He smiled, actually smiled, secure now that he was
at last a prisoner.
Another officer came into the room and said:
“Colonel, the enemy has escaped; several seem
to have been wounded. We are in possession.”
The big officer, who was wiping his forehead, exclaimed:
“Victory!”
And he wrote in a little business memorandum book
which he took from his pocket:
“After a desperate encounter the Prussians were
obliged to beat a retreat, carrying with them their
dead and wounded, the number of whom is estimated
at fifty men. Several were taken prisoners.”
The young officer inquired:
“What steps shall I take, colonel?”
“We will retire in good order,” replied
the colonel, “to avoid having to return and
make another attack with artillery and a larger force
of men.”
And he gave the command to set out.
The column drew up in line in the darkness beneath
the walls of the chateau and filed out, a guard of
six soldiers with revolvers in their hands surrounding
Walter Schnaffs, who was firmly bound.
Scouts were sent ahead to reconnoitre. They advanced
cautiously, halting from time to time.
At daybreak they arrived at the district of La Roche-Oysel,
whose national guard had accomplished this feat of
arms.
The uneasy and excited inhabitants were expecting
them. When they saw the prisoner’s helmet
tremendous shouts arose. The women raised their
10 arms in wonder, the old people wept. An old
grandfather threw his crutch at the Prussian and struck
the nose of one of their own defenders.
The colonel roared:
“See that the prisoner is secure!”
At length they reached the town hall. The prison
was opened and Walter Schnaffs, freed from his bonds,
cast into it. Two hundred armed men mounted guard
outside the building.
Then, in spite of the indigestion that had been troubling
him for some time, the Prussian, wild with joy, began
to dance about, to dance frantically, throwing out
his arms and legs and uttering wild shouts until he
fell down exhausted beside the wall.
He was a prisoner-saved!
That was how the Chateau de Charnpignet was taken
from the enemy after only six hours of occupation.
Colonel Ratier, a cloth merchant, who had led the
assault at the head of a body of the national guard
of La Roche-Oysel, was decorated with an order.
The following paragraphs recently appeared in the
papers:
“Boulogne-Sur-Mer, January 22.—Our
correspondent writes:
“A fearful accident has thrown our sea-faring
population, which has suffered so much in the last
two years, into the greatest consternation. The
fishing smack commanded by Captain Javel, on entering
the harbor was wrecked on the rocks of the harbor
breakwater.
“In spite of the efforts of the life boat and
the shooting of life lines from the shore four sailors
and the cabin boy were lost.
