YOUNG 
 
 EANC- 
 RBURS 
 
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 Y 
 
GIF 
 

JOHN EAGERLY DEVOURED THE BOOKS WHICH WALTER LENT HIM. 
 
THE 
 
 YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS 
 
 AND THEIR ADVENTURES IN THE 
 FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR. 
 
 By G. A. HENTY, 
 
 Special Correspondent of the "Standard," and Author of "A March 
 to Magdala" "Out on the Pampas" etc., etc. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED. 
 
 CHICAGO: 
 
 M. A. DONOHUE & CO. 
 
 407-429 Dearborn St, 
 
Eacjc o: 
 
 3IF] 
 

 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 volun- 
 teer 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 facts are true. There 
 were a good many English among the franc-tireurs, and 
 boys of from fifteen to sixteen were by no means uncom- 
 mon 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 among 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 
 
iv PREFACE. 
 
 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, suf- 
 fered, and performed. 
 
 Yours sincerely, 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. paoe 
 
 The Outbreak of War ,,....*»>* 1 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 Terrible News 15 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 Death to the Spy! 30 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 Starting for the Vosges 5(1 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 The First Engagement 64 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 The Tunnel of Saverne 76 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 A Baffled Project 90 
 
 CHAPTER VHI. 
 The Traitor 102 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 A Desperate Fight 118 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 The Bridge of the Vesouze 135 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 A Fight in the Vosges 151 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 The Surprise 171 
 
VI 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. PASK 
 
 The Escape 188 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 A Perilous Expedition 203 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 The Expedition 224 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 A Desperate Attempt 240 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 A Balloon Voyage 260 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 A my of Victory 281 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 Down at Last „ 297 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 Crossing the Lines 311 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 Home 323 
 
THE YOUNG FRANOTIREURS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 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 Mairie 
 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 gensdarmes 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 market-place the excitement and the 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, 
 
2 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREUBS. 
 
 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? M. le Prefect had published the news to- 
 day, and every one knows that M. 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, amid all the talk, that the 
 speculation and argument turned but little upon 4 ^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 specula- 
 tion 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 every one asked, but no 
 one could answer. In another day or two it was proba- 
 ble 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 push- 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIRE URS. 3 
 
 ing, 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, foot-ball, 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 schoolboy. 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 
 
4 TEE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 
 
 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. Conse- 
 quently 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 per- 
 haps 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 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIME UBS. 5 
 
 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 
 laded proprietor near Dijon, 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 Bar- 
 clay's intention to return to England when the time 
 came for the boys to enter into some business or profes- 
 sion, 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 
 I affording a pretty and delightfully cool retreat, where 
 
$ THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 
 
 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 grace- 
 ful foliage 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 Cap- 
 tain 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, Raplh," 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 t# 
 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 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREUliS. 7 
 
 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, disci- 
 plined/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 any 
 thing like equal, to that of the Prussians? is our organi- 
 zation 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 awhile. 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 Eadical 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. 
 
8 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREUB8. 
 
 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. Kemember not to express, 
 either as my or your own opinon, 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 knew him — the son of the black- 
 smith 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 good-by. 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 
 Eoman, and every one 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. Al- 
 though, as you say, no Frenchwoman should grudge her 
 love to her country, I fancy if a levee en masse took 
 place to-morrow, and the boys as well as the cripples had 
 to go, so that Ealph, Percy, and I were all obliged to 
 march, you would feel that you did grudge us to the 
 country most amazingly." 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 9 
 
 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, Me- 
 lanie; 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 every one, 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, re- 
 turning 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. 
 lie does not call this breakfast. He speaks of it as his 
 morning coffee, and takes his breakast 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 
 
10 THE YOUNQ FRANC-TIREUR8. 
 
 called an early lunch. At six o'clock the Frenchman 
 dines, and even the workingman calls this meal, which 
 an English laborer would call supper, his dinner. The 
 Barclay's 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, M. and Madame Duburg arrived with their 
 daughters, Julie and Justine. 
 
 M. 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 atten- 
 tion 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 fqnd 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 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 11 
 
 walk, should come home flushed, hot, and untidy, with 
 perhaps a swelled cheek or a hlack eye, from the effects 
 of a blow from a cricket ball or boxing-glove. 
 
 Upon their arrival at Captain Barclay's the two gen- 
 tlemen strolled out to smoke a cigar together, and to 
 discuss the prospects of the war and its effects upon 
 prices. 
 
 Mr. 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 Meknie," 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 her- 
 self, 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." 
 
 "Bui;, 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 search- 
 ing 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. 
 
12 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREUPS. 
 
 "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 upward of twelve miles with her father 
 yesterday," Mrs. Barclay said, pretending to misunder- 
 stand her sister-in-law's meaning. 
 
 "I did not mean that," Madame Duburg said im- 
 patiently, "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 man- 
 ners at all. The other day when I was here, and M. 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! Jule and even Jus- 
 tine, 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 cur marriage. We can afford to live in England 
 now. At sixteen, therefore, Milly will have good mas- 
 ters, and for two years her education will be carried on. 
 
THE YOUNG FRAXC-lLLiEURS. 13 
 
 and her walk and manner will no doubt improve. In 
 England fathers and mothers do not arrange the mar- 
 riage of their children, and Milly will have to do a* 
 other girls do, that is, wait until some one 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 expres- 
 sion of these sentiments to answer at once. She only 
 sighed, shook her head and looked upward. 
 
 "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 seen a good deal in Eng- 
 land, 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 gen- 
 tlemen 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 
 
14 TEE YOUNG FRANC-TIREUR8. 
 
 bright color? I wish you could give the recipe 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 so much color as their cousin. I con- 
 sider 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 com- 
 monplace, 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 
 afterward 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 Duburgs took their leave. 
 
THE YOUNQ FRANC-TIREUR& 15 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 TERRIBLE NEWS. 
 
 The ten days succeeding the declaration of war were 
 days of excitement and anticipation. The troops quar- 
 tered 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 toward 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 ap- 
 proached the station with cheers and waving of handker- 
 chiefs, 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 upward, 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 
 
1G THE YOUNG FfiANC-TIREUH8. 
 
 panorama of war rose to fever heat. The sound of the 
 "Marseillaise" resounded from morning to night; vic- 
 tory 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 im- 
 patience felt was for the news of the first victory. 
 
 Captain Barclay sent down sev&ral 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 en- 
 thusiasm, 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 disad- 
 vantage 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 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TI11EURS. 17 
 
 great and solid advantage of fighting in an enemy's 
 country, instead of in 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 Prus- 
 sians who will invade France." 
 
 The boys were but little affected by their father's fore- 
 bodings; it was scarcely possible to suppose that every 
 one 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 2d 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 outnum- 
 ber our men, you will see that the advantage at Saar- 
 bruck will not be followed up, and that the Prussians 
 will assume the offensive." 
 
 "Then what do you really think will be the result, 
 papa ?" 
 
 "1 think, Ralph, that we shall be forced to do what 
 
18 THE YOUNG FllANC-TIREURS. 
 
 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 inde- 
 fensible, 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 Prus- 
 sians 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 overwhleming 
 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 south-west 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 farther advance. We may expect a great 
 battle in a day or two." 
 
TEE YOUNG F11ANC-TIREUR3. 19 
 
 The news came but too soon, for two days later Dijon 
 as well as all France stood aghast at the news of the 
 utter route of MacMahon's division, after the desperately 
 contested battle of Worth, and the not less decided, 
 though less disastrous, defeats of the French left at 
 Forbach, by the troops of Steinmetz. Some little con- 
 solation 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 pre- 
 vailed. 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 eve-y 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, n^ne dreamed of final defeat. Every day, 
 however, the news became worse. Strasburg was cut 
 off, and the Prussians marched unopposed across the 
 
20 THE YOUNG FRANC- T1REUR8. 
 
 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 oh* unless he hurries his 
 retread and then nothing can stop the Prussians from 
 march : 3g 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 quali- 
 ties, and all France will rise like one man to march to 
 the defense of Paris." 
 
 "Raw levies will be of no use whatever against iat, 
 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, cut- 
 ting 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 pa- 
 triotism. 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 hourgeoise 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIRKUR8. 21 
 
 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 disre- 
 gard 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 terri- 
 ble three days' fighting, on the 14th, 16th, and 18th, 
 near Metz, when Bazaine, his retreat toward Paris cut 
 
THE YOUNG-FRANC-TIREURB. 
 
 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 Prance 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 equi^ed 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 morn- 
 ing 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. "Every one 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 frivo- 
 lous 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 depart- 
 ments, in any sort of service, in fact, which will exempt 
 
THE YOUNG BmANC-TIREUES. 23 
 
 its holder trom 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 any one 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 a^ts to 
 
24 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREUB8. 
 
 provide their own arms and equipments, a meeting is to 
 be held to-night 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 every one 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, Ealph; 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 
 
TEE YOUNG FRANC-TIRETJRS. 25 
 
 •was so deadly pale, and her face had such an expression 
 •f 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 Ealph went on: 
 "When we first talked over the possibility of every one 
 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 should 
 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 every one, to fight for his coun- 
 try. 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 
 
26 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIRE URS. 
 
 ■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 in- 
 clined 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 friend- 
 ship had sprung up between them. Upon Captain Bar- 
 clay 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 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. £T 
 
 foot, and a horse would be out of the question among 
 the forests of the Vosges Mountains. You might, how- 
 ever, 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 should 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 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 Eng- 
 land 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 for- 
 warded 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 
 
28 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 
 
 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 yon 
 write to your friends to make an agreement with a manu- 
 facturer, 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 com- 
 plete 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 to-morrow. 
 The municipality will help, I have no doubt.'" 
 i ""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 our 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 head- 
 quarters 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.'* 
 
THE YOUNG FRANG-T1RKUHS. 29 
 
 "I quite approve of your pla.11," 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, some- 
 thing 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 soldiers 
 are altogether a mistake. I will bring you a sketch to- 
 morrow, 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 even- 
 ing 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 ns. Good-by. Tell the boys that their names are 
 down, and that we shall begin drill in a day or two." 
 
30 TBE YOUNG FRANC-TIREUm. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 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 mar- 
 riage. 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 hus- 
 band 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 
 
TEE YOUNG FRANG-TIREUR8. 31 
 
 such harm as this; my faith, it is incredible. When I 
 heard that you were to marry yourself to an English- 
 man, 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 necks." 
 
 "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 be- 
 come 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." 
 
32 THE YOUNG FRANC- TIRE UBS. 
 
 "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 every one 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." 
 
 Mrs. 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 our arguing or talking. 
 I consider, rightly or wrongly, that the claims of our 
 country stand before our private convenience or incon- 
 venience. 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 
 
TEE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 33 
 
 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 occa- 
 sions 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 there- 
 fore specially 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, 
 woodcutters, and others who preferred the certainty of 
 active and stirring service among the franc-tireurs to 
 the pay and comparative monotony of the regular serv- 
 ice. 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 
 
34 THE YOUNG FRAXC-TIREURS. 
 
 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 Ealph 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 wa3 a docu- 
 ment 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 com- 
 rades until you have formally entered your names, before 
 you irrevocably commit yourself 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 cer- 
 tainty an immense deal of suffering, an amount of hard- 
 ship 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. 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC- TIBEUR8. 35 
 
 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 applica- 
 tion 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 inclosed 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 *varn yau that I shall use 
 unhesitatingly. Discipline in a corps like ours is every- 
 thing. 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 inde- 
 pendently of each other. I have deliberated whether it 
 is best to allow each company to chose 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 dur- 
 ing 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 com- 
 pany to decide whether to accept my choice or not. 
 There may be points in a man's character which may 
 
36 THE TO UNO FRANG-TIREURS. 
 
 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. Cap- 
 tain 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 command- 
 ing the troops here has 'promised us the loan of a hun- 
 dred 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 to-morrow 
 morning in the Place d'Armes. A suit of uniform com- 
 plete 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 com- 
 pany. This was a matter of great pleasure to them, as 
 
THE YOU NO FRANC-TIREURS. 37 
 
 ^hey had been afraid that they might have been sepa- 
 rated. 
 
