The Downfall

e awoke, chilled and with aching bones, under the tent, "I

riat was daily more and more distracted and disorganized by the everlasting marches and countermarches, never reaching the designated points of rendezvous in t

himself and pla

!-No more roast g

lively on an empty stomach. And then there was the rain that poured

e cross after mumbling his morning

od for anything, to send us down a coupl

ed Lapoulle, whose ravenous appetite made hunger a

sionally in the distance, he had recovered all his old serene confidence: it was all plain enough, now; the Prussians were there-well, all they had to do was, go out and lick 'em. And he gave a significant shrug of the shoulders, standing behind Captain Beaudoin, the very young man, as he

e hamlet of Belleville, while, over to the east, Buzancy way, there is a broad, level expanse, stretching far as the eye can see, with an occasional shallow depression concealing a small cluster of cottages. Was it from that direction that they were to expect the enemy? As he was returning from the stream with his bucket filled with water, the father of a family of wretched peasants hailed him from the door of his hovel, and asked him if the soldiers were this time going to stay and defend them. In the confusion of conflicting

t, as he poured the coffee, "have only to sti

! Most of them had devoured what eatables they had in their knapsacks, to the very last crumb, to while away their time of waiting, the day befor

twinging sensation in his sto

is I would have bough

n, with his sober good sense and pacific disposition, saw that if he would preserve his influence with his squad he must keep the corporal in the background as far as possible. For this reason he was hail-fellow-well-met with his men, who could not fail to see what a treasure they had in a man of his experience, for if those committed to his care did not al

he arose quietly, went to his knapsack, and, re

thers see it; I have n

o?" asked the young

armed about me-I

knowing that men are often hungry on the battlefield. And then, besides, he had just ea

uld proceed to pass the Meuse at Mouzon. The start was made in a very sulky humor; the men, with empty stomachs and bodies unrefreshed by repose, unnerved, mentally and physically, by the experience of the past few days, vented their dissatisfaction by growling and grumbling, while the officers, without a spark of their usual cheerful gayety, with a vague sense of impending disaster awaiting them at the end of their march, taxed the dilatoriness of their chiefs, and rep

poplars. When they reached Germond, a village where there was a steaming manure-heap before every one of the doors that lined the two sides of the straggling street, the sobbing women came to their thresholds with their little children in their arms, and held them out to the passing troops, as if begging the men to take them with them. There was not a mouthful of bread to be had

rowled Chouteau, "do t

bet chi

s are all at sea again! They must

but it was not the same now as it had been in Champagne after they left Rheims, a march of song and jollity, when they tramped along gayly and the knapsack was like a feather to their shoulders, in the belief that soon they would come up with the Prussians and give them a sound drubbing; now they were dragging themselves wearily forward in

untain-side, he had seen a horseman emerge. Then another appeared, and then still another. There they stood, all three of them, without sign of life, apparently no larger than a man's hand and looking like delicately fashioned toys. He thought

dging Jean, who was march

d with all his eye

eks now, and in all that time not only had they never smelt powder, but had never even seen an enemy. The news spread

e a jolly little fat f

ttle and took position on the bank of a small stream behind a clump of trees. The artillery had come hurrying back from the front on a gallop and taken possession of a low, rounded hill. For near two hours they remained there thus in lin

regretfully, "we are not

ust be because their infantry had not got up in sufficient strength, whence it was evident that their display of cavalry in the distance was made with no other end than to harass us and check the advance of our corps. We had again fallen into the trap set fo

closing in on them in the distance and enveloping them as in the meshes of some

d. "It would be a comfort to send them our

as we are conscious of the coming storm before we have seen a cloud on the horizon. Instructions were given the rear-guard to use severe measures, if necessary, to keep the column well closed up; but there was not much straggling, aware as everyone was that the Prussians were close

y relief to the dreariness of the waste lands an occasional little somber wood; and the oppressive silence communicated itself to the men, who toiled onward with drooping heads, bathed in perspiration. At last Saint-Pierremont appeared before them, a few empty houses on a small elevation. They did not pass through the village. Maurice observed that here they made a sudden wheel to the left, resuming their northern course, toward la Besace. He now understood the route that had

ently sloping hills on either side that were gradually drawing closer together. The condition of the men necessitated a halt, but the only effect of their brief repose was to increase the stiffness of their benumbed limbs, and when the order was given to march the state of affairs was worse than it had been before; the

an, you say; perhaps we s

! You must be crazy; i

r siste

u know I told yo

e like

hair! She is a mite of a woman, with a little thin face, no

her very

s,

and Jean, glancing at Maurice, saw that his

a moment; that will give you a chance to rest. They can't have the cruelty to

poor hovels climbing in straggling fashion up the hillside, and the yellow ch

we shall rest

Champs to direct it straight on Saint-Pierremont, and it was not until Osches that the teams came up with the corps, in such a state of exhaustion that the horses refused to stir. It was now five o'clock; the general, not liking the prospect of attempting the pass of Stonne at that late hour, determined to take the responsibility of abridging the task assigned them by the marshal. The corps was halted and proceeded to encamp; the train below in the meadows, guar

