troublesome aspect; but at the
end of a week he was able--keeping it, of course, in a sling--to
mount his horse, and report himself ready for duty. The
headquarters were now at Besancon; and Ralph could, had he applied
for it, have obtained leave to go to Dijon; but he had not done so,
as he had been so lately at home, and he thought that the sight of
his arm in a sling would be likely to make his mother more nervous,
and anxious on their account, than before.

The Germans were still at some distance from Besancon, being
watched by Colonel Tempe and his franc tireurs, and by the
irregular forces. A considerable army was now fast gathering at
Besancon, and the regimental and superior staff officers were hard
at work at the organization As aides-de-camp, the boys had little
to do; and therefore requested leave, for two or three days, to go
up to their old friends, the franc tireurs of Dijon. The general at
once granted the required permission; adding, with a smile:

"Don't forget you are officers now, lads, and get into any
hare-brained adventures, you know; and be sure you are back on
Thursday, as I expect General Michel--my successor--to arrive on
Friday; and I shall have to give you, as part of my belongings."

"We are sure to be back, general."

And so they set off; taking, as usual, Tim Doyle with them, as
orderly and servant.

"Faith, and I am glad enough to be out in the open again, Mister
Ralph," Tim said, as they left Besancon behind. "After living out
in the woods, for six weeks; there does not seem room to breathe,
in a crowded town."

"It's jolly to be out again, Tim; but I don't know that I mind a
town again, for a few days."

"Ah, it's all very well for the likes of yees, Mister Ralph--with
your officer's uniform, and your arm in a sling, and the girls all
looking at you as a hero--but for me it's different, entirely. Out
in the open I feel that--except when there's anything to do for
your honors--I am my own master, and can plase myself. Here in the
town I am a common hussar; and my arm is just weary with saluting
to all the fellows, with a sword by their side, that I meet in the
street.

"Then there's no chance of any fighting, as long as we're shut up
in the walls of a town; and what's the use of being decked up in
uniform, except to fight? Is there any chance of just the least
scrimmage in the world, while we are back again with the boys?" he
asked, persuasively.

The boys laughed.

"Not much, Tim; but we shall be pretty close to the enemy, and
something may turn up, at any moment. But surely you've had enough,
in the last six weeks?"

"Pretty well, Mister Percy--pretty well; but you see, the last
affair didn't count."

"Oh, didn't it count!" Ralph said, looking at his arm. "I think it
counted for two or three fights and, if you were not hit, I am sure
you were fired at often enough to satisfy the most desperate lover
of fighting, Tim."

"I was fired at often enough, I daresay, Mister Ralph; and I can't
say that I liked it, entirely. It isn't so mighty pleasant--sitting
like a stiff statue behind the general, with the shells falling
about you like peas, and not allowed the divarshin of a single shot
back, in return.

"'Shoot away,' says I, 'as hard as you like; but let's shoot back,
in return.'"

The boys laughed, and the day passed pleasantly as they rode, and
talked. The dusk had already fallen when they reached a party of
franc tireurs. It was not their own corps, nor could the officer in
command tell exactly where they could find them.

"We are scattered over a considerable extent of country," he said;
"and the colonel, alone, could tell you how we are all placed. I
expect that he will be here, tonight; and your best plan will be to
stay here, till he comes. We have not much to offer you, but such
as it is, it is at your service."

After a moment's consultation, the boys agreed to accept the offer;
as they had palpably more chance of meeting Colonel Tempe, there,
than in a journey through the woods, at night; and in another ten
minutes their horses were tied to trees, and they were sitting by a
blazing fire, with the officers of franc tireurs. The village
consisted of only three or four houses and, as there were fifty men
in the party upon which they had come, they bivouacked under the
trees, hard by.

"How far off are the Germans?" Ralph asked, when dinner was over;
and they lay by the fire, smoking cigars.

"Ten miles or so," the officer answered, carelessly.

"No chance of their coming this way, I hope," Ralph laughed. "We
were very nearly caught near Saverne, once."

"So I heard," the officer said, "but I am rather skeptical as to
these night surprises. In nine cases out of ten--mind, I don't mean
for a moment that it was so in your case--but in nine cases out of
ten, these rumors of night attacks are all moonshine."

"Perhaps so," Ralph said, a little gravely--for he had already
noticed that the discipline was very different, among these men,
than that to which he had been accustomed among the franc tireurs
of Dijon; "perhaps so, but we can hardly be too careful.

"How do you all like Colonel Tempe?"

"The colonel would be an excellent fellow, were he not our
colonel," the officer laughed. "He is a most unconscionable man.
For ever marching, and drilling, and disciplining. If he had his
way, he would make us like a regiment of line; as if there could be
any good in carrying out all that sort of thing, with franc
tireurs. He had about half of us together, for three or four days;
and I give you my word it was as bad as slavery. Drill, drill,
drill, from morning till night. I was heartily glad, I can tell
you, when I got away with this detachment."

Ralph saw that his new acquaintance was one of that innumerable
class who conceived that drill and discipline were absurdities, and
that it was only necessary for a Frenchman to shoulder a gun for
him to be a soldier; so he easily avoided argument, by turning the
subject. For a couple of hours they chatted; and then, as the fire
was burning low, and the men had already laid down to sleep, Ralph
suggested that they should do the same.

"I will walk round the sentries first, with you, if you like," he
said.

"Sentries!" the other said, with a laugh; "there is my sentry," and
he pointed to a man standing, ten paces off, leaning against a
tree. "The men have marched all day--they only came in an hour
before you did--and I am not going to waste their strength by
putting half of them out to watch the forest.

"No, no, I am no advocate for harassing my men."

"Good night, then," Ralph said, briefly, and he wrapped himself in
his cloak, and lay down.

"We are not accustomed to this sort of thing, Percy," he whispered
to his brother, in English, "and I don't like it. No wonder our
franc tireurs do so badly, if this is a sample of their
discipline."

"I don't like it either, Ralph. The Prussians are advancing; and if
that fellow last heard of them as ten miles off, they are as likely
as not to be only two. I shan't be sorry when morning comes."

"Nor I either, Percy. However, here we are, and we have no
authority over this fellow; so we must make the best of it, and
hope that--for once--folly will not have its just reward."

So saying, the boys remained silent for the night. But although
silent, neither of them slept much--Ralph especially, whose arm was
still very sore, and at times painful, hardly closed his eyes. He
told himself it was absurd, but he could not help listening, with
painful attention.

Had the night been a quiet one, he need not have strained his ears;
for as he knew, from the many hours he had passed at night upon
guard, the hush is so intense--in these great forests--that one can
hear the fall of a mountain stream, miles away; and the snapping of
a twig, or almost the falling of a leaf, will catch the ear. The
night, however, was windy; and the rustle of the pine forest would
have deadened all sound, except anything sharp, and near.

The sentry did not appear similarly impressed with the necessity
for any extraordinary attention. He was principally occupied in
struggling against cold, and drowsiness. He walked up and down, he
stamped his foot, hummed snatches of songs, yawned with great
vigor, and so managed to keep awake for two hours; when he roused
the next for duty, and lay down with a grunt of relief.

At last, after keeping awake for hours, Ralph dozed off. How long
he slept, he knew not; but he was roused into full wakefulness by a
touch on the shoulder, and by hearing Tim Doyle whisper:

"Hist, Mister Ralph, I've my doubts that there is something wrong.
I couldn't sleep, in this camp without watch or outposts; and for
the last quarter of an hour, I fancy I've been hearing noises. I
don't know which way they are coming, but it seems to me they are
all round us. I may be wrong, sir, but as sure as the piper--"

"Hush, Tim!" Ralph said to the Irishman, who had crawled
noiselessly along, and had lain down by his side.

"Percy, are you awake?"

"Yes, I woke at Tim's whisper. Listen."

They did listen; and distinctly, above the sighing of the wind,
they could hear a rustling, cracking noise. Day was just breaking,
but the light was not sufficiently strong to show objects with any
distinctness, among the trees.

"By Jove, we are surrounded!" Percy said; and was just going to
alarm the camp when the sentry, startled into wakefulness,
challenged and fired.

The franc tireurs woke, and leaped to their feet. Percy and Tim
were about to do the same, when Ralph held them down.

"Lie still," he said, "for your lives."

His words were not out of his lips, when a tremendous volley rang
out all round them; and half the franc tireurs fell.

"Now!" Ralph said, leaping up, "make a rush for a house.

"To the houses, all of you," he shouted, loudly. "It is our only
chance. We shall be shot down, here, like sheep."

The officer of the franc tireurs had already atoned for his
carelessness, by his life; and the men obeyed Ralph's call and,
amidst a heavy fire, rushed across the fifty yards of open space to
the houses. The door was burst in, with the rush.

Ralph had not stopped at the first house but, followed by his
brother and Tim Doyle, had run farther on; and entered the last
house in the village.

"Why did you not go in with the others, Ralph? We have no chance of
defending ourselves, here. We have only our revolvers."

"We have no chance of defending ourselves anywhere, Percy," Ralph
said. "There must be a couple of hundred of them, at least; and not
above fifteen or twenty, at most, of the franc tireurs gained the
houses. Resistance is utterly useless; and yet, had I been with
those poor fellows, I could not have told them to surrender, when
they would probably be shot, five minutes afterwards. We should be
simply throwing away our lives, without doing the least good."

There was a heavy firing now heard and, a moment after, half a
dozen shots were fired through the window. Then there was a rush of
soldiers towards the door, which Ralph had purposely left open.

"We surrender," Ralph shouted, in German, coming forward to meet
them. "We are French officers."

"Don't fire," a voice said, and then a young officer came forward.

"You are not franc tireurs?" he asked, for the light was still
insufficient to enable him to distinguish uniforms.

"We are officers of the army, upon General Cambriels' staff. This
man is an orderly.

"Here are our swords. We surrender, as prisoners of war."

The German officer bowed.

"Keep your swords, for the present, gentlemen. I am not in
command."

At this moment, another officer came up.

"Who have we here, Von Hersen? Why do you make prisoners?"

"They are two staff officers, major."

"Hem," said the major, doubtfully.

"Well, if you are an officer," he continued, "order your men to
cease their resistance."

The franc tireurs, most of whom had taken refuge in the same
cottage, were still defending themselves desperately; and were
keeping up a heavy fire, from the windows.

"I will order them to surrender, at once," Ralph said, quietly; "if
you give me your word that they shall be treated as prisoners of
war."

"I will do nothing of the sort, sir," the German answered.

"Then I shall certainly not advise them to surrender," Ralph said,
firmly. "I have no authority, whatever, over them; but if I give
advice, it would be that they should sell their lives as dearly as
possible."

The officer swore a deep German oath, and strode off. For five more
minutes the fight continued round the cottage, many of the Germans
falling; then a rush was made, there was a fierce contest inside
the house--shouts, shrieks, cries for mercy--and then all was
still.

The young Barclays and Tim were now told to sit down near a tree,
at a short distance off; with two sentries, with loaded rifles,
standing over them. The German soldiers took from the houses what
few articles they fancied, and then set fire to them; sitting down
and eating their breakfast as the flames shot up. At a short
distance from where the Barclays were sitting was a group of some
eight or ten franc tireurs, and six or seven peasants, guarded by
some soldiers.

Near them the German major and two lieutenants were talking. One of
the young men appeared to take little interest in the conversation;
but the other was evidently urging some point, with great
earnestness; and the major was equally plainly refusing his
request, for he stamped his foot angrily, and shook his head.

"What a type that major is, of the brutal species of German," Ralph
said. "One used to meet them, sometimes. Their officers are either
particularly nice fellows, mere machines, or great brutes;
apparently we have a specimen of each of them, here."

The officers passed near enough for the Barclays to catch what they
were saying.

The young lieutenant was very pale.

"For the last time, major, I implore you."

"For the last time, Lieutenant von Hersen," the major said,
brutally, "I order you to do your duty and, by Heavens, if you
speak another word, I will put you in arrest!"

The young lieutenant turned silently away, called up twenty men,
and ordered them to place the franc tireurs and the peasants
against a wall.

"This is horrible, Ralph," Percy said. "That scoundrel is going to
shoot them, in cold blood."

"I protest against this execution," Ralph said, in a loud tone,
advancing towards the major, "as a cold-blooded murder, and a
violation of all the rights of war."

"Hold your tongue, sir," the German major said, turning to him
furiously, "or, by Heavens, I will put you up there, too!"

"You dare not," Ralph said, firmly. "Outrage, as you do, every law
of civilization and humanity; you dare not shoot an officer of the
army, in cold blood."

The major turned black with passion.

"By Heavens!" he exclaimed.

But the officer who had not--hitherto--interposed, threw himself
before him.

"Pardon me, major," he said, respectfully, "but the Frenchman is
right. It would bring discredit upon the whole army to touch these
prisoners of war.

"In the other matter, I have nothing to say. The order has been
published that franc tireurs, and peasants sheltering them, shall
be shot; and it is not for me to discuss orders, but to obey
them--but this is a matter affecting all our honors."

The major stood, for a moment, irresolute; but he knew well that
the German military authorities would punish, probably with death,
the atrocity which he meditated; and he said hoarsely, to some of
the men near:

"Tie their arms behind their backs, and take them farther into the
wood."

Ralph, his brother, and Tim Doyle were hurried into the wood by
their guards but--strict as is the discipline of the German
army--they could see that they disapproved, in the highest degree,
of the conduct of their commanding officer.

They were still near enough to see what was passing in the village.
Not a man of the franc tireurs begged his life, but stood upright
against the wall. Two of the peasants imitated their example, as
did a boy of not over thirteen years of age. Two other lads of the
same age, and a peasant, fell on their knees and prayed piteously
for life.

The young officer turned round towards the major in one, now mute,
appeal. It was in vain.

"Put your rifles within a foot of their heads," the lieutenant
said. "Fire!"

When the smoke cleared away, the soldiers were standing alone; and
the peasants and franc tireurs lay, in a confused mass, on the
ground.

The lieutenant walked up to the major with a steady step, but with
a face as pale as ashes.

"I have done my duty, Major Kolbach; your orders are obeyed."

Then, without another word, he drew out his revolver, put it rapidly
to his temple, and blew out his brains [an historical fact].

Brutal as Major Kolbach was, he started back in horror as the young
lieutenant fell dead at his feet; while a cry of surprise and
consternation broke from the men. The major did not say a word, but
turned away and paced up and down, with disturbed steps; while the
other lieutenant bent over the body of his comrade and, seeing that
he was dead, in a hushed voice ordered the men who had run up to
dig a grave, under the trees, and bring him there.

When this was done he ordered the men to fall in--placing the
Barclays, and Tim in their midst--and then went up to the major and
saluted, saying coldly that the men were ready to march. The major
nodded, signed to the orderly who was holding his horse to
approach, vaulted into the saddle, and rode along the road back
toward the main body of the army. The lieutenant gave the word, and
the column marched off; leaving behind it the still smoking houses,
and the still warm bodies of some sixty men.

There was a general gloom over the faces of the men; and no one
could suppose, from their air, that they were returning from a
successful expedition, in which they had annihilated a body of
enemy fifty strong, with the loss of only five or six of their own
men. Discipline was, however, too strict for a word of blame, or
even of comment to be spoken; and not a sound was heard but the
heavy, measured tramp as the troops marched back through the
forests. The major rode on, moodily, some forty or fifty yards
ahead of the main body.

They had not gone half a mile before there was a shot fired in the
wood, close to the road. The major gave a start, and nearly fell
from his horse; then recovered himself, and turned to ride back to
the column, when there was another shot, and he fell off his horse,
heavily, to the ground.

The column had instinctively halted, and the lieutenant gave the
word, "Load."

A shout of triumph was heard in the wood, "Thirty-one!" and then
all was still.

"That's the old fellow who saved my life, ten days ago, Percy,"
Ralph said; "and by Jove! much obliged to him as I was, then, I do
think that I am more grateful now."

Finding that the shots were not repeated, some twenty or thirty
skirmishers were sent into the woods; but returned, in ten minutes,
without finding any trace of the man who had shot the major.

The lieutenant now took the command. There was a continuation of
the halt, for ten minutes, while the major was hastily buried by
the roadside; a rough cross being put up to mark the spot, and a
deep cross cut made in the two nearest trees so that, even if the
cross were overthrown, the place of the burial might be found
afterwards, if necessary. Then the corps marched on again.

The first use which the lieutenant made of his authority--even
before giving directions for the burial--was to order the cords of
the prisoners to be cut. Then the corps continued its march and, by
the brightened faces of the men, it could be seen easily enough how
unpopular their late commander had been; and that they cherished
but slight animosity against the slayer. In a short time they
struck up one of their marching songs and--prisoners as they
were--the Barclays could not but admire the steady, martial bearing
of the men, as they strode along, making the woods echo with the
deep chorus.

In three hours' march they reached the village which the troops had
left, the evening before, to surprise the franc tireurs; having, as
Ralph had learned from the lieutenant in command, received
information from a spy of their arrival at the village, late at
night; and having started at once, under his guidance.

Here a considerable German force was assembled. The prisoners were
not unkindly treated; but Tim Doyle was, of course, separated from
them. Some astonishment was expressed at their youth; but it was
assumed that they had been pupils at Saint Cyr or the Polytechnic,
many of whom received commissions owing to the impossibility of
finding officers for the immense new levies. Several of the
officers came in to chat with them and, as these had been also
engaged in the fights, ten days before, there were many questions
to ask, upon either side.

The boys learned that they would be sent on, next day; would be
marched to Luneville, and sent thence by train.

"They are a fine set of fellows," Ralph said, when their last
visitor had left them. "Good officers, unquestionably; and when
they are nice, capital fellows. I can't make out why they should be
so brutal, as soldiers; for they are undoubtedly a kindly race."

"No doubt," Percy said, but he was thinking of other matters, and
not paying much attention to his brother.

"Do you think we have any chance of making our escape, Ralph?"

"Oh, we shall escape, fast enough," Ralph answered, confidently.
"With our knowledge of German, and looking so young, there can be
no great difficulty about it, when we once get to the end of our
journey; but it's no use our thinking about it, at present. We
shall be a good deal too closely looked after. I only hope they
will send us to Mayence, or Coblentz; and not to one of the
fortresses at the other end of Germany.

"Mind, we must not give our parole."

The next day, when they were summoned to start, they found that
there were fifty or sixty other prisoners who had been brought in,
from other directions. Some belonged to line regiments; but the
greater portion, by far, were Mobiles who, in the retreat of
General Cambriels, had been cut off or left behind and, after
hiding in the woods for some days, were being gradually found and
brought in. The Barclays were the only officers. They therefore
took their places at the head of the prisoners; who formed, four
deep--with an escort of Uhlans--and set off on their march.

It was four days' march. The weather was cold and clear, and the
Barclays were but little fatigued when they marched into Luneville.
The greater part of the prisoners were, however, in a pitiable
condition. Some were so footsore that they could hardly put one
foot before the other. Others tottered with fatigue, and the men of
the escort frequently used the flats of their swords, to compel
them to keep together. As they marched through the streets of
Luneville, the people in the streets uncovered; and the women waved
their hands to them, and pressed forward and offered them fruit and
bread, in spite of the orders of the escort.

They were taken straight to the railway station, where they were
put into a shed. Ralph and Percy had gained the goodwill of the
sergeant in command of the escort, by the manner in which they had
aided him by interpreting to the rest of the prisoners, and by
doing their best to cheer them up, and take things smooth; and they
now asked him to request the officer in command, at the railway
station, to allow them to walk about until the train started, on
parole. The request was--upon the favorable report of the
sergeant--granted at once; and they were told that no train would
go off until next morning, and that they might sleep in the town,
if they chose.

Thanking the officer for the permission, they went out of the
station; when a tall, big-bearded German sergeant stopped before
them.

"Donner wetter!" he exclaimed, "so here you are, again!"

The boys gave a little start; for they recognized, at once, the
sergeant who had so closely questioned them in the cabaret, upon
the night when they had carried off and hung the schoolmaster.
Ralph saw, at once, the importance of conciliating the man; as a
report from him of the circumstances might render their position a
most unpleasant one and--even in the event of nothing worse coming
of it--would almost ensure their captivity in some prison upon the
farther side of Prussia, instead of at one of the frontier
fortresses.

"Ah, sergeant, how are you?" he said, gaily. "It is our fate, you
see, to be made prisoners. You were very nearly taking us, and now
here we are."

"A nice trick you played me," the sergeant said, surlily, "with
your woodcutters, and your lame brother, and your sick sister, and
your cask of beer. I got a nice reprimand over that affair."

"Come, sergeant," Ralph said, laughing, "let bygones be bygones.
All is fair in war, you know, and we did not touch a single hair of
any of your men's heads. All we wanted was the schoolmaster. It
would not do you any good to talk about it, now, and it might do us
harm. It's quite bad enough for us, as it is."

"You're nice boys, you are," the sergeant said, with his face
relaxing into a smile. "To think of my being taken in, by two lads
like you. Well, you did it well--monstrously well, I will say--for
you never flinched an eyelash.

"So you are officers, after all. I never suspected anything about
it, till three hours afterwards, when we went to relieve the
sentry; and found him lying there, tied up like a bundle. We
couldn't think, even then, what it meant, for you had made no
attack; and it wasn't till morning that we found that the old
schoolmaster had been fetched out of bed, and carried off on the
heads of twenty men.

"Well, it was well done, and I bear you no malice."

"That's right, sergeant. Now come and have a jug of beer with us;
you know, we had one with you, before. Don't you remember, we drank
to the health of King William? If you like, you shall return the
pledge, by drinking to Napoleon."

The sergeant laughed.

"I'll do that," he said. "You said, if you remember, when I
proposed the king, that you did not wish to hear of his death; and
I can say the same for your Napoleon. Especially," he added with a
chuckle, "as he's our prisoner."

The boys went into a cabaret near, and drank a glass of beer with
the sergeant; and then--saying "Goodbye," very heartily--left him,
and went into the town; well pleased to have got so well out of a
scrape which might have been a very unpleasant one.

They slept at a hotel, and were down at the station at the
appointed time. It was a long journey--thirty-six hours--to
Mayence. But the boys were too pleased--when they saw the line that
the train was following--to have cared, had it been twice as far.
The difficulties of escape from the western fortresses would have
been immense; whereas, at Mayence, they were comparatively close to
the frontier. At Mayence, too, the position of the prisoners was
comfortable. They were allowed to live anywhere in the town, and to
take their meals when they chose. They were obliged, twice a day,
to answer at the muster roll; and were not, of course, allowed to
go outside the fortifications.

The one drawback, to the position of the French officers, was the
utterly insufficient sum which the Prussian Government allowed them
for board and lodging--only forty-five francs a month; that is to
say, fifteen pence a day. It is needless to say that the officers
who had nothing else to depend upon literally starved, upon this
pittance; which was the more inexcusable that the French Government
allowed more than twice this sum to the German officers who were
taken prisoners.

Upon this head, however, the boys had no discomfort. They had
plenty of money in their pockets, for present uses; and they knew
that they could obtain further supplies by writing home, via
Switzerland. They were, therefore, unaffectedly glad when the train
came to a stop at the station of Mayence, and the order was given
for all to alight.



Chapter 13: The Escape.


The first thing that the Barclays did, after reporting themselves,
was to settle themselves in a lodging--no very easy thing to find,
for the town was crowded with troops, and prisoners. However, as
they were able to pay a higher sum than the great majority of
French officers, in their position, they had no very great
difficulty in finding a place to suit them. The rooms were
purposely taken in a large house, with a staircase common to a
number of families living on different floors; so that anyone going
in or out would be less likely to be noticed than in a smaller
house. They were also careful in choosing rooms so placed that they
could go in and out of the door on to the staircase, without being
noticed by the people with whom they lodged.

Ralph's arm was now extremely painful, the long march having
inflamed the wound. He had, therefore, on reporting himself, begged
that a surgeon might attend him; and had also asked, as a great
favor, that his servant--the hussar Doyle--might be allowed to
remain with him; stating that, in that case, he would pay for his
lodgings and provide him with food. As the prison in which the
private soldiers were confined was, at the time, crowded; the
request was complied with.

For the next week Ralph suffered greatly with his arm, and had to
keep his room. After that the inflammation subsided; and in another
fortnight he was able to dispense, for the first time since he
received his wound, with a sling. In the meantime he had made the
acquaintance of the people with whom he lodged; who were very kind
to their wounded lodger, and whose hearts he completely won by
being able to chat to them in their native tongue, like one of
themselves. The family consisted of a father, who was away all day
at the railway station, where he was a clerk; the mother, a
garrulous old woman; and a daughter, a pretty blue-eyed girl of
about Ralph's age, who assisted her mother to wait upon them. She
had a lover, away as a soldier in the army besieging Paris; and the
thought that he might be wounded, or taken prisoner, made her very
pitiful to the young officers.

Ralph Barclay had--for some days--been intending to sound her as to
her willingness to aid them when she, herself, began it one day.
She had cleared away their dinner, and was standing--as she often
did--talking with them, when she lowered her voice, so as not to be
overheard by her mother in the next room:

"I wonder you don't try to get away. Lots of French officers have
done so."

"That is just what we are thinking of, Christine. We have only been
waiting till my arm was out of a sling, and we want you to help
us."

"How can I help you?" the girl asked.

"In the first place, you can buy us clothes. It would excite
suspicion if we were to buy them, ourselves. Percy and I were
thinking of going as girls--not pretty girls, of course, like you,
Christine--but great, rough peasant girls."

Christine laughed, and colored

"You would be too tall," she said.

"We should be rather tall," Ralph said, ruefully. "We have grown so
horribly, in the last few months. Still, some women are as tall as
we are."

"Yes, some women are," Christine said, "but men look after them and
say, 'What big, gawky women!' and you don't want to be looked
after. If people did so, they would see that you didn't walk one
bit like a woman, and that your shoulders were very wide, and your
arms very strong, and--

"Oh no! It wouldn't do at all. I must think it over.

"I suppose you want that great blue-coated bear to go?" and she
nodded at Tim Doyle who--not being able to speak a word of her
language--was always indulging in the most absurd pantomime of love
and devotion; causing screams of laughter to the merry German girl.

"Yes, Tim must go too, Christine."

"Ha, ha!" laughed the girl. "Fancy him as a woman."

"What is she saying about me, Mister Percy?"

"She says you would make a very pretty woman, Tim."

"Tare and ages, Mister Percy," Tim said, taking it quite seriously,
"how could I do it, at all? I'd have to shave off all my beautiful
beard and mustaches and, even then, I doubt if you would mistake me
for a woman."

The boys screamed with laughter, and translated the Irishman's
speech to Christine; who laughed so that her mother came into the
room.

"Look here, children," she said, smiling, "I don't want to know
what you are talking about. If anything of any sort happens, I may
be asked questions; and I don't want to have to tell stories. I
can't help hearing, if you leave the door open, and laugh
so--indeed, all the neighborhood might hear it; so please shut the
door, in future."

So saying, she again went back to her work in the next room.

"Goodbye, I'm going, too," Christine said. "I will think it over,
by tomorrow morning, and tell you what you are to do."

The next morning, the boys were very anxious to hear Christine's
proposals; for although they had quite made up their minds to try
their own plan, if hers was not feasible, still they felt that,
with her knowledge of the country, she was likely, at any rate, to
give them good advice.

Until she had cleared away breakfast, Christine said nothing. Then
she took out her knitting, and sat against the window.

"Now," she began, "I will tell you what I have thought of. It would
be easy enough, if it was not for him. He's so big, and so red, and
he doesn't speak German.

"Oh dear, he's very tiresome!" and she shook her head at Tim; who
smiled, laid his hand on his breast, and endeavored to look
affecting.

Christine laughed.

"The only thing I can think of, for him, is that he shall go out as
a Jew peddler; with one of their broad hats, and a tray of little
trinkets. He might pass, if none of the soldiers took it into their
heads to buy."

The proposition was translated to Tim Doyle.

"Is it me, your honor--me, Tim Doyle, a good Catholic, and come of
honest people--that's to turn myself into a haythin Jew?" the
Irishman burst out, with great indignation. "It was bad enough that
I should be made into a woman, but a haythin Jew! I put it to your
honors, it's nayther sinsible nor dacent."

The boys went off in screams of laughter. Christine laughed for a
moment, too, when they translated Tim's speech to her; and then
looked indignant that the proposition, which had cost her so much
thought, should be so scornfully rejected.

Tim saw the look, and at once went on, persuasively:

"Sure now, darlint Miss Christine, don't be angry wid me, out of
your bright blue eyes! But is it raisonable--is it natural to ask a
Christian man to make a haythin Jew of himself? Would you like it,
yourself?"

When the boys could stop laughing, they translated Tim's appeal.

"Did you ever see such an absurd man?" she said, laughing. "As if
it could make any difference to his religion. Tell him I am a good
Catholic, too, but I should not mind dressing up as a Jewess."