 The following day drill began in earnest, and accus- 
 tomed 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 rudi- 
 ments 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, crene- 
 late a wall, fell trees to form an obstacle across roads or 
 a breastwork in front of them, and how to throw them- 
 selves 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 strenu- 
 ously upon the men the extreme importance of profi- 
 ciency in shooting, as it was upon the accuracy and deadli- 
 ness 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 
 
38 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 
 
 were changed each day in order to enable all to advance 
 at an equal rate. Besides, their ammunition was sup- 
 plied, so that those who chose to do so could practice 
 shooting for their own amusement between their morn- 
 ing 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 every one 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 expec- 
 tation followed, and then, on the 3d 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 French- 
 men laying down their arms. Two days later came the 
 news of the revolution in Paris. This exeited various 
 emotions among the people, but the prevailing idea 
 seemed to be that, now there was a republic, past dis- 
 asters 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. 
 
TEE YOUNG FRANC-TIBEUR3. 39 
 
 \ "With any other people I should consider it to be the 
 most unfortunate event which could have possibly 
 eccurred," Captain Barclay said. "A change of govern- 
 ment, 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 
 ©f national enthusiasm that the resistance, which, as far 
 as the civil population is concerned, has as yet been con- 
 temptible — 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 
 ©f 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 revo- 
 lution; 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 Ber- 
 lin! 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 inter- 
 fered in favor of an established empire, but their sympa- 
 
40 THE YOUNG FBANC-TIREUHS. 
 
 thies 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 any- 
 where, 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 popu- 
 lation that she has to trust." 
 
 "Do you think Paris will hold out, papa?" 
 "She is sure to do so, boys. She has made the revo- 
 lution, 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 out 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 
 
THE- YO UNO FRANC-TIRE URS. 41 
 
 y word of politics would be spoken in the corps, but that 
 eyery one would give his whole thought, his whole 
 strength, and, if must be, his life, in the cause of France. 
 Ilk 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 gentle- 
 men in the corps, especially those belonging to old fami- 
 lies, were well known to be attached either to a Legiti- 
 mist 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 continu- 
 ance 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 Guards 
 headed them as they marched down the high street of 
 Dijgn 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 
 
42 THE YOUNG PRANC-TIREURS. 
 
 of the chassepots, which, with the sun shining upon 
 them, would betray them to an enemy miles away. 
 
 A day or two afterward, as Ealph 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 
 gensdarmes 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 despera- 
 tion, 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, "Hurro<* 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 a 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 
 gensdarmes, who had been hustled away, drawing their 
 swords, again took their place by the side of their insen- 
 sible prisoner. 
 
THE YOUNG FRA.NV-T1REUR8. 43 
 
 The mob had only recoiled for a moment, and now, 
 furious at being balked of their expected prey, prepared 
 to rush upon his defenders, shouting as they did so, 
 "Death to the spy!" The moment's delay had, how- 
 ever, given time to the boys to fix bayonets. 
 
 "Keep off," Ealph 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 pre- 
 pared 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 com- 
 rades 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 rein- 
 forcement put an end to the threatened conflict, and the 
 gensdarmes, aided by two of the franc-tireurs, lifted the 
 insensible man, and carried him to the Mairie, the rest 
 of the franc-tireurs marching on either side as a guard, 
 and the yelling crowd following them. 
 
 Once inside the Mairie, 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 hun- 
 dred 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, 
 
44 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREUR8. 
 
 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 luckily 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 thor- 
 oughly 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. When- 
 ever 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 gensdarmes 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 sim- 
 ple 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 thai 
 
THE YOUNG fRANC-TIREURS. 45 
 
 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 gensdarmes 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 deter- 
 mined 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 Mairie, and made their way un- 
 noticed 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 Cap- 
 
46 THE YOUNG FRANG-TIREURS. 
 
 tain Barclay having, in spite of Tim's earnest remon- 
 strance 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 1 drill, the 
 Irishman was still in bed; but when they returned to 
 dinner they found "him working in the garden as vigor- 
 ously 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. 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 Irish- 
 man 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 
 ; ::rksman; and so I mean to 'list, and go as your 
 honors' sarvint." 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIRZ'SRS. &t 
 
 "But you can't do that, Tim, even if we wonld let 
 you," Ealph 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 of 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 as- 
 tonishment. "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 regi- 
 ment; 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 cook- 
 ing 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 h^ve, 
 and Tim Doyle will be there with you as sure as the 
 piper." 
 
 "We should like you with us very much, Tim, \\ you 
 
48 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 
 
 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 under- 
 stands 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 
 
TEE YOUXG FRANC-TIREURS. 49 
 
 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 every 
 one; 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. 
 
50 THE YQUNG-FMANU-TIREUnSL 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 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 objec- 
 tion 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 
 
THE YOUNG FRAXC-TIRKURS. 5> 
 
 were utterly shattered, and that she should never sur- 
 vive 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 M. Duburg came in, as usual, 
 every day or two for a chat with Captain Barclay. 
 
 September 15, 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, re- 
 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, 
 toward 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 
 
52 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREUMS. 
 
 of the National Guard at their head, playing the Mar- 
 seillaise, 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 inter- 
 fered 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 car- 
 ried by a French soldier. 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 53 
 
 At the head of the corps marched its commandant. 
 The French term commandant answers to an English 
 major, and he wilr therefore in future he 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 satis- 
 faction 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 ammuni- 
 tion, 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 
 x he 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 one 
 
54 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 
 
 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 foot- 
 ing 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 
 amid 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. 
 
 Eailway 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, toward the end of their journey, when 
 they were fairly among the Vosges, i he scenery became 
 wild and savage. At Vesoul, which was about half way, 
 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 enthusias- 
 tic 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 oif, 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 
 
TBE YOUNG FRANO-TIREURS. 55 
 
 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 long. 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 rela- 
 tionship and friendship of the young Barclays and 
 Du burgs, 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 fntnre 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 sur- 
 prise at the youthfulness of their guests. 
 
 "But these are mere boys!" the lady said to her hus- 
 
56 THE TOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 
 
 band 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 undeFGtood 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 appear- 
 ance," the lady said, smiling; "but two of you look 
 mere like Alsatians than French. You have the fair 
 complexion and brown, wavy hair. You do not look like 
 Frenchmen." 
 
 "Nor ar« we," Ralph laughed. "My brother and 
 
THE YOUJSG FKAXC-TIREUR8. 57 
 
 myself, although French bom, 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 let3 
 you go out upon this expedition, which is very perilous. ,, 
 
 "We wished to go — that is, we thought it was our 
 duty," Ealph 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," said their host warmly. "Your gallant exam- 
 ple 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 aa 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/' Ealph said; "their father is 
 our mother's brother."' 
 
 For Borne 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 
 
58 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREUR8. 
 
 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 hap- 
 pen, 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 good-by 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 toward 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 + .he 
 appearance and manners of young ladies. 
 
 "Were they?" Percy said carelessly, with the indiffer- 
 ence of an English boy Of his age as to gir^s. "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 YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 59 
 
 The others laughed. "I am sure Milly is jolly 
 enough/' Philip 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 it 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 any one 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. Every one 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, tho 
 
60 TEE YOUNG FRANC-TIREUR8. 
 
 conntry wild and moutainous, thick forests extended in 
 every direction as far as the eye could carry. 
 
 ""There is one comfort, Percy," Balph 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 lief 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 pro- 
 visions. 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 tum- 
 bling 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 wer* 
 piled, blankets and haversacks taken off, and then pret>< 
 arations began for their first meal. 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 61 
 
 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 com- 
 pany to fetch wood, and the old soldiers prepared for 
 the important operation of cooking. Several little fire- 
 places-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 can- 
 teen, 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 joliiest 
 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 shoul' 
 dered, and with many a good wish from the peasant 
 they inarched forward again. 
 
62 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREUR8. 
 
 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 oyer 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 gayly. 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 sen- 
 tries, 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 put- 
 ting 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 
 Kambervillers, where they were billeted among the 
 inhabitants; and fourteen miles on the day after to Bac- 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-T1REU11S. 63 
 
 carat, on the river Meurthe, where they also obtained 
 quarters. They were now approaching the neighbor- 
 hood of the enemy, and Major Terape advised a halt for 
 the next day, in order that he might make inquiries and 
 investigate thoroughly the best route to be pursued, 
 
64 THE JOUJSQ FMANC-TIREUHS. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE FIRST ENGAGEMENT. 
 
 The news which the commandant of the franc-tireurs 
 heard at Baccarat determined him to change his inten- 
 tions, 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 forward had been to the effect that a body 
 of two hundred Uhlans had left Sarrebourg and were 
 advancing toward Blamont. They were going quietly, 
 stopping to Levy contributions at the village 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 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 65 
 
 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 diffi- 
 culty 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 the 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 peasant had informed them that the 
 
66 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 
 
 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 further back young trees were felled 
 and branches cut, and these were laid with the bushy 
 parts toward 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 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 6? 
 
 from view from the road. Number one company was 
 placed to the right, and consequently near to Blamont. 
 Kalph 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 grasp- 
 ing 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 possi- 
 bility 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, escort- 
 
6g TEE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 
 
 ing a number of cattle and sheep. The great &r 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 sbftut "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 
 boped for and expected. 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 69 
 
 Thft 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 cap- 
 tain, 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 amid a continuous fire from the franc-tireurs the 
 diminished troop galloped back toward 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 actu- 
 ally 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 with- 
 
70 TEE YOUNG FR A JVC-TIRE UBS. 
 
 out 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 Bar- 
 clays, 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 them- 
 selves, 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 toward 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 regu- 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 71 
 
 lar 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 oif 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 
 Ulhans. 
 
 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 bene- 
 fit 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 moles- 
 tation, as the franc-tireurs were upon the point of tak- 
 ing 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, 
 
72 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 
 
 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 up- 
 ward 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 ex- 
 peditions, and defy the efforts of the Prussians to dis- 
 turb 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 cart, 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 hard- 
 ship, 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 inclosure. The 
 men were too much done up even to care about keeping 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS, 73 
 
 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 threads 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, 
 
 
74 TEE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 
 
 and it was determined that snch stores of powder, etc., 
 as might he required upon each expedition should b© 
 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 plains 
 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 high- 
 est 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 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIRE URS. 75 
 
 have a hard struggle to keep them alive during the win- 
 ter. Their language is German, and their appearance 
 and dress rather German than French, but notwithstand- 
 ing 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. 
 
76 THE YOUNQ FHAN0-T1EEUBS. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE TUHNEL OF SAVER2JE. 
 
 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 
 let at a village five miles to the left, while the third com- 
 pany 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 conversa- 
 tion 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 with- 
 out difficulty. The company who were to march for- 
 ward in the morning were provided with quarters in the 
 village. 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. "<7 
 
 Ralph and Percy Barclay, as usual, acted as interpre- 
 ters 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 vil- 
 lagers 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 com- 
 manding 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. 
 
78 THE YOUNG-FRANC-TIREURS. 
 
 "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 danger- 
 ous of guests. They will argue, 'If we make no resist- 
 ance 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 plun- 
 dered, but burned 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 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIBEURS. 79 
 
 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 
 toward the schoolroom they heard a great tumujfc 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 under- 
 stood 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 descrip- 
 tion, 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 
 
80 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIRtfUBS. 
 
 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 haver- 
 sacks, 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 further 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, Louis. Ah! here is supper. I am 
 quite ready for that too." 
 
 The men who officiated as cooks, and who by agree- 
 ment had been released from all night-duty in consider- 
 ation of their regularly undertaking that occupation, 
 now brought in a large saucepanful 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 
 
THE-YOUNG FRANC-TIRED K&. SI 
 
 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 every 
 one 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 ^vas 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." 
 