furious rage, "no eating

7th corps to come to them at la Besace, could not well be at Osches at the same time. In the universal relaxation of order and system even the customary corporal's call was omitted: it was everyone for himself. There were to be no more issues of rations from that time forth; the soldiers were to subsist on the pro

biscuits in his sack, concealing them with as much caution as if they had been bags of gold; he could get along with coffee, like the rest of the boys. He had insisted on having the tent put up, and they were all stretched on the ground beneath its shelter

to Chouteau, who was shaking Mauric

, and then we'll have some bread. I had a cousin in the army

surprised, and C

about! Just listen to the bloody

apoulle. He had insisted that morning that the uhla

m on the alert; orders even were transmitted in a hushed voice. The officers had notified their men before retiring that the start would be made at about four in the morning, in order that they might have all the rest possible, and all had hast

er, had taken it in his head to make a foray into the oak-wood, which he thought gave promise of rabbits: what a jolly good lark it would be if he could bring in a pair of nice rabbits for the comrades' breakfast! But as he was looking about for a favorable place in which to conceal hi

sake, don

gray blouse, confined at the waist by a red belt, and carried a musket slung by a strap over his shoulder. He hurriedly explained that he was F

shouted, turning his head, "hallo!

rt and fat, with a pale face and scanty hair; Cabasse short and lean,

and taken a closer look at the

not Guillaume Sa

n father being found one night lying by the roadside with his throat cut, the mother and daughter, who lived by begging and stealing, having disappeared, most likely, in the seclusion of some penitentiary. He, Guillaume, did a little in the

Vouziers," Maurice co

ply. To end the s

he francs-tireurs of the wood of Dieulet

, harassing the enemy, picking off his sentinels, holding the woods, from which not a Prussian was to emerge alive; while the truth of the matter was that they had made themselves the terror of the peasantry, whom they failed utterly to protect and whose fields they devastated. Every ne'er-do-well who hated the restr

ntly repeating, turning to his henchmen at every

going hard with him, in connection with a robbery of which the details were suppressed. Ducat, the little fat man, quondam huissier at Blainville, where he had been forced to sell out his business on account of a malodorous woman scrape, had recently been brought face to face with the co

l. Now Bourgain-Desfeuilles had taken up his quarters that night with the cure of Osches, and just then appeared, rubbing his eyes, in the doorway of the parsonage; he was in a horribly bad humor at his slumbers having been thus prematurely cut short, and the prospect that he

himself to be disconcerted, "we and our comr

f Dieulet-wh

nay and Mouz

Mouzon? Do you expect me to be fami

Stenay and Mouzon were on the Meuse, and that, as the Germans had occupied the former of those towns, the

woods of Dieulet are alive with Prussians. There was an engagement yeste

? There was figh

e of us hurried off to report to it the movements of the enemy, we thought it best to come and let you know how matters

lles gave a contemptuous

? You were dreaming, young man; your fright has made you see double. It is impo

pose that Sambuc appealed to Ducat

to take them through the forest, where the rains of the past few days have

guide them, for certai

der it worth his while to send the francs-tireurs before his corps commander, to whom the partisans supposed, all along, that they were talking; if they should attempt to listen to all the yarns that were brought them by tr

aurice, as they were returning to fold the tent, "to

d moving on Sommanthe and Beaumont. He had flung himself down by the roadside, exhausted before the march had commenced, with a sorrowing heart and an empty sto

ly still? What is it? D

foot had ceased to trouble h

apsack one of the two remaining biscuits, and with a falsehood for which he may

ther side. Finally, about eight o'clock, the two remaining divisions got under way, when Marshal MacMahon came galloping up, vexed to find there those troops that he supposed had left la Besace that morning, with only a short march between them and Mouzon; his comment to General Douay on the subject was expressed in warm language. It was determined that the first division and the train should be allowed to proceed on their way to Mouzon, but that the two other divisions, that they might not be further retarded by this cumbrous advance-guard, should move by

oadside. The sun had come out again, and the heat was intense down in the inclosed valley, where an oppressive solitude prevailed. After leaving la Berliere, which lies at the foot of a lofty and desolate mountain surmounted by a Calvary, there is not a house to be seen, not a human being

firing could not be more than two leagues distant. Upon the troops, weary with waiting, tired of retreating, the effect was magical; in the twinkling of an eye everyone was on his feet, eager,

ng between two belts of wood, scanning the surrounding hills with their field-glasses, when all at once they dispatched an aide-de-camp to the column, with instructions t