"Sure, thin, darlint," Tim exclaimed, when her speech was
translated, "I will go as a Jew, directly, if you'll go with me and
be my Jewess."

Christine laughed, blushed, shook her head and said, "Nonsense!"
upon hearing Tim's proposition.

"But seriously, Christine," Ralph said, "the objection which you
mention to the Jew pedlar's disguise is important. Full as the
streets are of soldiers looking about, he could hardly hope to go
from here through the streets, and out at the gate, without someone
asking him about the contents of his box."

Christine allowed--a little pettishly, at the failure of her
plan--that it certainly was likely.

"The real difficulty is to get outside the gate," Ralph said,
thoughtfully. "After that, I should have no fear."

"What are you thinking of doing, then?" Christine asked.

"I was thinking of dressing Percy, and myself, in the clothes of
young peasants; and putting Tim into something of the same sort,
with a great bandage round his face. Then I should say that we were
two lads, from some place near the frontier, who had come here to
meet our uncle; who had had his jaw shattered, in battle. That
would explain Tim's not being able to talk at all; and as to looks,
he is red enough for a German, anywhere."

"Yes," Christine said, "that would do, very well; but of course,
you would be liable to be asked for papers."

"Of course," Ralph said, "but we must risk something."

"I have an idea," Christine said, suddenly, clapping her hands. "I
have some cousins living at Wiesbaden. These are three boys, and I
am sure they would do anything for me. I will go out to Wiesbaden,
tomorrow, and ask them to lend me their papers, just for one day.
Wiesbaden is not your way, at all; but for that very reason you
would get out more easily there, and be less likely to be
suspected, or followed. You could cross the Rhine somewhere near
Saint Goar.

"I shall have to tell some sad stories to my cousins, and coax them
a great deal. Still, I daresay I shall succeed; and then you can go
boldly across the bridge, and into the railway station, and take a
ticket for Wiesbaden. You can have an envelope, ready directed, and
put the papers into the post there."

"The very thing, Christine. You are a darling!" Ralph exclaimed,
catching her by the waist and kissing her, before she had time to
think of resistance.

"I shan't do anything at all for you," Christine said, laughing and
blushing, "if you misbehave in that way."

"I couldn't help it, Christine--not even if your mother had been
looking on.

"And now, about our clothes."

"I couldn't buy them," Christine said. "I never could go into a
shop and buy men's clothes."

The thing was so evident that, for a moment, the boys' looks fell.
Then Christine said, coloring very much:

"There is a box, in my room, of Karl's things. He is my cousin, you
know; and he was working as a gardener, here, till he had to go out
in the Landwehr--so, of course, he left his things here, for us to
take care of. He is about your size. I will take out one suit--it
won't hurt it--and you can put it on, and go out into the town, and
buy the things for all three of you."

"Capital!" the boys exclaimed. "It couldn't be better."

Ten minutes afterwards, Ralph went down the stairs and out into the
street, dressed as a German laborer in his best suit. He was a
little uneasy, at first; but no one noticed him, and he was soon in
a shop, haggling over the price of a peasant's coat--as if the
matter of a thaler, one way or other, was a thing of vital
importance to him. He bought the three suits at three different
shops--as he thought that it would look suspicious, if he were to
get them all at the same--and in an hour was back again. An hour
afterwards, Christine started for Wiesbaden.

The Barclays had reason to congratulate themselves that they had
not longer deferred their preparations for escape; for when
presenting themselves, as usual, that afternoon at the roll call,
they were told that they must hold themselves in readiness to leave
for one of the eastern fortresses, upon the following evening; as
another large batch of prisoners, from Metz, was expected to arrive
upon the following day.

In the evening, Christine returned from Wiesbaden; which is distant
only a quarter of an hour, by rail, from Mayence.

"I have got them," she said, "but if you only knew the trouble I
have had! What a bother boys are, to be sure!"

"Especially cousins--eh, Christine?"

"Especially cousins," Christine said, demurely.

After thanking her very warmly for her kindness, the Barclays
started out, and bought a variety of things which they thought
might be useful. They also bought a pretty gold watch and chain, to
give to Christine as a parting present.

The next morning they answered, as usual, to their early roll call;
and then, returning at once to their lodgings, changed their
clothes for those which Ralph had purchased. It was agreed that
they should not say goodbye to Christine's mother; in order that,
whatever she might suspect, she might be able to say that she knew
nothing of any idea, on the part of her lodgers, to make their
escape. Then Christine herself came in, to say goodbye; and went
half wild with delight, at the present. Then she said goodbye,
kissed the boys--without any affectation of objecting to it--and
then went to a window, to watch if they went safely down the
street.

The boys had no uneasiness, whatever, upon their own account--for
they had before passed so easily, among the Prussian troops, that
they felt quite confident in their disguise--but they were
uncomfortable as to Tim, whose inability to answer questions would
have at once betrayed them, had anyone addressed him. They had not
ventured to bandage up his face, as if wounded; as he would have
naturally, in that case, had a military pass. As the best thing
they could think of, they had shoved a large lump of cotton into
one of his cheeks--which gave him the appearance of having a
swelled face--and had instructed him to frequently put his hand up
to it, as if in great pain. Tim had plenty of shrewdness, and acted
his part admirably.

They passed across the bridge of boats, without question; and into
the railway station, which is just opposite its end. Here soldiers
and other officials swarmed; but the three walked along carelessly,
the two boys chatting together in German, Tim walking with his hand
up to his face, and giving an occasional stamp of pain. He sat down
with Percy on a seat in the station, while Ralph went to the little
window where tickets were being delivered. There were a good many
people waiting and, when it came to Ralph's turn, and he put the
papers in at the window, and asked for three third-class tickets to
Wiesbaden, the clerk scarcely glanced at them; but handed the
tickets over, without a question.

They then went into the third-class waiting room, and sat down.
There were a good many peasants, and others there; and when the
doors opened for them to go on to the platform, and enter the
carriages, they saw it was hopeless to try and get a carriage to
themselves. They did, therefore, the best they could; putting Tim
next to the window, while Percy sat next to, and Ralph opposite to
him. The rest of the compartment was filled with country people.

"He seems in great pain," a good-natured peasant woman said, to
Ralph; as Tim rocked himself backwards and forwards, in his
anguish.

"Yes, he is very bad," Ralph said.

"Toothache?" asked the woman.

"Worse than that," Ralph said, gravely, "an abscess in the jaw. He
has just been to the hospital."

"Poor fellow!" the woman said. "Why does he not poultice it?

"I should advise you to poultice," she said, addressing Tim.

Tim gave a grunt--which might have meant anything--and Ralph said,
in a whisper:

"Don't talk to him. Poor uncle, he is so bad tempered, now, it puts
him in a rage if anyone speaks to him; because it hurts him so, to
answer. At ordinary times, he is very good tempered; but now, oh!"
and Ralph made a little pantomime, to express the extreme badness
of Tim's temper.

"You are not of Wiesbaden, are you?" the woman asked. "I do not
know you by sight."

"No," Ralph said; "we are from Holzhausen, a village some eight
miles upon the other side of Wiesbaden."

"Ah!" the woman said, "I have a sister living there; surely you
must know her. She is the wife of Klopstock, the carpenter."

"Surely," Ralph said, "she is my neighbor; everyone knows her. She
is very like you."

"Well now, you are the first person who has ever said that," the
woman said, surprised. "I am so short, and she is so tall."

"Yes, she is tall--very tall," Ralph said, very gravely; "but there
is something about the expression of your eyes which reminds me of
Mrs. Klopstock.

"Yes, the more I look at you, the more I see it," and Ralph looked
so earnestly, at the woman, that Percy had the greatest difficulty
in preventing himself going off into a shout of laughter.

"I wonder I have never seen you, at Holzhausen," Ralph continued.

"Well," the woman said, "it is years since I have been there. You
see, it is a long way, and my sister often comes into Wiesbaden,
and I see her; but in truth, her husband and I don't get on very
well together. You know his temper is--" and she lifted up her
hands.

"Yes, indeed," Ralph said. "His temper is, as you say, terrible.
Between ourselves, it is so well known that we have a saying, 'As
bad tempered as Klopstock the carpenter.' One can't say more than
that--

"But we are at Wiesbaden. Good morning."

"Good morning. I hope your uncle's tooth will be better, ere long."

"I hope so, indeed, for all our sakes," Ralph said. "He is as bad
as Klopstock, at present."

So saying, they got out of the train and walked into the town. When
they had separated from the crowd, Percy could restrain himself no
longer, and went off into a scream of laughter.

"What is it, Mister Percy?" Tim asked, opening his lips for the
first time since they had left the house.

"Oh, Tim, if you had but heard!" Percy said, when he recovered his
voice. "Do you know you are as bad tempered as Klopstock, the
carpenter?"

"Sure, I never heard tell of him, Mister Percy; and if I have been
bad tempered, I haven't said much about it; and if the carpenter
had a wad of cotton as big as a cricket ball in one cheek, as I
have, it's small blame to him if he was out of temper."

Both the boys laughed, this time; and then Ralph explained the
whole matter to Tim, who laughed more heartily than either of them.

"Which way shall we go, Ralph?"

"I looked at the map, the last thing before starting, Percy; and I
noticed that the road went out past the gambling place. I dare not
take out the map again, to look at the plan of the town--it would
look too suspicious--so let us wander about, till we find the
place. It has large grounds, so we cannot miss it."

They were not long in finding the place they were looking for.
There was no mistaking it; with its long arcades leading up to the
handsome conversation rooms, its piece of water, and its
beautifully laid-out grounds.

"I should like to go in, and have a look at it," Percy said. "I can
hear the band playing, now."

"So should I," Ralph said, "but time is too precious. They will
find out at the muster, this afternoon, that we are missing and, as
we answered this morning, they will know that we cannot have got
far. We had better put as many miles between us as we can.

"First of all, though, let us put those papers Christine got us
into the envelope, and drop them into that post box. We should not
do badly, either, to buy three dark-colored blankets before we
start. It is terribly cold; and we shall want them, at night."

They therefore turned up into the town again; and then Ralph
separated from the others, and went in and bought the blankets. Ten
minutes later they were walking along, at a steady pace, from the
town. Each carried a stick. The boys carried theirs upon their
shoulder; with a bundle, containing a change of clothes and other
articles, slung upon it. Tim carried his bundle in one hand, and
walked using his stick in the other. When a short distance out of
the town, they stopped in a retired place; and put some strips of
plaster upon Tim's cheeks, and wrapped up his face with a white
bandage. It was, as he said, "mighty uncomfortable," but as he was
now able to dispense with the ball of cotton in his mouth, he did
not so much mind it.

The day was bitterly cold, for it was now the beginning of the
second week of November; but the party strode on, full of the
consciousness of freedom. They met but few people, upon their way;
and merely exchanged a brief good day with those they did meet.
They had brought some bread and cold meat with them, from Mayence;
and therefore had no need to go into any shops, at the villages
they passed.

They did not dare to sleep in a house, as it was certain that some
official would inquire for their papers; and therefore, when it
became dark, they turned off from the road and made for a wood, at
a short distance from it. Here they ate their supper, laid a
blanket on the ground, put the bundles down for pillows, and lay
down close together, putting the other two blankets over them.

"It's mighty cold," Tim said, "but we might be worse."

"It's better than a prison in Pomerania, by a long way," Ralph
answered. "By the look of the sky, and the dropping of the wind, I
think we shall have snow before morning."

At daybreak, next morning, they were up; but it was some little
time before they could start, so stiffened were their limbs with
the cold. Ralph's prognostication as to the weather had turned out
right, and a white coating of snow lay over the country. They now
set off and walked, for an hour, when they arrived at a large
village. Here it was agreed they should go in, and buy something to
eat. They entered the ale house, and called for bread, cheese, and
beer.

The landlord brought it and, as they expected, entered into
conversation with them. After the first remarks--on the sharpness
of the weather--Ralph produced a tin of portable soup, and asked
the landlord if he would have it heated, for their uncle.

"He cannot, as you see, eat solid food," Ralph said; "He had his
jaw broken by a shell, at Woerth."

"Poor fellow!" the landlord said, hastening away with the soup.

"Are you going far?" he asked, on his return.

"To Saint Goar," Ralph said.

"But why does he walk?" the landlord asked. "He could have been
sent home, by train."

"Of course he could," Ralph said. "We walked over to see him, and
intended to have walked back again; but when the time came for us
to start, he said he would come, too. The surgeon said he was not
fit to go. Uncle had made up his mind to be off and, as the surgeon
would not give him an order, he started to walk. He says it does
not hurt him so much as the jolting of the train, and we shall be
home to breakfast."

An hour later they arrived at Saint Goarshaus. They were now quite
out of the track which prisoners escaping from Mayence would be
likely to take, and had not the slightest difficulty in getting a
boat to cross the Rhine.

"How beautiful the river is, here," Percy said.

"Yes it is, indeed," Ralph answered. "I believe that this is
considered one of the most lovely spots on the whole river. I can't
say that I think that that railway, opposite, improves it."

They landed at Saint Goar, and tramped gaily on to Castellan, and
slept in a barn near that village.

The next morning they were off before daybreak and, eight miles
farther, crossed the Moselle at Zell. They left the road before
they arrived at Alf; for they were now approaching the great road
between Coblentz and the south, and might come upon bodies of
troops upon the march, or halting; and might be asked troublesome
questions. They therefore struck upon a country lane and, keeping
among the hills, crossed the main road between Bertrich and
Wittlech; and slept in a copse, near Dudeldf. They had walked
five-and-thirty miles, and were so dead beat that even the cold did
not keep them awake.

Next morning they got a fresh supply of bread and cheese, at a tiny
village between Dudeldf and Bittburg and, leaving the latter place
to the left, made straight for the frontier, across the hills. The
road to the frontier ran through Bittburg; but they were afraid of
keeping to it, as there were sure to be troops at the frontier.
Several times they lost their way; but the pocket compass and map,
which they had brought with them, stood them in good stead and,
late in the evening, they arrived at the stream which forms the
frontier. It was, fortunately, very low; for the cold had frozen up
its sources. They had, therefore, little difficulty in crossing
and, tired as they were, gave a cheer upon finding themselves in
Luxembourg.

They tramped along merrily, until they came to a cottage; where
they boldly entered, and were received with the greatest kindness,
and hospitality. The Luxembourg people at once feared and hated
Prussia, and were delighted to do anything in their power for the
escaped prisoners. The peasant made a blazing fire, and some hot
coffee; and the tired travelers felt what a blessing it was to sit
down without listening, every moment, for the step of an enemy.

The peasants told them, however, that they were not yet altogether
safe for that, owing to the complaints of Prussia, both the Dutch
and Belgian Governments were arresting, and detaining, escaped
prisoners passing through their territories. After some discussion
the boys agreed that, next morning, they should dress themselves in
the change of clothes they had brought--which were ordinary
shooting suits--and should leave their other clothes behind; and
then walk as far as Spa, twenty miles to the north. They would
excite no suspicion in the minds of anyone who saw them arrive; as
they would merely be taken for three Englishmen, staying at one of
the numerous hotels there, returning from a walk. Their feet
however were so much swollen, the next morning, that they were glad
to remain another day quiet in the cottage; and the following day
they started, and walked gaily into Spa.

After strolling about the place, some time, they went to the
railway station at the time the evening train started for Brussels;
asked for tickets--in very English French--and, at eleven o'clock
at night, entered Brussels. Here their troubles were over. A good
night's rest, in a good hotel, completely set them up again and,
the next morning, they left by train for Dunkirk.

There they reported themselves to the French officer in command;
and received permission to go on board a Government steamer which
was to leave, the next morning, for Cherbourg.



Chapter 14: A Perilous Expedition.


Upon the eleventh of November the boys arrived at Tours. They had
started for that place, as the national headquarters, the moment
they arrived at Cherbourg. At Tours men's hopes were high for, a
week before, Aurelles de Paladine had driven back Von der Tann, and
reoccupied Orleans. Every hour fresh troops were arriving, and
passing forwards. The town was literally thronged with soldiers, of
all sorts: batteries of artillery, regiments of cavalry, squadrons
of Arab Spahis--looking strangely out of place in their white
robes, and unmoved countenance, in this scene of European
warfare--franc tireurs, in every possible variety of absurd and
unsuitable uniform.

In all this din and confusion, the young Barclays felt quite
bewildered. The first thing was, evidently, to get new uniforms;
then to report themselves. There was no difficulty about the former
matter, for every tailor in Tours had, for the time being, turned
military outfitter and, by dint of offering to pay extra, their
uniforms were promised for the next morning. That matter settled,
they determined to go at once to the Prefecture, and report
themselves.

As they turned out of the crowded Rue Royal, they received two
hearty slaps on the shoulder, which almost knocked them down; while
a hearty voice exclaimed:

"My dear boys, I am glad to see you!"

They looked round and--to their astonishment and delight--saw
Colonel Tempe. For a minute or two, the hand shakings and greetings
were so hearty that no questions could be asked.

"I thought a German prison would not hold you long, boys," the
colonel said. "I saw your father, as I came through Dijon; and I
said to him that I should be surprised if you did not turn up soon,
especially when I heard from him that you were at Mayence, only two
days' tramp from the frontier."

"But what are you doing here, colonel?"

"Just at present, I am working at headquarters. Between ourselves,
the army of the east is coming round to join Aurelles. Our poor
fellows were pretty nearly used up, and I found that I could do
little real good with the other corps. So I gave up the command;
and was sent here to confer with Gambetta, and he has kept me.

"Now, what are you going to do?"

"We were going to report ourselves, colonel."

"No use going today--too late. Come and dine with me, at the
Bordeaux. Have you got rooms?"

"Not yet, colonel."

"Then I can tell you you won't get them, at all. The place is
crowded--not a bed to be had, for love or money. I've got rooms, by
the greatest good luck. One of you can have the sofa; the other an
armchair, or the hearth rug, whichever suits you best."

"Thank you, very much; we shall do capitally," the boys said.

"And now, have you any news from Paris?"

"We have no late news from Paris but, worse still, the news gets
very slowly and irregularly into Paris. The pigeons seem to get
bewildered with the snow, or else the Prussians shoot them."

"But surely, with such an immense circle to guard, there could be
no great difficulty in a messenger finding his way in?"

"There is a difficulty, and a very great one," Colonel Tempe said;
"for of all who have tried, only one or two have succeeded. Now
come along, or we shall be late for dinner."

It was a curious medley at the table d'hote, at the Hotel de
Bordeaux. Generals, with their breasts covered with orders, and
simple franc tireurs; officers, of every arm of the service;
ministers and members of the late Corps Legislatif; an American
gentleman, with his family; English newspaper correspondents; army
contractors; and families, refugees from Paris. After dinner they
went to a cafe--literally crowded with officers--and thence to
Colonel Tempe's rooms, where they sat down quietly, to chat over
what had taken place since the last visit.

"But where is your Irishman? Your father told me he was with you. I
suppose you could not get him out."

"Oh yes, Tim's here," Ralph said, laughing, "but he ran across a
couple of Irishmen belonging to the foreign legion and--as he would
have been in our way, and we did not know where we were going to
sleep--we gave him leave till to-morrow morning, when he is to meet
us in front of the railway station."

"By the way, boys, I suppose you know you have each got a step?"

"No," the boys cried. "Really?"

"Yes, really," the colonel said. "That good fellow, Cambriels, sent
in a strong report in your favor upon resigning his command;
rehearsing what you did with us, and requesting that the step might
be at once given to you. As a matter of course it was, in the next
Gazette."

"Of course, we feel pleased, colonel; but it seems absurd, so young
as we are. Why, if we go on like this, in another six months we may
be majors."

"In ordinary times it would be absurd, lads; and it would not be
possible for you to hold the grade you do now--still less higher
ones--unless you understood thoroughly your duty. At the present
moment, everything is exceptional. A man who, perhaps, only served
a few months in the army, years ago, is made a general, and sent to
organize a camp of new levies. Of course, he could not command
these troops in the field, could not even drill them on the parade
ground. But that is of no matter. He has a talent for organization,
and therefore is selected to organize the camp and, to enable him
to do so efficiently, he receives the nominal rank of general.

"In ordinary times a man could not get promoted--three or even four
times, in as many weeks--over the heads of hundreds of others,
without causing an immense amount of jealousy; without, in fact,
upsetting the whole traditions of the army.

"Now, it is altogether different. The officers of the regular army
are almost all prisoners. Everyone is new, everyone is unaccustomed
to his work; and men who show themselves to be good men can be
rewarded and promoted with exceptional rapidity, without exciting
any feeling of jealousy, whatever. Besides which, the whole thing
is provisional. When the war is over, everyone will either go back
into private life or, if they continue to serve, will be gazetted
into the regular army, according to some scale or other to be
hereafter determined upon. Some inconveniences no doubt will arise,
but they will hardly be serious.

"I was offered a general's rank, a month ago; but I declined it, as
it would have entailed either my undertaking duties for which I am
unfit; or setting to, to organize young levies, and giving up
active service.

"No, if you go on as you have hitherto done, boys, you may be
colonels in another six months; for when a name is recommended for
promotion for good service, by a general, you may well suppose
there is no question asked as to his age. Of course, no general
would recommend you as captains to command companies in a regiment,
because you are altogether ignorant of a captain's duty; but you
are quite capable of filling the duties of captain, on the staff,
as those duties require only clear headedness, pluck, attention,
and common sense.

"What I should like to win, even more than a company--were I in
your place--would be a commander's cross in the legion of honor. I
had the cross, years ago; but I only had the commander's cross a
fortnight ago, for the Bridge of Vesouze."

"Ah, yes," Ralph said, "that would be worth winning, but that is
hopeless."

Colonel Tempe was silent. Ralph and Percy looked at him.

"You mean," Ralph said, after a pause, "that there is a chance of
our winning it."

"Well, boys," Colonel Tempe said, "I don't know that I am right in
leading you into danger, but I do think that you might win it. I
was mentioning your names, only yesterday, to Gambetta. A dispatch
had just come in from Paris, grumbling at receiving no news from
the country; and Gambetta was lamenting over the impossibility of
arranging for simultaneous movements, owing to the breakdown of the
pigeons, and the failure of the messengers; when I said:

"'There were two young English fellows with us, in the Vosges--they
were on Cambriels' staff last, and are now prisoners--who if they
were here would, I believe, get in if anyone could. They went down,
over and over again, among the Germans; and I could lay any money
that they would succeed.'

"'How did they get taken prisoners?' Gambetta asked, as sharp as a
knife.

"'By no fault of their own,' I answered. 'They went out on leave,
to see me; and slept with a party of franc tireurs--where they of
course had no authority, as to sentries--and the party was
surprised, at night, and completely cut up. They were taken
prisoners, but I do not expect that they will remain so for long.'

"Gambetta did not say anything, then; but when I left him, an hour
afterwards, he remarked:

"'If you hear of those young fellows you were speaking of having
returned, send them to me, Tempe.'"

Ralph looked at Percy, and checked the offer to go which he saw was
on his brother's lips.

"I think it might be done, colonel," he said, quietly; "but it is a
serious matter, and we will think it over, before we give an
opinion."

Ralph then changed the subject, and they talked over the events
which had happened in the Vosges, the strategy and maneuvers of
General Michel, the arrival of Garibaldi, the doings of the franc
tireurs, etc.

"By the way," the colonel said, "there was a telegram in, this
evening--just as I left the office--that the Germans occupied
Dijon, yesterday."

"You don't say so!" the boys said, jumping from their seats. "Was
there any fighting?"

"Yes, some Mobiles and franc tireurs made a very plucky defense,
outside the town. Owing to some gross mismanagement, the great bulk
of the troops had been withdrawn, only the day before. After two or
three hours' fighting, our men fell back; the Prussians, as usual,
shelled the town; and the authorities surrendered."

"The fighting could not have been our side of the town," Ralph
said, thoughtfully.

"No, just the other side," Colonel Tempe said. "As my wife is still
at home, and our place is not many hundred yards from yours, that
was the first thing I thought of."

"I wonder if papa was in the fight?" Percy said, anxiously.

"I should think it probable, boys, that my old friend would have
gone out; but I do not think that you need be uneasy about it for,
from what the telegram said, our loss was small. The troops fell
back into the town, and retreated unmolested through it. So your
father would, no doubt, have changed his things in the town, and
have walked quietly back again.

"He had volunteered into the national guard, when I came last
through Dijon; and was hard at work, drilling them. Of course, he
had his old rank of captain."

At ten o'clock the boys said that they would go for a stroll,
before lying down for the night. They were out upwards of an hour;
and returned, at the end of that time, with serious but resolved
faces. The colonel was out, when they returned; and found them
stretched on the sofa and hearth rug, when he came in. They gave
him a sleepy good night, and no other word was exchanged.

In the morning, they were up at eight o'clock. Colonel Tempe was
already dressed, and they went out together to get their coffee and
milk. As they were taking it, Ralph told him that they had made up
their minds to make the attempt to enter Paris, with dispatches;
but that they saw but one way to do so; and that, unless they could
be furnished with the necessary papers, they should abandon all
idea of the enterprise.

Ten minutes later, they entered the Prefecture. Colonel Tempe went
in at once to see Gambetta, while the boys remained in the
anteroom. In ten minutes their friend came out again, and beckoned
to them to come into the next room.

"These are the Lieutenants Barclay," he said.

The boys bowed; and examined, with attentive curiosity, the man who
was, at that time, the absolute ruler of France. A dark man; with a
short black beard, keen eyes, and a look of self reliance and
energy. A man who committed endless mistakes, but who was the life
and soul of the French resistance. A man to whom--had he lived in
olden times--the Romans would have erected a statue because, in her
deepest misfortunes, he never despaired of the Republic.

He looked keenly at the young men.

"Colonel Tempe tells me that you have rendered very great service,
by going among the enemy in disguise; and that you are willing to
make an attempt to carry dispatches into Paris."

"We are ready to try," Ralph said, respectfully; "but after talking
it over in every way, we can see but one disguise which would
enable us to penetrate the enemy's lines, near enough to the ground
between the two armies to render an attempt possible; and even that
disguise will be useless, unless we can procure certain papers."

"What is your plan?" Monsieur Gambetta asked.

"We intend to go as German Jews," Ralph said. "The Prussians strip
all the clocks, pictures, and furniture of any value from the
villas they occupy, and send them back to Germany. There are a
number of Jews who follow the army; and either buy these stolen
goods from them, or undertake to convey them back to Germany at a
certain price. Several of these Jews--with their wagons full of
clocks, and other articles--have been captured by our franc tireurs
or troops and, no doubt, papers of some kind have been found upon
them. These papers would naturally be sent here. If we could be
provided with them we could, I have little doubt, penetrate their
lines."

"An excellent idea," the minister said. "I have no doubt that we
have such papers."

And he struck a small hand bell on the table. An attendant entered.

"Tell Captain Verre I wish to speak to him."

"Captain Verre," he said, when that officer entered, "there were
some papers came last week, from General Faidherbe, relative to
those wagons--laden with clocks, ladies' dresses, and so on--that
were captured near Mezieres. Just look through them, and see if
there were any German permits for the bearers to pass freely, for
the purpose of trading. If so, let me have them at once."

The officer at once left the room.

"Supposing--as I have no doubt--that we can give you the papers,
what is your course?"

"Speed is, naturally, an essential," Ralph said. "We shall disguise
ourselves at once and, upon receipt of the dispatches, start from
here to Orleans by train; with two good horses--which can, of
course, be furnished us. We shall ride through the forest of
Orleans, and so to Montargis; cross the Loing there, and make
straight for Melun--keeping always through by-lanes. As far as we
know, there are no large bodies of the enemy along that line.

"When we get near the town, we shall leave our horses with some
village Maire, or give them to a farmer, and walk into the place
boldly. You will furnish us with a note to the Maire of Melun, as
well as a circular to all French authorities, to give us any help;
and we shall get him to assist us at once to buy a wagon, and two
strong horses. With these we shall drive round, direct, to
Versailles. Our pass will admit us into the town, without
difficulty; and then we shall naturally be guided by circumstances.
We must be furnished with a considerable sum of money, to make
purchases of plunder."

"An admirable plan," said the minister, warmly, "and one that
deserves--even should it not obtain--success.

"I need not speak to you of reward because, as gentlemen, I know
that you make the attempt from the love of honor Colonel Tempe has
before spoken to me of you, and you were highly commended by
General Cambriels. Your names will, therefore, be in the next
Gazette for the cross of the legion of honor; and if you succeed,
you will come back captains and commanders of the Legion. I may
mention--although I know that it will not add to your motive to
succeed--that you will be entitled to the reward, of fifty thousand
francs, which has been offered to anyone who will carry in
dispatches to Paris."

At this moment the officer entered.