82 THE YOUNG FRANG-TIREUR8. 
 
 "But now we have offered, sir, the case is different," 
 Kalph said. "From our knowledge of the language, and 
 from our age, we are better fitted than any one in the 
 corps to perform this service, and therefore it would be 
 clearly our duty to perform it were it greatly more dan- 
 gerous 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 
 lit us. Shall we come in this afternoon for instructions?" 
 
 "Thank you, lads," Major Tempo 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 dis- 
 tance 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 sur- 
 prised 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 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 83 
 
 entirely secret, lest any incautious word might be over- 
 heard 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 what- 
 ever, 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. Round- 
 ing their shoulders, and walking with clumping sorts of 
 strides, 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 good-by with their friends, and 
 started for Saverne. 
 
 Two hours later they were walking in its streets, star- 
 ing 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 con- 
 versation 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 
 
84 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREUR8. 
 
 that they were heartily sick of the monotony of the 
 place, and the hard work of patrolling the line of rail- 
 way 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 smallnessof 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 sta- 
 tion, 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 them- 
 selves, 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 
 backward and forward 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." 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 85 
 
 "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 pris- 
 oners: 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 tho 
 
8$ THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS 
 
 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 car- 
 ries, 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 sus- 
 pended 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 prepara- 
 tions 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 to-morrow 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 sur- 
 geon, who had listened in silence, said: "The general 
 plan is simple enough ; but tell me, how do you propose 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIUEURS. 87 
 
 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 nitro-glycerine somewhere in the 
 middle of the tunnel, and blow the whole affair up." 
 
 Lieutenant de Maupas had been a sailor, and his quick- 
 ness of decision and go-ahead, straightforward 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, 
 
88 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 
 
 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 insure its destruction at the 
 point of explosion; buc I have no hope of any great 
 damage being done by merely putting two barrels of 
 nitro-glycerine down upon the line, and then firing 
 them. I can assure you the point mooted by the doctor 
 is most serious; and, as far as I see at present, I could 
 do nothing in half an hour which would in any way 
 insure the destruction of the tunnel. To make such a 
 chamber as I speak of (to hold two barrels of nitro- 
 glycerine) would be the work of four or five days, work- 
 ing 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 hid- 
 ing 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 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 89 
 
 commandant said, "We cannot give it up without a 
 trial. Think it over, Ribouville, for the next three or 
 fcur days. You may be able to pitch upon some plan; 
 if you cannot do so we must at last try the experiment 
 of exploding our nitro-glycerine 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." 
 
90 ■ TEE YOUNG FBANC-TIUEURS. 
 
 CHAPTER VIL 
 
 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 expe- 
 dition. 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 
 ©f the neighborhood were present. Although the vil- 
 lagers might appear to understand no language but Ger- 
 man, they might yet know enough French to glean what 
 was said, and, if traitorously inclined, to warn the Ger- 
 mans, 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 command- 
 ant's, had requested leave to send a line to their cousins, 
 who would be anxiously expecting them. 
 
 "Halloo! you Barclay, where have you been to all 
 day?" was the general exclamation as they entered. 
 
 "On duty," Kalph 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 los* 
 its calf." 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 91 
 
 "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, con- 
 gratulating them on their offer to undertake this danger- 
 ous 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 pro- 
 test 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 re- 
 quiring 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 destruc- 
 tion 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 Lieuten- 
 ant 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, 
 
93 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREUR8. 
 
 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 extin- 
 guish 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 nitro-glycerine to 
 take it to the required position and rejoin their com- 
 rades. 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 in 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 tun- 
 nel was obtainable, they stopped with a simultaneous 
 exclamation of dismay. Not only were two sentries sta- 
 tioned 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 guardhouse. 
 
 "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 
 
THE YOUJSG FRANC-TITiEUR8. 93 
 
 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 inhab- 
 itants, and there appeared to be no sign of their early 
 departure. 
 
 For some time the boys walked about without obtain- 
 ing 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, Kalph: 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." 
 
94 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREUR8. 
 
 "That will do capitally, Percy." 
 
 In another couple of minutes the two lads were sit- 
 ting, 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 infan- 
 try, "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 yon 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." 
 
THE TO UNO FRANC-TIREURS. 95 
 
 "Well, speak in English, then, Von Bauson," 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 to-morrow 
 night we shall, I believe, make an expedition, and sweep 
 the woods clear of these troublesome gentry. These 
 franc-tireurs wili 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 
 
96 THE YOUNG FRANC- TIREURS, 
 
 above all, if they should take it into their headg to 
 address us suddenly in French or English, don't start or 
 seem to notice." 
 
 The major was, however, too absorbed in the informa- 
 tion he had received, and too confident that the English 
 in which it had been told would be unintelligible to any 
 one 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 to-day, 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 mis- 
 take." 
 
 "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," Kalph said respectfully, "you 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 97 
 
 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, heat once dismissed 
 the men, telling them to keep near, as they might be 
 wanted. Then, calling his officers, he proceeded at Giice 
 with the Barclays toward 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 any one?" 
 
 Still more surprised, Major Tempe led the way to some 
 feiled 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 hear- 
 ing 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 aa 
 the sun shines, and as sure as my name is Edward 
 Tempe, so sure shall that schoolmaster of Grunsdorf ba 
 hung before to-morrow morning! Lieutenant Ribou- 
 ville, 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 
 
$8 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 
 
 said no word of commendation to them for the service 
 they had performed, the boys hurried off to their quar- 
 ters 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 maid 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 dis- 
 misses 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 
 intirely; and it's a pity, for he is an illigant 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 to-night 
 
TEE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 99 
 
 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 dis- 
 position 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 hun- 
 dred men in Saverne. To-morrow 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 
 ofiered to guide a force to surround us to-morrow night." 
 
 Another low cry of horror and indignation broke from 
 the men. 
 
 "Is it your opinion that this man has deserved death?" 
 
100 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREUR8. 
 
 "Yes," was the unanimous answer. 
 
 "Then he dies/' Major Tempe said solemnly. "You 
 were to have been his victims; .you are his judges. Gruns- 
 dorf 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 destruc- 
 tion. 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 hol- 
 low 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 rein- 
 forced, they perceived the extreme importance of discov- 
 ering 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 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 101 
 
 o'clock in full marching order, with all necessaries and 
 laecouterments." 
 
 As Major Tempe ceased speaking the men broke up 
 irom 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 get- 
 ting out of sight of the village, and fairly entering the 
 forest, they turned sharp off and took the direction of 
 Saverne. 
 
102 TEE YOUNG FRANC-TIREXTR& 
 
 CHAPTER VIIL 
 
 THE TRAITOR. 
 
 After the company had marched for half an hour a halt 
 
 was called, and their commandant said, "I dare say 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 
 
 to-night, and if I have him I will hang him as sure as 
 
 fate. This lane which we are following leads to Gruns- 
 
 dorf, 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 aifairs, 
 
 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 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIBEUR8. 103 
 
 'ill go on at once, and in an hour we will follow, and 
 Remain concealed just outside the village until they 
 sturn. Sergeant, you will go forward with them, and 
 akree upon the place where we shall remain hid until 
 tiley join us. Now, my lads, you have already received 
 your instructions, change your things and go forward at 
 once." 
 
 The distance was further than they had expected, and 
 it vas 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 refer- 
 ence 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. 
 
 "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. 
 
104 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIliEUIiS. 
 
 "But people do not come to cut wood without hors«s 
 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?" :he 
 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 Coimar 
 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 any one 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 ta 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. 
 
THE YOUNG FRANG-TIREUR8. 105 
 
 we pass, fire a volley right into us, and I will make a 
 cUrfc into the wood in the confusion. " 
 
 i'But you might be shot by our men, Ralph; they 
 coi\ld not possibly distinguish you in the dark. No, I 
 will go with the men, and you make your way to 
 Ternpe's." 
 
 "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, aa 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. Good-by, God 
 bless you. I dare say 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 
 
306 THE YOUNG FHANC-TIREURS. 
 
 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 to-night, 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," Ealph 
 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 to- 
 night; 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 
 
\ THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 10? 
 
 trri 
 
 th of your story. I thought for a bit you had some- 
 thing 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 land- 
 lord, 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. 
 
 "J am soon back, Karl, and am glad that it is so, for 
 frankly I too am tired, and it i3 not a night for a dog to 
 be out. 1 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?" 
 
308 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREUBS. 
 
 "Of course," the landlord said. "Do you take us for 
 heathens?" 
 
 "Not at all," Ealph 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 wor- 
 ries about her. Where does the priest live?" 
 
 "The last house on the left as you go out from the 
 further end of the village. But any one will show you 
 in the morning. You don't want the light any longer?" 
 For the boys had, while speaking, been taking oil 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." 
 
THE YOUNG FRANO-TIUEUR& 109 
 
 "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 in." 
 
 "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 toward 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 
 
HO THE YOUNG FEANC-TIREURS. 
 
 passed the spot, and then, having found out the direc- 
 tion 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 Tempo 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 some one pacing backward and 
 forward on the road, and that he believes it to be a 
 sentry." 
 
 "He was quite right," Ealph 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 yon come out." 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. \\\ 
 
 ei £re the sentries very close' together?" 
 
 "They are pretty close, bub not too close to prevent 
 onr crawling between them unobserved on such a night 
 as this." 
 
 Major Tempe hesitated for awhile. "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 
 
112 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 
 
 toward 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 bewil- 
 dered 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, accom- 
 panied only by two men and by Ralph Barclay to inter- 
 pret, 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. 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TTUEURS. 113 
 
 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 to-night 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 school- 
 master 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 school- 
 room 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 school- 
 room 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?" 
 
114 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 
 
 "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 pro- 
 vided 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. Intro- 
 ducing the saw into this hole, he noiselessly cut entirely 
 round the fastening with a semicircular 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 any- 
 thing and make a noise. Then taking a coil of strong 
 rope in his hand, and followed by the two men, he again 
 
TEE YOUNG FRANC-TIREUR& 115 
 
 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. Para- 
 lyzed 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 Ger- 
 man 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 pocketbook, 
 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 
 inclosed ten hundred-thaler notes.* 
 
 "They are part of our blood money," the major said 
 
 * A thaler is about equal to two shillings. 
 
116 THE YOUNG FRANG-TIREURS. 
 
 grimly. "Bring them away — they are the fair gpoil 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 low- 
 ered 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-trieurs 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 
 semicircle by the fire. The prisoner was a man of about 
 fifty-five, with a sailow, 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 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 117 
 
 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 colo- 
 nel'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 toward 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 a3 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 Temp6 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 thern the smoldering fire, and 
 the white figure swinging near it. 
 
118 THE YOUNG FMANG-T1REUR& 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 A DESPERATE FIGHT. 
 
 Daylight was just breaking when Major Temp6 
 marched with his men into Marmontier, at which place 
 the other three companies had arrived the night pre- 
 viously. It was a large village, the chief place of its 
 canton, and the corps was 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 major- 
 ity of their comrades, to sleep on straw in the school- 
 room. The inhabitants, however, were up and about 
 very shortly after the arrival of Major Tempers com- 
 mand, 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 Prus- 
 sians 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 toward Wasselonne, a small town situated on the 
 Breuche, a little river which, winding round by Mol- 
 sheim, 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 
 
TEE YOUNG FRANC-TIREUR8. 119 
 
 Wasselonne bad frequently been visited by the Prus- 
 sians, and slept at the little village of Casswiller, at the 
 edge of the forest of (Edenwald. 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 coun- 
 try 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 boom- 
 ing 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 carry- 
 ing off cattle. The village was very poor, and was able 
 to furnish little accommodations in the way of quarters, 
 still less in that of food. Six of the villagers were 
 therefore sent through the forest of (Edenwald to Raon 
 with an order to fetch ever 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 ^f Still. The corps was now broken 
 up into its fouy companies, who were stationed in the 
 villages od the Vosges, and at the edge of the forest of 
 Trieswsld 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, dis- 
 tinctly see any bodies of men going south from Stras- 
 burg. 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 posi- 
 
120 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 
 
 tion. 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 Ger- 
 mans, 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 irregu- 
 larities 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 upward 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 
 ansuspecting foes. They had not as yet become hard- 
 ened 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. 
 