" the general shouted, as soon as he caught sight of Sambuc. "

ruck with admiration. It was like a boundless sea, whose gigantic waves had been arrested by some mighty force. In the foreground the somber verdure of the woods made splashes of sober color on the yellow of the fields, while in the brilliant

ointing to a high hill crowned by a wood. "Yoncq lies off

oret or Beaumont,

man can never tell where he is in this d--d country." Then ra

ou take the road from Chene to Sten

be advancing from west to east with a continuous suc

g, General; it is certainly the batteries that we saw in the wood of Dieulet. By this time

onging to be present at the conflict, to put an end to it. Were they to pass by that battle, so near almost that they could stretch forth their arm and touch it with their hand, and never expend a cartridge? It must be to decide a wager that some one had made, that since the beginning of the campaign they were dragged about the country thus, always flying before the enemy! At Vouziers they had heard t

ings that morning? The marshal's orders were explicit: they must be across the Meuse that night, cost what it might. And then again, how was he to collect his scattered troops, strung out along the road to Raucourt, and direct then on Beaumont? Could they arrive in time to be of use? The 5th corps must be in full retreat on Mouzon by that time, as was indicated by the

ly in his saddle, his face set and very pale, his eyes winking like those of one trying not to weep. Captain Beaudoin strode along in silence, gnawing his mustache, while Lieutenant Rochas let slip an occasional imprecation, invoking ruin and destruction on himself and everyon

ncing from behind a wood, but they gave up their purpose upon a demonstration made by a regiment of our hussars, who came up at a gallop, sweeping the road. Thanks to the breathing-spell afforded them by this circumstance the retreat went on in sufficiently good order, and Raucourt was not far away, when a spectacle greeted their eyes that filled them with consternation and completely demoralized the troops. Upon coming to a cross-road they suddenly caught sight of a hurrying, straggling, flying throng, wounded officers, soldiers without arms and without organization, runaway teams from the train, all-men and animals-mingled in wildest confusion, wild with panic. It wa

ecided to keep straight on through the defile of Harancourt and thus reach Remilly before nightfall. First Mouzon, then Villers, and last Remilly; they were still pressing on northward, with the tramp of the uhlans on the road behind them. There remained scant four miles for them to accomplish, but it was five o'clock, and the men were sinking with fatigue. They had been under arms since daybre

eet the requirements of these hosts; the shelves of the bakers and grocers were empty, and even the houses of the bourgeois had been swept clean of provisions; there was no bread, no wine, no sugar, nothing capable of allaying hunger or thirst. Ladies had been seen to station themselves before their doors and deal out glasses of wine and cups of bouillon until cask and kettle alike were drained of their last drop. And so there was an end, and when, about three o'c

an attack of dizziness and reeled as if about t

all up with me. I m

he corporal spoke in a rough tone of

have like a soldier! Do you want the

ost unconscious, made no reply, he let slip another oath, but in

ieu! Nom

further attempt at concealment, he took from his sack the last remaining biscuit that he had guarded with such jealous caution, and co

recollecting himself, "how com

I can wait. A good drink of Adam

nd came back smacking his lips in token of satisfaction with his feast. He, too, was

oing. We must be getting back

brotherhood that had prevailed in the world in its earlier days, the friendship that had existed before caste and culture were; that friendship which unites two men and makes them one in their common need of assistance, in the presence of Nature, the common enemy? He felt the tie of humanity uniting him and Jean, and was proud to know that the latter, his comforter and savior, was stronger than he; while to Jean, who did not analyze his sensations, it afforded unalloyed pleasure to be the instrument of protecting, in his friend, that cultivation and intelligence which, in himself, were only rudimentary. Since the death of his

Harancourt, however, the walls of the pass kept approaching nearer and nearer, and the troops were crowded together in a narrow gorge commanded on either side by hills covered with trees. A handful of Prussians in ambush on those heights might have caused incalculable disaster. With the cannon thundering in their rear and the menace of a possible attack on either flank, the men's uneasiness increased with every step they took, and they were in haste to get out of such a dangerous

houteau, "are they going to

without injuring anyone, fortunately. Five minutes passed, that seemed to them long as an eternity, and still they did not move; there was some obstacle on ahead that barred their way as effectually

verybody can see it

here to be sold, to be delivered over to the Prussians. In the baleful fatality that pursued them, and among all the blunders of their leaders,

are betrayed!" the

ke enough that that pig of an Emperor has sat himself down

night as if they owned them, unpacking their luxuries, their costly wines and plate of gold and silver, before the eyes of the poor soldiers who were destitute of everything, filling the kitchens with the steam of savory viands while they, poor devils, had nothing for it but to tighten the belt of their trousers. Ah! that wretched Emperor, that miserable man, deposed from his throne and stripped of his command, a

gan to crowd forward, the movement gathering strength as it ran from rear to front. Inarticulate cries were heard, Lapoulle shouted furiously to go ahead. A minu

ery pale-turned and

e patient. I have sent to see what is

to the stream. He looked about to see where the francs-tireurs were, thinking he might gain some information from them regarding the roads, but was told they had vanished while the column was passing through Raucourt. Just then the march was resumed, and almost immediately a b

ble in the distance, veiled in bluish mists. At last, just as the shades of night were descending, they stood on the heights of Remilly and beheld a ribbon of pale si

rees, down in that fertile valley that lay there so peaceful in the mellow twilight, Mauric

that way-tha