"Here are the papers the Jews with the captured wagons carried," he
said. "They are signed by the general at Frankfort, and
countersigned by at least a dozen military authorities. There are
three of them."

The minister glanced at them.

"They will do well," he said. "Will you be ready to start tomorrow
morning?"

"Quite ready," Ralph said.

"Very well. Then if you will be here at half-past five, the
dispatches will be ready; written, of course, so as to fold up in
the smallest possible compass.

"Captain Verre, will you see that two of the best horses in my
stable are put into boxes, in the train that leaves at six tomorrow
morning."

The boys now rose to leave.

"Good morning," the minister said. "All the letters of
recommendation, the dispatches, and the money will be ready when
you come, in the morning."

The boys, on going out, held a long consultation over their
disguises. Examining the papers, they found that one was for two
persons of the same name--Isaac Kraph and Aaron Kraph--father and
son; the father, as described in the pass, forty-five years old,
the son eighteen. This pass they determined to use.

The task of changing Percy into a Jew boy, of eighteen, was
evidently an easy one. His clear complexion was the only
difficulty, and this could be readily disguised. Ralph's disguise
was a more difficult one; and there was a considerable debate as to
whether he had better go as a red Jew, or a dark Jew. The latter
was finally determined upon as, otherwise, the contrast between the
supposed father and son would be too striking.

They then went to their tailor, and found their uniforms ready.
They at once put them on, as the peculiarity of the purchases they
intended to make was so great that, had they been in their civilian
dress, it was certain that they would have been regarded with
suspicion; and would have, perhaps, had difficulty in obtaining
what they wanted.

Their first visit was to a hairdresser's shop. Rather to the
astonishment of the proprietor, they told him that they wished to
speak to him in a private room; and still more to his astonishment,
when the door was closed, they told him that they wanted their hair
dyed quite black. The hairdresser could hardly believe his ears.
The boys had both brown, wavy hair--Percy's being the lightest--and
that two young officers of the staff should, at such a time, desire
to dye their hair struck the man almost dumb with astonishment.

Ralph smiled.

"No wonder you are surprised, but we have an important mission to
carry out, and it is essential that we should be completely
disguised. We are going as spies into Von der Tann's camp. This, of
course, is in the strictest confidence."

The hairdresser was at once struck with the importance of the
occasion.

"You want an instantaneous dye?" he asked.

"Certainly," Ralph said, "and one that will last, at any rate, for
a week."

There was no difficulty whatever in complying with the request and,
in ten minutes, the boys' heads were raven in their blackness.

"Now," Ralph said, "I want my brother's hair--which is fortunately
very long--to be completely frizzled; and I want a pair of the
tongs you do it with, so as to be able to do it for ourselves."

This also was easy enough.

"Now," Ralph went on, "for myself, I want my hair to be very long;
to come down over my ears on to my collar, all the way round."

"But the only way to do that is to have a wig specially made for
you."

"Not at all," Ralph said. "I could not put on a wig, even if you
had one just as I want it, ready. The parting always shows, if it
is narrowly looked at. I want some long flat bands of hair, like
those you use for chignons. It must be black, to match my hair as
it is now; but put a few streaks of gray into it. I must have a
band of this hair, long enough to go round the head, from just
above one ear to just above the other. If you part my hair, just at
the place where the band is to go; brush the hair up; put the band
of artificial hair on, with shoemaker's wax, or something else to
hold tight; then brush the hair back again over the band, it would
be absolutely impossible to see it was not all natural. Then cut
the long hair so as to lie on my coat collar, frizzle it and the
natural hair, and I will defy the keenest-eyed Prussian to see
anything wrong about it."

As soon as the hairdresser understood exactly what Ralph wanted, he
entered heartily into his plans; and several of the short flat
bands of black hair, used for chignons, were sewn on to a band.
This was fastened on to Ralph's head, in the way he had suggested;
the long tresses were cut to the required length; the tongs were
used on them, and on the natural hair; and plenty of oil put on
and, in an hour, his headdress was perfect--an immense bush of
frizzly hair. The cloth was taken from round his neck and, as he
looked at himself in the glass, he joined heartily in Percy's shout
of laughter.

"But, Ralph, how are you to go out in your uniform, and that head
of hair?"

"Dear me," Ralph said, "I had quite forgotten that. Go to the
tailor's, Percy, and tell them to send the suit I changed there in
here, directly."

Percy went off for the clothes, and Ralph then went on:

"Now I want a black or grayish beard, whiskers, and mustache."

"I have not got such a thing," the hairdresser said, "but I know a
man who keeps them. I will get it for you, in a quarter of an
hour."

In a few minutes Percy returned, with a boy with Ralph's clothes.
In a short time they were ready to start.

"You do look a strange object, Ralph."

"Never mind, Percy, there are plenty of strange objects here. No
one will notice me."

Then saying that they would call in again in half an hour, for the
beard, they went to a chemist's; from whom--after some talk--they
obtained a mixture to give a slightly brown tinge to their faces.

They now dived into the back streets of the town, found a
second-hand clothes shop, and speedily got the articles they
required. Ralph had a long greatcoat, with a fur collar; and a pair
of high boots, coming up to his knees and to be worn over the
trousers. A black fur cap completed his costume. Percy had a black
cap, made of rough cloth, with a peak and with flaps to come down
over the ears; an old greatcoat, with fur round the pockets and
collar; a bright-colored handkerchief, to go two or three times
round the neck; and high boots like those of Ralph.

They then returned to the hairdresser, and Ralph insisted that the
beard and mustache should be fastened on not only in the ordinary
manner--with springs--but with cobbler's wax.

"My life," he said, "might depend upon the things not slipping, at
any moment."

They now went home. The moment that they entered their rooms, Ralph
exclaimed:

"Why, we have forgotten all about Tim!"

"So we have," Percy said. "He was to have met us in front of the
railway station at nine o'clock and, of course, he has no idea
where to find us. I will go there. Very likely the poor fellow is
waiting still."

Percy hurried off; and found Tim, as he had expected, sitting upon
the steps going up to the railway station. He jumped up, with a cry
of joy, upon seeing Percy.

"The Vargin be praised, Mister Percy! I began to think that you
must have been sent off somewhere, without time to warn me; and I
couldn't, for the life of me, make out what to do."

"We have not gone, Tim," Percy said, not wishing to hurt the
attached fellow's feelings, by telling him that he had been
forgotten; "but we are starting tomorrow. I will tell you all about
it, when we get in. We have been to see Monsieur Gambetta, this
morning and, do you know, we met Colonel Tempe last night, and are
stopping in his rooms."

So saying, he walked along at a quick pace towards their lodgings;
Tim occasionally glancing a puzzled look at him. By the time they
reached the room, Ralph had stained his face and hands, and was
busy dressing in his disguise. His back was to the door, when they
entered; but he had heard the Irishman's voice on the stair.

"Well, Tim, how are you?" he said, turning round.

"Holy Vargin!" ejaculated Tim, dropping into a chair, and crossing
himself with great fervor "Sure, I'm bewitched. Here's an ould
gentleman, wid a wonderful head of hair, has been staleing Mister
Ralph's voice."

The two boys went off in a shout of laughter at Tim's genuine
terror.

"Sure, I'm bewitched, entirely," he went on. "He laughs for all the
world like Mister Ralph. Did ye iver see the like?

"What is it all, Mister Percy dear?"

Percy had by this time taken off his cap; and Tim, as he looked him
fairly in the face, gave another start.

"By the mother of Moses!" he exclaimed, in terror, "we're all
bewitched. Mister Ralph's turned into an ould man, with a furze
bush of hair; and Mister Percy's beautiful hair has all turned
black, and shriveled itself up. Am I turning, myself, I wonder?"
and he looked into the glass, to see if any change had taken place
in his own abundant crop of red hair.

The boys were laughing so that they could not speak for some time,
and Tim sat gazing at them in speechless bewilderment. At last
Percy, by a great effort, recovered himself; and explained to him
the whole circumstances of the case. The Irishman's astonishment
ceased now, but his dismay was as great as ever.

"Then is it alone you're going?" he said, at last. "Are you going
into danger again, without taking me with you? You'd never do that,
surely, Mister Ralph?"

"I am very sorry, Tim, to be separated from you," Ralph said; "but
it is quite impossible for you to go with us. If you understood
French and German as well as we do, the case would be different;
but as it is, the thing is absolutely impossible. You know how
great a trouble it was to disguise you, before; and it would treble
our anxieties and difficulties. Not only that; but even if, in the
face of every possible danger, we got you into Paris with us, there
would be great difficulty in getting you out. Gambetta will give
orders for us to be allowed to come out, in the first balloon; but
it is by no means easy to get places in balloons, and it is
unlikely in the extreme that we should be able to bring you out
with us. So there you would be, shut up in Paris and separated from
us, for months.

"No, no, Tim, the matter is altogether impossible. You stay quietly
here and, in ten days or a fortnight--if all goes well--we shall be
back again with you."

"And is it in a balloon you're thinking of coming out, Mister
Ralph; flying like a bird through the air? Och, wirra, wirra! I'll
never see yees again."

"Nonsense, Tim, there's no danger in a balloon. If getting in were
no more dangerous than getting out, there would not be much peril
in the matter."

"Ah, Mister Ralph dear, how can you be risking your life, and the
life of your brother in that way? Shooting at a Prussian, or
getting shot at, is all well enough; or going among them with your
hair all puffed out, and your face painted brown, and the hair
growing all over your face before its time, I say nothing against;
but flying through the air, in a balloon, is just tempting the good
Providence. I know what it will be. You'll be just touching against
a cloud, and tumbling out, and breaking yourselves into
smithereens; and nothing to take home to your dear father and
mother, not to mention Miss Milly," and Tim fairly blubbered with
grief, at the thought.

The boys had great difficulty in pacifying the attached fellow; at
last, with a face expressive of mournful resignation, he agreed to
remain with Colonel Tempe until they returned; or until their
prolonged absence rendered it likely that they would not return at
all--Tim evidently making up his mind that the latter contingency
would happen. In that case, as Tim--now his corps had ceased to
exist--need no longer serve, he expressed his determination to
return to Dijon; and to stay with Captain Barclay until the end of
the war--as he should not, he said, have the heart to fight any
more, when his masters were both killed.

While the conversation had been going on, the boys had continued
their toilettes. The preparation which they had obtained gave them
an olive complexion; and their transformation was now so complete
that the boys would have passed each other unknown, even had they
looked steadily at each other. Ralph, especially, was utterly
unlike himself.

They now told Tim to go out and get his breakfast, and to return in
two hours' time; and then started themselves, rounding their
shoulders, and so narrowing their chests as much as possible. Ralph
stopped at an optician's, bought a pair of slightly-colored
spectacles, and put them on.

It was now twelve o'clock--the preparations having taken them three
hours--and they went to the cafe where they were to meet Colonel
Tempe, to breakfast. He was already there, and they walked up to
the table where he was sitting.

"These seats are engaged," Colonel Tempe said, shortly.

The Barclays sat down at the next table; and called, in a foreign
accent, for two glasses of beer. Then they spoke together, for some
little time, about a journey from Saint Malo which they had just
made; and Ralph then turned to Colonel Tempe, still speaking French
with a strong foreign accent.

"Pardon me, colonel," he said, "we have just arrived from England.
We have a very large quantity of army shoes, and I should feel
under a great obligation if you could inform me who is the proper
person to whom to apply."

Colonel Tempe at once informed them, adding:

"If your shoes are good ones, and the price fair, and you can
deliver them soon, you will not have to wait long; for they are
greatly wanted."

"We have also some harness, for artillery horses," Ralph added.

"I do not know about that," the colonel said; "but you will obtain
all information from the officer I have mentioned."

"Thank you very much," Ralph said, and returned to his seat.

Colonel Tempe looked at his watch, a little impatiently. Ralph,
after a minute or two, again approached him.

"Don't you think we may as well have breakfast, colonel?" he said,
in his natural voice.

The colonel looked at him, in speechless surprise.

"So the disguises are pretty good?" Ralph said, smiling.

"Impossible!" the colonel exclaimed. "Do my eyes or my ears deceive
me? Can it really be--?"

"It's us, sure enough, colonel; and now, I suppose we may as well
sit down."

So saying, the boys took their seats at the table; but Colonel
Tempe still looked from one to the other, in astonishment.

"Wonderful!" he at last said, "wonderful! Even now I know who it
is, I do not see the faintest possible resemblance.

"Percy is, of course, less altered than you are, Ralph, because he
is still young looking; but even now I should not recognize him. As
for you, with that wonderful head of hair, and that beard, you look
fifty; and as unlike yourself as possible. Upon my word, if it were
anywhere else but here in Tours--where there are all sorts of
oddities--I should be ashamed, as a colonel in the army, to sit
down to table with you."

"You are a little ashamed, as it is," Ralph laughed. "We had not
intended to come out in our new character, so soon; but when my
hair was once done, you see, it was impossible to go about in
uniform."

"But what in the world have you done with your hair?" the colonel
said, examining him closely; for Ralph had taken off his fur cap
and laid it beside him. "You have not got a wig on; and yet, all
that frizzly bunch cannot be your own."

Ralph explained how it was managed, and added:

"And now, colonel, that you have recovered from your surprise, let
us have breakfast."

Breakfast was ordered, to which the boys did full justice; but
Colonel Tempe was still getting on but slowly, for he could not
take his eyes off Ralph's face.

"Will all that frizzle keep in?" he asked, presently.

"Yes; the man said that the false hair--which is the greater
portion of it--will keep as well for a week; and we have got a
small curling iron, so we can beautify ourselves up when we like."

"Well, boys, I have no doubt, now, that you will be able to get as
far as Versailles; as to getting through, that's another
matter--but if anyone can, you will, I am convinced."

"I have not much doubt about it, colonel," Ralph said. "I seem to
see my way quite clearly into Paris. Much more clearly, indeed,
than I do to getting out again."

"Oh, it does not matter about getting out again, boys. You can stop
quietly in there, until the end of the siege."

"That is just what we don't want to do," Percy said. "Would you
kindly ask them to put into the dispatches a request that we may be
sent out again, by the first balloon that comes? We have no fancy,
either of us, for eating rats and cats; which I suppose is what it
will come to, before it is over."

"I will see to it, boys," the colonel said, smiling; "but really, I
should advise your staying there. You have done all--and more
than--your share of work."

The boys shook their heads; and it was arranged that, if they got
in, they should come out again in a balloon.

The next morning, the boys were up at half-past four and, at
half-past five, were at the Prefecture. Colonel Tempe sent in his
name to the minister, and they were at once admitted. Gambetta was
at his writing table.

"Good morning, Colonel Tempe," he said, cordially; and then added,
in some surprise, "who are these men you have with you, and where
are your young Englishmen? I hope they will not be late."

"These are they," the colonel said, smiling.

"They are who?" Gambetta said, puzzled. "I do not understand you,
colonel."

"These are the Lieutenants Barclay," Colonel Tempe said.

The minister looked from the colonel to the two boys, and back
again.

"Do you mean to say--?" he began, incredulously.

"Yes, sir, it is us," Ralph said; "and I do not think there is much
fear of our being recognized."

"So little that I do not recognize you, now.

"There is no mistake, colonel?" he said, gravely; "no
mystification? You give me your pledge, and assurance, that these
are the officers who have volunteered for this duty? Remember, any
mistake might be fatal."

"These are certainly the Barclays, sir. I give you my word."

"It is a marvelous disguise," Gambetta said, his doubts now laid at
rest; "and does them immense credit.

"There are the dispatches, gentlemen. They are done up in these two
quills, and sealed. They are of the utmost importance; and must
not, at any hazard, fall into the hands of the enemy. The
dispatches are in duplicate so that, in case one only gets in, the
purpose is served.

"This is a circular letter, to all maires and other French
authorities, ordering them to give you every possible assistance.

"This is a special note, to the Maire of Melun.

"Here is a letter to General Aurelles, at Orleans. If he is not in
when you arrive, the chief of his staff will do. He is ordered to
send a staff officer with you, through the lines, as far as you
require him. The horses are in the train.

"Now, goodbye. I wish you a very good future, for you are gallant
young fellows."

So saying, he shook them warmly by the hand; and they hurried off
to the train.



Chapter 15: The Expedition.


A special telegram had been sent forward from Tours to station
master at Orleans, to request him to order the two horses, sent
forward in the train, to be got out of their boxes without any loss
of time; and to do anything else which the owners of the horses
required. Accordingly, as the train was waiting outside the
station, the guard came round and asked at each carriage for the
owners of the horses. He appeared a little surprised, when two Jews
answered the inquiry; as he had expected that they were officers of
high rank, and importance.

"The compliments of the stationmaster," he said, "and is there
anything he can do with the horses?"

"Yes," Ralph said. "Give my compliments to the station master; and
say that I shall be much obliged if he will get them out of the
horse boxes, without loss of time, and send them on at once to the
headquarters of General Aurelles. We will go on at once, in a
vehicle."

Five minutes afterwards the train drew up at the platform, and the
guard ran up.

"This way, gentlemen. A carriage is engaged."

Upon arriving at headquarters they found that--owing to the
forethought of Colonel Tempe--they were expected for, upon sending
in their names, they were at once admitted; although several
officers, of all grades, were waiting in the anteroom.

The colonel of the staff gave a movement of surprise.

"There is some mistake here," he said, to the orderly who had shown
them in; "I ordered the Lieutenants Barclay to be admitted."

"These are the gentlemen who gave me the card, colonel," the
orderly answered.

"It is so," Ralph said. "If you will favor us with a moment alone,
we will explain the matter to you."

The colonel led the way into a small cabinet, adjoining.

"We are bearers of dispatches, for General Trochu," Ralph said;
"and have disguised ourselves, to endeavor to pass through the
German lines."

"Oh, is that it?" the colonel said. "I must really apologize; but
no one," he said, smiling, "could recognize you, in that disguise,
to be French officers. Before we speak further, I must ask you for
some proof that you are what you state yourselves to be; for at
present I have only your cards."

"Here is our letter from Monsieur Gambetta to General Aurelles,"
Ralph said. "It is directed to be opened by you, should he be
absent."

"That is all right," the colonel said, when he had read it. "My
surprise at your appearance was natural, for the telegram we
received this morning only said:

"'The two Lieutenants Barclay will arrive, by six o'clock train.
Their business is most important. Have a well-mounted officer of
staff ready to accompany them through lines.'

"I thought, of course, that you had orders to report on position of
troops; and felt, I admit, rather angry that Gambetta should wish
to send subaltern officers to inspect matters concerning which he
has full reports.

"You wish, of course, to go on at once?"

"Our horses will be here in five minutes," Ralph said, "and we wish
to get as far as possible, tonight. We mean to cross the Loing at
Montargis, and get as far as we can, tonight; so as to arrive
either at Meaux, or Melun, tomorrow evening. We should, of course,
prefer Melun, as being much the shortest route towards Versailles.
We shall, of necessity, be guided by the position of the Germans."

"You have not breakfasted, of course?" the colonel said. "I was
just going to sit down, when you came in; for I go out to the front
at ten, and it is half-past nine, now. You will have no chance of
getting anything, before you arrive at Montargis.

"I can introduce you to the officer who will accompany you."

The boys readily accepted the invitation, and at once followed the
colonel into another room; where breakfast was laid, and several
officers of the staff were waiting for the arrival of the colonel,
to begin. There was a general look of surprise, when he entered
with two strange-looking Jews; which was not a little increased
when he said:

"Gentlemen, the Lieutenants Barclay. You look surprised; but your
astonishment will cease when I tell you that they are upon an
important mission, and do not look like themselves. And now to
table, for they have to start in ten minutes.

"Captain Duprat, let me make you specially acquainted with these
gentlemen. They are bound for Montargis, and you will see them
through our outposts."

In another quarter of an hour, the boys were issuing from the
streets of Orleans; and were soon going along, at a hand gallop, by
the road along the banks of the Loire; while to the north stretched
the flat and densely-wooded country known as the Forest of Orleans.
As far as Chateauneuf they kept near the river. Here they halted
half an hour, to give breathing time to their horses; then started
again, and rode fast to Bellegarde. Here was the last post of
regular troops, but Cathlineau's franc tireurs were scattered
throughout the country, as far as Montargis; and it would have been
more difficult for the Barclays to have passed through them than
through the regular troops, as they had less respect for passes.

After another halt, they again started; and Captain Duprat
accompanied them as far as Montargis, where there was a small body
of franc tireurs. Captain Duprat's orders were to sleep at
Montargis, and then return to Chateauneuf the next day.

The boys felt rather stiff and tired, as they rode into Montargis;
for they had not been on horseback since the day when they were
taken prisoners, in the Vosges, and they had ridden forty miles
since breakfast. They would, however, have willingly pushed on
another twenty miles; but their horses had even a longer day's work
before them, on the morrow.

Being accompanied by a staff officer, no questions whatever were
asked them and, after a good dinner at the hotel, they went to the
Maire, to inquire whether he could tell them as to the advanced
posts of the Germans. This functionary--like such functionaries in
general--could give them but slight information but, as far as he
knew, there were no German troops on the right bank of the Loing,
south of its junction with the Yonne. Beyond the Yonne they were
scattered pretty thickly, everywhere.

At daybreak the next morning, they started. Captain Duprat turned
his horse's head westward again, while the Barclays rode north.
Their pace was rapid; as they never drew rein, except at villages,
to ask whether the Prussians had been heard of. They heard of
parties at Lorrez, and Cheroy; but as they kept through by-lanes,
and as the country was thickly wooded, the risk was--at
present--small. They had with them an excellent map, which enabled
them to follow the smallest footpaths.

At eleven o'clock, they stopped at the little hamlet of Montarlet.
There they breakfasted, and gave the horses an hour's rest while
they consulted with the Maire. He was a miller, and turned out a
shrewd fellow; entering into the matter with great warmth. He
advised them to ford the Yonne between Montereau and its junction
with the Loing; to keep to the woods for ten miles, and then to
turn to the left, and to cross the Seine--at one of the numerous
fords there--into the Forest of Fontainebleau; and they would then
find themselves between that town and Melun, and could ride boldly
into Melun, as if they had come from Fontainebleau.

"I know every foot of the country," he said, "and will guide you,
till you are safely across the Seine. If we should, by any chance,
fall upon a patrol of the enemy, it will be simple enough to say
that I am a miller of Montarlet; and that you have shown me your
permission to travel about, through the German line; and have asked
me to guide you, by the shortest way, to Melun."

They had every reason to be thankful to their guide, for they found
that there were a great many scattered parties of Uhlans about. By
dint of making detours through woods, however, they succeeded in
striking the Seine, at Fontaine le Port, without once meeting them.

This village was, however, occupied by some half-dozen cavalry; and
it was impossible to pass the river, unseen by them. The Barclays
thanked, very warmly, their friend the Maire, and promised to
mention his conduct, upon their return to Tours; and then, saying
goodbye to him, rode into the village alone. The sergeant of Uhlans
came to the door of the principal cabaret, and looked out.

"Good day," Ralph said, in German, reining up his horse. "Is it
here that I cross the river, for Fontainebleau? They told me, at Le
Chatelet, that it was shorter than going round by the main road."

"Yes, you are right here," the sergeant said. "Have you passes?"

"Oh yes," Ralph said, laughing. "It would have been no easy matter
to get from Frankfort here, without them."

So saying, he pulled out the Prussian permit.

"That is right," the sergeant said. "Your horses look very done."

"We have ridden from Coulommiers through Rozoy, and Normant."

"It would have been an easier road to have gone from Normant
through Melun," the sergeant said. And he took out a map, and
examined it. "No, I see le Chatelet is a more direct line."

"We have time to wait an hour," Ralph said, turning to Percy; "and
it will be better for our beasts. See that they are rubbed down,
and fed."

The sergeant gave a peremptory shout, and the master of the wine
shop ran out. The sergeant pointed to the horses.

"Do you speak French?" he asked Ralph.

"No," Ralph said, "but my son does.

"Aaron, tell him to rub them down, and feed them well; and see to
it, yourself. These dogs are capable of cheating even a horse."

Ralph then entered the cabaret, and called for some bread and
cheese and a bottle of the best wine, with three glasses. The
Prussian sergeant sat down with them, and talked of Germany for an
hour. Then they started again, crossed the river and, an hour and a
half later, entered Melun. Here, as they came in by the road from
Fontainebleau--which was held in force by the Germans--no question
was asked.

They rode their tired horses through the streets, until they saw a
quiet hotel. Riding into the yard, they told the hostler to put up
their horses, and to clean and feed them well; enforcing their
request with a five-franc piece. They then entered the hotel, and
found that they could have beds; as the number of German officers
quartered upon this house was smaller than usual, owing to the
greater portion of the troops having been pushed on, to reinforce
Von der Tann.

It was now half-past five, and was already dusk. They therefore
went at once to the Maire; to whom they presented Gambetta's
letter, and requested his assistance in purchasing a van, with a
pair of good strong horses, at once.

"It will be next to impossible to get horses," the Maire said, "but
I will do my best. I have two carriage horses, of good breed; but I
fear, if I were to let you have them, the Prussians might remark
it."

"We have two first-rate animals," Ralph said, "from Gambetta's own
stables. They have carried us a hundred miles, since breakfast time
yesterday. They are likely to be at least as good as yours are,
only they want a few days' rest. Will you exchange?"

"Certainly," the Maire said, at once. "If any inquiries were to be
made about it, I need make no secret of that transaction.

"As for the covered cart, I will send round at once to those of my
neighbors who have one; and as you are ready to pay for it, and as
the Prussians are requisitioning them without payment, you can rely
upon having one tomorrow morning, ready for your start. I will send
a note round to you, tonight, to tell you where it is, at present."

"We had better go now to the German commandant's office, and get
our passes countersigned. When that is done, we shall be all right
for Versailles."

"Yes, I should advise you to do that," the Maire said. "You will
not have much difficulty. They are civil enough about passes, and
matters of that kind. Will you mention you have seen me?"

"Not unless any question is asked about horses; in which case we
should of course mention that--hearing you had a pair of horses,
and ours requiring rest--we had changed with you."

They now went boldly to the orderly room. An officer was on duty.

"Will you please to visa this for Versailles?" Ralph said, in
German.

The officer took it, glanced at it, and at them.

"The last visa I see was at Meaux, a fortnight since."

"We have been traveling on horseback, since," Ralph said; "and have
had no occasion to have it visaed, as it has always passed us
without trouble. As we are now going to Versailles, with a wagon,
we thought it better to have the pass visaed here."

"Where have you come from, now?"

"From Fontainebleau," Ralph said. "We have been down to Pithiviers,
and I sent off four wagon loads of things from there, for the
frontier."

"Your best way is through Corbeil, and Longjumeau," the officer
said, handing back the paper.

"Thank you, sir," Ralph replied, "that is the way we are intending
to go."

In the evening, the Maire himself came in to look at the horses;
and told them that he had obtained a good light-covered wagon, with
springs, which had been used for the removal of furniture. The
price was a thousand francs.

"If you like," he said, "to come round with me now; my servant
shall take the horses round there, put them in, and bring the wagon
here; and he can then take your horses back with him to my stables.

"Please to write me a paper--signed by the name on your German
pass--saying that you have bought my horses of me, and have sold me
yours. Put down any figures you like as having passed between us.
You are upon a very perilous expedition and, in case of anything
happening to you, it would be well for me that nothing, beyond a
mere business transaction, could be traced between us."

At seven o'clock the next morning they started. The distance was
only thirty miles, but the roads were terribly slippery from the
deep snow, now trampled flat by the immense traffic of the army. It
was five in the afternoon when they reached the first sentries, at
the entrance to Versailles. The pass was sufficient, and they went
on uninterrupted. Percy drove, and Ralph sat beside him.

The town swarmed with officers and soldiers, of all ranks. No one
paid them any attention, and they drove through the Place d'Armes
and on to the marketplace; where they knew there were many inns,
frequented by the market people. Here--as they expected--they found
it impossible to get a bed; but they had no difficulty in obtaining
permission for the wagon to stand in a yard, and were lucky enough
to get stable room for the horses. They went into the town and
bought four blankets; and as, at starting, they had filled the
wagon two feet deep with straw, they had--in spite of the cold
weather--every hope of passing a comfortable night.

Dinner was the next thing and, that over, they strolled about until
nine o'clock. It was a singular sight, this army of invaders
comfortably quartered in the ancient capital of France. The palace,
the statues in front of it, everything told of the glories of
France; every park around, every little palace was infinitely
associated with its sovereigns; and here, in the midst of these
memorials, the German invaders stalked carelessly, drank in the
cafes, or feasted in the hotels, as if the place had belonged to
them from time immemorial. Afar off, in the quiet of the evening,
could be heard the distant boom of the guns round the beleaguered
city.

