“They were so near by that time, that I could
hear the panting of the horses, the clink of their
swords, and the creaking of their saddles, and so
cried: ‘Fire!’”
“Fifty rifle shots broke the stillness of the
night, then there were four or five reports, and at
last one single shot was heard, and when the smoke
had cleared away, we saw that the twelve men and nine
horses had fallen. Three of the animals were
galloping away at a furious pace, and one of them
was dragging the body of its rider, which rebounded
from the ground in a terrible manner, whose foot had
caught in the stirrup behind it.”
“One of the soldiers behind me gave a terrible
laugh, and said: ’There are a number of
widows there!’”
“Perhaps he was married. And a third added:
‘It did not take long!’”
“A head was put out of the litter:
“‘What is the matter?’ she asked;
‘you are fighting?’”
“‘It is nothing, Mademoiselle,’
I replied; ’we have got rid of a dozen Prussians!’”
“‘Poor fellows!’ she said.
But as she was cold, she quickly disappeared beneath
the cloaks again, and we started off once more.
We marched on for a long time, and at last the sky
began to grow pale. The snow became quite clear,
luminous and bright, and a rosy tint appeared in the
East, and suddenly a voice in the distance cried:
“‘Who goes there?’”
“The whole detachment halted, and I advanced
to say who we were. We had reached the French
lines, and as my men defiled before the outpost, a
commandant on horseback, whom I had informed of what
had taken place, asked in a sonorous voice, as he
saw the litter pass him: ’What have you
there?’”
“And immediately, a small head, covered with
light hair, appeared, disheveled and smiling, and
replied:”
“‘It is I, Monsieur.’”
“At this, the men raised a hearty laugh, and
we felt quite light-hearted, while Pratique, who was
walking by the side of the litter, waved his kepi,
and shouted:”
“‘Vive la France!’ And I felt really
moved. I do not know why, except that I thought
it a pretty and gallant thing to say.”
“It seemed to me as if we had just saved the
whole of France, and had done something that other
men could not have done, something simple and really
patriotic. I shall never forget that little face,
you may be sure, and if I had to give my opinion about
abolishing drums, trumpets, and bugles, I should propose
to replace them in every regiment by a pretty girl,
and that would be even better than playing the Marseillaise.
By Jove! It would put some spirit into a trooper
to have a Madonna like that, a living Madonna, by
the colonel’s side.”
He was silent for a few moments, and then continued,
with an air of conviction, and jerking his head:
“All the same, we are very fond of women, we
Frenchmen!”