TEE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 121 
 
 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 inreadiness 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, Ealph, 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 pro- 
 ceeding. 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. 
 
122 THE Y0UNG-FRANC-TIREUR8. 
 
 "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 burned 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 suc- 
 cession 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 
 to-morrow, 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 
 to-day, 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 on- 
 raisonable country, nothing but uphill and downhill 
 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 march- 
 ing 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 
 
THE YOUNG FBANC-TIBEUES. 123 
 
 nnderstand French, he never attempted to speak it 
 except to ask some necessary question. Percy trans- 
 lated it to the lieutenant. 
 
 "You will have fighting enough before you have done, 
 Tim. Whether you will have it to-morrow 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 morn- 
 ing, sir?" 
 
 "Yes, I think so," the lieutenant said. 
 
 "Then we will go in to our dinner," Ealph said. 
 "Who knows where we may dine to-morrow?" 
 
 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, Ealph; up all of you," hi 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 were scream- 
 ing 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. 
 
124 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 
 
 The commandant will be here with the second company 
 in half an hour. I had a message from him late lait 
 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 toward the vil- 
 lage, 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 them- 
 selves 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 sensi- 
 ble, 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 hun- 
 dred 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 suc- 
 cess. 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. 
 
THE YOUNG FRANG-TIREVRS. 125 
 
 "Fall back," the lieutenant shouted; "six men alter- 
 nately of each half company. Back fifty paces at the 
 doubled 
 
 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 fel- 
 lows 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 don©, 
 
126 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS 
 
 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 Ealph 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 upward 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 under- 
 stood 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 
 
THE YOUNG FBANC-TIREUR8. 127 
 
 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." 
 
128 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREUR8. 
 
 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 toward 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 hundreds yards distant 
 as they started, and the carbine-balls were already whiz- 
 zing over their heads. 
 
 With the rapidity and steadiness which mark the move- 
 ments 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 
 
THE TOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 129 
 
 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 pre- 
 cisely similar results. The instant that they had passed, 
 however, Major Tempe shouted to his men: 
 
 "On again for the woods. Steady; keep square; re- 
 serve 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 strug- 
 gle, 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 cav- 
 alry. There was a rush into the brushwood, and then 
 
130 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 
 
 from behind the shelter of the trees the fire opened 
 again, and the cavalry fell sullenly back, having lost 
 upward 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 dimin- 
 
TEE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 131 
 
 ished 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 
 further into the forest severely wounded, and Philippe 
 Duburg lay a short distance off, the surgeon being em- 
 ployed bandaging his leg, which a rifle ball had entered 
 above the knee. Fifteen, therefore, were dead or miss- 
 ing, 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 arter- 
 ies, and that he thinks it struck the bone and has 
 
132 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 
 
 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 toward 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 toward 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 un- 
 wounded 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 
 
THE YOUJSIG FRANG-TIREUM8. 133 
 
 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 w il-chosen words of regret at the ills which he and 
 his had involuntarily brought upon the village, he 
 handed o T er 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 toward 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 
 
134 THE TO UNO FRANC-TIREUB8. 
 
 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 night- 
 fall, 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 instruc- 
 tions 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. 
 
TEE YOUNG FRANG-TIMEUm 135 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE BRIDGE OF THE VESOUZB. 
 
 The very day after the fight news arrived which 
 induced a sudden change of position. Upon the 16th of 
 September the Baden troops occupied Mulhouse, having 
 entered Oolmar on the preceding day. It was evident 
 that the railway was so strongly guarded between Stras- 
 burg 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 council, 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 approach- 
 ing the mountains with the object of making requisi- 
 tions, 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 in 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 
 
136 TEE YOUNG FRANO-TIRETTRS. 
 
 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 corp3 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. Unfortu- 
 nately 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 Na- 
 tional 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 num- 
 ber 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 toward 
 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 
 
THE TOUNO FRANG-TIBEURS. 137 
 
 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 bomgeois 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 com- 
 mittee with them and his own officers. These fixed a 
 fair price upon the articles required, and Major Ternpe 
 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 incon- 
 venience of sending for them whenever meat was re- 
 quired. The proceedsof these and of the horses captured 
 
138 THE TOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 
 
 at the same time had given them a fair sum in their regi- 
 mental chest, and they were therefore able and willing to 
 pay a fair sum 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, tho peo- 
 ple were glad to do all in their power for a corps com- 
 posed 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 Tempers 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 Bar- 
 clays had appeared in the report as specially distinguish- 
 ing themselves, and their father had written saying how 
 pleased and gratified he was at their conduct. Mrs. Bar- 
 clay 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. Upward of thirty had been killed or dis- 
 abled 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 com- 
 pletely 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 Temp6 
 determined (as General Cambriel 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 
 
TEE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 139 
 
 would recross the Vosges and aid in the defense against 
 this second army of invaders. 
 
 Three days' fatiguing marches brought them to Epinalj 
 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, how- 
 ever, 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 surgeons con- 
 sidered 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 laugh- 
 ingly 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 that 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 Guards, and all men under forty 
 were drilling in readiness to march at a moment's notice. 
 
140 TEE YOUNG FRANC-TIREUR8. 
 
 "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 
 Eechicourt, 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 com- 
 munication, 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 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREUR8. HI 
 
 Tempe's orders, carried on the baggage horse, they had 
 do difficulty upon that score. 
 
 Their expedition was uneventful. At the village 
 nearest to the bridge they went 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 undiscov- 
 ered. 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 burn low, and shortly afterward 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. 
 
142 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 
 
 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 the 
 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, tha 
 franc-tireurs had made a rush forward. They were met 
 by a straggling discharge from the Germans, as, half- 
 asleep, they hurried out from the guardroom. This 
 was answered by the fire of the franc-tireurs, who sur- 
 rounded 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 afterward 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 bayo- 
 nets. Directly he has sent off the prisoners let him join 
 me here with the rest of his force." 
 
 Lieutenant Eibouville now set to work to inspect the 
 
TEE YOUNG FRANC- TIRE UBS. 143 
 
 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 insure 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 upward." 
 
 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 de- 
 lightedly; "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 
 
144 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIRETTR8. 
 
 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. Lieu- 
 tenant Eibouville 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 un- 
 pleasant 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 Lune- 
 ville. 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 
 snouted. "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 
 
THE YOUNG FRANG-TIREUR8. 145 
 
 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 conple of minutes the franc-tireurs were retreat- 
 ing 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. Look- 
 ing back they saw that 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 dis- 
 tance 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 con- 
 siderable portion of the ground. In one of these stand- 
 ing upon rising and broken ground, Major Tempe 
 
14b THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 
 
 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 dis- 
 covered 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 operations at 
 the bridge were being carried out. 
 
 There was great rejoicing at tho success of their enter- 
 prise, the effect of which would certainly be to block the 
 traffic along that line for at least a week. Their satis- 
 faction 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 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 them hung 
 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 wa3 
 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 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TI11EURS. 147 
 
 they found that they would not have to be present at 
 the execntion. 
 
 Two hours later Major Tenipe returned with the 
 escort. The officer and eleven of his men had been 
 hnng 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 Tenipe 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 
 Vosges 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 quar- 
 ters, and the major therefore ordered the men to bivouac 
 in the open while he reported himself to General Cam- 
 briels. The commandant of the franc-tireurs was per- 
 sonally 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- 
 
148 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 
 
 boys led by officers who know nothing of their duty, 
 against troops like the Germans? As for my frane- 
 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 
 to-morrow 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 thou- 
 sand 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 remain- 
 ing 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 YOUNG FRANC-TIREUR8. 149 
 
 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 dis- 
 patches 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 destruc- 
 tion. They are two young English lads named Barclay." 
 
 "I remember distinctly," General Cambriels said. 
 "They speak French fluently, I suppose, as well aa 
 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 commission 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 to-morrow 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 to* 
 
150 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 
 
 gether 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 to Raoul, a village a mile 
 from here, in the morning, with a notification that they 
 are placed under your command. Good-by." 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-T1REUH8. 1$1 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 A FIGHT IK 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 Ribou- 
 ville 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 other would 
 with the newly-made captain be attached to other corps. 
 The two Barclays would receive commission 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 
 
152 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREUR8. 
 
 were general favorites for their good temper and will- 
 ingness 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 to-night 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 blub- 
 bering; 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 ds at all?" 
 
 The boys hurried away without reply, for Colonel 
 Tempe was waiting for them, and on the way to head- 
 quarters 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 
 
THE TOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 153 
 
 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 on a 
 hussar uniform, and he would make a capital orderly, 
 and would act as servant to your new staff officers." 
 
 "Byall 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 upon 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 will- 
 ingly measured them for their new uniforms, promising 
 that they should have them without fail the next after- 
 noon. 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 repeate , 
 aghast. 
 
154 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 
 
 "It is not much, mamma," Ealph 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. Rough- 
 ing 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 awhile. 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, Madam Duburg ha3 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 promo- 
 tion 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 M. Duburg 
 came in to see them. 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREimS. 155 
 
 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, be- 
 cause 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 begun 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 pre- 
 vail 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 after- 
 noon of the following day, when Kalph 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 Bar- 
 clay wrung the boys' hands silently. Their mother cried 
 with delight, and Milly danced round the boys like a 
 6mall possessed-one. 
 
156 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREUR8. 
 
 "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 remain- 
 ing 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." t 
 
 "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. Bar- 
 clay 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 Oambriels. The part- 
 ing 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 com- 
 parison 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 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREUR8. 157 
 
 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, writ- 
 ing 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 impossi- 
 ble, 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 him- 
 self 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 Oambriels ad- 
 vanced 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 fre- 
 quently dispatched with orders, etc., to obtain reports 
 from him. After three days' marching they neared the 
 
158 TEE YOUNG PRANC-TIREURS. 
 
 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. Some one 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 on* 
 
TEE YOUNG FRANG-TIREUBS. 159 
 
 to kill Prussians. I have killed thirteen already, and, 
 please God/* and the peasant lifted his hat devoutly, "I 
 will kill two more to-day.'' 
 
 "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, 
 aud 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 further, 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 re- 
 connoiter 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 hun- 
 dred yards further 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 further. 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 artiK 
 lsry. A considerable movement was going on, and Ralph 
 
X60 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 
 
 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 reckless- 
 ness 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 Kalph 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 dis- 
 may, 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 dis- 
 charged. "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 
 
THE YOUNG FUANC-TIREUR8. 161 
 
 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 
 ;>mong the trees just as another shot was fired with a like 
 f#tal result into the advancing Uhlans. The rest, believ- 
 ing 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 return- 
 ing to follow its companions. As he did so the old peas- 
 ant appeared from the wood. "Thank you," Ealph 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 car- 
 tridge 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. 
 
 "Halloo, 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 
 
162 THE YOUNG-FRANC-TIREUIIS. 
 
 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. 
 
 Ealph 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 disposi- 
 tion 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 Mobiles' uni- 
 form, and in a blue blouse. Great numbers of them were 
 
THE YOUNG FUAXC-TIREURS. 1G3 
 
 nimost 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 seri- 
 ous 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 val- 
 ley 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 toward the J spot. From the road at the en- 
 trance 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 hia 
 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 hun- 
 dred yards from the post taken up by the general, a sue- 
 
164 TEE TOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 
 
 cession of quick puffs of smoke told where Colonel 
 Tempe's franc-tireurs were placed, while among the 
 trees below there came up the 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 
 distant 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 further 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 brush-wood 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 thujnder, 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, Kalph!" Percy said, after a 
 moment's silence. 
 
