But suddenly Delaherche descried a French officer climbing the steep path up the flank of la Marfee; he was a general, wearing a blue tunic, mounted on a black horse, and preceded by a hussar bearing a white flag.  It was General Reille, whom the Emperor had entrusted with this communication for the King of Prussia:  “My brother, as it has been denied me to die at the head of my army, all that is left me is to surrender my sword to Your Majesty.  I am Your Majesty’s affectionate brother, Napoleon.”  Desiring to arrest the butchery and being no longer master, the Emperor yielded himself a prisoner, in the hope to placate the conqueror by the sacrifice.  And Delaherche saw General Reille rein up his charger and dismount at ten paces from the King, then advance and deliver his letter; he was unarmed and merely carried a riding whip.  The sun was setting in a flood of rosy light; the King seated himself on a chair in the midst of a grassy open space, and resting his hand on the back of another chair that was held in place by a secretary, replied that he accepted the sword and would await the appearance of an officer empowered to settle the terms of the capitulation.

VII.

As when the ice breaks up and the great cakes come crashing, grinding down upon the bosom of the swollen stream, carrying away all before them, so now, from every position about Sedan that had been wrested from the French, from Floing and the plateau of Illy, from the wood of la Garenne, the valley of la Givonne and the Bazeilles road, the stampede commenced; a mad torrent of horses, guns, and affrighted men came pouring toward the city.  It was a most unfortunate inspiration that brought the army under the walls of that fortified place.  There was too much in the way of temptation there; the shelter that it afforded the skulker and the deserter, the assurance of safety that even the bravest beheld behind its ramparts, entailed widespread panic and demoralization.  Down there behind those protecting walls, so everyone imagined, was safety from that terrible artillery that had been blazing without intermission for near twelve hours; duty, manhood, reason were all lost sight of; the man disappeared and was succeeded by the brute, and their fierce instinct sent them racing wildly for shelter, seeking a place where they might hide their head and lie down and sleep.

When Maurice, bathing Jean’s face with cool water behind the shelter of their bit of wall, saw his friend open his eyes once more, he uttered an exclamation of delight.

“Ah, poor old chap, I was beginning to fear you were done for!  And don’t think I say it to find fault, but really you are not so light as you were when you were a boy.”

It seemed to Jean, in his still dazed condition, that he was awaking from some unpleasant dream.  Then his recollection returned to him slowly, and two big tears rolled down his cheeks.  To think that little Maurice, so frail and slender, whom he had loved and petted like a child, should have found strength to lug him all that distance!