There were several things which the Barclays wanted to get; but
they had no difficulty with them, as the shops were all open, as
usual. The population had a depressed look. All classes were
suffering much, with the exception of the shopkeepers, whose
business was as brisk as ever--save only those tradesmen who dealt
in articles of female attire, for which there was no demand,
whatever. The ladies of Versailles went as little as possible into
the streets; and when they did so, all dressed themselves in black,
or other somber colors.

By nine o'clock the shops were all closed; and the Barclays
returned to their wagon, with their purchases in their hands.

"It's awfully cold, Ralph!" Percy said, as they rolled themselves
in their blankets, and covered themselves over with straw.

"It is, Percy; but it will be a deal colder, in the river."

Percy gave a shudder at the thought.

"Don't you think, Ralph, that there is any possibility of entering
on either of the other sides?"

"Not the slightest, Percy. It must be across the river, or not at
all. The sentries will not be anything like so thick, upon that
side."

Had anyone looked into the wagon, at eight o'clock next morning, he
would have been surprised at the occupation upon which the boys
were engaged. Each was sewing a piece of thin waterproof cloth upon
a pair of white woolen gloves; so that the fingers, when outspread,
had the appearance of the webbed foot of a frog.

"That ought to help us," Ralph said, when they finished. "For a
really long swim, I daresay they would be very fatiguing; but it is
cold, not fatigue, we have to fear, and speed is therefore
everything."

At nine o'clock, Ralph went to the office of the general in
command. There were a number of other persons waiting for permits,
and Ralph waited his turn to go in to the officer engaged in
signing them.

"I am from Frankfort, as my papers show," he said, handing the
officer his pass. "I wish for a pass to go, with my horse and cart,
to Bellevue. There are, I hear, many officers desirous of selling,
or sending home, articles they have saved."

Saved, it may be mentioned, was the word employed in the German
army for stolen--which has an ugly sound.

The officer signed the paper.

"You must not go by the Sevres route," he said. "You must turn off
at Viroflay, and go by Chaville."

Half an hour later they started in the wagon At the gates of
Versailles--a mile from the town--they were stopped by sentries;
but allowed to pass on production of the order, with the necessary
stamp.

"Everything is going on well, thus far," Ralph said, as they turned
off from the main road, at Viroflay. "It looks like snow, too,
which would exactly suit us."

Viroflay was crowded with Prussian troops. An officer stopped them,
as they passed.

"Where are you going to?"

"We are going to Bellevue," Ralph said. "We are purchasers of any
curiosities or souvenirs of the war--such as pictures, or
clocks--and we also undertake to deliver, in Germany, any article
which may be entrusted to our charge. We have our passes and
papers, in regular order."

"Wait a minute," the officer said. "Draw up at that villa there."

The wagon drew up to the villa, the officer walking in front. He
motioned to Ralph to dismount, and to follow him into the house;
leaving Percy in charge of the wagon Five or six officers were
sitting in what had been the drawing room of the villa.

"Who have you got here?" one of them asked, as Ralph's conductor
entered.

"A worthy Hebrew," the other laughed, "who will either purchase, or
carry home, articles saved."

There was a general movement of interest. The furniture of the room
was a wreck, the papers were hanging in strips, a broken chair was
blazing upon the fire; several family portraits on the wall were
pierced with holes, having evidently served the purpose of targets,
for pistol shooting.

Ralph's conductor left the room for a moment, and returned with a
very handsome drawing room clock; worth, Ralph knew, at least
fifteen hundred francs.

"How much will you give for that?"

Ralph examined it critically.

"Four hundred francs," he said.

"Nonsense! It cost five times that."

"About four times," Ralph said, "when it was new. It is not new,
now, and it has to be taken to Germany. If you prefer it, I will
carry it to Frankfort; and send it on thence by rail, at ten
percent upon its value."

"Yes, I will agree to that," the officer said. "How much will that
be?"

"I am content to take it at your own valuation," Ralph said. "The
value you set upon the clock was two thousand francs."

There was a laugh among the other officers.

"He has you there, major."

"Not at all," the officer said. "He shall take it at the valuation
he placed upon it--four hundred francs."

"Pardon me," Ralph said, "I did not value it at that sum, I only
offered to give that sum for it; besides which, that was an
estimate of the value I set upon it at Viroflay, not the value I
should set upon it at Frankfort.

"I will say one thousand francs; that is, I will undertake it at a
hundred, if you will get it put into a case of some sort."

The other officers now offered various objects, either for sale or
transport--pictures, vases, clocks, and even pianos. Ralph haggled
over the price of each article, in a way which would have done
honor to his appearance. At last--having arranged all their
matters--he said that he was going on to Bellevue; but would call
and complete the purchases, and receive the goods entrusted to him,
either that night or the next morning.

"If any of you gentleman would kindly give me your card, to give to
the officer of the regiment at Bellevue, saying that you have found
me fair in my dealing, I should feel very grateful," Ralph said,
humbly.

The officer laughed, but one of them took out his card, and wrote
upon it:

"Dear Von Koch, this man is--for a Hebrew--tolerably fair in his
ideas."

"That is for the major of the regiment, at Bellevue," he said; and
Ralph bowed, as if he had received a recommendation of the warmest
kind.

"I was beginning to be alarmed, Ralph," Percy said, when his
brother again took his place in the wagon.

"I have been haggling over prices," Ralph said. "Fortunately, we
are not pressed for time."

They had another stop, of some duration, at Chaville; and it was
nearly three o'clock in the afternoon before they came down to the
back of Bellevue. Here they were stopped and, upon Ralph producing
his pass, an officer came up.

"You cannot go any farther," he said. "You are close to Bellevue,
now; but if you were to take this wagon into the main road, you
would draw Valerien's fire upon us, at once.

"You will find most of the officers there," pointing to a large
house, near.

"I have this card, for Major Von Koch," Ralph said. "I am here to
buy, or carry home on commission, goods of all kinds."

The officer went with Ralph; and the scene at Viroflay was
repeated, but upon a much larger scale. Viroflay is a small
village, containing only a few large villas; Bellevue is composed
almost entirely of handsome residences, owned by Parisians. The
quantity of articles "saved" was proportionately large.

After examining and bargaining for a large number of valuable
articles of furniture, pictures and clocks; Ralph left, with some
of the officers, to view other articles in the villas upon the side
of Bellevue, looking down upon the river. Percy had taken the
horses out of the wagon, and accompanied his brother, ostensibly to
carry back any articles purchased.

At one of the villas Ralph expressed a great desire to go out into
the garden, to look over Paris; and the officer with him--being in
an excellent humor, at the disposal of some articles at much higher
prices than he had expected to receive; and at having the proceeds,
in German bank notes, in his pockets--went out himself, and pointed
out all the various objects of interest.

The fog of a winter's evening was already shutting in the view, but
the boys could see the principal buildings of Paris. The towers of
Notre Dame, the domes of the Pantheon and Invalides, the heights of
Montmartre and Vilette, and the forts of Issy and Vanves were
distinctly visible. The boys' eyes turned, however, more to the
river at their feet, and the intervening ground, than upon the
objects--however interesting--of distant Paris.

"Do not show yourself," the officer said. "If we were caught sight
of, from Issy or Point du Jour--or from that gunboat, below--we
should have a rain of shells about us, in no time. You can look out
from among the trees; but do not get beyond their shelter, or you
will be seen, instantly."

The house in whose garden they were standing stood upon the brow of
the hill. Behind was a little wood, and gardens sloping
pretty-steeply down. Then along by the water was a street, with
houses upon either side. The river was, here, divided by an island;
the lower end of which, however, scarcely extended low enough to be
opposite to the spot upon which the boys were standing.

"Bless me," Ralph said, "it must be very dangerous, living down
there. Why, that gunboat could blow the place into the air."

"That she could," the officer said, "and consequently, none of our
men live there. We have sentries along the river bank, and a few
others scattered about; but none of the troops are quartered there,
nor even in this line of villas where we now are. If we were to
show a light at night, in any window here, we should have a shell
in in a couple of minutes. We have no fear, whatever, of a sortie
in this direction; and have plenty of force behind."

Ralph and Percy lingered, upon one excuse or another; asking
questions as long as they could, and making the best use of their
time, to gain a fair idea of the ground that they would have to
cross. They had with them, in the wagon, a map of Bellevue and
Meudon upon a large scale, with every house marked upon it.

"It is going to be a dark night," the officer said, as they hurried
away, "and we shall have snow before midnight."

Another hour or two was spent in purchasing various articles, taken
from the French villas. Darkness had come on, and Ralph told the
officers that he should not return until the next morning to
Versailles; and that if the articles to be entrusted to his care
for delivery were put in rough cases--of which there were plenty,
which had come full of stores--and brought by ten o'clock in the
morning, carefully directed, it would be in sufficient time.

"Will you give us leave to sleep in one of the villas, upon the
farther side of the road?" Ralph asked the officer in command. "My
boy has never seen a shot fired, in earnest; and I should like him
to be able to say he had watched the fire of the forts, round
Paris."

"If you sleep there," the colonel said, "you must not light a fire,
or show a light, or you would bring the fire of a hundred guns upon
us."

"I will be very careful, sir," Ralph answered. "Will you kindly let
an orderly go with us, to pass us through the sentries? For, as
it's dark now, they would not let us pass."

The colonel gave the order, and an orderly went with them. They
stopped at the wagon, and each took out a large bundle.

"We shall want our blankets, tonight," Ralph said. "It is bitterly
cold.

"Would you like a glass of brandy, to help keep it out, my man?"

The soldier smiled an assent, drank off a glass of brandy, and then
accompanied them to the villa. Short as was the distance, they were
challenged twice, and the sign and counter-sign had to be
exchanged. They reached the deserted villa, threw down the bundles
in a corner; and then the orderly said good night, and left them to
themselves.



Chapter 16: A Desperate Attempt.


"So far, so good, Percy!" Ralph said, when they heard the street
door slam, as the orderly left. "Hitherto we have had the most
extraordinary good fortune and, as it's going to snow--for I felt a
few flakes, as we came along--I look upon it as good as done."

"It will take away from us risk of being hit, but I don't see that
it will make much difference in our risk of being drowned," Percy
said. "I own, Ralph, I am a great deal more afraid of that, than of
the other."

"But it does, Percy. It makes all the difference in the world. We
had agreed that we would put on life belts; but that we would blow
the smallest quantity of air possible into them, so that they might
give us some slight assistance, and yet not be too buoyant to
prevent us from diving. Now we can blow them up with wind, so as to
prevent the possibility of our being drowned. Once in the water,
and we are safe from everything except a stray bullet. In a
snowstorm, on such a dark night as this, they could not see our
heads five yards off."

"But what is worse, Ralph, we shall not be able to see five yards,
either; and should have no idea where we were swimming."

"I had not thought of that, Percy. Yes, that would be very
serious," and Ralph thought, for some time. "It seems a risk, this,
Percy; but I can see no plan, except to draw their fire."

"How do you mean?" Percy asked, puzzled.

"You see, Percy, our idea before was to get down to the shore, to
put our dummy into the water, and to let it float down a hundred
yards--the length of its string--and then to start ourselves,
holding the other end of the string, in hopes that--if the sentries
are really sharply on the lookout--they would see the dummy,
instead of us, as it will be a much more conspicuous object;
especially as we intended to do as much diving as we could, and our
movements forward would jerk the dummy's string, and make him bob,
like a man swimming. If they once caught sight of it, they would be
too busy firing at it to look about for anyone else.

"Well now, I think that instead of giving up the dummy
altogether--as we might have done, now that the snow has come
on--we must let it float gently down, for seventy or eighty yards;
and then throw a stone into the water by it, so as to draw the
attention of the sentry. Or--if the sentries are pretty far
apart--one of us might make a great splash in the water, when the
dummy is floating; and then run back before the sentry gets up, and
get into the water quietly, higher up. Their fire will act as a
guide to us."

"We had better start soon, Ralph. It may take us an hour, or even
two, to get down to the water; for we must go along like ghosts, so
as not to alarm the sentries; and we shall have walls to get over,
and all sorts of difficulties."

"All right, Percy. I do not see the use of waiting. We shall not
get any warmer, by stopping here. It's like having a tooth out.
One's got to do it, and the sooner it's done, the better.

"Now for our bundles."

They went downstairs into a cellar--where the light could not be
seen from outside--struck a light, and lit a candle. The first
thing taken out of the bundle was the dummy--a net, rather larger
than a man's head, tightly filled with corks; with a cord, a
hundred yards in length, attached. Next were two complete suits,
made of white calico; with caps, with long flaps of the same
material. Next were two large rolls of India rubber webbing, about
six inches wide, which they had brought from Tours with them.

"I can't think that that will be any good, Ralph."

"It will, indeed, Percy. The water will, of course, soak through;
but what gets in will remain in, and the heat of the body will warm
it, a good deal. I can assure you, it will be a great deal warmer
than having the icy water flowing past you."

Both boys now took off their coats and waistcoats, put on a warm
flannel jersey over their flannel shirts, and then wound the
bandages of India rubber round each other's bodies. They began
under the arms; drawing the webbing tight, as they wound it round,
so that its natural elasticity caused each turn to press tightly
upon the turn above, which it overlapped. This bandage was
continued down to the lower part of the body. Then they put on the
life belts. Over them they put their suits of white calico, white
shoes with India rubber soles, the white caps, and swimming gloves.

They then put the "dummy" in a pillow case, which they had bought
for it at Versailles. Before putting on their caps, they fastened
the quills with the dispatches in their hair. In a belt, underneath
their jackets, each carried a heavy revolver.

"This India rubber stuff regularly squeezes me, Ralph."

"All the better, Percy. You will feel the benefit of it, when you
are in the water, believe me."

The boys now knelt down together, and asked for protection through
the peril which they were about to encounter. A few minutes later
they rose, grasped each other's hand; and then--blowing out the
light--groped their way upstairs, opened a window which led into
the garden, and stepped out.

The wind was blowing strongly. Snowflakes were being whisked hither
and thither, like spray from a wave. Had it not been for the gleam
from the snow-covered ground, it would have been impossible to see
ten paces, here. As it was, it was intensely dark.

"It's lucky that it's downhill, Percy, or we should never find our
way to the water's edge. If we keep descending, we must be there,
at last."

Before starting, the boys went a few paces from each other; and
were pleased to find that their white costumes suited admirably as,
between the driving snow and the white sheet upon the ground, they
could not make each other out at more than eight or ten yards, even
when they knew exactly where they stood. They now began to descend
the hill, very carefully, step by step. The snow upon the ground
made walking much more easy than it otherwise would have been.
Their footsteps--muffled alike by the India-rubber soles, and the
snow upon which they walked--were inaudible, even to themselves.
They had several walls to climb, and the noiseless India-rubber
soles were of good service, here. Several times they could hear the
sentries, beating their feet upon the ground to warm them; but in
no case were they near enough to see them.

At last, after an hour and a half--spent in passing the three
hundred yards which separated them from the river--they reached, in
safety, the wall of the road which runs along by the river. Here
the sentries were pacing along at distances of thirty or forty
yards apart. The white houses, upon the opposite side of the road,
could be faintly seen; and the boys moved along until opposite an
opening between them, by which they could get through to the river.
Looking over the wall, they could watch the sentries and--choosing
their time when one had just passed, so that his back would be
turned towards them--he no sooner disappeared in the darkness than
they dropped noiselessly into the road, ran across the street,
climbed a low railing, and stood in a garden which reached down to
the river.

They stood watching, for some time, to assure themselves that no
sentry was placed in the garden; but at last they stole forwards
and stood at the end of the garden, with the river at their feet.
The snow--which was at their backs--was falling faster than ever.
The river deepened rapidly from the wall; but the water was low
enough for anyone to get along on the sloping side--faced with
rough stone--between the foot of the wall and the water.

The boys got over the wall, took the dummy from the bag and,
holding one end of the cord, put it quietly into the water; and
allowed it to float down, about sixty yards.

"Now, Percy," Ralph said, "you get ready to slip into the water, as
quietly as possible, the moment you hear a splash. I will leave
this bag here, so as to know exactly where you have gone in and--as
the rope is plenty long enough--you keep hold of it here, at sixty
yards from the dummy; and I will fasten the slack end to the stone
so that, when I go in, I have only to hold the rope in my hand, to
be able to join you. I will take this heavy coping stone in my
hand; will crawl along on this shelving bank, till I arrive at the
dummy; and will then throw the stone in, and run back at full
speed, and be in the water a few seconds after you are."

"All right, Ralph, I understand. Keep your pistol cocked in your
hand, as you go."

Ralph crept quietly along, under the wall, until he saw the dummy
floating at the edge of the water, a few feet below him. He rose on
his feet, to throw in the stone; when he heard a deep exclamation
behind him and, looking round, he saw a dark figure within two feet
of him. Another moment, and the sentry would have brought his rifle
to his shoulder--for he sprang back, giving a loud shout--but
Ralph wheeled round instantaneously, threw up his revolver, and
fired at the sentinel's body.

He saw him fall; turned round, hurled the heavy stone with a loud
splash into the water, and then--crawling low under the wall--ran
at full speed back again. As he did so, two sentries in the garden
over his head fired, in the direction of the splash in the water;
and shouts were heard all along the bank.

In another instant Ralph grasped the line, and slid down the snowy
slopes into the water; entering so quietly that no sound, whatever,
betrayed his entry. It was icy cold, and almost took away his
breath. Twenty strokes, and he joined Percy.

"All right, old man, they can't see us now."

"You are not hit, are you, Ralph?" Percy gasped.

"No, it was my revolver. I had to shoot a sentry, to save my life.
It's lucky we have got these life belts on, for I am sure we should
never get across."

"There! There!" was shouted, in German. "I see his head bobbing up
and down," and eight or ten rifle shots were fired, from the garden
where the sentry had fallen, in the direction of the dummy.

The boys swam on desperately, then Ralph said:

"You can slip the string now, Percy. The dummy has done its work.
It must be quite out of sight from the bank.

"Do not you feel the benefit of the India rubber?"

"Yes," Percy said, "I am warm enough, in the body; but my legs are
in agony, from the cold. These gloves are helping us on, though, at
a great rate."

"Well, there is one blessing," Ralph said, "we can't miss the way,
now."

As he spoke, a heavy fire of musketry opened from the French, upon
the other side. Alarmed at the sudden fire on the part of the
Germans, they fired at the flashes of their guns and, fresh
reinforcements coming up on either side, a heavy exchange of
musketry shots took place across the river; partially over the
boys' heads, but principally a hundred yards lower down the stream,
in the direction where the dummy was seen by the Germans.

The boys swam with long, steady, noiseless strokes.

"We must be halfway across," Ralph said.

"I am getting deadly cold, all over, Ralph. I can't sink, of
course; but I shall freeze to death, before I reach the opposite
bank."

"No, no, Percy," Ralph said, as cheerily as he could; though he
felt, himself, that the intense cold was rapidly overcoming his
strength. "Keep up your heart. Strike as hard as you can. The more
you exert yourself, the better."

In another minute or two, Ralph found he was leaving Percy behind,
and slackened his speed.

"Goodbye, Ralph. My legs are all cramped up, and my arms are
numbed. I can't swim another stroke. It is all up with me," he
said, faintly. "God bless you. Don't stop with me; you can do no
good, and your only chance is to go on."

Ralph, however, put one hand upon Percy's life belt, and struck out
for shore; but he felt that it was hopeless. Frightful pains were
shooting through his limbs, and he breathed what he believed to be
a last prayer; when a boom like thunder, a few yards off,
galvanized him into life again--for he saw the gunboat, which they
had seen in the morning, only a few yards distant. She had just
fired a gun, loaded with grape, in the direction of the Germans who
were firing. She was still at anchor, and the stream was drifting
them down fast upon her.

"Help!" Ralph shouted. "Help! We are drowning, and have dispatches
Throw a rope, quick!"

"Where are you?" answered a voice.

"Here, close to you, just abreast," Ralph shouted.

In another instant a rope struck his face. He grasped it, twisted
it tightly round Percy's body and his own, tied a rough knot with
his last strength, and then lost consciousness.

When he recovered his senses, his first sensation was that of
intense pain--so intense that it extracted a groan from him.

"That's right, rub away; and pour some more brandy down his
throat," a voice said.

Then he became conscious that he was being rubbed with hot
flannels. He opened his eyes, and saw a gleaming of moving
machinery, and the red glare of furnaces.

"Where am I?" he asked, at last.

"In the engine room of the gunboat Farcey," a voice said.

"I am suffering agony," Ralph murmured, between his teeth.

"I daresay," the officer who was standing by him answered. "You
were pretty near frozen to death. Luckily your life belts kept you
from taking in any water, but it was a near squeak. Another three
minutes in the water, and the doctor says it would have been all up
with you."

"Where is my brother?" Ralph asked suddenly; sitting up, with a
full consciousness of all that had passed.

"He is coming round," the officer said. "He was farther gone than
you were; and his heart's action was altogether suspended, from the
cold. His limbs are twitching now, and the doctor says he will do.

"You call him your brother, but I suppose you mean your son?"

"Please lend me some clothes," Ralph said. "I can stand, now."

Some clothes had already been got in readiness, and warmed; and in
a couple of minutes Ralph was kneeling by his brother's side. Percy
was now coming to, and was suffering agonies similar to those which
Ralph himself had experienced, from the recommencement of
circulation in his limbs. He looked round, utterly bewildered; for
he had become insensible before the Farcey's gun had given notice
of her proximity. He smiled, however, when his eyes fell on Ralph's
face.

"It is all right, Percy, thank God," Ralph said. "We are on board
the gunboat Farcey and, in ten minutes, we shall be landed in the
heart of Paris."

In another five minutes, Percy was sufficiently recovered to begin
to dress. The commander of the Farcey now turned to Ralph.

"Your son has had a very narrow shave of it, sir."

"Son!" Ralph said, "He is my brother."

The officer looked surprised.

"How old do you take me to be?" Ralph asked.

"Forty-five or fifty," the officer said.

"I shall not be seventeen for some months," Ralph answered.

The officer looked at him with an air of intense astonishment, and
there was a burst of laughter from the men standing round. The
commandant frowned angrily at them.

"Quite so, my dear sir," he said, soothingly. "I was only joking
with you. It is evident that you are not yet seventeen."

"You think I have lost my senses, with the shock," Ralph said,
smiling. "I can assure you that that is my age. My beard and
whiskers are so firmly fixed on, with cobbler's wax, that I shall
have an awful trouble to get them off; and my hair the same. If you
feel along here, from one ear to the other, you will feel a ridge.
That is the cobbler's wax, that sticks all this mass of frizzled
hair on.

"Did you not notice that both my brother's and my face and hands
were much darker than the rest of our skin?"

"Yes, the doctor did notice that," the captain said--now beginning
to think that Ralph was not insane, after all.

Passing his finger where Ralph directed him, he felt the ridge of
the false hair.

"Who are you then, may I ask?" he said.

"My brother and myself are named Barclay," Ralph said. "We are
lieutenants in the army, and are both decorated for service in the
field. We left Tours four days ago, and are bearers of dispatches
from Gambetta to General Trochu."

A cheer broke from all who were standing within hearing; and the
boys' hands--for Percy came up at the moment--were warmly shaken by
the officers of the boat, one after another. Congratulations of all
sorts were heaped upon them, and those around were unable to make
enough of them.

"No pigeon has come in, for ten days," the commander said. "You
will indeed be welcome."

At this moment, a sailor came down to say that they were passing
the Louvre and, in another two minutes, the gunboat lay alongside
the wharf.

"You do not know, I suppose, where Trochu is to be found?" the
commander of the Farcey asked.

"No, indeed," Ralph said.

"I will go with you, myself," the officer said. "If the general has
gone to bed, we must knock him up. He won't mind, when he hears the
reason."

It was but a short distance to walk, but the boys had great
difficulty in getting there; for their limbs were stiff and aching,
and they felt a burning sensation all over them, as if they had
been dipped in boiling water. General Trochu had not yet gone to
bed and--upon the message being delivered by the orderly, "The
commander of the Farcey, with officers bearing dispatches, from
Tours,"--he ordered them to be instantly admitted.

"These are the Lieutenants Barclay, general," the commander of the
Farcey said. "A heavy firing broke out, suddenly, from the water
side at Lower Meudon. It was answered from our side and--thinking
that it might be someone trying to swim across--I fired a round of
grape into the Germans, and ordered a sharp lookout to be kept. I
had scarcely spoken the words before we were hailed for a rope; and
in another minute these officers--both insensible from cold--were
pulled on board. Thinking they might have dispatches, I at once
started up the river; and when they were brought round, by the
surgeon, they stated that they were the Lieutenants Barclay,
bearers of dispatches from Tours."

"Gallantly done, gentlemen! Bravely done!" the general said warmly,
shaking both boys by the hand.

The burning heat of Percy's hand struck him, at once.

"Where are your dispatches, gentlemen? You have preserved them, I
hope?"

Ralph produced the two quills.

"They are duplicate, general," he said. "We each carried one, in
case any accident might befall one of us."

"Thank you," the general said. "I need now detain you no longer. I
have work here for all night, and you had better go instantly to
bed. Your brother is in a high state of fever."

He touched a bell, and an officer in waiting came in.

"Captain Bar, will you kindly take these gentlemen to a hotel, at
once. The horses are, as usual, in the carriage I suppose;
and,"--he dropped his voice--"send a message from me to request
Doctor Marcey to see them, at once. The younger one is in a state
of high fever."

In another quarter of an hour the boys were in comfortable beds, in
rooms adjoining each other. Ralph--who was heavy and stupid, with
the effects of the cold--was asleep almost the instant his head
touched the pillow. He was roused a short time afterwards by being
shaken and, opening his eyes, he saw someone leaning over him.

"Drink this," the gentleman said, holding a glass to his lips.

Ralph mechanically did as he was told; and fell off again into a
heavy sleep, from which he did not awake until late the next
afternoon.

His first impulse was to look at his watch. It had stopped at
eleven o'clock, the night before--the hour at which he had entered
the Seine. Then he rang the bell.

"What o'clock is it?" he asked, when the servant entered.

"Just struck five, sir."

"What, five in the afternoon?" Ralph exclaimed.

"Yes, sir."

"I have slept," Ralph said, with a laugh. "However, I feel all
right again, now.

"Is my brother up?"

"No, sir," the man said.

"Percy!" Ralph shouted, "It is five o'clock in the afternoon. Get
up."

"The other gentleman is not in the next room, sir," the servant
said.

"Is he not?" Ralph said, puzzled. "I was desperately sleepy last
night, certainly; but not too sleepy, I should have thought, to
have made a mistake about that. I feel sure he was in the next
room."

"He was, sir," the servant said, "but Doctor Marcey, when he came
to see you--just after you got into bed--ordered him to be carried
at once into another room, in order that he might not disturb you.
He said it was essential that you should have your sleep out,
undisturbed."

"But why should my brother disturb me?" Ralph asked, anxiously. "Is
he not well?"

"No, sir, he has got fever. He has been calling out, a great deal.
He has got two sisters with him, and the doctor has been every
hour."

By this time Ralph was out of bed.

"Here are some clothes, sir," the man said, handing them to him.
"The landlord thought you would want some at once, when you woke;
and ordered three or four suits for you to try."

Ralph seized the first that came to hand, and threw them on.

"All Paris was talking about your getting through the enemy, last
night, sir. There have been hundreds of people here to call."

Ralph did not even hear what was said.

"Now," he said, "take me to him, at once."

The servant led Ralph along a passage and stopped at a door, at
which he knocked. A Sister of Mercy opened the door.

"This is the other gentleman."

The sister opened the door for Ralph to enter.

"He is quiet now," she said, in a soft, compassionate tone.

Ralph went into the room. Percy lay in the bed, with his head
surrounded with ice. His face was flushed, and his eyes wild. He
was moving uneasily about, talking to himself.

"It is that schoolmaster who is at the bottom of it," he muttered.
"He was a traitor, and I thought we hung him, but I suppose we
didn't. Perhaps he got down, after we had gone off. If not, how
could he have betrayed us again?

"I have heard of liquid fire, but that was liquid ice. It got into
my veins, somehow, instead of blood. I tell you, Ralph, it's no
good. I can't stand it any longer; but I will pay off that
schoolmaster, first. Let me get at him," and he made an effort to
rise.

The sister tried to restrain him, but so violent were his efforts
to rise that Ralph--who was looking on, with tears streaming down
his cheeks--was obliged to assist to hold him down. When he became
quiet, the sister forced some medicine between his lips--Ralph
holding up his head.

"Shall I speak to him?" Ralph asked. "He may know my voice."

"Better not, sir," the nurse said, "it would probably only set him
off again."

"What does the doctor say about him?" Ralph asked.

"He says it is brain fever," the nurse said. "He only said it might
be some days, before the crisis came; and that he could not give
any decided opinion, at present. But he seemed to have hope."

"Thank God, at least, for that!" Ralph said, earnestly.