 "Splendid!" Kalph 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 
 Ealph scramble rapidly down the hillside in the direction 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIRE URS. 165 
 
 of the trees, among which the French battery was 
 placed, and over and among which the shells were burst- 
 ing every second. It seemed like entering a fiery f ur- 
 nace. It was a terribly long ten minutes before Ealph 
 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 Ealph 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 quar- 
 ter 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," Ealph said faintly; "I 
 don't think it has touched the bone, but it has cut the 
 flesh badly." Ealph 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 
 
166 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 
 
 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 hira totter. You will 
 find the surgeons ready at the general's quarters. Halt s 
 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 
 
TEE YOUNG FRANC-TIllEURS. 107 
 
 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 am- 
 bulance 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 oh* 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 
 
168 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. \ 
 
 its serving as a shelter for the enemy. The Mobiles 
 stood their ground for the most part well under tie 
 heavy fire of shot and shell, but their muzzle-loaders 
 were no match for the Germans' needle guns, and tie 
 enemy were pressing steadily : forward. Just as Tip 
 Doyle rode up to the staff the Germans had taken an- 
 other 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 toward 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 im- 
 movable 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." 
 
THE YOUNG B'RANC-TIREURS. ^69 
 
 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 posi- 
 tion 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 
 enemies' 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 ex- 
 posed as was the position, caused him instantly to draw 
 his rein, and come to a full stop. 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 flo-wers. 
 
 "What are you doing here?" Percy asked in astonish- 
 ment. 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 
 
170 TEE YOUNG FBANC-T1REURS. 
 
 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 Lizzy 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 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 toward the point where the valley 
 narrowed again, and many of the Mobiles were in full 
 flight. General Oambriels therefore withdrew his artil- 
 lery 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 gnard. 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. 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIRE URS. 171 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 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. Am- 
 munition, too, as well as food, was short. The general 
 determined, therefore, upon falling back upon Besangon, 
 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 awhile. 
 
 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 
 
1V2 THE IOUJSQ FRANC-T1REUBS. 
 
 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 their regular forces. 
 
 A considerable army was now fast gathering at Besan- 
 con, and the regimental . and superior staff officers were 
 hard at work at the organization. As aids-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 hair-brained adventures, you know ; and be sure you 
 are back on Thursday, as I expect Gerieral 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'm glad enough to be out in the open 
 again, Misther 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, Misther 
 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 intirely. 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 J the walls of 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIRE UR8. 
 
 & town, and what's the use of being decked ap in uni- 
 form 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, Misther Percy — pretty well; but,you see, 
 the last affair didn't count." 
 
 "Oh, didn't it count!" Ealph 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 dare say, Misther 
 Ealph, and I can't say that I liked it intirely. 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 divershun 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 coun- 
 try," he said, "and the colonel alone could tell you how 
 we are all placed. I expect that he will be here to- 
 night, 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 
 
174 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 
 
 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 blaz- 
 ing fire with the officers of franc-tireurs. The village 
 only consisted of 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," Ealph 
 laughed. "We were very nearly caught near Saverne 
 once." 
 
 "So I heard," the officer said, "but I am rather skep- 
 tical 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 accus- 
 tomed 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. Forever 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 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 detach- 
 ment." 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIRE I R8. 175 
 
 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 lain 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 whis- 
 pered to his brother in English, "and I don't like it. 
 No wonder our franc-tireurs do so badly if this is a sam- 
 ple 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 
 
176 THE YOUNG FHANC-TIREURS. 
 
 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 any- 
 thing sharp and near. The sentry did not appear 
 similarly impressed with the necessity for any extraor 
 dinary attention; he was principally occupied in strug- 
 ging 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 
 oh*. 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, Misther Ralph, I've my doubts that there is 
 something wrong. I couldn't sleep in this camp with- 
 out 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. 
 s '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 i oise. 
 Day was jusi; breaking, but the light was not sumcumttj 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 177 
 
 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 started 
 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 saM, 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 amid 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 Dolye, had run 
 further 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 any- 
 where, 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. Resist- 
 ance 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 after- 
 ward. We should be simply throwing away our lives 
 without doing the least good." 
 
 There was a heavy firing now heard, and a moment 
 
178 TEE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 
 
 after half a dozen shots were fired through the window. 
 Then there was a rush of soldiers toward the door which 
 Ealph had purposely left open. 
 
 "We surrender," Ealph 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 dis- 
 tinguish uniforms. 
 
 "We are officers of the army upon General Cambriers 
 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 
 
THE YOUNG FUA NC-TTREURS. 179 
 
 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 sen- 
 tries with loaded rifles standing over them. The Ger- 
 man soldiers took from the houses what few articles they 
 fancied and then set fire to them, sitting down and eat- 
 ing 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 others were evidently urging some 
 point with great earnestness, and the major was equally 
 plainly refusing their requests, 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 some- 
 times. 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 wa T l. 
 
 "This is horrible, Ralph," Percy said. "That scoun- 
 drel is going to shoot them in cold blood." 
 
180 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 
 
 "I protest against this execution," Balph said, in a 
 loud tone, advancing toward 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 further 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 disap- 
 proved 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 th8 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 181 
 
 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 toward 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 stand- 
 ing 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.* 
 
 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 3 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. 
 
 * An historical fact. 
 
182 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREUR8. 
 
 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 sucessful 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, how- 
 ever, 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 him- 
 self 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," Ealph 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 re- 
 turned 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 
 Toadside, 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 afterward, 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 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 183 
 
 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 St. 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 boya 
 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, unquestion- 
 ably; 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." 
 
 1 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?" 
 
184 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 
 
 "Ob, we shall escape fast enough, " Balph 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 be- 
 longed to line regiments, but the greater portion by far 
 were Mobiles, who in the retreat of General Cambriel 
 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. Ealph and Percy had gained 
 the good-will of the sergeant in command of the escort 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIRE URS. 185 
 
 by the manner in which they had aided him, by inter- 
 preting 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. Kalph saw at once the impor- 
 tance of conciliating the man, as a report from him of the 
 circumstances might render their position a most un- 
 pleasant one, and even in the event of nothing worse 
 coming of it, would almost insure their captivity in some 
 prison upon the further side of Prussia, instead of at one 
 of the frontier fortesses. 
 
 "Ah, sergeant, how are you?" he said gayly. "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 
 
186 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 
 
 any good to talk about it now, and it might do £S 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, mon- 
 strously well, I will say, for you never flinched an eye- 
 lash. So you are officers after all. I never suspected 
 anything about it till three hours afterward, 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 "Good-by" 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 an 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 
 
1HE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. U1 
 
 would have been immense, whereas atMayence 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 Prus- 
 sian 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, vid Switzerland. They were, there- 
 fore, unaffectedly glad when the train came to a stop at 
 the station of Mayence, and the order was given for ail 
 to alight. 
 
>8h TEE YOUNG FRANG-TIREUR8. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 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 num- 
 ber of families living on different floors, so that any one 
 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 imflamed 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 
 wa3 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 dis- 
 pense, for the first time since he received his wound, 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREUR8. 189 
 
 with a sling. In the meantime he had made the ac- 
 quaintance 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 con- 
 sisted 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 be- 
 sieging Paris, and the thought that he might be wounded 
 or taken prisoner made her very pitiful to the young 
 officers. 
 
 Kaiph Barclay had for some days been intending to 
 sound her as to her willngness 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 over- 
 heard 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." 
 
X90 TEE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 
 
 "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, Misther Percy?" 
 
 "She says you would make a very pretty woman, Tim." 
 
 "'Tare and ages, Misther 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. "Good-by, I'm going, too," Christine said. "I 
 will think it over by to-morrow morning and tell you 
 what you are to do." 
 
 The next morning the boys were very anxious to hear 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 191 
 
 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 Ger- 
 man. Oh, dear, he's very tiresome," and she shook her 
 head at Tim, who smiled, laid his hand on his breaot, 
 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 hay- 
 thin Jew?" the Irishman burst out with great indigna- 
 tion. "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 propo-* 
 sition 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?" 
 
192 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 
 
 When the boys could stop laughing they translated 
 Tina'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, blu-shed, shook her head, and said: 
 "Nonsense!" upon hearing Tim ? s proposition. 
 
 "But seriously, Christine," Ralph said, "the objection 
 which you mention to the Jew peddler's disguise is im- 
 portant. 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 some one 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 some- 
 thing 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 any- * 
 where." 
 
 "Yes," Christine said, "that would do very well; but 
 of course you would be liable to he asked for papers." 
 
 "Of course," Ralph said. "But we must risk some- 
 thing." 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 193 
 
 ei l 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 any- 
 thing for me. I will go out to Wiesbaden to-morrow 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 St. Goar. I shall have to tell some sad 
 stories to my cousins, and coax them a great deal; still, I 
 dare say 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 afterward Ralph went down the stairs and 
 
194 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREUMS. 
 
 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 afterward 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 east- 
 ern fortresses upon the following evening, as another 
 large batch of prisoners from Metz were 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. 
 
 "1 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 lodg- 
 ings, changed their clothes for those which Ralph had 
 purchased. It was agreed that they should not say 
 good-by to Christine's mother, in order that, whatever 
 
TEE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 195 
 
 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 good-by, and went half -wild with delight at the 
 present; then she said good-by, 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 any one addressed him. They had not ven- 
 tured 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 in- 
 structed 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 Kalph'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 
 
196 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIRE ORS. 
 
 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 backward 
 and forward 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 any one 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 Klop- 
 stock, the carpenter." 
 
 "Surely," Ralph said; "she is my neighbor; every one 
 knows her. She is very like you." 
 
 "Well, now, you are the first person who has ever said 
 
TEE YOUNG FHANG-TIBEUR8. 197 
 
 jhat," the woman said, surprised. "I am so short, and 
 &he is so tall." 
 
 "Yes, she is tall — very tall," Ealph 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 Holz- 
 hausen," Ealph 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 car- 
 penter;' 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, Misther 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 and I never heard tell of him, Misther Percy; 
 and if I have been bad-tempered, I haven't said much 
 
198 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIRETTttS. 
 
 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 Ral] 
 explained the whole matter to Tim, who laughed mqre 
 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 suspi- 
 cious, 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 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 shoul- 
 der, with a bundle containing a change of clothes, and 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 199 
 
 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 
 & 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 begin- 
 ning 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 ex- 
 changed 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 a 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 coat- 
 ing of snow lay over the country. They now set off, 
 and walked for an hour, when they arrived at a large 
 
200 THE TOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 
 
 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 brough/ 
 it, and, as they expected, entered into conversation witl 
 them. After the first remarks on the sharpness of tl/e 
 weather, Ealph produced a tin of portable soUp, aid 
 asked the landlord if he would have it heated for th^ir 
 uncle. 
 
 "He cannot, as you see, eat solid food," Ealph said, 
 "he had his jaw broken by a shell at Worth." 
 
 "Poor fellow!" the landlord said, hastening away with 
 the soup. "Are you going far?" he asked on his 
 return. 
 
 "To St. Goar," Ralph said. 
 
 "But why does he walk?" the landlord asked; "he 
 could have been sent home by train." 
 
 "Of course he could," Ealph 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 St. Goarshaus. They 
 were now quite out of the track which prisoners escap- 
 ing from Mayence would be likely to take, and had not 
 the slightest difficulty in getting a boat to cross the Ehine. 
 
 "How beautiful the river is here," Percy said. 
 
 "Yes, it is, indeed," Ealph 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 St. Goar, and tramped gaily on to 
 Castellan, and slept in a barn near that village. 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIRE URS. 201 
 
 The next morning they were off before daybreak, and 
 eight miles further 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 thirty-five 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 Bitt- 
 burg, 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 them- 
 selves in Luxembourg. 
 
 They tramped along merrily until they came to a cot- 
 tage, 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 
 
202 THE YOUNG FUANC-TIREUR8> 
 
 complaints of Prussia, both the Dutch and Belgian gov- 
 ernments 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 sus- 
 picion in the minds of any one who saw them arrive, as 
 they would merely be taken for three Englishmen stay- 
 ing 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 gayly 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. 
 
THE YOUNG FRANQ-TIUEUR& 203 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 A PERILOUS EXPEDITION". 
 
 Upon the 11th 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 forward. 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 
 countenances 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 Bar- 
 clays felt quite bewildered. The first thing was evi- 
 dently 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 
 
204 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREUR8. 
 
 delight saw Colonel Tempe. For a minute or two the 
 hand-shakings and greetings were so hearty that no 
 questions r.ould be askedo 
 
 "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 sur» 
 prised 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. Be- 
 tween 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 to-day, 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." 
 
 "Thau l 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." 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIUEUR8. 205 
 
 "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 contrac- 
 tors, and families refugees from Paris. After dinner they 
 went to a cafe literally crowed with officers, and thence to 
 Colonel Tempe's room, 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," Ealph 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 Qf the railway station." 
 
 "By the way, boys, I suppose you know you have each 
 got a step?" 
 
 "No," the boys cried. "Eeally?" 
 
 "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 
 
206 THE YOVNG-FBANC-TIREURS. 
 
 now, still less higher ones, unless you understood thor- 
 oughly 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 there- 
 fore is selected to organize the camp, and to enable him 
 to do so efficiently he receives the nominal rank of gen- 
 eral. 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. 
 Every one is new, every one 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. Be- 
 sides which, the whole thing is provisional. When the 
 war is over every one 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, as 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 
 
THE YOUNG FRANG-TIREUR8. 30? 
 
 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 yoar place, 
 would be a commander's cross in the legion of honor. 
 I had the cross years ago, but I only had the com- 
 mander's cross a fortnight ago, for the bridge of 
 Vesouze." 
 
 "Ah! yes;" Ralph said, "that would be worth win- 
 ning, 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 somehow 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, 
 ©wing to the break-down 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 
 Cambriel's staff last, and are now prisoners, who, if they 
 were here, would, I believe, get in if any one could. 
 They went down over and over again among the Ger- 
 mans, and I could lay any money that they would suc- 
 ceed.' '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 pris- 
 
208 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 
 
 oners, 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 afterward, he remarked, 'If you hear of 
 those young fellows you were speaking of having re- 
 turned, send them to me, Tempe.' " 
 
 Ralph looked at Percy, and checked the offer to go, 
 which he saw was on his brother's lip. "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 Ger- 
 mans 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 hun- 
 dred 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 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 209 
 
 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 guards 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 
 upward 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 hearthrug 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; Colo- 
 nel Tempe was already dressed, and they went out 
 together to get their coffee and milk. As they were 
 taking it, Kalph told him that they had made up their 
 minds to make the attempt to enter Paris with dis- 
 patches, 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. Colo- 
 nel 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 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 
 
210 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 
 
 times, the Eomans would have erected a statue because, 
 in her deepest misfortunes, he never despaired of the 
 republic. 
 
 He looked keenly at the young men. "Colonel Temp6 
 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 dis- 
 guise 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?" M. Gambetta asked. 
 
 "We intend to go as German Jews," Ralph said. 
 "The Prussians strip all the clocks, pictures, and furni- 
 ture 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 Ger- 
 many 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, pene- 
 trate 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." "Cap- 
 tain Verre," he said, when that officer entered, "there 
 were some papers came last week from General Faid- 
 herbe, relative to those wagons laden with clocks, ladies' 
 
TEE YOUNG FRANC-TIREUR8. 211 
 
 dresses, and so on, that were captured near Mezieres. 
 Just look through them, and see if there were any Ger- 
 man permits for the bearers to pass freely for the pur- 
 pose 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 vou 
 
212 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 
 
 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 any one 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 authori- 
 ties. There are three of them." 
 
 The minister glanced at them. "They will do well," 
 he said. "Will you be ready to start to-morrow 
 morning?" 
 
 "Quite ready," Ealph 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 
 to-morrow 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 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIRED RS. 213 
 
 Jew. The latter was finally determined upon, as other- 
 wise 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 impor- 
 tance 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. 
 
214 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS, 
 
 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 impos- 
 sible to see it was not all natural. Then cut the long 
 hair so as to lay 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?" 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREUR8. 215 
 
 "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 cos- 
 tume. 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." 
 
£16 THE YOUNG fillsiJSO-TIllElJBS. 
 
 They now went home. The moment that they entered 
 their rooms Ealph 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, Misther Percy! I began to 
 think that you must have been sent off somewhere with- 
 out 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 to-morrow. I 
 will tell you all about it when we get in. We have been 
 to see M. 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 toward 
 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. 
 
 "Howly Vargin!" ejaculated Tim, dropping into a 
 chair, and crossing himself with great fervor. "Sure, 
 I'm bewitched. Here's an ould gentleman, wid a won- 
 derful 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. 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 217 
 
 "Sure, I'm bewitched entirely/' he went on. "He 
 laughs for all the world like Misther Kalph. Did ye iver 
 see the like? What is it all, Misther 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. Misther Ralph's turned into an 
 ould man with a furze-bush of hair, and Misther 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 td 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, Misther 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 anxie- 
 ties 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 
 
218 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIRRURS. 
 
 months. No, no, Tim; the matter is altogether impos- 
 sible. You stay quietly here, and in ten days or a fort- 
 night, if all goes well, we shall be back again with you.' 7 
 
 "And is it in a balloon you're thinking of coming out, 
 Misther Ealph, 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, Misther Ealph, 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 ail over 
 your face before its time, I say nothing against; but fly- 
 ing 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 break- 
 ing 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; but 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 contin- 
 gency 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 conversa 
 tion had been going on, the boys had continued their 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIRE URS. 219 
 
 toilets. 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 them- 
 selves, rounding their shoulders and so narrowing their 
 chests as much as possible. Ralph stopped at an opti- 
 cian'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 
 St. 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. 
 
320 THE YOUNG FRANG-TIUEUB8. 
 
 "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 
 Lis seat. Colonel Tempe looked at his watch a little 
 impatiently, 
 
 Ealph, 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?" Ealph said, smil- 
 ing. 
 
 "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, "wonder- 
 ful! Even now I know who it is, I do not see the faint- 
 est 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 would 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. 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREZTRS. 221 
 
 "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 jus- 
 tice, 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 our- 
 selves 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 any one can you will, I am con- 
 vinced." 
 
 "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 bal- 
 loon that comes? We have no fancy either of us for eat- 
 ing 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 
 
222 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 
 
 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 mystifica- 
 tion? You give me your pledge and assurance that these 
 are the officers who have volunteered for this duty? 
 Eemember, 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 Gej^eral Aurelles at Orleans; 
 
THE YOUNG FRAJSrC-TIREURS. 223 
 
 if he is not in when you arrive, his 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 good-by. 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. 
 
224 2&E YOUNG FRANC-TIREUR& 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 THE EXPEDITION - . 
 
 An official telegram had been sent forward from Tours 
 to the 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. Accord- 
 ingly, 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 station-master," he said, 
 "and is there anything he can do with the horses?" 
 
 "Yes," Kalph 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 afterward the train drew up at the plat- 
 form, 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. 
 
TEE YOUNG FRANC-TIREUR8. 225 
 
 "There is some mistake here," he said to the orderly 
 who had shown them in; "I ordered the Lieutenants 
 Barclay to he admitted." 
 
 "These are the gentlemen who gave me the card, 
 Colonel," the orderly answered. 
 
 "It is so," Ralph said. "Ii 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 recog- 
 nize 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 M. 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 in at once?" 
 
 "Our horses will be here in five minutes," Ralph said, 
 "and we wish to get as far as possible to-night. We mean 
 to cross the Loing at Montargis, and get as far as we can 
 to-night, so as to arrive either at Meaux or Melun to- 
 
226 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIRE MRS. 
 
 morrow evening. We should, of course, prefer Melun, 
 as being much the shortest route toward Versailles. We 
 shall of necessity be guided by the position of the Ger- 
 mans." 
 
 "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 Dnprat, 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 their 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 Oathli- 
 neau's franc-tireurs were scattered throughout the coun- 
 try as far as Montargis, and it would have been more 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREUR8. t 237 
 
 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 Du- 
 prat'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 
 siuce 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 every- 
 where. 
 
 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 Mon- 
 tarlet. There they breakfasted and gave the horses an 
 
22$ THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREUR8. 
 
 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 Fontaine- 
 bleau, and they would then find themselves between that 
 town and Melun, and could ride boldly into Melun as if 
 they had come from Fontainbleau. 
 
 "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 Mon- 
 tarlot, 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 ever 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 con- 
 duct upon thejr return to Tours, and then saying good-by 
 to him rode into the village alone. 
 
 The sergeant of Uhlans came to the door of the prin- 
 cipal cabaret and looked out. 
 
 "Good-day," Ralph said in German, reining up his 
 horse. "Is it here that I cross the river for Fontaine- 
 bleau? They told me at Le Ch&telet that it was shorter 
 than going round by the main road." 
 
 "Yes, you are right here," the sergeant said. "Have 
 you passes?" 
 
THE YOUNG FRAN0-TIREUR8. 229 
 
 •'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 Ooulommiers 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 wineshop 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, enforc- 
 ing their request with a five-franc piece. They then 
 entered the hotel and found that they could have beds, 
 
230 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 
 
 as the number of German officers quartered upon this 
 house was smaller than usual, owing to the greater por- 
 tion of the troops having been pushed on to reinforceVon 
 der Tann. 
 
 It was now half-past five, and was already dusk. They 
 therefore went at once to the maire, to whom they pre- 
 sented 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 hun- 
 dred 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 wili 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 requisi- 
 tioning them without payment, you can rely upon having 
 one to-morrow morning ready for your start. I will send 
 a note round to you to-night 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 a-hout horses, in 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIRE URS. 231 
 
 which case we should of course mention that hearing you 
 bad 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 vise this for Versailles?" Ralph 
 said in German. 
 
 The officer took it, glanced at it and at them. 
 
 "The last vise, 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 vised, 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 vised here."' 
 
 "Where have you come from now?" 
 
 "From Fontainebleau," Ralph said. "We have been 
 down to Pithiviers, and I sent off four wagonloads of 
 things from there for the frontier." 
 
 "Your best way is through Oorbeil 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, 
 
232 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 
 
 it would be well for me that nothing beyond a mere busi- 
 ness 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 terri- 
 bly slippery from the deep snow, now trampled flat by 
 the immense traffic of the army. It was five in the after- 
 noon when they reached the first sentries at the entrance 
 to Versailles. The pass was sufficient, and they went on 
 uninterrupted. Percy drove and Ealph 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 market-place, 
 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, eve^y little 
 palace was intimately associated with its sovereigns; and 
 here, in the midst of these memorials, the German invad- 
 ers stalked carelessly, drank in the cafes, or feasted in 
 the hotels, as if the place had belonged to them from 
 time immemoriah Afar orl 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 
 
TEE YOUNG FRANC-TIREUES. 233 
 
 were all open as usual. The population h.da 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 any one looked into the wagon at eight o'clock 
 next morning he would have been surprised at the occu- 
 pation 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 dare say 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 
 zo the officer engaged in signing them. 
 
 "I am from Frankfort, as my papers show," he said, 
 
234 THE YOUNG FRANC-1TLIEUR8. 
 
 handing the officer his pass. "I wish for a pass to go 
 with my horse and cart to Bellevne; there are, I hear, 
 many officers desirous of selling or sending home articles 
 they have saved." Saved, it may he 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 hy 
 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," Kalph 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,' Ealph said; "we are pur- 
 chasers 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 intrusted 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 
 Ealph's conductor entered. 
 