Percy, turning his head round again, caught sight of Ralph.

"Ah, there is that schoolmaster again! If no one else will hang
him, I will do it, myself. Let me get at him!"

And he again made desperate efforts to get out of bed.

"You had better go, sir," one of the sisters said, urgently. "The
sight of you makes him worse, and you can do him no good."

Seeing that it was so, Ralph reluctantly left the room; his only
comfort being that Percy was as carefully tended, and looked after,
as it was possible for him to be. He had scarcely returned to his
room, when an officer was shown in.

"I daresay you hardly remember me," he said. "I came here with you,
last night."

"I am very glad to see you again, and to thank you for the trouble
you took," Ralph said. "I was too sleepy to do so, last night."

"Not at all," the officer answered. "However, I am here with a
message from the general, now. He would have asked you to dine with
him but, hearing of the state of your brother, he could not ask you
to leave him for so long a time; but he would be glad if you would
come to see him, for an hour, this evening. He wishes to know how
you managed to pass through the German lines; and he also desires
to be informed, as far as you can give such information, of the
number and position of the enemy.

"What surprises us all, more than anything, is that the dispatches
are dated the morning of the thirteenth instant; and you were
picked up, by the Farcey, upon the evening of the sixteenth. It
seems incredible that you should have done the distance, and
managed to get through the German lines, in the time. Only one
other messenger has got through; and his dispatches were more than
ten days old, when they reached us, and had been forestalled by
some pigeons. Your news is six days later than any we have
received."

"We slept, on the night of the thirteenth, at Montargis," Ralph
said; "on the fourteenth at Melun, on the fifteenth at Versailles;
and last night--as you know--here."

"I must not get the information before the general," the officer
said, with a laugh. "It is half-past six, now. The general dines at
seven. At what time will you be with him? Shall we say nine?"

"I will be there at nine," Ralph said, "but the general will, I
hope, excuse my coming either in uniform, or full dress of any
kind. I have, of course, nothing with me."

"General Trochu will of course understand that," the officer said.
"Goodbye."

Ralph now went back to Percy's room. The doctor had just come. He
was accompanied by another medical man. Ralph stood by, in silent
attention, while the doctor felt Percy's pulse, and asked a few
questions of the nurse. They then gave some orders, and said that
fresh medicine should be sent in, in a quarter of an hour; and that
they would come in again, at ten o'clock, to see how he was going
on.

"What do you think of him, sir?" Ralph asked, as the doctor came
out.

"He has a sharp attack of brain fever," the doctor said, "but he is
young, with an excellent constitution. I trust we shall pull him
through. I cannot say anything for certain, at present--till the
fever takes a turn, one way or the other--but I have strong hopes."

Ralph ordered some dinner to be sent up to his room, for he began
to be keenly awake to the fact that he had eaten nothing, for more
than twenty-four hours. After he had taken the meal, he sat in
Percy's room, until it was time to go to General Trochu's; keeping
himself, however, in a position so as to be hidden by the
curtain--for the sight of him evidently excited the patient. Percy
was, as far as his brother could see, in just the same state as
before: sometimes talking to himself, in disconnected sentences;
sometimes raving wildly, and imagining himself repeating the scenes
through which he had passed, since he left home.

At nine o'clock, exactly, Ralph sent in his name to the governor;
and was at once shown in. The general had already left the table,
and was smoking in a small study. With him were Generals Ducrot and
Vinoy. General Trochu rose, and shook him cordially by the hand;
presented him to the other generals, and asked him to take a cigar,
and sit down.

"Generals Ducrot and Vinoy are surprised, I see, at your
appearance, Captain Barclay," General Trochu began.

"By the way," he interrupted himself, "you are in the Gazette, this
morning, as captain."

Ralph bowed, and expressed his thanks.

"No thanks are due at all, Captain Barclay," the old veteran said.
"You have well earned your promotion; and Gambetta--who speaks of
you, I may say, in the highest terms--tells me that he promised you
the step, if you got in. I need not say that, whether he had done
so or not, I should have given it to you.

"But I was saying, I see Generals Vinoy and Ducrot are
surprised--as I am, myself--at your appearance. Gambetta, in his
letter, twice uses the expression young officers. Once he said,
'these young officers have greatly distinguished themselves, and
have gained the cross of the legion of honor;' and again he says,
'these young officers have volunteered to carry dispatches.'

"Naturally, my friends were looking for a younger man; and having
only seen you for an instant last night, and not having observed
your features, specially, I confess that I was expecting a younger
man.

"You see," he said, with a smile, "we can quite understand
Gambetta's calling your brother a young officer, for he is a mere
lad; but one would hardly have applied the same term to yourself."

Ralph had flushed crimson, at the commencement of this speech.

"I must apologize very greatly, general," he said, when the
Governor of Paris stopped; "for the mistake is certainly due to my
own forgetfulness."

His hearers looked surprised.

"I slept until five o'clock this afternoon," Ralph continued;
"owing, I believe, to a powerful opiate that the doctor you kindly
sent us gave me. Since I woke, my thoughts have been entirely given
to my brother; and the thought of my singular appearance never
entered my mind. I have become so accustomed--in the few days since
I left Tours--to this beard, mustache, and hair, that I never
thought of them, for a moment. Had I thought of it, I could not
have presented myself before you, this evening; for I should not
have presumed to do so, in my present state; and it will take me
some hours of hard work, and not a little pain, before I get rid of
them--for they are fastened on with shoemaker's wax and, I fear,
will not come off, without taking a considerable portion of skin
with them."

The three generals laughed heartily at Ralph's apology, and their
own mistake; and General Trochu then asked him to give them a full
account of what had happened to him, what he had seen, and what
information he had gained since he left Tours. Ralph told the story
unaffectedly, from beginning to end, and received warm commendation
from his listeners.

"Your story began at Tours," General Trochu said; "where had you
last been, before that?"

"We had only arrived, ten days before, from a German prison," Ralph
answered.

The generals all laughed.

"You are adventurous fellows, you and your brother," General Vinoy
said. "How did you get taken, and how did you get out?"

Ralph again told his story.

"You are cool hands, you Barclays," General Ducrot said. "How did
you get commissions first? Were you at the Polytechnic, or Saint
Cyr?"

"No, general," Ralph said, modestly, "we had no such advantages. We
won our commissions--and the cross of the Legion--in the Vosges, as
franc tireurs."

"In which corps?" General Trochu asked, a little sharply. "They
have not done any very great things, the franc tireurs."

"We were in the franc tireurs of Dijon," Ralph said, a little
proudly. "We several times beat superior forces. We blew up the
bridge of the Vesouze; and should have blown up the tunnel of
Saverne, had it not been for treachery."

"Yes, yes," General Trochu said; "I remember Gambetta has once or
twice mentioned your corps, especially. You see, we don't hear much
from outside.

"Let us hear of the affairs you have mentioned. Your account will
give us a better idea of the state of things, in the Vosges, than
fifty dispatches would do."

Thus asked, Ralph gave an account of the doings of the corps; from
the day they arrived in the Vosges, to the day he had left
them--reduced to a fourth of their original strength. The three
generals sat and smoked their cigars while he spoke, asking
questions occasionally.

"Very good," General Trochu said, when he finished; and the other
generals cordially assented.

"But how come you to speak German so well?" General Trochu asked;
"and how was it you understood the English in which the officer
spoke, at Saverne?"

"We are English," Ralph said; and his hearers gave a simultaneous
start of surprise. "That is to say, our nationality is English,
though we are half French. Our father--an officer in the English
army--was wounded, left the service, married a French lady, and
settled in France for a time. We have been educated partly in
England, Germany, and France; so that we speak the three languages
nearly equally well."

"Well, Captain Barclay," General Trochu said, "I am almost sorry
that you are not French; for you would be a credit to any country.

"And now, I think it is time to be going to bed," and he drew out
his watch. "Bless me, it is one o'clock! I had no idea it was so
late. Good night.

"I will not ask you to call again, for a day or two; as your
brother will naturally occupy your attention, and care. I trust
that I shall soon hear good news of him."

"Good night, Captain Barclay," the other generals said, cordially,
each giving him their hands; and Ralph made his way across the dark
streets--for there was no gas--back to his hotel.

He went at once up to Percy's room; and found that, if not
decidedly better, he was at least no worse; and the Sisters of
Charity, who were nursing him, said that the doctors had spoken
hopefully at their last visit. Ralph had intended to sit up all
night, but the nurses assured him that he could be of no use,
whatever; and indeed, that he would be worse than useless, as his
presence excited Percy. They themselves were keeping watch, by
turns.

Accordingly Ralph--who still felt the effects of the cold
immersion--went off to bed and--in spite of the late hour at which
he had risen--was in a few minutes sound asleep.



Chapter 17: A Balloon Voyage.


For eight-and-forty hours, Percy's fever and delirium continued
unabated. At the end of that time, he fell into a long sleep; and
the doctor, as he felt his hand and heard his breathing, told his
brother that he thought the crisis was over, and that he would
awaken, conscious. His prognostication turned out well founded and,
to Ralph's intense delight, Percy knew him when he opened his eyes.
He was weak--weaker than Ralph could have supposed anyone could
possibly have become, after only two days' illness. But he was
fairly convalescent.

Ralph had scarcely left him, during these two days; and had only
been out once from the hotel. He had sent for a newspaper; to read
for himself, in the Gazette, the promotion which General Trochu had
notified to him and, after doing so, he turned to another portion;
and there, among the lists of decorations given, were the names of
Percy and himself, as promoted to be commanders of the Legion for
having, with extreme gallantry, conveyed dispatches from Tours to
Paris, through the German lines.

It was after reading this newspaper that Ralph went out. His walk
was not a long one. He went first to a tailor, and ordered two
captain's uniforms; for Percy was so nearly his own size
that--except that his shoulders were an inch less in width--Ralph's
clothes fitted him exactly. He then went to the Palais Royal, where
there are several shops which sell nothing but medals, and
decorations; and bought two ribbons of the commander's rank, in the
legion of honor.

One terrible morning Ralph spent in a hairdresser's hands and, at
the cost of no little pain, got rid of all that mass of hair which
had so transformed him. The stain was now nearly worn off the skin;
and Ralph was quite surprised, when he again looked at himself in
the glass.

"I was about beginning to forget," he said, with a laugh, "that I
was a boy, after all."

The first day of Percy's convalescence, he dozed a good deal; but
the next day he woke, much brighter and better.

"Look here, Percy," Ralph said, laying the ribbon before him;
"that's better than medicine for you. There is the ribbon of a
commander of the legion of honor. You can safely boast that you are
the youngest who ever wore it; and earned it well, too, old man.
Won't they be pleased, at home? And we are both gazetted as
captains."

Percy smiled with pleasure. His attack had been a very sharp one;
but so short an illness, however severe, is speedily got over. The
doctor had, that morning, said that all he wanted now was building
up; and that, in a very few days, he would be about. Indeed, Percy
wanted to get up that day; insisting that he was quite strong. When
he once stood up, however, he found he was much weaker than he had
imagined; but sat up in an armchair, all the evening. The next day
he remained up all day and, three days after, he felt strong enough
to go to the governor with Ralph, to ask for their promised places
in the next balloon.

It was now the twenty-third of November. A carriage was sent for
and, after some difficulty, procured; for carriages were already
becoming scarce, in Paris. They drove up to the entrance, and went
in; but were told by an orderly--who could scarcely conceal his
surprise at these lads, in the uniform of captains of the staff,
and with decorations scarcely ever seen, except upon the breasts of
superior officers--that the general was out. They turned and went
out but, as they reached the steps, a number of officers rode up.

"There is General Trochu himself, with Vinoy and Ducrot," Ralph
said.

The generals dismounted, and came up the steps. As they did so
their eyes fell upon the boys, who both saluted. They paused, in
surprise.

"What masquerade is this, young gentlemen?" General Trochu asked,
sternly. "Allow me to ask how you venture to dress up as captains,
on the staff; and still more how you dare to put on the ribbons of
commanders of the legion of honor?

"It is no laughing matter," he said, angrily, as Ralph could not
resist a smile. "It is a punishable offence; and your impudence in
showing yourselves off, at my door, makes the matter the more
unpardonable."

"I see, general, that you do not remember us."

"I do not, sir," General Trochu said, looking at him sternly. "To
the best of my belief, I never set eyes upon you before."

The numerous staff of officers--who had accompanied the generals,
and who were scattered thickly around them--gave an angry murmur;
for scarce one among them wore the coveted decoration.

"I am Ralph Barclay, and this is my brother Percy," Ralph said,
respectfully.

"Impossible!" the three generals exclaimed, simultaneously; while
there was a general exclamation of surprise, from the officers
round--for the courageous deed of the Barclays, in making their way
through the enemy's lines, had been a general topic of conversation,
and all Paris was familiar with their names.

"It is so, general," Ralph said, respectfully. "I explained to you,
at the interview that I had the honor of having with you, in the
presence of Generals Ducrot and Vinoy, that it was the false hair
which made all the difference; and that I was but little older than
my brother."

The generals no longer doubted. They all shook both boys by the
hand.

"I am astounded," General Trochu said; "astounded that two such
mere boys, as I now see you are, should have accomplished what you
have done. However, courage is of no age; and I do not think that
there are any here,"--and he turned to the officers round him--"who
will not agree with me that these ribbons are worthily placed."

"No, indeed," was the general reply; and the officers all pressed
round, to shake hands with the boys, as they accompanied the
governor back into the house.

General Trochu went at once into his private study, and told the
boys to sit down.

"Now, what can I do for you, boys?"

"Monsieur Gambetta promised us that he would write, to ask for us
to have places in the first balloon which came out, after we
arrived," Ralph said. "Owing to my brother's illness, I have not
been able to ask, before; but I am now anxious to leave as soon as
possible, especially as the doctor says that change is desirable
for my brother, and that he ought to have at least a month's
nursing, at home, before he gets on horseback again."

"A balloon will start tomorrow morning," General Trochu said, "but
if you choose to stay here, I will promise you both places upon my
own staff; or upon those of Generals Ducrot or Vinoy--either of
whom would, I am sure, be very glad to receive you."

"You are very kind, indeed, sir--very kind; and we feel greatly
honored by your offer," Ralph said, gratefully. "Had we any
intention, whatever, of remaining in the army, we should accept it,
with many thanks; but it is not so. We are English; and at the end
of the war we leave France, and go back to live at home. We entered
the ranks with no thought of winning promotion, or favor; but
simply from a sense of duty to the country to which our mother
belonged, and in which we were born.

"There will, I suppose, be a great battle fought near Orleans,
shortly; and I should like to be present, if possible--and Percy
wants rest. Therefore, general, while thanking you most warmly for
your kindness, we would rather go out."

"Very well," the general said, "it shall be as you wish. There is
certainly more chance of your seeing stirring service, in the
field, than in here. I do not blame you for your choice. I will
send a note at once to Monsieur Teclier--who has charge of the
balloon--to say that you will accompany him.

"Goodbye, lads, goodbye; you are fine young fellows, and your
father has every right to be proud of you. Tell him so, from me."

The boys rose, and bowed; but the general held out his hand, and
shook theirs warmly.

Upon leaving the room, they found several of the officers of the
staff waiting outside; who begged them to stay, and have a chat
with them. Ralph at once accepted the invitation; upon the
condition that Percy should have a sofa upon which to lie down, for
his brother was looking pale, and faint. They were most warmly
received, in a large drawing room, in which were over a dozen
officers of different ranks. Some bottles of champagne were opened,
cigars were lit and, while Percy lay quietly upon the sofa, Ralph
chatted with the officers; relating, at their earnest request,
several of their adventures in the Vosges, as well as the story of
their entering into Paris.

His new friends warmly pressed them to stop and dine with them; but
Ralph pleaded that the balloon was to start at five in the morning,
and that he wished Percy to lie down, and get a good night's sleep
before starting. The carriage had been discharged, hours since; but
one of the officers ordered a carriage of General Trochu's to the
door and, after a hearty leave taking, the boys returned to their
hotel.

"What a curious scene it is, Percy," Ralph said. "Who would think
that we were in a besieged city? Everything looks very much as
usual: the shops are open; people walk about and chat, and smoke,
and drink their coffee or absinthe, just as usual. The only
difference is, that everyone is in some sort of uniform or other.
One does not see a single able-bodied man altogether in civilian
dress; and at night the streets are very dismal, owing to there
being no gas."

"How much longer do they seem to expect to hold out, Ralph?"

"Another two months, anyhow; perhaps three, or even more. There
seems to be a large stock of everything, and everyone is put on to
a regular allowance--just enough to live upon, and no more."

"I seem to have everything I want, Ralph; lots of beef tea, and
soup, and jelly, and so on."

"Yes, Percy; but you obtain your food from the hospital. The hotel
could not furnish anything of the kind, I can tell you.

"Here we are. Now you lie down at once, and get to sleep. I will
wake you in plenty of time."

At ten minutes before the appointed time, the boys arrived at the
Northern Railway Station; which presented a very different appearance
to that which it ordinarily wore. No whistle of locomotives, or
rumble of heavy trains, disturbed the silence of the station. A smell
of varnish pervaded the whole place; and several empty balloons hung
from the roof, undergoing the process of drying. The official--who
had received them at the entrance--conducted them outside the station;
and there, in the light of some torches, a great black mass could be
seen, swaying heavily to and fro. The aeronaut was standing beside it.

"Here are the gentlemen who accompany you," the officer said to him.

"How are you, gentlemen?" he said, cheerily. "We have a fine night,
or rather morning; the wind is northerly. I suppose this is your
first ascent?"

"Yes, indeed," Ralph said, "and I own I hope it will be the last.
Have the dispatches arrived?"

"No; I have the mail bags, but not the dispatches Hush! There are a
horse's hoofs."

A few minutes afterwards a railway official brought a note, which
he delivered to Monsieur Teclier.

"Bah!" he said, in an annoyed tone, "why cannot they be punctual?"

"What is it, sir?" Ralph asked.

"A note from the general, to say that the dispatches will not be
ready for an hour. That means an hour and a half; and by that time
it will be light enough to be seen, and we shall have to run the
gauntlet. However, I suppose it cannot be helped.

"The best thing will be to pass the time as cheerfully as we can;
and that certainly will not be in waiting out here, in this bitter
cold. I have, fortunately, a few bottles of excellent wine in the
car; so I propose, gentlemen, that we go in to a fire, have a glass
of wine, and smoke a cigar, tranquilly."

Monsieur Teclier gave a few directions concerning the balloon; and
they then adjourned to a work shed near, where a good fire was
blazing, for the use of the men employed in filling the balloon.
Here the hour and a half of waiting passed pleasantly.

At a quarter to seven, the dispatches arrived. They were hastily
placed in the car, in which everything else had already been
packed. The Barclays took their place, the word was given, "Let go
all!" and, in another instant, the earth seemed to sink away from
under them, and they were rising over the tops of the houses.

The dawn had already broken, gray and uncertain. Light clouds were
floating overhead. For two or three minutes, not a word was spoken.
The scene was so wonderful--the effect so extraordinary, to the
boys--that they were unable to utter a word. Every instant, the
earth seemed to sink away from them; every instant, their view
extended farther and farther; and the distant fields, villages, and
hills seemed actually to spring into sight.

"It is wonderful!" Ralph said, at last.

"Magnificent!" Percy responded.

"I wonder whether they see us?" Ralph said.

"We shall soon know," Monsieur Teclier said. "We have crossed the
river, and over the walls already. In another five minutes, we
shall be over their lines."

There were good telescopes in the car, and the boys directed them
upon the immense panorama below them.

"What fort is that, immediately beneath us?" Ralph asked.

"That is Vanves. The village you see there is Chatillon. Look out
now, we may expect visitors, in a minute."

He had hardly spoken before they heard a faint sound, followed by
others similar.

"That is musketry," Monsieur Teclier said. "Listen."

They did listen, and heard a peculiar whistling sound; which seemed
below, around, and about them.

"That is a whistle of bullets; there is no mistaking them," Ralph
said.

"We are too low," Monsieur Teclier said. "Throw out that bundle of
newspapers; we will go up a little."

Ralph did so.

"What would be the consequence, if a bullet hit the balloon?"

"No consequence at all, except that a slight escape of gas would
take place.

"There, we are going into the clouds now, and they will not trouble
any more about us."

"I thought that we were going to have wind," Ralph said. "The
barometer at the hotel had fallen a good deal; and the clouds,
before we started, looked like it but, now we are once up here, we
do not seem to move."

In another two minutes, they passed through the layer of clouds,
and the sun shone brightly upon them. They looked down on a sea of
white mist, without a break.

"There," Ralph continued, "we are entirely becalmed. These clouds
below do not move, nor do we."

"You cannot tell that," Monsieur Teclier said. "We go in the same
direction, and at the same speed, as the clouds. It is just as if
you were in a boat, at night, upon a rapid stream. If you could see
no banks, or other stationary objects, you might believe yourself
to be standing still; while you were being drifted forward, at the
rate of twenty miles an hour. We may be traveling, now, forty or
fifty miles an hour; and as I agree with you, as to the look of the
clouds before starting, I believe that we are doing so--or, at any
rate, that we are traveling fast--but in what direction, or at what
rate, I have no means, whatever, of knowing.

"Even if we found that we moved, relatively to the clouds below us,
that would only show that this upper current was somewhat different
from that below."

"But how are we to find out about it?" Percy asked.

"We must keep a sharp lookout for rifts in the clouds. If we could
get a peep of the earth, only for a minute, it would be sufficient
to tell us the direction and, to some extent, the speed at which we
are going."

The boys, in vain, hung over the side. The sea of clouds beneath
them changed, and swelled, and rolled its masses of vapor over each
other; as if a contest of some gigantic reptiles were going on with
them.

"There must be a great deal of wind, to account for these rapid
changes of form," Percy said, after a long silence. "Suppose you
see nothing of the earth? At what time will you begin to descend?"

"In five hours from the time of starting, at twenty-five miles an
hour--supposing that the wind holds north--we should fall south of
the Loire, somewhere between Orleans and Bourges. At eleven
o'clock, then, I will let out gas; and go down below the clouds, to
see whereabouts we are. If we cannot recognize the country, or see
any river which may guide us, we shall at least see our direction
and rate of movement; and can either throw out more newspapers, and
keep on for awhile, or descend at once."

It was just ten o'clock, when Ralph gave a sudden cry.

"The sea!" he said; "the sea!"

"Impossible," Monsieur Teclier said, hanging over the side; "I can
see nothing."

"Nor can I, now," Ralph said; "but I caught a glimpse, just now,
and I will almost swear to its being the sea--though how we could
get there, I don't know."

"If it is," the aeronaut said, "the wind must be blowing half a
gale, up here; and must have changed entirely, either to the west
or south. It is too serious to hesitate; we must find out if your
eyes have not deceived you."

So saying, he pulled the valve.

"Keep a sharp lookout, and look at the compass."

"There, there!" the boys cried, as the clouds opened again, for an
instant. "It is the sea, and we are going west."

"Then we are over the Atlantic," Monsieur Teclier said.

The gas was roaring from the valve above, and the balloon sank
rapidly into the stratum of clouds. For a minute, all was silent;
and then a cry broke from them all. They were a considerable
distance from the coast, and were driving along with great
rapidity. Immediately under the balloon was an island, of no great
size and, beyond that, no land whatever was visible.

"We must descend on that island, or we are lost. It is our only
chance."

The valve was still open; and its influence was easily seen, for
the balloon sank rapidly down through the opening of the clouds.

"We shan't be down in time," the boys exclaimed, simultaneously.

It was but too evident. The balloon, when the first general view of
the situation had been obtained, was fully a mile high; and was
traveling seaward at the rate of thirty miles an hour. The island,
at the point at which they were crossing, was about three miles
wide; but they had passed fully half a mile over it, before they
obtained a fair view. In five minutes, therefore, they would be
beyond the land again; and they had to fall a mile, in that time.

"Cut the balloon to pieces," Monsieur Teclier said. "Tear it up. We
must risk everything."

The boys seized the silk, tore, and hacked at it; as did the
aeronaut. In two minutes, a vast quantity of gas had escaped from
the rents, and the silk was doubled up near the top of the net.

Illustration: The Sea! The Sea!

"That will do," Monsieur Teclier said. "We shall be down in time,
now."

The boys looked over the car and, accustomed as they had been to
face danger, were appalled.

"It is all up with us, this time," Ralph said; "we shall he
smashed, altogether."

"No," the aeronaut exclaimed, "the silk is acting as a parachute,
now, and checking the descent. Now, help me to throw out all the
bundles."

They did so, working silently and with difficulty; for the car was
oscillating so greatly that they were obliged to hold on, by its
side, not to be thrown out. The descent was less rapid than it had
been, but was still sufficiently alarming.

"Is there a chance?" Ralph said.

"We shall get off with a shaking," Monsieur Teclier said. "The car
is made of wicker work, and is as elastic as a ball. Drop the
grapnel, now; in another minute, we shall be within holding
distance."

As the balloon neared the ground, the oscillation became less
violent, and the pace diminished.

"The grapnel is on the ground," Percy said, looking over.

"Hold tight, hold tight," Monsieur Teclier said, warningly. "We
shall catch fast on to those trees."

There was a tearing and rending, a series of tremendous jerks, and
then a bump against the ground; which threw them all into the
bottom of the car, from which the next jerk threw them out on to
the ground. Fortunately the ground was even, and the soil had
lately been plowed; but the shock was so violent that it was some
minutes before either of the boys recovered consciousness. When
they did so, they found that two or three gentlemen were leaning
over them; while several peasants were endeavoring, under the
direction of Monsieur Teclier, to hold the balloon--which was
thrashing the ground with great violence.

"Thank God, you are all alive," one of the gentlemen said.

A peasant now came running up, with some water. The gentleman who
had spoken dashed a little in their faces.

"I do not think any of your limbs are broken," he said. "Do you
feel any pain?"

"I feel sore and bruised, all over," Ralph said, getting up with
some assistance; "but I don't think that anything serious is the
matter.

"How are you, Percy?"

"I don't think I am hurt seriously, Ralph; but I would rather lie
still, for the present."

Ralph explained to the gentleman--who again leaned over Percy, and
felt his pulse--that his brother had been recently ill, and was
still weak.

"Ah, that accounts for it," the gentleman said. "I do not think
that he is seriously hurt. I am a doctor; and was luckily out
riding with these gentlemen, when we happened to look up and saw
your balloon falling, like a stone, from the clouds. We thought at
first that you must be dashed to pieces; but when we saw that the
speed was being a little checked, we had some hope, and galloped in
the direction in which it was falling. We were within five hundred
yards when you fell, but we hardly expected to see anyone alive.

"Do not try to move," he said to Percy. "We sent a man for a
vehicle, and a few necessaries, before we set off ourselves."

"Where have we fallen?" Ralph asked. "We were astonished to find
ourselves over the sea, for the wind was north when we started."

"You have fallen upon Belle Isle," the gentleman said, "so the wind
must have changed materially, since you started."

Monsieur Teclier now came up.

"I must really congratulate you both," he said to Ralph, "upon your
coolness and presence of mind, in a very frightful position. The
oldest aeronaut could not have shown more nerve."

"You see," Ralph said, "we have been pretty often in danger, now;
and although the sort of danger was new, the degree of danger was
not."

The gentlemen smiled a little, as Ralph spoke. The Barclays had
come out in plain clothes, bringing their uniform in the balloon
for, in the event of the balloon having fallen among the Germans,
it was of course essential that they should be able to get off,
unobserved. They therefore looked mere lads; and their talk, of
having passed through as great a danger as that which had just made
the spectators of it feel faint and sick only to witness, appeared
to be a mere bit of exaggerated braggadocio.

A light cart now arrived, in which some mattresses had been laid;
some bandages, and other surgical necessaries had also been added,
together with a bottle of brandy.

"Fortunately we do not want any of these, except the brandy," the
surgeon said. "A little of that will do you all good.

"Now a few strips of plaster,"--this was to Monsieur Teclier, whose
face was cut a good deal--"and then you will do, till you get to
the town."

The three voyagers were now helped into the cart; for they were all
very stiff and greatly shaken, and were glad to stretch themselves
out on the mattresses, covered over with blankets, until they
reached the little town. Here they were met by the whole
population, cheering lustily. Another wagon had been sent off for
the balloon; and a number of people now set out to search for the
bags of dispatches, etc. which had been thrown out during the last
part of the descent. The Sous Prefect at the island placed his
house at once at their disposal. But they said that they would
rather go to a hotel, first, and take a hot bath--which the doctor
recommended them--but should be very happy to breakfast with him,
after that. Before going to the hotel, however, Monsieur Teclier
sent off a dispatch to Tours; saying that he had arrived at Belle
Isle with news from Paris, at a quarter to seven; and that, at that
time, everything was going on well.