 "A worthy Hebrew," the other laughed, "who will 
 either purchase or carry home articles saved." 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 235 
 
 There was a general movement of interest. The fur- 
 niture of the room was a wreck, the papers were hanging 
 in strips, a broken chair was blazing upon the fire, sev- 
 eral 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 per cent, 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 valution," Ralph 
 said. "The value you set upon the clock was two thou- 
 sand 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 
 
236 THE TC REUB8. 
 
 pianos. Ralph haggled over the price of each article, in 
 a way which did would have done honor to his appear- 
 ance. At last, having arranged all their matters, be 
 said that he was going on to Bellevue, but would call 
 and complete the purchases, and receive the goods 
 intrusted to him either that night or the next morning. 
 
 "If any of you gentlemen 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 recom- 
 mendation 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; "for- 
 tunately we are not pressed for time." 
 
 They had another stop of some duration at Chaville, 
 and it was nearly threo 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 further," 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 
 
THE TO UNO FRANC-TIBEURS. 237 
 
 a small village containing only a few large villas; Belle- 
 vue is composed almost entirely of handsome residences 
 owed by Parisians; the quantity of articles "'saved" was 
 proportionately large. After examining and bargaining 
 for a large number of valuable articles of furniture, pic- 
 tures and clocks, Ealph 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 object , 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 gun-boat below, we should have C 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 
 
238 TEE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 
 
 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 mid- 
 night." 
 
 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 intrusted 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 further side of the road?" Ralph asked the 
 officer in command. "My boy has never seen a shot 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 239 
 
 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," Kalph 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 to-night," 
 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 countersign 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. 
 
MO TME 70V NQ FRANC-TIUEUR8. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 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. " l£ 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIRE URS. 241 
 
 seems a risk, this, Percy; but I can see no plan, except 
 to draw their fire." 
 
 "How do yon 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 any one 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 got up, and get into the water quietly 
 higher up. Their fire will act as a guide to us." 
 
 "We had better start soon, Ealph; 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 down stairs into a cellar, where the light 
 could not be seen from outside, struck a light, and lit a 
 
242 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIRE URS. 
 
 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 1 
 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 dispatcnes 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 pro- 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIRE UBS. 2*3 
 
 fcection 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 gardens 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 in- 
 tensely dark. 
 
 "It's lucky that it's downhill, Percy, or we should 
 never find our way to the water's edge; if we keep de- 
 scending 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 sepa- 
 rated 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 
 
244 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 
 
 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 toward them, he no sooner 
 disappeared in the darkness than they dropped noise- 
 lessly 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 them- 
 selves that no sentry was placed in the garden, but at 
 last they stole forward, 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 any one 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," Ealph said, "you get ready to slip in 
 to the water as quietly as possible the moment you hear 
 a splash. I will leave this bag here, so as to know ex- 
 actly 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, Ealph, I understand. Keep your pistol 
 cocked in your hand as you go." 
 
THE YOUNG FRANG-TIREUR8. 
 
 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, giv- 
 ing a loud shout, but Ealph wheeled round instantane- 
 ously, 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 crawl- 
 ing 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 Ealph 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 clown," 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." 
 
UQ THE YOTJNG-FRANC-TIREURS. 
 
 "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 Ger- 
 mans. The boys swam with long, steady, noiseless 
 strokes. 
 
 "We must be half way 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. 
 
 "Good-by, 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 hope- 
 less. 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 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 247 
 
 had just fired a gun loaded with grape in the direc- 
 tion of the Germans who were firing. She was still at 
 anchor, and the stream was drifting them down fast 
 npon 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 ex- 
 tracted a groan from him. 
 
 "That's right, rub away, and pour some more brandy 
 down his throat," a voice said. Then he became con- 
 scious 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 dare say," the officer who was standing hy 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, sit- 
 ting up with a full consciousness of all that had passed. 
 
 "He is coming round," the officer said. "He was 
 further gone than you were, and his heart's action was 
 altogether suspended from the cold; his limbs are 
 
248 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 
 
 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," Ealph said. "lean 
 stand now." 
 
 Some clothes had already been got in readiness and 
 warmed, and in a couple of minutes Ealph was kneeling 
 by his brother's side. Percy was now coming to, and 
 was suffering agonies similar to those which Ealph him- 
 self had experienced from the recommencement of cir- 
 culation in his limbs. Ho looked round utterly bewil- 
 dered, for he had become insensible before the Farcey's 
 gun had given notice of her proximity. He smiled, 
 however, when his eyes fell on Ealph 's face. 
 
 "It is all right, Percy, thank God," Ealph said. "We 
 are on board the gunboat Farcey, and in ten minutes 
 we shall be landed in the heart of Paris." 
 
 In another live minutes Percy was sufficiently recov- 
 ered to begin to dress. The commander of the Farcey 
 now turned to Ealph. 
 
 "Your son has had a very narrow shave of it, sir." 
 
 "Son!" Ealph said; "he is my brother." 
 
 The officer looked surprised. 
 
 "How old do you take me to be?" Ealph asked. 
 
 "Forty-five or fifty," the officer said. 
 
 "I shall not be seventeen for some months," Ealph 
 answered. 
 
 The officer looked at him with an air of intense aston- 
 ishment, 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," 
 

 THE YOUNG FRANO-TIUEURS. 249 
 
 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 Ealph was not insane after 
 all. Passing his finger where Ealph 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 hear- 
 ing, 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. 
 
 "1 will go with you myself," the officer said. "If the 
 general has gone to bed, we must knock him up. He 
 -won't mi ltd when he hears the reason." 
 
$60 THE YOUNG FMANC-TIREUR8. 
 
 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. Gen- 
 eral Trochu had not yet gone to bed, and upon the mes- 
 sage 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 Lieutenants Barclay, General/' the com- 
 mander 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 
 some one trying to swim across, 1 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. Think- 
 ing 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 gen- 
 eral 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 pre- 
 served them, I hope?" 
 
 Balph 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 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREUI18. 251 
 
 usual, in the carriage, I suppose; and," he dropped his 
 voice, "send a message from me to request Dr. 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 com- 
 fortable 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 afterward by being shaken, 
 and opening his eyes he saw some one 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. "'How- 
 ever, 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 Dr. Marcey, 
 wh«m he came to see y°u J us t after you got into bed, 
 
25« THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREUR8. 
 
 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 undis- 
 turbed." 
 
 "But why should my brother disturb me?" Balph 
 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 peo- 
 ple 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 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 253 
 
 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 dare say 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." 
 
254 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 
 
 "Not at all," the officer answered. "However, I &*n 
 here with a message from the general now. He would 
 have asked yon 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 
 oome 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 13th 
 instant, and you were picked up by the Farcey upon the 
 evening of the 16th. 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 13th at Montargis," 
 Ralph said, "on the 14th at Melun, on the loth at Ver- 
 sailles, 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 gen- 
 eral 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. "Good-by." 
 
 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 
 
1HE YOUNG FRANG-TIUEURS. v£55 
 
 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 any- 
 thing 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 discon- 
 nected sentences, sometimes raving wildly, and imagining 
 himself repeating the scenes through which he had 
 passed since he left home. 
 
 At nine o'clock exactly Ealph 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, pre- 
 sented 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, "yon are 
 in the Gazette this morning as captain." Ralph bowed 
 
256 THE YOUNG FllAXC-TIiiEURS. 
 
 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 Duerot 
 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 ex- 
 pecting 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." 
 
 Ealph 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," Ealph 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 appear- 
 ance never entered my mind. I have become so accus- 
 tomed, 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 pre- 
 sented myself before you this evening, for I should not 
 have presumed to do so in my present state, and it will 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 257 
 
 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 apol- 
 ogy, and their own mistake, and General Trochu then 
 asked him to give them a full account of what had hap- 
 pened to him, what he had seen, and what information 
 he had gained since he left Tours. Ealph 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 fel- 
 lows, 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 com- 
 missions first — were you at the Polytechnic or St. 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 Vezouse, and should have 
 blown up the tunnel of Saverne had it not been for 
 treachery." 
 
 "Yes, yes," General Trochu said, "I remember Gam- 
 betta has once or twice mentioned your corps especially. 
 You see, we don't hear much from outside. Let us hear 
 
258 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 
 
 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, Ealph gave an account of the doings of 
 the corps from the day they arrived in the Vosges to the 
 day he had left tnem, 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?" Gen- 
 eral 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 lan- 
 guages 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 call again for a day or 
 two, as your brother will naturally occupy your atten- 
 tion 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 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 259 
 
 least no worse, and the Sisters of Charity, who were 
 nnrsing him, said that the doctors had spoken hope- 
 fully at their last visit. Ealph 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 them- 
 selves were keeping watch by turns. Accordingly 
 Ralph, who still felt the effect 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. 
 
260 1HE YOUNG FRANG-TIHEUm. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 A BALLOON VOYAGE. 
 
 For forty-eight 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 progostication 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 any one 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 decoration given, were the 
 names of Percy and himself as promoted to be Command- 
 ers of the Legion, for having with extreme gallantry con- 
 veyed 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 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREUR8. 261 
 
 medais and decorations, and bought two ribbons of the 
 commander's rank in the legion of honor. 
 
 One terrible morning Kalph spent in a hairdresser's 
 hand, 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," Ealph said, laying the ribbon 
 before him; "that's better than medicine for yon. 
 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 Ealph to ask for their 
 promised places in the next balloon. It was now the 
 23d of November. A carriage was sent for, and after 
 some difficulty procured, for carriages were already be- 
 coming scarce in Paris. They drove up to the entrance 
 and went in, but were told by an orderly — who could 
 
262 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREUR8. 
 
 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 rodo 
 up. 
 
 "There is General Trochu himself, with Vinoy and 
 Ducrot," Ealph 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?" Gen- 
 eral 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 offense, and your impudence in showing your- 
 selves 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 simul- 
 taneously, while there was a general exclamation of sur- 
 prise 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. 
 
THE YOUNG FRANG-TIREUBS. 263 
 
 "It is so, General," Ralph said respectfully. "I ex- 
 plained 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 
 what 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?" 
 
 "M. 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 to-morrow morning/' General 
 Trochu said, "but if you choose to stay here, 1 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 
 
264 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 
 
 feel greatly honored by your offer," Ralph said grate- 
 fully. "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 promo- 
 tion 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 kind- 
 ness, 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 M. Teclier, who has charge of the balloon, to say that 
 you will accompany him. Good-by, lads, good-by; 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 oucside, 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 v 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 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREUR8. 265 
 
 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. 
 "W T ho 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 differ- 
 ence is that every one is in some sort of uniform or 
 other. One does not see a single able-bodied man alto- 
 gether 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 every- 
 thing, and every one 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 pre- 
 sented 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 
 
266 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREUR& 
 
 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 aero- 
 naut was standing beside him. 
 
 "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 north- 
 erly. I suppose this is your first ascent?" 
 
 "Yes, indeed," Ealph 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 afterward a railway official brought a 
 note, which he delivered to M. Teclier. 
 
 "Bah!" he said, in an annoyed tone; "why cannot 
 they be punctual?" 
 
 "What is it, sir?" Ealph 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." 
 
 M. Teclier gave a few directions concerning the bal- 
 loon, and they then adjourned to a work-shed near, 
 were a good fire was blazing for the use of the men em- 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 267 
 
 ployed 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 further and further, and 
 the distant fields, villages, and hills seemed actually to 
 spring into sight. 
 
 "It is wonderful!" Ealph said at last. 
 
 "Magnificent!" Percy responded. 
 
 "I wonder whether they see us?" Balph said. 
 
 "We shall soon know," M. 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?" Ealph 
 asked. 
 
 "That is Vanves; the village you see there is Chatil- 
 lon. 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," M. 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. 
 
268 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 
 
 "We are too low/' M. 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 brighly 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," M. 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 what- 
 ever 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 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIRE UBS. 269 
 
 ■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 aud Bourges. At eleven o'clock, then, I will let 
 out gas, and go down below the clouds to see where- 
 about 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," M. 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 blow- 
 ing 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 look-out, 
 and look at the compass." 
 