He next inquired as to means of reaching the mainland. The wind was
dead off shore, and a sailing vessel would have taken a long time
to make the passage. However, there was a small steamer in harbor;
and the Sous Prefect took upon himself to engage that the fires
should be lighted, at once, and that they should cross in two or
three hours.

After reaching the hotel they were examined carefully by the
surgeon; who pronounced that no harm, whatever, had been done to
them, and that they had escaped with a few contusions, and a good
shaking.

The breakfast was quite an ovation. All the principal people of the
place were assembled; and when Monsieur Teclier entered, followed
by the young Barclays, the gentlemen clapped their hands and
cheered, and the ladies waved their handkerchiefs. After breakfast,
the Sous Prefect proposed an adjournment into the drawing room; and
now the voyagers each became the center of a knot of questioners as
to the voyage.

Monsieur Teclier--as was natural--conversed with the Sous Prefect
and other leading men of the town, while their wives and daughters
gathered round the lads. Ralph had given his name as Barclay, and
had stated that Percy was his brother; but he had said nothing as
to their being in the army, as he wished to avoid the oft-repeated
tale which the declaration of his rank was sure to necessitate. He
had even said a word to Monsieur Teclier, begging him to say the
Messieurs Barclay, instead of Captains Barclay--unless, of course,
he were actually questioned upon the matter. Percy was allowed to
sit in an easy chair, unmolested--for he was quite done up--and
Ralph talked for both, relating many details of their journey from
Paris; and the ladies examined him most minutely as to his
sensation, and especially whether he was not horribly frightened.

Among those standing in a group round the young Barclays was a
lieutenant of Mobiles; who evidently by no means approved of the
attention, and interest which they excited among the ladies; and
who had made several sarcastic remarks, during the course of the
narrative. Presently a servant came in and, walking up to Monsieur
Teclier, said that two swords had been picked up; had they fallen
from the balloon?

"Yes," Monsieur Teclier said, "they belong to those gentlemen."

The servant came up to Ralph, and told him that the swords had been
picked up. Ralph at once drew out a five-franc piece, and asked the
servant to give it to the man who had found them.

"Ah," said the officer of Mobiles, with a scarcely concealed sneer,
"so you have come out from Paris to serve? I should have imagined
that there were plenty of opportunities to distinguish yourselves,
there. However, you must have had good interest, to get places in a
balloon."

"We have fair interest," Ralph said calmly, "as apparently you
have, yourself. Each of us have, you see, used our interest in the
way most pleasing to us. We have used ours to enable us to go with
the army in the field, instead of being forced to remain inactive
in Paris. You, upon your part, have used yours to get away from the
army in the field, and to remain inactive, here."

These words were spoken with such an air of boyish frankness, and
an apparent innocence of any desire to say anything unpleasant,
that everyone within hearing was ready to burst with laughter at
Ralph's hit--which happened to be thoroughly well deserved.

The officer turned white; and would have burst out into a violent
answer, had not a couple of friends at his elbow begged him to
restrain himself. The boy evidently meant nothing; besides, he was
only a boy, and what could be done with him? Besides which, again,
one of them put in, though he was only a boy, he looked an awkward
customer. This latter argument weighed more with the lieutenant
than any other.

Ralph was not yet seventeen, and looked much younger than a French
lad of the same age would do; but in point of size he was
considerably taller than the officer of Mobiles, and his broad
shoulders gave promise of unusual strength. There was, too, a look
of fearlessness and decision about his face which marked him
emphatically as an "awkward customer." Seeing this, the lieutenant
burst into a constrained fit of laughter; and said that it was
"very good--really very good, for a boy."

Everyone else was so occupied in the endeavor to stifle their
laughter that the lieutenant again took up the part of questioner.

"I suppose, young gentleman, that you come from Saint Cyr or the
Polytechnic; although I should hardly imagine that you have
completed your studies, in either of them?"

"I have not the advantage of having been at either of the military
academies," Ralph said quietly. "Have you?"

Again there was a laugh and, by this time, most of those in the
room had gathered round.

"May I ask to which arm of the service you belong?" the officer
asked, with difficulty keeping his temper.

"You may ask, certainly; and I have no objection to answer," Ralph
said. "My brother and myself both belong to the general staff."

The officer looked surprised.

"Have you served already, sir, or has your service yet to
commence?"

"I have seen some little service already," Ralph said.

"May I ask what general has had the benefit of your assistance?"
the lieutenant said, with an affectation of politeness.

At this moment the Sous Prefect pushed forward.

"Silence, sir!" he said to the officer. "There has been too much of
this. These gentlemen have performed a great service to France, and
are my guests; and I look upon it as a personal attack upon
myself."

"Excuse me, sir," Ralph said, rising from his seat for the first
time. "I am grateful to you, for your interference in my behalf;
but I can make no claim, upon the present occasion, to have
rendered any service to France. I had nothing to do with the
dispatches, nothing to do with the balloon. I came out as a
passenger, upon my private desire and pleasure, at the risk of
course of being killed. Undoubtedly I nearly was killed; and I look
upon the entertainment that you have given us as a kind
congratulation upon our not having broken our necks.

"Kindly, then, permit me to answer this officer for myself. I think
I can hold my own."

The Sous Prefect shrugged his shoulders; to signify that, in that
case, he washed his hands of the whole business.

"Now, sir," Ralph said, "I will answer the question. The general
upon whose staff my brother and myself served was General
Cambriels."

The officer shrugged his shoulders.

"Since that time," Ralph said, more sternly than he had yet spoken,
"my brother and myself have had the offer of posts upon the staffs
of General Trochu, General Ducrot, and General Vinoy."

"Oh, come now," the lieutenant said, with a laugh of derision,
"that is a little too strong. Imagine a scramble upon the part of
Trochu, Ducrot, and Vinoy for the services of these very young
officers."

This time the speaker had the laugh with him, for no one could
believe that Ralph could be speaking the truth. Ralph grew a little
pale.

"Monsieur Teclier," he said, "do me the favor to introduce my
brother and myself to this lieutenant of Mobiles, in due form."

The matter had now become so serious that there was a dead hush in
the room, while Monsieur Teclier advanced. He had once or twice
already made a motion of coming forward, to take Ralph's part; but
a motion from the latter had arrested him. He was aware of the
furore which the gallant and successful expedition of the Barclays
had created, in Paris; and he had been greatly struck and pleased
by the calmness of the boys in a great--and to them altogether
new--peril. He now advanced slowly.

"May I ask your name, sir, and regiment?" he said to the officer.

"Lieutenant Desmaret, of the Mobiles of Vienne," the officer said,
frowning.

"Lieutenant Desmaret of the Mobiles of Vienne, I beg to introduce
you to--"

"No, sir," the officer said, passionately, "you introduce them to
me, not me to them. The inferior rank is introduced to the
superior."

"I know perfectly well what I am doing, sir, and require no lesson
from you," Monsieur Teclier said, quietly. "I repeat, I introduce
you--Lieutenant Desmaret, of the Mobiles of Vienne--to Captain
Ralph Barclay, and Captain Percy Barclay, staff officers, and
commanders of the legion of honor."

There was a dead silence of surprise throughout the room.

"Is it possible?" the Sous Prefect said, coming forward again,
"that these gentlemen are the Captains Barclay, of whom the Paris
papers--which we received three days since--were full, as having
passed through the German lines, and having swam the Seine at
night, under fire? They had previously been decorated for great
acts of bravery, in the Vosges; and were now made commanders of the
Legion.

"Is it possible that you are those officers, gentlemen?"

"It is so, monsieur," Ralph said. "We had the good fortune to
distinguish ourselves but, as we did not wish to make ourselves
conspicuous by new uniforms, and new ribbons, we have put aside our
uniforms until required for service; and asked Monsieur Teclier to
be silent upon the subject. Of course, we could not guess that,
upon our way, we should meet so rude and unmannerly a person as
Monsieur the Lieutenant of the Mobiles of Vienne."

The lieutenant stamped his feet furiously.

"You shall answer to me, sir," he said, "for this insult."

"Stop, sir," Ralph said, in a steady voice--which silenced those
who were about to interfere. "You have asked me questions, with
rare freedom. I have answered them. I am now going to give you my
opinion of you, and my advice to you, equally freely.

"If you mean, by what you have said, that you are going to
challenge me to a duel, I tell you at once that I shall not accept
it. I have, sir," and he raised his head proudly, "proved my
courage; and France has recognized it, in the rank and honor she
has given me. We English--for I am English--do not fight duels.

"But I will make an exception. When you, Monsieur Desmaret, come to
me decorated as I am; or having, in any signal way, proved your
courage and devotion to France, I will meet you. At present I see
that you--an officer in the French army, well in health--are
staying here in idleness, instead of being in the field. Go and
fight the enemies of France, first, Monsieur Desmaret; and after
that talk, if you like, about fighting her friends."

There was a loud exclamation of applause and satisfaction, at these
words, from those who had been looking on at this unpleasant scene;
and the Sous Prefect warmly shook Ralph by the hand.

"Well said, Captain Barclay; well said, indeed. I believe I may say
that everyone here agrees with you, entirely. There are too many
officers continually absent from the army upon 'private affairs;'
and those of Monsieur Desmaret have taken longer to arrange than
usual, for he has been staying here for five weeks now.

"However," he said, significantly, "he will hardly prolong his stay
in the island.

"Enough upon that subject," he said, as Monsieur Desmaret left the
room, pale and furious. "I am glad--I am proud, sir--to make the
acquaintance of yourself and your brother; and I can really, at
heart, feel grateful to that fellow, for having forced you to
declare who you are. Had he not done so, you would have left
without our knowing that we had you among us."

There was now quite an ovation to the boys. The ladies, especially,
would hardly conceive that it was possible that these quiet-looking
young fellows had performed feats of such daring. They now begged
to hear the details of the adventures but, at this moment, word was
brought that steam was up, and the vessel ready to start; and as
Monsieur Teclier was most anxious to get on, and as Percy was quite
done up, Ralph was glad to seize the excuse, and to make his
apologies for leaving at once. The Sous Prefect, all the breakfast
party, and a large proportion of the population of the little place
accompanied them thence to the landing place; and then, amidst
hearty cheering, the little steamer--carrying the voyagers, the
dispatches, and the remains of the balloon--started for the
mainland.



Chapter 18: A Day Of Victory.


After traveling all night, the Barclays arrived at Tours at ten
o'clock, on the morning of the day after that upon which they had
left Belle Isle. At the station they said adieu to Monsieur
Teclier; who went at once to Gambetta, with the dispatches; while
the Barclays turned away to Colonel Tempe's lodgings and, to their
great surprise as well as delight, found him in.

The colonel gave quite a shout of joy, when he saw them.

"Ah, my brave boys, my brave boys, I am glad to see you," and he
took them in his arms, and kissed them as heartily and as earnestly
as if he had been their father.

"I am glad to see you," he repeated, wiping his eyes with his
handkerchief. "I was sure you would do it. I never really
doubted--I told Gambetta it was as good as done--but I could not
help being nervous, horribly nervous; and when the news came, five
days ago, by the balloon which left three days after you got in, I
almost lost my head. I laughed, I cheered, I shook everyone by the
hand--ma foi, I don't know what I did, I was so pleased.

"Your Irishman was the funniest thing. He was not surprised, or
pleased, or even interested. I explained to him over and over
again, thinking he did not understand; but he only shook his head
and said, in his strange English:

"'Sure, colonel, I never doubted them for a moment. Aren't they
clever enough to decaive the ould gintleman, himself? It was as
sartin as peas is peas that they would slip in, somehow; and if
they did get into a scrape, that they were the boys for getting
themselves out of it. It's the coming out I am afraid of.'

"I looked surprised, naturally enough, and he went on:

"'And doesn't your honor know that they are talking of coming out
in a balloon? Only to think of it, colonel, flying through the
clouds, shut up in a big ball of silk! It's just flying in the face
of Providence. What's the use of scheming, or of courage? You can't
decaive a cloud, though it's as aisy as dancing to take in a
German. When you tell me, colonel, that they're safe out of the
balloon; then I'll shout, as loud as you like.'

"Yesterday, when the telegram from Teclier came--saying that he had
fallen in Belle Isle, had had a narrow escape of being driven into
the sea, but had avoided that by running the risk of breaking his
neck--and mentioned that you were with him; and had, like himself,
escaped with a few bruises, Tim went nearly out of his mind with
joy. He has been cleaning his sword and accouterments, this
morning.

"I am off tomorrow, and you are only just come in time to see the
fighting.

"But you are looking ill, Percy; far too ill for service, just at
present."

"Yes, he has been very ill," Ralph said. "He had a touch of brain
fever, the night we got into Paris; and was delirious for two days.
He has picked up quickly, but that balloon descent was not the
thing for an invalid. The doctor in Paris ordered a month, at
least, of absolute rest; and has given him a sick certificate."

"He needs rest, certainly," Colonel Tempe said, "but he cannot go
home, at present. The Prussians hold Dijon in considerable
strength. There are far too many people in the town who have heard
of your connection with the franc tireurs. Some spy or other would
be certain to peach."

"Yes," Ralph assented, "we have been talking it over, and quite
agree that Percy could not go back as--although he would willingly
run the risk, himself--it would bring such serious consequences
upon them at home, if he were found there, that he has determined
to go down to Nice for a while, and rejoin as soon as he gains
strength again."

"Yes," Colonel Tempe said, "but above all things, do not let him be
in a hurry.

"You have gone through an immense deal, Percy; and have done a
great deal more than your share for France, and have gained great
honor and credit. Be content with that. You might ruin your
constitution for life, by further exertions."

"But about yourself colonel, where are you going?"

"I am starting, tomorrow, to join General Chanzy's staff."

"I have not heard his name before," Ralph said.

"He commands the Sixteenth Corps. He has not had much opportunity
yet, but he is a good soldier. If you like, Ralph, I will go with
you at once, to Freysinet, and get you attached with me."

"Thank you very much, colonel. I should like it of all things."

"Come along, then; Freysinet is in his office."

Percy accompanied them, to obtain a signature to his leave of
absence, and left next day for the south. An hour later, Colonel
Tempe and Ralph were in the train, upon their way to Orleans--Tim,
again in his hussar uniform, and half wild with delight--being,
with Colonel Tempe's orderly, in charge of the horses.

Colonel Tempe, as Ralph was not mounted, had offered to lend him
one of his own; but Ralph had refused it, unless the colonel would
sell it, as he said he should be always afraid of getting the
animal shot, unless it was his own. Seeing that Ralph was
determined upon this score, the colonel had reluctantly agreed to
take the sum he had paid for the horse. Ralph's only other purchase
in Tours was a fur greatcoat.

"And now, colonel," Ralph said, when the train had started, "we
have time to talk--tell me, what chances have we of success?"

"Between ourselves, Barclay," Colonel Tempe said, "I do not think that
our prospects are brilliant. In my opinion, Aurelles de Paladine--or
rather Gambetta, for it was he who ordered the advance--made an immense
mistake in attacking Von der Tann when he did. Of course, he drove him
back, and took Orleans; but what was the use of that? Absolutely nothing.
He was not strong enough to push his advantage; but the movement served
to draw the attention of the Germans to his force, and Prince Frederick
Charles--who was marching south from Metz--has been hurried towards
Orleans, and has now united his forces with those of Von der Tann and
the Duke of Mecklenburg; so that, although we have received large
reinforcements--for the whole of the army of the east is up, now--the
Germans have been equally reinforced, and are quite as strong as we are.

"We ought never to have attacked, until we were ready to follow up
our advantage at once. It was nothing short of madness; yet what
can you expect, with a civilian acting as commander-in-chief? I
believe that we shall make a tough fight of it, but I can hardly
hope that our new levies can prove a match for the veterans of
Frederick Charles."

"When do we begin, do you think?"

"In two or three days at latest. You have not seen a great battle
yet, Barclay."

"No," Ralph said, "nor shall I see much of it, now; for the country
is so perfectly flat that it will be impossible to get anything
like a general view of it. Do you know, colonel, I feel a good deal
more comfortable than I did during my last journey between Tours
and Orleans; for although I thought that we should manage, somehow,
to get through into Paris; still, I could not conceal from myself
that it was a very serious undertaking.

"How bitterly cold it is."

"It is, indeed," Colonel Tempe assented. "Being upon the staff we
shall, no doubt, manage to get a roof of some sort over our heads;
but for the sentries it must be terrible. The tents d'abri--if the
men can scrape away the snow, and get an armful of straw to lie
on--are snug enough; the men lie close together, and share their
blankets."

Half an hour after arriving at Orleans, Colonel Tempe and Ralph
were riding out upon the north road; followed by Tim Doyle, and the
colonel's orderly. The frost was keen, but the afternoon was bright
and clear; and as they cantered along the road--beaten flat and
hard, with the enormous traffic--their spirits rose, and Ralph
regretted that Percy was not there to share in his enjoyments.

Colonel Tempe shook his head when the wish was mentioned.

"No, no, Barclay, it is far better as it is. You are young enough,
in all conscience, for this iron work of war; your brother has done
far more than a man's share already, and will find it difficult
enough to go back as a schoolboy. He has escaped thus far, almost
by a miracle; but he was looking shaken, and worn. I am glad that
he is not here."

Three hours' riding took them to the little village near which
General Chanzy was quartered. The Sixteenth Corps lay to the left
of the French army, facing the Germans; who held the line of
villages of Guillonville, Terminiers, and Conier. It was already
dark when they arrived. The general's quarters were in a chateau, a
quarter of a mile distant from the village. When they reached it,
they were at once shown in; and found General Chanzy leaning over a
map, which he was trying to examine by the light of a solitary
candle.

"How are you, colonel?" he asked, shaking hands with him
heartily--for they were old friends. "I am very glad you have come.
There is plenty to do, and few to do it; at least, very few indeed
who know anything about their work.

"Who have you here?"

"Allow me to introduce Captain Barclay, general. Freysinet has
attached him to your staff. He served with me in the Vosges,
distinguished himself greatly, and won his lieutenancy and the
Cross. Since then he has been into Paris. No doubt you saw the
account of his swimming the Seine, with his brother."

"Of course, of course," General Chanzy said, warmly. "I am very
glad to have you with me, Captain Barclay. You will not be long
before you are at work, for the affair is just beginning. I have
just got news that there has been some sharp fighting, today, at
Beaurre la Rolande."

"With what results, sir?" Colonel Tempe asked.

"We gained a great deal of ground, in the morning," General Chanzy
said; "but they brought up reinforcements, and no material
advantage is claimed.

"And now," the general went on, "as to quarters, you must shift for
yourselves. Beds are out of the question; but you will find some
empty rooms upstairs and, fortunately, there is a little straw in
the stable. The outhouses are extensive, and you will be able to
get your horses under shelter. I should advise you to see about
them, at once. In an hour we shall have something to eat. I cannot
call it dining.

"Captain Barclay, will you kindly see to these matters? I shall be
glad to go through this map, at once, with Colonel Tempe."

Ralph at once obeyed the order, much pleased with his new
commander. General Chanzy was a man to inspire confidence in all
those who served under his orders. He was a young man, for a
general; but was very bald, and had a quiet and thoughtful air
which made him look older than he was. He was a man of few words;
and had a sharp, steady look which seemed to master, at once, the
important points of anything that was said to him. When he smiled,
the whole of his face seemed to light up.

"Just the man to serve under," Ralph thought to himself. "Cool,
self possessed, and with an eye that will see a weak point in a
moment.

"Is my orderly still at the door?" he asked a soldier in the
passage.

"Yes, sir; two orderlies, with the four horses."

"Can you get me a light of any sort?" Ralph asked. "I want to go
round to the stables, and get the horses somewhere in shelter."

"I will get you a lantern, sir," the man said. "But I fear that you
will find the place all crowded; but of course, you can turn some
of them out."

The orderly accompanied Ralph, with a lantern, across the yard; Tim
and Colonel Tempe's orderly following. Round the yard were many
cavalry horses, tied to pegs; driven in close by the wall of the
stables, so as to give them some little shelter from the intense
cold. The poor animals stood, side touching side, for warmth.

The orderly opened the door of one of the stables; and Ralph
entered, and looked round by the light of the lantern. The horses
were ranged together in the stalls, as closely as they could stand;
while the rest of the area was completely covered with cavalry
soldiers, some sitting up smoking and talking, others already
wrapped in their cloaks and stretched at full length.

A sergeant, seeing the marks of Ralph's rank, at once rose to his
feet and saluted.

"I have two horses here, sergeant; my own, and one of Colonel
Tempe's. General Chanzy told me I should find room here, but it
does not look like it."

"I will turn two of these horses out, sir," the sergeant said.

"Is there no other place?" Ralph asked.

"They are all as full as this, sir."

"There is a little shed, down at the end of the garden," one of the
men said. "I noticed it this afternoon. The door was locked. I
looked in, and it seemed a cow shed. I don't know whether anyone is
there. I will go down with you, sir, and show you the way, if you
like."

The shed was soon found, and the soldier forced the door open with
his sword bayonet. The place had, as he supposed, been a cow shed;
but the walls and roof were in good order, and the ground hard.

"This will do first rate, your honor," Tim said. "There is room for
all four horses, if they squeeze a bit; and for Jacques here, and
myself. I suppose, your honor, there will be no harm in knocking up
some of this woodwork, to make a bit of a fire? It's too dark to
look for sticks, tonight; and they would be so damp, from the snow,
that the smoke would choke the bastes entirely--to say nothing of
us."

"Well, under the circumstances, Tim, I agree with you; but don't do
more damage than you can help, and only make enough fire to make
the water hot for coffee, and so on. You will be warm enough, here,
with the four horses. You must go and see if you can get them some
forage."

"But how about your honor's and the colonel's dinner?" Tim asked.
"I haven't drawn rations; but I have got plenty of bread and meat,
in the haversack. I got them at Tours, for I thought there wouldn't
be much to be had here."

"Thank you for thinking of it, Tim, but we dine with the general.
When you have got the horses comfortable, and lit your fire, one of
you bring up our cloaks to the house. Keep the horses' saddles on,
with loosened girths. We may want them suddenly, at any moment of
the night."

The next morning, General Chanzy said to Ralph:

"I should recommend you, Captain Barclay, to spend an hour studying
this map; and getting up, from these lists, the exact position of
our forces. When you think you have mastered them, ride through the
whole of the positions occupied by the corps and, without exposing
yourself, gain as good an idea as you can of the country beyond.
Tomorrow you may have to ride straight to certain points, with
orders; and it may save important time if you are thoroughly
acquainted with the ground, and position."

After a couple of hours' study of the staff map, so as to know
every little by-lane and hamlet, for ten miles on either side,
Ralph mounted his horse and went for a long ride. When he returned,
Colonel Tempe told him that General Chanzy was gone over to General
D'Aurelle's quarters, to arrange the details; and that the attack
was to take place the next day.

At five o'clock the general returned; and Colonel Tempe and the
chief of his staff were occupied with him, for two hours, in
drawing up the specific orders for each corps. Colonel Tempe had
not been out, all day; and he therefore offered his horse to Ralph,
in order that Ralph's own might be fresh for the next day.

Four staff officers set off in various directions with the
dispatches; and Ralph congratulated himself upon having been upon
the ground he was now traversing once before that day as, even with
that previous acquaintance, it was hard work to find the way
through the darkness, from the snow altering the general appearance
and apparent distance of each object. Thanks, however, to his ride
of the morning, he reached the various corps to which he was
dispatched without any serious mistakes in his way; and got back to
headquarters by eleven o'clock.

Tim was waiting up for him.

"Sure, your honor, and it's a mighty cold night. I've got a pot of
coffee on the boil in the stables."

"Thank you, Tim. I will just go in and make my report to the
general, and then go off to bed. Bring the coffee into my room. We
shall be up early, for we fight tomorrow."

"Do we, now?" Tim said, admiringly. "And it's about time; for we
should be all frozen into skeletons, if we were to wait here doing
nothing much longer. Bad luck to the weather, says I."

At ten o'clock the next morning the French troops were in motion,
the objects of their attack being the villages of Guillonville,
Terminiers, and Conier. The country was extremely flat and, for an
hour, they saw no bodies of the enemy. A few videttes, only, were
seen. These galloped off hastily, the moment they caught sight of
the heavy masses of the French debouching from the wood. Ralph was
riding, with the rest of the staff, behind the general.

"That is Terminiers," Colonel Tempe said, pointing to a house or
two at a distance, on the plain.

As he spoke, a puff of smoke came from the houses.

"There is the first shell," was the general exclamation.

In another instant the missile burst near some infantry, at two
hundred yards to the right.

"Take orders to that battery, there, to take position on that
little eminence to the left there, Captain Barclay. Tell them to
keep the guns a little back among the trees, and to open sharply
upon Terminiers."

It was just twelve o'clock now and, in five minutes, there was a
roar of cannon along the whole length of both lines. For half an
hour the combat continued a mere artillery duel. The shells fell in
all directions; cutting the dry branches from the trees, tearing up
the ground, and leaving deep black gashes in the white snow;
crashing through a wall or, occasionally, exploding among the
troops.

"Their fire is slackening a little," General Chanzy said. "It is
time to be pushing forward.

"Lieutenant Porcet, take my orders to the colonel of that regiment
of Mobiles to advance at once, covered by skirmishers.

"Captain Barclay, order that Line regiment to support.

"Captain Maillot, order the artillery to concentrate their fire
upon the village, and to advance by batteries."

The orders were carried out, and the Mobiles advanced to within
five hundred yards of the village. The musketry fire was now
tremendous, and the Mobiles wavered. The Germans were entrenched in
the gardens and walled enclosures of the village. Every wall, every
house was loopholed; and rough barricades had been erected, to fill
up the breaks in the walls.

General Chanzy was sitting on horseback, a short distance in the
rear of the fighting. Mounted officers rode up and left again,
every moment, with news of the battle going on near the other
villages.

"Ride up and order the Mobiles to lie down, Captain Barclay; then
tell the colonel of the Line to bring his troops up in line with
them. Let them lie down, also.

"Tempe, have the two reserve batteries of artillery brought up, at
full speed, to silence that battery in the wood to the left of the
village. Its fire crosses the ground we have to pass over."

Ten minutes more of continuous cannonading, and then it was
apparent that the Prussian fire was weakening.

"Now, Barclay, tell them to charge, at the double."

Ralph set spurs to his horse but, just as he reached the troops, a
shell exploded just under his horse. Ralph heard a crash; felt a
shock, and a whirling through the air; and then fell heavily upon
the ground. Believing he was dangerously wounded, he made no effort
to get to his feet; but sat up and shouted to the colonel of the
Mobiles, who were not thirty yards from him:

"The Mobiles and Line are to charge, at the double, and to carry
the village with the bayonet."

The Mobiles had flinched a little before, as they had advanced with
the deadly fire of shot and shell; but they did not flinch now, and
leaping upon their feet, with a cry of "Vive la France!" the
Mobiles and Line soldiers literally made a race of it for the
village.

Ralph, after having given his message, lay back again, with a sort
of bewildered sensation. A minute afterwards he heard a rapid
galloping; and Colonel Tempe rode up, followed by Tim Doyle.

"Are you badly hurt, my dear boy?" the former exclaimed, as he
leaped from his horse. "The general himself asked me to come, and
see after you."

"I don't quite know, colonel," Ralph answered. "I feel, at present,
as if my head was knocked in, and my legs shot off."

"You had a tremendous shake," said Colonel Tempe--who was, with
Tim, by this time kneeling beside him--"and your horse is blown
almost to pieces; but I don't think, as far as I can see, at
present, that you are hit anywhere. Here, take a sip of brandy. It
will bring you round; you are stunned a little, you know.

"There, you are better now," he said; as Ralph, having drunk a
little brandy, sat up and looked round.

"I am all right, I think, colonel; don't stay any longer. Tim will
wait here. I don't think I was stunned, else I could not have given
the order. No, I imagine I had a near escape of breaking my neck.

"Please, don't wait. I shall be all right again, in five minutes. I
will take Tim's horse, and join you again. Tim will pick up a
musket--there are plenty about--and do a little fighting on his own
account."

Colonel Tempe jumped on his horse, and rode off. In a minute or
two, Ralph was able to mount Tim's horse, and ride slowly up to the
village, where a heavy musketry fire was still going on; but as no
shell or shot were now coming in the direction in which Ralph was,
it was evident that the French had taken the position, and had
opened fire upon the retreating Germans. The fight still raged,
both to the right and left; but in another quarter of an hour it
slackened also, here, and the three villages were all in the hands
of the French.

In a quarter of an hour, Ralph felt quite himself again and, seeing
one of his fellow staff officers gallop up, he asked him where he
could find the general.

"He is at Guillonville. But he will be here, in a few minutes. The
advance is to continue. We are to carry the villages of Monneville,
Villepani, and Faverolles."

In half an hour, the troops were again moved forward; but this time
the resistance was more obstinate than before, the Prussians having
received reinforcements. Hour after hour the fight continued. The
short winter day faded, and the gathering darkness was favorable to
the assailants and, at half-past five, they carried the villages by
assault.

The scene was a wild one. It was perfectly dark, save from the
incessant flashes of rifle and cannon. In the streets of the
village men fought, hand to hand. Some of the Germans, taking
refuge in the houses, refused to surrender. Others threw down their
arms, and cried for quarter. Shouts, screams, curses, cheers, the
explosion of firearms and the clash of steel mingled, in one wild
and confusing din. When it ceased, the village remained in the
hands of the French; and the Prussians retreated, sullenly, into
the darkness.

There was no rest for the staff, for hours--they were galloping
about, carrying orders--but at last Ralph returned to Villepani, at
which village General Chanzy had his headquarters. At the door of
the cottage which was pointed out, as that in which the general
was, Tim was waiting.

"Faith, your honor, if this is war, I've had enough of it."

"What is it, Tim?"

"What is it, your honor! Here have we been fighting all day, and
not a blessed thing to eat or to drink. No one knows what became of
the wagons; and here we are, without as much as a biscuit to
ate--and in such weather as this, too; and another battle in the
morning."

"Ay, Tim, it's bad enough, but think of the thousands of poor
fellows lying wounded, and freezing to death, on the snow."

"I do think of them, Mister Ralph; and I've been at work, ever
since we got in here, carrying the poor creatures in from the
gardens and fields. There is not a house here that's not full, from
the top to the bottom.

"Have you lost the wallet off my saddle, your honor?"

"No, Tim; why should I do that?"

"I don't know why you should, sir, but I have been making up my
mind that you would, all along; either that you would have had it
shot off, or that you'd throw it away to aise the horse. Now, we
shall do."

"Why, what's in the wallet, Tim?"

"Just a big chunk of bread, your honor It was left on the table
when you had breakfast, this morning; and I said to myself, it may
be useful before night, and so just slipped it into the wallet."

In another minute the bread was taken out, and cut into two
portions.

"I would not eat it all tonight, Tim, if I were you," Ralph said.
"It is not by any means too large for supper, but a mouthful in the
morning will be a great comfort. I suppose there is no chance of
getting anything for the horse?"

"Trust me, your honor One of the first things I did, when the
firing was over, was to pop into a stable and to get a big armful
of hay; and take it out and hide it away, under a hedge. It was
lucky I did; for the minute afterwards we could not have got a
handful, if we had offered a Napoleon for it."

"Where are you going to sleep, Tim?"

"Under that same hedge, Mister Ralph. The horse always lies down;
and he's so tired he won't break the rule, tonight; so I'll give
him half the hay for his supper and, when he's laid down, I'll put
the rest between him and the hedge, and roll myself up in my cloak
and--what with the cloak, and the horse, and the hedge, and the
hay, not to mention the supper--I shall be as warm as a lord; and
it's a comfort to think that there will be something to eat, both
for the baste and myself, in the morning."

"Well, good night then, Tim."

"Good night, your honor."

If Tim Doyle slept, there were not many of his comrades that did, on
that night. The cold was fierce, in the extreme; and those who could
obtain wood of any kind made fires, and crouched over them.  Others
lay on the ground, and huddled together for warmth. Others dragged
their feet wearily backwards and forwards. Many and deep were the
curses poured out upon the intendance--or commissariat--whose utter
incompetence, throughout the war, was one of the great reasons of
the continuous bad fortune of the French.

When Ralph entered the room, he was saluted by a variety of voices.
The only light was a dim lantern. The room was half full of
officers; some dozing in corners, others sitting round the table,
smoking.

"Where is the general?"

"He has got a room, about half the size of this, for the use of
himself, Tempe, and the chief of the staff. They are writing; and
will go on writing all night, I expect. These are the only two
rooms not full of wounded in the whole village.

"You had a narrow escape, today. We have had our share of
casualties. Poor Maillet and Porcet are both killed, and we have
three wounded. Were you hurt at all?"

"No," Ralph said; "but I was tremendously shaken, and feel stiff
all over. I will lie down by the wall, here, and get a few hours'
sleep."

And so ended the 1st of December.



Chapter 19: Down At Last.


At half-past eight o'clock the next morning horsemen came dashing
in, with the news that the Germans were advancing in force.
Stiff--many half frozen, and half starved--it was an absolute
relief, to the men, to have some break to the monotony of cold and
hunger. They were already assembled under arms and, in a few
minutes, the artillery upon both sides was at work.

"I fear you will see that we shall be beaten, today," Colonel Tempe
said to Ralph as they mounted. "The men are worn out with hunger;
disgusted at the wretched mismanagement, which sends them into a
battle without having had food for twenty-four hours, and with no
prospect whatever of it for another twenty-four. Besides, we ought
to have been reinforced.

"Our line is too long, Ralph. There is neither direction nor
management."

For a time the French held their position well, against the
tremendous artillery fire which was maintained upon them.
Gradually, however, the Germans pushed their heavy masses of troops
forwards; and the French reserves had already been brought up.

Several of the mobile regiments showed signs of wavering. General
Chanzy rode backwards and forwards along the front of the position;
exposing himself recklessly, in order to give courage and
confidence to his men. Cigar after cigar he smoked, as tranquilly
as if sitting in an armchair, a hundred miles away from the din of
battle. At last, after exchanging a few words with the generals of
brigade, he called Ralph--who happened to be the only aide-de-camp
unemployed--up to him.

"Captain Barclay," he said, "ride at once to General Sonis. Tell him that
my division--not having received the promised reinforcements--must fall
back. He has already sent, to say he is hard pressed. Ask him to hold his
ground, if possible, for another half hour; by which time I shall have
fallen back towards the position I left yesterday morning--but will draw
rather to my right, so as to keep our connections nearer, and to afford
him help, if necessary."

Without a word Ralph turned his horse, and galloped off at full
speed. A quarter of an hour's riding, and he rode up to General
Sonis; who was just calling upon several regiments, among whom were
the Papal Zouaves, to make a charge.

This fine body of men--the Papal Zouaves--acquired, and justly
acquired, more glory than any other French corps throughout the
war. They behaved, upon every occasion, magnificently. In the first
fight at Orleans, upon this 2nd of December, and afterwards at the
battle of Le Mans, the Zouaves of Charette fought with the courage
of lions. A great many of them were men of good family. All were
inspired by the ardor and spirit of their chief. Their uniform was
similar in cut to that of the French Zouaves; but was of a quiet
gray color, trimmed with a little red braid.

Ralph rode up, and delivered his message.

"I am going to carry that position, sir," the general said; "and in
that case I shall not have to fall back at all, and General Chanzy
can close up on me--throwing back his left, so as not to be
outflanked. If you wait a few minutes, you will see the result of
this charge.

"Now, gentlemen."

So saying he rode, with his staff, in front of the line.

"Forward, men!" he shouted, drawing his sword.

Ralph had naturally fallen in with the staff, and was now able to
see and admire the daring of the proposed movement which, if
successful, would have changed the fortunes of the day. Upon an
eminence, some three-quarters of a mile distant, were several
batteries of artillery; supported by a large body of infantry, who
extended to within about half the distance between the French line
and their own reserves. The fire was terrific--so terrific that
several of the French regiments refused to advance. Others started;
but withered away so fast, under the deadly fire, that only two
corps--besides the Zouaves--persevered to the end.

The Zouaves advanced at a double, but with as much coolness as if
on parade. They did not fire a shot, but made straight at the
Prussian infantry. As they approached the enemy's line, General
Sonis and his staff fell in between the Zouaves, and a regiment of
Mobiles next to them, in order not to interfere with the fire.

"For God and France!" Charette shouted, as he led the charge; and
the whole regiment responded, as one man, "For God and France!"

So fierce was this onslaught that the Prussian infantry refused to
face it, and fell back upon their supports. Still the Zouaves
rushed on, and again the Prussians fell back; but the assault was
growing more and more hopeless. The Zouaves were unsupported, save
by a few hundred men. The other regiments were far in the rear. The
shot and shell were mowing lanes through them. An army was in
front.

At last, they halted. Colonel Charette marched on in front, waving
his sword. General Sonis, with his staff, again rode forward. It
was heroic, but it was heroic madness.

Again the Zouaves advanced. Again a storm of shell poured upon
them, and then a regiment of German cavalry swept down. There was a
crash. Charette and his officers disappeared, beneath the hoofs of
the cavalry. General Sonis and his staff went down like straw
before them; but the Zouaves stood firm, fired a volley into them;
and then--having lost eight hundred men, in that desperate attempt
to retrieve the fortunes of the day--the remainder retreated,
sullenly, with their faces to the foe.

Ralph Barclay, when the cavalry swept upon them, had shot the first
two of his foes with his revolver; and had then been cut down by a
tall German dragoon, just at the moment that his horse fell dead,
shot through the head. Ralph had a momentary vision of gleaming
hoofs above him; and then he remembered nothing more, until he came
to himself, hours afterwards.

His first sensation was that of intense cold. He endeavored to
rise, but was powerless to move hand or foot. He lay quiet for a
few minutes; and then made another effort, but with a similar want
of success. This time, however, he felt that his limbs would have
moved, had they not been fastened down by some weight.

He now concentrated all his strength upon one arm. It yielded
suddenly and, when it was free, he was able to turn partly round,
so as to feel what it was that had confined it. He found that his
own blood, and that of the horse, had frozen his arm fast to the
ground. It required a considerable effort before he could get
altogether free, for he was stiff with the cold. Putting his sword
up to his head, he found that he had been saved by the very means
which were now giving him so much pain. The intense cold had frozen
the blood, as it flowed; and stanched it more effectively than any
surgeon could have done.

Ralph--after rubbing his hands and arms, to restore
circulation--now endeavored, by the remains of twilight, to see
where he was, and how he had been saved. His horse lay next to him,
and almost covering him. The poor animal had fallen on to its back;
or had rolled over, afterwards and, in the latter case, it was
fortunate indeed, for Ralph, that it had not taken another half
turn. Had it done so, it would have crushed him to death. As it
was, it had reached to within an inch or two of him; partly
concealing him from sight, protecting him from the cold, and also
greatly diminishing his chance of being trampled upon by cavalry
passing over.

A short distance off, Ralph could see parties with lanterns; and
one of them seemed approaching. Far in his rear, he could hear an
occasional shot; and it rushed across his mind, at once, that the
French had been defeated, and were falling back upon Orleans. These
lights, therefore, must be in the hands of Germans.

The thought that a German prison awaited him roused Ralph from his
inactivity. It flashed across his mind that, as he had escaped
before, they would take care and give him but little chance of
escaping again and--although stiff, and bruised from head to foot;
half frozen, and faint from loss of blood--the hope of liberty
roused him to new exertion. With some effort, he got at the holster
of his pistol; in which was a flask of strong brandy and water
which, though icy cold, had yet a sensibly warming influence. The
lights were still at some distance off; and Ralph, after
considerable trouble, and after cutting the straps which fastened
it to the saddle, succeeded in getting at his fur overcoat. This he
put on, picked up the cap of one of the German troopers who had
fallen near, and then walked slowly away, over the deserted battle
ground.

Ten minutes later, he heard a horse's hoofs upon the hard ground.
He cocked the pistol--which had remained fastened to his belt, when
he fell--pulled forward the German soldier's cap, and walked
quietly on.

"Who goes there?" shouted a voice, and two German officers rode up.

It was far too dark, now, to distinguish faces.

"Karl Zimmerman, of the Seventh Dragoons," Ralph said, in German,
saluting.

"What are you doing here?"

"I am servant to Lieutenant Falchen, who fell today; and I had been
to look for his body. It was somewhere about here, when we charged
the gray Zouaves."

"But your regiment is miles off," one of the officers said. "I saw
them an hour ago."

"I don't know where they are, sir," Ralph said, "for I had my head
laid open, with a sword bayonet, just as I was cutting down the man
I had seen shoot my master. I was carried to the rear, but the
surgeon had gone on; and my wound stopped of itself and, when I
reached the hospital, the doctors were so busy that I asked leave
to go, and see if I could find my master."

"Where are the ambulances now?" one of the officers asked, as they
turned to ride off.

"Over in that direction. Look, sir, there are some of the
searchers, with lanterns. They will direct you, at once."

"Thanks," the officer said, riding off; "good luck in your search."

Ralph had noticed a cottage, standing by itself at the edge of a
wood, at some little distance from the bivouac of the night of the
30th of November; and had stopped for a moment, and asked a few
questions of the woman who lived there. She had appeared a
kind-hearted woman, full of hatred for the invader; and had two
sons in the Mobiles, who had marched north when Paris was first
threatened, and who were now besieged there. For this cottage Ralph
determined to make, in order--if the owners would receive him--to
take shelter in the house; otherwise, to find a refuge in the wood,
itself, where he doubted not that they would assist him to lie hid
for a few days. He had no great fear of a very active search being
made for fugitives, at present, as the Prussians had only driven
back two divisions of the French army; and had, Ralph believed,
plenty of work on their hands, for some time.

It was fortunate for Ralph that he had studied the ground so
carefully; for he soon came upon the road, and the stars--which
were shining brightly--gave him his direction and bearings. The
battle had extended over the whole of this ground. Many times Ralph
could hear groans; and saw, in places, dark forms thickly scattered
over the ground--showing where a stand had been made, or where a
regiment had lain exposed, for hours, to an artillery fire.

The distance was considerable to the place Ralph had marked out for
himself. Eight miles, at least, he thought; for it was away behind
what had, two days before, been Chanzy's left. It was, in Ralph's
state of feebleness, a very long journey. Over and over again, he
had to sit down and rest. He did not feel the cold, now; the fur
coat, and the exertion of walking, kept his body in a glow. He took
great pains, however, not to exert himself, so as to make himself
too hot; as he feared that his wound might break out, if he did so.
He was fully twelve hours upon the road; and daylight was just
breaking in the east when--exhausted by hunger, fatigue, and loss
of blood--he crawled up to the door, and knocked.

There was a movement inside, but it was not until he had knocked
twice that a voice within asked:

"Who is there?"

"A wounded officer," Ralph said.

There was a whispered talk, inside.

"Let me in, my friends," he said, "for the remembrance of your boys
in Paris. There is no danger to you in doing so as, if the Germans
come, you have only to say you have a wounded officer. I can pay
you well."

"We don't care for pay," the woman of the house said; opening the
door, with a candle in her hand--and then falling back, with a cry
of horror, at the object before her: a man, tottering with fatigue,
and with his face a perfect mask of stiffened blood.

"You do not remember me," Ralph said. "I am the captain of the
staff who chatted to you, two days ago, about your boys in Paris."

"Poor boy!" the woman said, compassionately. "Come in.

"Monsieur will pardon me," she went on, apologetically, "for
speaking so, but I called you the boy captain, when I was telling
my good man what a bright--

"But there, what you want now is rest, and food. The question is
where to put you. We may be searched, at any time; though it's not
likely that we shall be, for a few days. The battle has gone away
in the direction of Orleans, and we have not seen half a dozen men
since I saw you, two days ago.

"The first thing is to give you something warm. You are half
frozen. Sit down for a few minutes. I will soon make a blaze."

Ralph sank down--utterly exhausted and worn out--in the settle by
the fireplace; and fell into a half doze, while the woman lit a
bright fire on the hearth. In a few minutes she had drawn some
liquor from the pot-au-feu--the soup pot--which stands by the
fireside of every French peasant, however poor; and into which all
the odds and ends of the household are thrown. This liquor she put
into a smaller pot; broke some bread into it, added an onion--which
she chopped up while it was warming--together with a little pepper
and salt and, in ten minutes from the time of Ralph's entry, she
placed a bowl of this mixture, smoking hot, before him.

At first, he seemed too exhausted to eat; but gradually his
appetite returned, and he finished off the hot broth.

"What shall I do to your wound, sir?" the woman said. "It is a
terrible sight, at present."

"It is the cold which saved my life, I fancy," Ralph said, "by
stopping the bleeding; but now it wants bathing in warm water, for
some time, and then bandaging.

"But where are you going to put me?"

"In the boys' room, upstairs, sir. It is just as they left it."

"I have no doubt it is very comfortable," Ralph said, "but all this
country is certain to be scoured, by the enemy's cavalry. I do not
want to be taken prisoner; and rather than that I would go and live
out in the woods, and only crawl here, once a day, for some food."

The husband had now come downstairs and, as he aided his wife to
first bathe and then bandage the wound, they talked over the
matter; and agreed that Ralph could be hid in a loft over a shed, a
hundred yards from the house, and very much concealed in the woods,
without much fear of discovery. The farmer at once started to make
the place as comfortable as he could; and the wife followed with a
couple of blankets, a quarter of an hour later.

Ralph, by this time, could scarcely crawl along. The fever
consequent upon the wound, the fatigue, and the cold made his head
throb so terribly that he could scarcely hold it up and, had it not
been for the assistance of the farmer's wife, he could not have
crawled across the short distance to the shed. The loft was low and
small and, when the wooden shutter of the window--or rather
opening, for it was unglazed--was closed, it was lighted only by
the light which came in at the crevices. The shed was altogether of
wood; so that the shutter--which happened to be at its back--would
scarcely have been noticed while, from the shed being high and the
loft very low, anyone inside would scarcely have suspected the
existence of any loft, at all. It was reached by a ladder and trap
door.

The farmer assisted Ralph up the ladder. The shutter was open, and
Ralph saw that the farmer had made a bed of straw, upon which his
wife was spreading one of the blankets. Ralph now took off his
uniform, and lay down; and was covered first by the other blanket,
and then with his own fur-lined coat. The farmer's wife had
thoughtfully brought a pillow with her; and Ralph in a few minutes
was lying in what--had it not been for the pain of his wound--would
have been intense comfort, after the cold and fatigue. His hostess
went away, and returned with a large jug of water and a glass,
which she put down within reach of his arm.

"There is nothing else you want?" she asked.

"Nothing, thank you, except to sleep," Ralph said.

"I shall shut this shutter," the farmer said. "Enough light will
come through the cracks to see well, when your eyes get accustomed
to the darkness. I shall shut the trap close down after me, as I
go, and lift down the ladder. It is very light, and my wife can
easily put it into its place again. We will come and see you again,
in the afternoon. Goodbye."

"Goodbye," Ralph answered, faintly; and before the sound of their
footsteps had died away, he fell into a sort of feverish doze.

For a time he turned uneasily, muttered incoherent words, and moved
his hands restlessly. Soon, however, the effects of the cloth
soaked in icy-cold water, which the farmer's wife had placed on the
bandages over the wound, began to subdue the feverish heat; and in
half an hour he was sleeping soundly, and quietly. He woke at last,
with a flash of light in his face and, opening his eyes, saw the
good woman again bending over him.

"I am glad," were her first words. "I thought, for a moment, you
were dead."

"No, no," Ralph said, with a faint smile; "a long way from that,
yet. My sleep has done me a world of good. What o'clock is it?"

"Nine o'clock," his hostess said. "I could not come before, for I
have had several parties going past, and the house was searched
once. I kept on wondering whether you wanted me, until I nearly
worked myself into a fever."

"Thank you," Ralph said. "I have been all the better for being
allowed to sleep on. I have had nearly thirteen hours of it. I feel
queer, about the head; but otherwise I feel all right.

"I am terribly thirsty."

"I have got nothing but water to offer you," the woman said. "The
Germans drank the last drop of our wine up, months ago. But I had a
few apples; and I have roasted them, and put them in this jug of
water. It will give it a taste, and is good for fever.

"In this jug is some herb tea, which you must drink when you feel
feverish.

"And now, do you feel as if you could eat some broth?"

"That I do," Ralph said.

His hostess put her arm under him, and raised him up into a sitting
posture; in which she retained him by kneeling down beside him, and
holding him up as if he had been a child. Then she gave him a basin
of bread broth, and a drink of water; shook up his pillow, arranged
the things over him; and put a fresh cloth, dipped in water, on his
head.

"Here is a box of matches," she said, "and here is the water and
herb tea, in reach of your arm. You're not cold, are you?"

"No, thank you," Ralph said, "and in spite of the sleep I have had,
I feel as if I could go off again till morning, comfortably."

"Be patient, if I am late," the woman said. "I will come as soon as
I can. If I am late, you will know that there are Germans about."

Ralph's idea of his capacity for sleep turned out correct. It was
still dark when he woke but, striking a match, he found that it was
nearly seven o'clock. He at once blew out the match, felt for the
apple water, took a drink, and then nestled down deep into the fur
coat.

"It will be getting light in another hour," he said to himself.
"It's awfully cold, too; but I am better off, here, than I should
be in the field. I hope she will be here soon; I want to know if
she has any news. Well, there is only an hour to lay awake," and,
almost as he murmured the words, Ralph dropped off again, and slept
until ten o'clock.

This time, he woke with the slight creaking which the trap door
made.

"How are you today, Monsieur le Capitaine?" his hostess said.

"I am getting on capitally, thanks to your care," Ralph said. "And
what have you there?"

"Your breakfast and some plaster. My husband started, yesterday
evening, to walk to the doctor, who lives twelve miles off. He told
him all about you; but the doctor would not come, himself. However,
he sent word that the wound was to be washed well, twice a day,
with warm water; and that a little lint is to be laid in it each
time, after the bathing and, when the inflammation ceases to look
angry, I am to draw the edges together as closely as I can, and
strap them together with these strips of plaster."

"It is very kind of your husband," Ralph said, "very kind. Did the
doctor say how long I should be, before I could be about again?"

"No," the woman said. "Jacques asked him, but he said that he could
not say without seeing the wound, and examining you. Jacques
described its position: coming down from the back of the head,
taking off just a little bit of the top of the ear, and then ending
on the cheekbone. He said that Monsieur le Capitaine must have a
head as thick as a wall, or it would have killed him."

Ralph smiled, and his hostess set to work to carry out her
instructions.

"Shall I take away your uniform and hide it away so that, in case
the enemy search and find you, they will have no proof against
you?"

"No, no," Ralph said; "the uniform shows I am not a franc tireur;
and so will prevent my being hung, and you having your house burnt
over your head. Besides which, I should be entitled to be treated
as an officer. My uniform is the best protection for us all.

"Have you any news of what is going on?"

"We heard firing yesterday," the woman said, "and today we can hear
a constant booming, from the direction of Orleans."

Ralph listened, but the bandage prevented his hearing anything.

"You are very kind," he said, "but you can hardly think how I want
to be off. However, I fear that I am here for a week, at the very
least. Just think what I am missing."

"It seems to me," the woman said, "you are missing a great many
chances of being killed; which I should consider to be a very
fortunate miss, indeed. I should not like Jacques to have that gash
on the head; but I would a great deal rather that he was lying here
wounded, just as you are, than to know that he was in the middle of
all that fighting at Orleans.

"Be patient, my friend. We will do our best for you. If you have no
fever, tomorrow, Jacques will try and buy some meat and some wine
for you, at one of the villages; and then you will soon get quite
strong."

When Ralph had eaten his breakfast, he again laid down; and his
kind hostess left him, as her husband was obliged to be out and at
work, and it was necessary that she should be at home, to answer
any straggling troops of the enemy who might pass.

"I wish I had Tim with me," Ralph said, to himself. "Tim would
amuse me, and make me laugh. It would be desperately cold for him.
I am all right, under my blanket and this warm coat. Well, I
suppose I must try to sleep as many hours away as I can."



Chapter 20: Crossing The Lines.


Ralph was destined to a longer stay upon his hay bed in the loft
than he had anticipated. The next day, instead of being better he
was a good deal worse. Inflammation had again set in, and he was
feverish and incoherent in his talk. He was conscious of this,
himself, by seeing the dismay in the face of the nurse, when he had
been rambling on to her for some time, in English.

At last, with an effort, he commanded his attention, and said to
her:

"How far is it from here to Orleans?"

"Seventeen miles," she said.

"Look here," he said, "you are very kind, and I know that you do
not want to be paid for your kindness; but I am well off, and I
know you have lost your horse and cow, and so you must let me pay
you for what you do for me.

"I am afraid I am going to have fever. I want your husband to go
into Orleans. The Prussians went in yesterday, you say; and so your
husband will not have to cross any outposts to get there. There is
an English ambulance there. I will write a line in pencil; and I am
sure they will give him some fever medicine, and anything else I
may require. Please feel in the breast pocket of my coat; you will
find a pocket book, with a pencil in it."

The woman did as he told her; and Ralph, with a great effort,
wrote:

"I am an Englishman, though a captain in the French service. I am
wounded with a saber, in the head; and am sheltered in a loft.
Inflammation has set in and, I fear, fever. I am obliged, indeed,
to make a great effort to master it sufficiently to write this.
Please send some fever medicine, by the bearer, and some arrowroot.
A lemon or two would be a great blessing.

"Ralph Barclay."

He then tore out the leaf, folded, and directed it to the head of
the English ambulance, Orleans.

"How is he to know the English ambulance?"

"It has a red cross on a white ground, as all the others have; and
an English flag--that is, a flag with red and white stripes going
from corner to corner, and crossing each other in the middle. But
anyone will tell him."

"I am sure he will set out at once," the woman said, and left the
loft.

In ten minutes she returned.

"He has started," she said, "but not to Orleans. My husband,
directly I gave him the message, said that he had heard that there
was an English ambulance at Terminiers, attending to the wounded
picked up on the battlefield. It is only five miles from here."

"Thank God for that," Ralph said.

Three hours later the farmer returned, with a bottle of medicine,
some arrowroot, lemons, a bottle of wine, some Liebig's essence of
meat--for making broth--and a message that the English surgeon
would ride over, as soon as he could get away. The farmer had given
him detailed instructions for finding the house; but was afraid of
stopping to act as his guide as, had he been seen walking by the
side of the surgeon's horse, the suspicions of any German they
might encounter would be at once excited.

The surgeon arrived an hour later, and was at once taken to Ralph's
bedside. Ralph, however, could not speak to, or even recognize the
presence of his countryman; for he was in a high state of fever.
The surgeon examined his wound carefully.

"I think he will get over it," he said, to the farmer's wife. "It
is a nasty cut; but there is nothing dangerous in the wound,
itself. It is the general shock to the system, together with the
hardships and suffering he had gone through. He is a mere boy--not
above seventeen or eighteen. He says in his note he is a captain,
but it can hardly be so."

"He is a captain, sir. There is his uniform hanging up."

"Yes," the surgeon said, "that is the uniform of a captain in the
staff, and he has got the commander's button of the legion of
honor. I wonder who he can be.

"Ralph Barclay," he said thoughtfully, looking at the pencil note
Ralph had sent him. "Ah, now I remember the name. I thought it was
familiar to me. This is the young Englishman who made his way
through the lines into Paris, with dispatches He is a fine young
fellow. We must do what we can for him."

"Could you take him into your hospital, sir?" the woman asked.

"He will be better where he is, if you will continue to nurse him."

"Yes, I will do that; but I thought he would be so much better
looked after, in the hospital."

"No," the surgeon said, "that is just what he would not be. Every
room is literally crowded with wounded; and wounds do infinitely
better in fresh, pure air, like this, than in a room with a close
atmosphere, and other bad wounds.

"The fever medicine I sent over will last him for some days. I have
brought over a tin of little biscuits. Give him the fever medicine,
every two hours, until there is a change; and whenever you can get
him to take it, give him a little broth made of a spoonful of the
essence of meat in a liter of boiling water or, for a change, some
arrowroot. I will show you how to make it, when we get back to the
house.

"Can you manage to stay with him? He will want a good deal of
looking after, for the next two days."

"Yes, sir, I was talking to Jacques about it, today. He will go
over to the next village--it is only a mile away--and will fetch my
sister, who lives there, to keep house for a bit."

"That is capital," the surgeon said. "And now, watch attentively
how I put this bandage on; and do it the same way, once a day. When
you have put the bandage on, you must put wet cloths to his head,
as long as he remains delirious. I am awfully busy; but I will ride
over again, in three or four days, to see how he is getting on.

"By the way, it may be an advantage to you if I give you a paper,
signed by me, to say that you are taking care of a wounded French
officer at my request as--although you wished to send him to the
ambulance--I refused because, in the first place, he could not bear
moving; and in the second, the ambulance was as full as it could
possibly hold. That will clear you, in case any German parties come
along and find him."

It was a week before Ralph opened his eyes with any consciousness
of what he saw. He looked round, with a vague wonderment as to
where he was. In a minute or two, a look of recognition came into
his face. Looking round, he saw that there were changes. A small
piece had been sawn out of the shutter, so as to let in air and
light while it remained closed. A table and a chair were beside his
bed. In a corner of the loft was a small flat stove, with a few
embers glowing upon it, and a saucepan standing upon them. Upon the
opposite side of the loft to that where he was lying was a heap of
hay, similar to his own; with a figure, rolled up in a blanket,
lying on it.

For some time, Ralph thought all this over in the vague, wondering
way peculiar to people recovering from a long illness. Most, he
puzzled over the occupant of the other bed; and at last concluded
that it was some fugitive, like himself. For some time he lay and
watched the figure until, presently, it moved, threw off the
blanket and rose and, to his surprise, he saw that it was his
nurse.

"Thanks to all the saints!" she exclaimed, when she saw him looking
at her. "You are better, at last. I think that I was asleep, too.
But you were sleeping so quiet, that I thought I would take a nap;
for I was so sleepy."

"How long have I been here?" Ralph asked.

"Just a week, from the time the fever took you. The English doctor
came over and saw you, and sent lots of things for you, and said
you were not to be left; so I had the bed made up here, and my
sister came over to take care of Jacques. And now, you must not
talk any more. Drink this broth, and then go off to sleep again."

Ralph complied. He was too tired and weak to ask any more
questions, and it was not until next day that he heard of the
obstinate battles which General Chanzy had fought--on the 7th, 8th,
and 10th--near Beauguency.

"Thank goodness," Ralph said, "we can't have been very badly
beaten, if we were able to fight three drawn battles within about
twenty miles of a first defeat."

For the next two days, Ralph improved in health. Then he had a
relapse, and was very ill, for some days. Then he began, steadily
but slowly, to gain strength. It was three weeks after his arrival
at the cottage before he could walk, another week before he had
recovered his strength sufficiently to think of moving.

One of his first anxieties--after recovering consciousness after
his first, and longest, attack of fever--had been upon the subject
of the terrible anxiety which they must be feeling, at home,
respecting him. They would have heard, from Colonel Tempe, that he
was missing and, as he would have been seen to fall, it was
probable that he was reported as dead. Ralph's only consolation was
that, as the Germans were at Dijon, the communication would be very
slow, and uncertain; and although it was now ten days since the
engagement, it was possible--if he could but get a letter sent, at
once--that they would get it nearly, if not quite as quickly as the
one from Colonel Tempe; especially if as was very probable the
colonel would be a great deal too engaged, during the week's
tremendous fighting which succeeded the day upon which Ralph was
wounded, for him to be able to write letters.

The first time that he saw the English surgeon, he mentioned this
anxiety, and the doctor at once offered to take charge of a letter;
and to forward it with his own, in the military post bag, to the
headquarters of the ambulance at Versailles, together with a note
to the head of the ambulance there, begging him to get it sent on
in the first bag for Dijon. In this way, it would arrive at its
destination within four or five days, at most, of its leaving
Orleans.

It was on the 2nd of January--exactly a month from the date of the
fight in which he was wounded--that, after very many thanks to his
kind host and hostess, and after forcing a handsome present upon
them, Ralph started--in a peasant's dress which had been bought for
him--for Orleans. He had still plenty of money with him; for he had
drawn the reward, of fifty thousand francs, in Paris. The greater
portion of this money he had paid into the hands of a banker, at
Tours, but Percy and he had kept out a hundred pounds each; knowing
by experience how useful it is, in case of being taken prisoner, to
have plenty of money. Ralph's wound was still bound up with
plaster, and to conceal it a rabbit-skin cap with flaps had been
bought so that, by letting down the flaps and tying them under the
chin, the greater part of the cheeks were covered.

The farmer had made inquiries among his neighbors and, finding one
who was going into Orleans, with a horse and cart, he had asked him
to give Ralph a lift to that place. The start had been effected
early, and it was three o'clock when they drove into Orleans. Here
Ralph shook hands with his driver--who wished him a safe journey
home--and strolled leisurely down the streets.

Orleans presented a miserable aspect. The inhabitants kept
themselves shut up in their houses, as much as possible. The bishop
was kept a prisoner, by the Prussians, in his own palace; troops
were quartered in every house; the inhabitants were, for the most
part, in a state of poverty; and the shops would have been all
shut, had not the Prussians ordered them to be kept open. The
streets were thronged with German troops, and long trains of carts
were on their way through, with provisions for the army. These
carts were requisitioned from the peasantry, and were frequently
taken immense distances from home; the owner--or driver, if the
owner was rich enough to pay one--being obliged to accompany them.

Many were the sad scenes witnessed in these convoys. The grief of a
father dragged away, not knowing what would become of his wife and
children, during his absence. The anguish of a laborer at seeing
his horse fall dead with fatigue, knowing well that he had no means
of taking his cart home again; and that he had nothing to do but to
return to his home, and tell his wife that the horse and
cart--which constituted his sole wealth--were gone.

Ralph waited until, late in the afternoon, he saw a long train halt
by one of the bridges. It was evidently intending to cross, the
next morning, and go down south. In a short time the horses were
taken out, and fastened by halters to the carts; two or three
soldiers took up their posts as sentries, and the drivers were
suffered to leave--the Germans knowing that there was no chance of
their deserting, and leaving their horses and carts.

The poor fellows dispersed through the town. Those who had any
money bought food. Those who had not, begged; for the Germans
allowed them no rations, and left them to shift for themselves--or
starve--as they liked. Ralph joined in conversation with a group of
these, who were relating their hardships to two or three
sympathetic listeners. An old man, especially, was almost
heartbroken. His wife was dying, and he had been forced from her
bedside.

"What could I do?" he asked, pitifully. "I was a carrier. My horse
and cart were all I had in the world. If I had not gone with them
they were lost for ever. What was I to do?"

No one could answer him but, when the party had broken up, Ralph
went up to him.

"How much are your horse and cart worth?" he asked.

"The horse is worth five hundred francs," he said. "The cart is an
old one--two hundred and fifty would pay for it. It is not much,
you see, but it is all I have."

"Look here, old man," Ralph said, "I am not what I look. I am a
French officer, and I want to get down near the Prussian outposts,
but without passes I could not get on. Besides I have been wounded,
and am too weak to walk far. I will give you the seven hundred and
fifty francs which are the value of your horse and cart, and will
take your place as driver; so that you can start back, at once, to
your wife. Do you agree?"

The old man was so affected with joy that he burst into tears.

"God bless you, sir," he said. "You have saved my life, and my poor
wife's life, too."

"Very well, it is a bargain, then," Ralph said. "Here is half the
money. You shall have the rest tomorrow.

"Now you must go with me tomorrow morning, at the hour for
starting; and tell the officer in charge that I am a nephew of
yours--living here, but out of work, at present--and that you have
arranged with me to drive the cart, as long as it's wanted, and
then to take it home again."

After a few more words, the peasant took him back and showed him
his cart; in order that he might know where to find him, in the
morning.

"We start at daybreak," he said, "so you had better be here by
half-past six."

"Where do you sleep?" Ralph asked.

"I? Oh, I don't sleep much. I lie down for a bit, underneath the
carts; and then walk about to warm myself."

"Take this warm fur coat of mine," Ralph said. "It will keep you
warm tonight, anyhow. I shan't want it; I shall get a bed
somewhere."

The coat was the one Ralph had worn on his night walk, after being
wounded. He had had all the braid, and the fur of the collar and
cuffs taken off; and had had it purposely dirtied, so that it was
no longer a garment which could attract attention, on the back of a
man with a cart.

After some difficulty, Ralph got a bed; and was at the agreed place
at the appointed time. The old man went up to the Prussian sergeant
in command, and told the tale Ralph had dictated to him. The
sergeant agreed to the arrangement, with a brief nod. The old man
handed Ralph his whip, and returned him the fur coat; which Ralph
was glad enough to put on, for the morning was bitterly cold, and
Ralph--enfeebled by his illness--felt it keenly. In another five
minutes, the carts were in motion across the bridge, and then away
due south.

For half an hour Ralph walked by the side of his cart and--being,
by that time, thoroughly warm--he jumped up in the cart and rode,
during the rest of the day; getting down and walking--for a short
time only--when he found his feet getting numbed with the cold.

In the afternoon they arrived at La Ferte, some fifteen miles from
Orleans. There they remained for the night. There were not very
many troops here, and Ralph could have obtained a bed by paying
well for it; but he feared to attract attention by the possession
of unusual funds and, therefore, slept in a hay loft; afraid, in
spite of his fur coat, to sleep in the open air.

The next morning the train was divided, twenty of the carts going
down towards Romorantin; while the rest--now fifteen in
number--kept on towards Salbris. Ralph's cart formed part of this
latter division. The night after they left La Ferte, they halted at
La Motte Beuvron, where there was a strong force of Germans. The
following day only four carts continued their route to Salbris,
Ralph happening again to be among them. He had regretted two days
before that he had not formed part of the division for Romorantin,
as from that place he would have been less than twenty miles from
Tours, which the Prussians had not yet entered; but as he had the
good fortune to go on to Salbris, he did not mind--as Salbris, like
Romorantin, was one of the most advanced stations.

They arrived late in the afternoon, and the carts were at once
unloaded. The sergeant in charge told them to wait, while he got
their papers for them; and in ten minutes he returned.

"You will have tomorrow to rest your horses, and the next day a
train will start for the north. Your work is over now, as there is
nothing to go back. Here are the passes for you, saying that you
have carried goods down here for the army; and are therefore to
return back, without your carts being further requisitioned."

Ralph put up his horse and cart for an hour in the village, while
he went to search for some farm house upon which no Prussian
soldiers were quartered. He was unable, for some time, to find one;
but at last, over a mile from the town, he found a small place
which had escaped the attention of the Prussian quartermaster, and
where there was a small, unoccupied stable. Ralph soon struck a
bargain with its owner; returned to Salbris, mounted his cart,
drove out; and was soon settled in the little farm house.

He anticipated no great difficulty in passing out through the
outposts; as there was no French force of any importance, near, and
the German troops interfered but little with the movements of the
country people. The affair, however, turned out more easy than he
had anticipated for, towards morning, he was awoke by the distant
sound of bugles.

"Something is up," he said to himself; "either a French attack, a
general advance, or a recall. If it should be the latter, I am in
luck."

It turned out to be as Ralph hoped. The peasant in whose house he
was stopping went into Salbris, early; and came back with the news
that there was no longer a German there. Orders had come for them
to fall back, towards Orleans.

"I am not at all surprised," Ralph said, when he heard it, "for
Orleans was emptying fast of troops. This sudden march of Bourbaki
for the east, and the necessity to reinforce Frederick Charles,
near Vendome must try even Prussian resources to the utmost."

Half an hour later, Ralph was jogging along on his way to Vierzon.
There he found that the railway was open to Bourges, from which
town he should have no difficulty in getting on to Dijon. He soon
found a purchaser for his horse and cart, at ten pounds, and the
next morning started on his way home.



Chapter 21: Home.


It was a long journey from Vierzon to Dijon. At Bourges Ralph had
taken advantage of a delay of some hours--necessitated by the fact
that no train was going--to get some suitable clothes, instead of
the peasant's suit in which he had traversed the lines. He had, of
course, brought his papers with him; so that he had no difficulty,
whatever, in getting on by the train. But the train itself made but
slow work of it. Bourbaki had passed west only the week before,
with all his army, upon his march to the relief of Belfort; and the
railway was completely choked. However, Ralph was not inclined to
grumble at the cause of his delay; for it was only upon Bourbaki's
approach that the Germans had evacuated Dijon--which was now held
by Garibaldi's irregulars, and a considerable force of Mobiles.

So great were the delays that it was evening when the train reached
Dijon. Ralph had scarcely stepped out on to the platform when Percy
bounded upon him, and threw his arms round his neck.

"Dear, dear old Ralph! Thank God you are back again."

"My dear Percy, where did you spring from?"

"I have been home five days. I was still down at Marseilles, when I
heard that Dijon was open again; and I came straight up.

"And how are you, Ralph?"

"Oh, I am getting all right again. How are they all, at home?"

"Well--quite well--but dreadfully anxious about you."

By this time the boys were out of the station, and were walking
homeward.

"But you have not told me how you happened to be at the station."

"Well, I was waiting there, just on the chance of seeing you. Mamma
was so dreadfully anxious about you that I wanted to do something.
At any rate, I could not sit quiet at home. There are never more
than two trains with passengers in a day, sometimes only one; so I
have been staying down in the town, most of the days since I came
home--having paid one of the railway people to send me word,
directly the train was telegraphed as starting from Dole."

"How long is it since my letter arrived?"

"Nearly three weeks, Ralph; fortunately it came four or five days
before a letter from Tempe, saying that he feared you were killed.
Not having heard again, they were terribly anxious."

"I had no means of writing," Ralph said. "The English
ambulance--through whom my letter was sent--moved down to Vendome,
the very day after I wrote; and I had no other way of sending my
letter."

"I said it was something of that sort. I pointed out to them that
it was evident, by what you said, that the fever had passed off,
and that you only wanted strength; but that being in hiding, of
course, you could not write. I gave you three weeks to get strong
enough to start, and four or five days to manage to get through the
lines; so that by my calculation you were just due, when you
arrived.

"It has pulled you down, Ralph, very much. I wish I had been there
to nurse you."

"Thank you, Percy. Fortunately I did fall into very good hands, and
was well looked after. I hope papa has not been over anxious about
me?"

"I think he has been nervous, Ralph; but he did not show it, but
talked cheerfully to keep up mamma and Milly."

"And are you quite strong again, Percy?"

"Yes, I think I am nearly as strong as ever, Ralph.

"There, we are just at the house, now. You had better wait outside;
while I go in and let them know, gradually, that you are home. I
came in like a fool, suddenly, and mamma fainted--she says for the
first time in her life--and Milly went into hysterics, and cried
and laughed so wildly that you might have heard her in Dijon. She
frightened me nearly out of my senses."

Ralph remained, accordingly, outside the door; while Percy went in
alone. The others had finished tea.

"You are a little late, Percy," Mrs. Barclay said. "We gave you
twenty minutes' law. It is not the least matter, your being late;
but I do not think it is wise to be out, these bitter nights, until
you are quite strong."

"I am quite strong, mamma, as strong as ever," Percy laughed; but
his laugh was, in spite of himself, a little unnatural.

His father looked sharply up.

Percy sat down, and drank a little of the tea his mother handed to
him.

"I waited for the train to come in," he said, "and--of course it
may not be so--but I heard of someone who, by the description,
seemed to be Ralph."

"What was it, Percy, what was it?" Milly cried; while her mother
gazed at him with a pale face, and appealing eyes.

"Don't agitate yourself, mamma dear--you see, it may not be true,
after all--but among the people in the train was one who had come
straight from Bourges. I spoke to him, and he said that he had
heard--by a friend who had come straight from Vierzon--that a young
officer had just arrived there, in disguise; who had been wounded,
and in hiding, ever since the capture of Orleans. You know, mamma,
it is just the time I calculated he would be coming; and from the
fact of his being a young staff officer, and in disguise, I have
very little doubt it is Ralph."

Captain Barclay rose from his seat and--standing for a moment
behind his wife's chair--looked at Percy, and then at the door,
inquiringly. Percy nodded.

Captain Barclay leaned over, and kissed his wife

"Thank God, dear, for all His mercies! Another day or two, and we
shall be having him home."

"Thank God, indeed!" Mrs. Barclay said; "but though I hope--though
I try to think it was him--perhaps it was not, perhaps--"

"No, mamma," Percy said, "from some particulars he gave, and from
what he said, I feel almost sure--I may say I am quite sure--it is
Ralph. I would not say so, you know, unless I felt very certain."

Mrs. Barclay felt that he would not, and fell into her husband's
arms, crying softly with happiness.

Milly was no longer in the room. She had caught the glance between
her father and Percy, and had rightly interpreted it. She had risen
to her feet, but a warning gesture from Captain Barclay had checked
the cry of gladness on her lips; and she had stolen quietly from
the room, closed the door noiselessly, had flown to the front door
and out into the road beyond, and was now crying happily in Ralph's
arms.

"And when do you think he can get here, Richard?" Mrs. Barclay
asked her husband.

"Soon, dear--quite soon," he answered. "He may come tomorrow. He
would be certain to come almost as quickly as the news."

"Oh, how happy I am!" Mrs. Barclay said. "Thank God for His
mercies! To think that, tomorrow, I may have both my boys back
again."

"Will there be another train in, tonight, Percy?" Captain Barclay
asked.

"Quite possibly," Percy said; "indeed, indeed,"--and he
hesitated--"you see, I walked up fast; it is just possible that he
may have arrived by this train."

Mrs. Barclay understood now.

"He is come," she exclaimed, looking up. "I know it, now."

Captain Barclay took her up in his arms.

"You can bear it, can't you, Melanie? Yes, dear, he has come."

Percy saw that it was safe now. He went to the door, and opened it.
Ralph was standing outside, in readiness; and in another moment his
mother was in his arms.

Later in the evening, Captain Barclay said to Ralph:

"I suppose tomorrow you will obtain a medical certificate, and
write to General Chanzy: saying that you are alive, but unable to
rejoin?"

"Yes," Ralph answered, "I suppose that will be the best plan. I
must have a month's rest."

"That means, my dear boy, that you will not have to go out any
more. Another month will see the end of the struggle--or at any
rate, if the end has not absolutely arrived, it will be
unmistakable.

"The game is, I am convinced, altogether lost. A fortnight ago, I
had still hope. Chanzy and Bourbaki had each an army, nearly or
quite equal to that of Prince Frederick Charles. He could not
attack one in force, without leaving the road to Paris open to the
other.

"Bourbaki has come upon this mad expedition to the east; and you
will see Prince Frederick Charles will throw his whole strength
upon Chanzy, crush him, and then attend to Bourbaki. Bourbaki may
relieve Belfort, but in that corner of France what is he to do?
Prussian reinforcements are coming down to Werder, every day.
Troops are marching on this town from Paris and, if Bourbaki is not
wonderfully quick, we shall have another Sedan here.

"After the defeat of these, the last two armies of France, it would
be madness to continue the war. Paris must surrender, for there
would be no further possibility of relief; and there would be no
advantage, whatever, in enduring further sufferings.

"No, my boys, I said 'Go' when I thought that there was a
possibility of saving France. You have done your duty--more than
your duty. It would be worse than folly--it would be wickedness--to
voluntarily put your lives into danger, when success has ceased to
be possible. I should be the last man to hinder you from what was
your duty. I said 'Go' before, when few fathers would have said so.
I would say 'Go' again, now, if your duty called you; but as you
can both obtain sick leave, for another six weeks, I say take that
leave. Do not do more than your duty, for heroism is now of no use
to France."

"I agree with you altogether, papa," Ralph said. "I have seen, and
had, quite enough fighting for my lifetime. Of course, if the war
goes on Percy and I, as officers, must return to our duty, but I am
willing to obtain all the sick leave I can get; for although I
still believe in the individual bravery of the French soldiers, I
am quite convinced that it is altogether out of the question
that--with their want of organization, want of generals, want of
officers, want of discipline, want of everything--they can drive
out the magnificent armies of Germany.

"Has Percy got his leave extended?"

"Yes," Percy said; "I am fairly well, but I am still shaky. I have
not quite got over that swim; and the surgeon said, without my
applying for it, that I must have prolonged rest so, at the end of
the month, he extended it for two months longer.

"I thoroughly agree with you both. We have had quite enough of it.
We shall always have the satisfaction that we did our duty to
France, and our rank; and these ribbons,"--and he touched the
rosette of the legion of honor, in his buttonhole--"will prove that
we have distinguished ourselves. We have had great good fortune,
hitherto; it might turn, next time."

And so it was settled that the boys should remain at home, for the
next two months; by which time they agreed, with their father, the
resistance would be fairly worn out. Ralph wrote to General Chanzy,
relating the whole circumstances of his absence. General Chanzy
wrote in reply--in spite of the demands upon his time--saying how
pleased he was that Ralph had escaped, as he had quite given him
up. He ended his note by saying that he had already mentioned his
name, in dispatches, and should now make a fresh report.

Colonel Tempe--or rather General Tempe, for he now commanded a
brigade--wrote also to congratulate him. One portion of his letter
contained bad news; for he mentioned that Tim had lost an arm, at
the battle of the 8th December, but that he was now doing well.

Those were exciting days at Dijon. The news of the victory at
Villersexel, followed by the fighting which ended in the capture of
Montbeliard; and then the obstinate contests near Belfort, when
Bourbaki in vain endeavored to drive back the Germans, and to
relieve the besieged town--all this kept the excitement up, at
fever heat.

It was not fated that the war should end without the boys seeing
service once more for, upon the 21st, heavy firing was heard upon
the northwest of Dijon. The Barclays' house was on the southwest of
the town. Upon the northwest the ground rises in two steep
hills--or rather one steep hill, with two summits about a mile
apart. One of these summits is called Talant, the other Fontaine
les Dijon. Behind the latter, and upon even higher ground--at a
distance of two and three miles, respectively--lay the villages of
Daix and Hauteville.

It was about ten o'clock in the morning that the boys heard the
faint boom of a cannon.

"Listen, papa," Percy shouted; "there are cannon. The Prussians are
attacking the heights, on the other side."

Captain Barclay came out into the garden, and listened for a while
with them. The enemy had taken up positions upon some of the
numerous heights surrounding, and were playing upon the batteries
at Talant, Fontaine les Dijon, Daix, and Hauteville. The French
replied vigorously; and it was evident that they were stronger, in
artillery, than were the enemy.

"I fancy," Captain Barclay said, "that it is no attack. It is
merely, I think, a fire opened to occupy our attention; in order
that a body of troops may pass along to the northward of Dijon, to
fall upon Bourbaki's rear. However, my place is with my company of
national guards. There is no fear of an attack, at present; but
they will get under arms no doubt."

"We will go down into the town with you, papa."

The firing continued until five o'clock, when it gradually died
away, the Germans retiring. An hour later, the greater portion of
the troops marched back to the town. The enemy, they reported, were
not over 15,000 strong while, in all, the Garibaldians and
mobilized national guards in the town were 30,000 to 40,000 strong.
The French were also much stronger in artillery.

Captain Barclay returned home with the boys. They sat up late,
talking over the affair, and it was nearly midnight when they went
up to their rooms. Suddenly, they were startled by a fresh outburst
of fire upon the heights. In a minute or two, all the household
were in the garden.

"It is a night attack," Captain Barclay said; "and judging by the
sound, they are in earnest. I can hear musketry, as well as
artillery."

As they listened, it came nearer.

"They have taken Daix and Hauteville," Ralph said. "What shall we
do, papa? We can't stay here, quiet. It is our plain duty to go
down, and report ourselves to General Pelissier."

"I think you ought to do so," Captain Barclay answered, gravely.

The boys went off to put on their uniforms--for Ralph had replaced
the one he had left behind, in the cottage near Orleans.

"I do not think you need be uneasy, Melanie," Captain Barclay said
to his wife. "It is our duty to go; but I hardly think that they
can have been reinforced in sufficient strength to attack the
town."

The boys were soon down.

"Goodbye, mamma; goodbye, Milly. Don't be alarmed about us. We have
no horses, and there can be no risk of our being sent on any
perilous service, tonight."

Two silent kisses, and then father and sons hurried away towards
the town.

"They have taken Fontaine les Dijon," Ralph said. "We shall soon
see if they are in earnest."

Dijon they found in utter confusion. Mounted orderlies galloped
about. The troops were all under arms. Engineers were at work,
crenelating the walls and houses upon the side threatened with
attack. General Garibaldi was sitting in his carriage, in readiness
to move in any direction, instantly. General Pelissier--who
commanded the mobilized guards--was in his office, and staff
officers came in and out with reports, every five minutes.

The boys entered, and briefly reported themselves for service. They
had already reported their presence in the place, upon their
arrival.

"Thank you, gentlemen," he said. "I do not think that you can be of
any use, just at present; but if the Germans press the attack, I
shall be greatly obliged. In that case, please dismount two of the
orderlies, and take their horses."

The night passed off, however, quietly. The Germans, satisfied with
the advantage, remained in the positions they had taken; and the
French prepared to drive them back again, in the morning.

At daybreak, the troops began to pour out from the town; and the
cannonade commenced with greater fury on both sides. Two of the
orderlies, in obedience to General Pelissier's orders, gave up
their horses to the Barclays; who rode out with the general's
staff. The Prussians had evidently been reinforced, in the night;
but the French nevertheless gained ground, gradually. After several
hours' heavy cannonading, the Mobilises were ordered to take the
position of Fontaine les Dijon, with the bayonet. Three
Zouaves--who happened to be present--took their places at the head
of the column and, at the double, they went up the hill amidst a
storm of shot and shell. The Germans did not await the assault, but
fell back upon Daix.

The spirit of the Mobilises was now up and, still led by the three
Zouaves, they dashed forward. The resistance here was obstinate;
but the Germans were driven back, with great loss. The pursuers
gave them no rest; but went forward at the double, and drove them
out of Hauteville at the bayonet's point, thus winning back all the
positions lost in the night. The Barclays had little to do during
the affair as, after the orders had once been given, the spirit of
the troops carried them on over everything. The loss upon both
sides was considerable, and one of General Werder's sons was among
the prisoners taken by the French.

The fight over, the boys returned home for a few hours. Their
father had come in half an hour before them.

The next morning they returned, at daybreak, to Dijon. The
Prussians had received considerable reinforcements, in the night;
and had executed a long detour, advancing this time by the Langres
Road, nearly due north of the city. They left the road and took up
their position upon a plateau, near the village of Pouilly, about
three miles from Dijon. The French positions were about a mile
nearer to the town, extending from the foot of Fontaine les Dijon
through the villages of Saint Marten, and Fontaine.

From the morning, until three in the day, a heavy artillery fire
was kept up, on both sides. At that hour, the Prussians gave signs
of an intention to advance. Their artillery took up fresh
positions, their fire increased in rapidity, and it was evident
that the crisis of the day was at hand. Up to this time, the boys
had had but little to do. Sitting on their horses, or leaning
against them, they had chatted with the officers of the general
staff. At this period, however, General Garibaldi drew up; and
there was a brief consultation between him and General Pelissier. A
few hasty orders were given and, in an instant, the whole of the
staff were dashing away to different parts of the ground.

"Charge in line!" was the order and, forming shoulder to shoulder,
the Garibaldians and Mobiles moved forward in a grand line, a mile
and a half long; uttering loud and inspiriting cheers. The boys had
been sent to the regiments next to each other and, their message
delivered, they joined each other and rode on with the advancing
line.

"This is grand, Ralph," Percy said, enthusiastically. "We have seen
a good many defeats. We are going to wind up with a victory, at
last."

For a while the Germans stood their ground, pouring a shower of
shot and shell into the advancing French; but the dash and go of
the latter--excited by their successes of the two preceding
days--were irresistible. The Germans wavered and fell back as the
French advanced and, from that moment, the fate of the day was
decided. Isolated German regiments fought desperately, but in vain.
The French pushed them back, from position to position, until
nightfall covered the retreat.

The German loss was very heavy; and the French, in addition to a
considerable number of prisoners, had the satisfaction of taking a
German color--the only one captured throughout the war.

This was the last fight in which the Barclays took part during the
war. The boys escaped unhurt; as did their father, who had joined
one of the regiments of Mobiles, and had advanced with them.

The events followed fast, day after day. In rapid succession, they
heard of the defeat of Chanzy at Le Mans, the retreat of Bourbaki;
the terrible sufferings of the troops, as they fell back upon the
Swiss frontier, for refuge. Simultaneously with the news of this
retreat came the intelligence of the surrender of Paris, and of the
armistice and, grieving over France's misfortune, they were yet
heartily rejoiced that the hopeless contest was over.

No sooner were the preliminaries of peace signed than Captain
Barclay carried out his intention of leaving for England. Monsieur
Duburg had already agreed to purchase the cottage, and adjoining
grounds; which he intends for Louis, when he marries. The Barclays
were sorry to leave their uncle and cousins, but there was no great
grief with reference to the separation from Madame Duburg.

General Tempe they parted from with regret. That officer's fighting
days were over, for he lost a leg in the battle before Le Mans.

Ralph obtained the step as major, in consequence of General
Chanzy's report in his favor, but he never put on the uniform of
the rank; nor is it likely that he ever will do so, although he
hopes, some day, to attain the grade in the British service. He is
at present studying hard for an examination in the artillery which,
if practical knowledge goes for anything, he is pretty certain to get.

Percy has had enough of fighting, and his present idea is that he
shall go to the Bar; but he has plenty of time before him, yet.
Both never boast of their achievements--indeed, are straightforward,
unaffected English lads, still--and it is only to intimate friends
that they ever speak of their adventures in the war.

The Barclays live now a short distance out of London; and the pony
chaise in which Captain Barclay drives his wife and Milly can be
seen, any day, on the Richmond road. If you stop and watch it turn
into the little drive, up to the house, you will observe that a
one-armed man--who has previously been busy in the garden--throws
down his spade, and takes the ponies off to the stables and, should
he not happen to be at the front of the house, as the ponies draw
up, you will hear Milly summon him with a loud call of "Tim!"





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