 "There, there!" the boys cried, as the clouds opened 
 again for an instant. 
 
270 THE YOUNG FBANG-TIREUB8. 
 
 "It is the sea, and we are going west." 
 
 "Then we are over the Atlantic/' M. 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. Imme- 
 diately 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. 
 
 "Out the balloon to pieces," M. 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 
 th« top of the net. 
 
 "That will do," M. 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," Ealph said; "we shall 
 be smashed altogether." 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 271 
 
 "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. When the 
 car was empty they looked out again. 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," M. 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 be~ 
 came less violent and the pace diminished. 
 
 "The grapnel is on the ground," Percy said, looking 
 over. 
 
 "Hold tight, hold tight," M. Teclier said warningly. 
 "We shall catch fast on to those trees." 
 
 There was a tearing and rending, a series of tremen- 
 dous 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. For- 
 tunately 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 boy3 recovered con- 
 sciousness. When they did so they found that two or 
 three gentlemen were leaning over them, while several 
 peasants were endeavoring, under the direction of M. 
 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. 
 
272 THE YOUNG FRANC- TTREUHS. 
 
 "I do not think any of your limbs are broken, " he 
 said. "Do you feel any pain?" 
 
 "I feel sore and bruised all over," Ealph said, getting: 
 up with some assistance; "but I don't think that any- 
 thing serious is the matter. How are you, Percy?" 
 
 "I don't think I am hurt seriously, Ealph, 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 hap- 
 pened 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 gal- 
 loped in the direction in which it was falling. We were 
 within five hundred yards when you fell, but we hardly 
 expected to see any one 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." 
 
 M. 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 old- 
 est 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 YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 273 
 
 The gentlemen smiled a little as Kalph 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 essen- 
 tial 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 wit- 
 ness appeared to be a mere bit of exaggerated bragga- 
 docio. A light cart now arrived, in which some mat- 
 tresses 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 M. 
 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 bal- 
 loon, 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, M. 
 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 
 
274 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 
 
 well. He next inquired as to means of reaching the main- 
 land. 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 M. 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. M. 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. Kalph 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 M. Teclier, begging him to say the Messrs. Bar- 
 clay, 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 ex- 
 amined 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 
 
THE TO UNO FRANC-TIREUR8. 275 
 
 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 M. 
 Teclier, said that two swords had been picked up; had 
 they fallen from the balloon? 
 
 "Yea," M. Teclier said, "they belong to those gentle- 
 men." 
 
 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 con- 
 cealed sneer, "so you have come out from Paris to serve? 
 I should have imagined that there were plenty of oppor- 
 tunities 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 ap- 
 parently you have yourself. Each of us has, 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 every one 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 evi- 
 dently meant nothing; besides, he was only a boy, and 
 what could be done with him? Besides which, again, 
 tme of them put in, though he was only a boy, he looked 
 
276 fEE YOUNG fruAiVC-TIMEURS. 
 
 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 emphat- 
 ically as an "awkward customer." Seeing this the lieu- 
 tenant burst into a constrained fit of laughter, and said 
 that it was "very good — really very good, for a boy." 
 Every one 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 St. 
 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. 
 
THE YOl/NO FRANC-TIREURS. OT 
 
 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 interfer- 
 ence 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 Oambriels." 
 
 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 scram- 
 ble 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. 
 
2?8 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIRE UBS. 
 
 "M. Teclier," he said, "do me the favor to introduce 
 my brother and myself to this lieutenant of Mobile in 
 due form." The matter had now become so serious that 
 there was a dead hush in the room while M. Teclier ad- 
 vanced. He had once or twice already made a motion of 
 coming forward to take Kalph'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 Bar- 
 clays 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 intro- 
 duce 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," M. Teclier said quietly. 
 "I repeat, I introduce you, Lieutenant Desmaret, of the 
 Mobiles of Vienne, to Captain Ralph Barclay, and Cap- 
 tain 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 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 279 
 
 of the Legion. Is it possible that you are those officers, 
 gentlemen?" 
 
 "It is so, monsieur," Kalph 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 M. 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, M. Desmaret, come to me decorated as I am, or 
 having in any signal way proved your courage and devo- 
 tion 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, M. Desmaret, and 
 after that talk, if you like, about fighting her friends." 
 
 There was a loud exclamation of applause an^i satisfac- 
 tion 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 be- 
 
280 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 
 
 lieve I may say that every one here agrees with yon 
 entirely. There are too many officers continually absent 
 from the army upon 'private affairs/ and those of M. 
 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 M. 
 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 could 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 
 M. Teclier was most anxious to get on, and as Percy was 
 quite done up, Ealph 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, amid hearty cheer- 
 ing, the little steamer, carrying the voyagers, the dis- 
 patches, and the remains of the balloon, started for the 
 mainland. 
 
THE YOUJXG FUAXC-TIREURa. 281 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 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 M. Teclier, who went at once to Gam- 
 hetta 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 every one 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 again, thinking he did not under- 
 stand, 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 
 gintieman himself? It was as sartin as peas is peas that 
 
282 THE YOUNG FRANG-TIREURS. 
 
 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 to-morrow, 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 abso- 
 lute rest, and has given him a sick certificate." 
 
 "He needs rest, certainly," Colonel Tempo 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 cer- 
 tain to peach." 
 
 "Yes," Ralph assented, "we have been talking it over, 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 283 
 
 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 awhile, 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 to-morrow to join General Chanzy's 
 staff." 
 
 "I have not heard his name before," Ealph said. 
 
 "He commands the Sixteenth Corps. He has not had 
 much opportunity yet, but he is a good soldier. If yon 
 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 ail 
 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, 
 tiie colonel had reluctantly agreed to take the sum he 
 
284 TEE YOUNG FRANC-TIREUR8. 
 
 had paid for the horse. Ralph's only other purchase in 
 Tours was a great fur coat. 
 
 "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 Paladines, 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 toward 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 mad- 
 ness; but 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," Ealph said, "nor shall I see much of it now, 
 for the country is so perfectly flat that it will be impos- 
 sible to get anything like a general view of it. Do you 
 know, Colonel, I feel a good deal more comfortable than 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIRE URS. 285 
 
 I did during my last journey between Tours and 
 Orleans; for although I thought that we should manage 
 somehow to get through into Park, still I could not con- 
 ceal from myself that it was a very serious undertaking. 
 How bitterly cold it is!" 
 
 "It is, indeed," Colonel Tempe assented. "Being 
 upon the gtafi, 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 enjoy- 
 ments. 
 
 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. 
 
286 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIEEUBS. 
 
 When they reached it they were at imce 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 yon, 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 to-day 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 reinforce- 
 ments, and no material advantage is claimed. And 
 now," the general went on, "as to quarters, you must 
 shift for yourself. 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 yon 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 Ten pe." 
 
 Ralph at once obeyed the order, much pleased with his 
 
THE YOUNG FKANC-TIREURS. 287 
 
 new commander. General Ohanzy 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?" Ealph 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 com- 
 pletely 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. 
 
238 THE YOUA/G FRANC-T1REUR8. 
 
 "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 cowshed. 
 I don't know whether any one 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 cowshed, 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 wood work 
 to make a bit of a fire? It's too dark to look for sitcks 
 to-night, and they would be so damp from the snow that 
 the smoke would choke the bastes intirely, 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 din- 
 ner?" 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." 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIUEUR8. 289 
 
 ''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 Ealph, "I 
 should recommend you, Captain Barclay, to spend ati 
 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 posi- 
 tions occupied by the corps, and, without exposing your- 
 self, gain as good an idea as you can of the country 
 beyond. To-morrow 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 Ealph, 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 
 
£90 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREUI18. 
 
 altering the general appearance and apparent distance of 
 each object. Thanks, however, to his ride of the morn- 
 ing, he reached the various corps to which he was dis- 
 patched, 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 gooff to bed. Bring the 
 coffee into my room. We shall be up early, for we fight 
 to-morrow." 
 
 "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, say3 I." 
 
 At ten o'clock the next morning the French troops 
 were in motion, the objects of their attack being the vil- 
 lages of Guillonville, Terminiers, and Coniers. 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. Ealph 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." 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREUR8. 291 
 
 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 Ohanzy 
 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 mus- 
 ketry fire was now tremendous, and the Mobiles wavered. 
 The Germans were intrenched in the gardens and walled 
 inclosures 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. 
 
 "Bide 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. 
 Temp6, 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 Weak- 
 ening. 
 
! 
 
 292 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 
 
 "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 afterward he heard a 
 rapid galloping, and Colonel Tempe rode up, followed 
 by Tim Doyle. 
 
 "Are you badly hurt, my dear boy?" the former ex- 
 claimed 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 
 
THE TOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 293 
 
 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 mus- 
 ketry 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 
 
294 .THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREUI1S. 
 
 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 re- 
 turned 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 ate or to drink. No 
 one knows what became of the wagons, and here we are, 
 without as much as a biscuit to ate; and such weather as 
 this, too; and another battle in the morning." 
 
 "Ay, Tim, it's bad enough, but think of tho thousands 
 of poor fellows lying wounded and freezing to death on 
 the snow." 
 
 "I do think of them, Misther Ralph, and Pve been at 
 work ever since we got in here, carrying the poor 
 creatures in from the garden and fields. There is not a 
 house here that's not full from the top to the bottom. 
 Have you lost the wallets 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 have had it shot off, or that you'd throw it 
 away to ease 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 breakfasted this morning, and 
 I said to myself it may be useful before night, and so just 
 slipped it into the wallet." 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREUE8. 295 
 
 \ In another minute the bread was taken out and cut 
 n\to two portions. "I would not eat it at all, to-night, 
 Trm, 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 
 gettibg 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 
 undar a hedge. It was lucky I did, for the minute after- 
 ward 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, Misther Ralph. The horse 
 always lies down, and he's so tired he won't break the 
 rule to-night; so I'll give him half the hay for his 
 supper, and when he's laid down I'll put the rest be- 
 tween 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 back- 
 ward and forward. 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. 
 
306 THE 70 V NO FRANG-TIREUR8. 
 
 When Ealph 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 to-day. 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," Ealph 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. 
 
TEE YOUNG FRANG-TUittUti& 297 
 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 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- 
 starvec^ 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 to-day," 
 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 forward, and the French reserves 
 had already been brought up. 
 
 Several of the Mobile regiments showed signs of wav- 
 ering. General Chanzy rode backward and forward 
 along the front of the position, exposing himself reck- 
 lessly 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 
 
298 THE Y0UNG-ITRANC-TLREUR8. 
 
 din of battle. At last, after exchanging a few words 
 with the generals of brigade, he called Ralph, who hap- 
 pened to be the only aid-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 toward 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 sev- 
 eral 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 2d of December, and afterward 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." 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREUR8. 293 
 
 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 move- 
 ment, which, if successful, would have changed the for- 
 tunes of the day. 
 
 Upon an eminence some three-quarters of a mile dis- 
 tant 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 sev- 
 eral 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 hope- 
 less: the Zouaves were unsupported save by a few hun- 
 dred 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. 
 
300 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREUR8. 
 
 It was heroic, but it was an 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: Oharette 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 3*etrieve 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 afterward. 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 wa3 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 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIBEURS. 301 
 
 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 
 afterward, 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 iuch 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 lan- 
 terns, 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 there- 
 fore 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. 
 
302 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 
 
 Ten minutes later he heard a horse's hoofs npon the 
 hard ground. He cocked the pistol, which had re- 
 mained fastened to his helt 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 to-day, 
 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 
 
2 HE YOUNG FRANC-TIREUR8. 303 
 
 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 searoh 
 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 be- 
 fore been Chanzy's left. It was in Ralph's state of feeble- 
 ness, a very long journey. Over and over again he had 
 to sit down and rest. He did not feel the cold now: the 
 fur cloak and the exertion of walking kept his body in a 
 glow. He took great pains, however, not to exert him- 
 self 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: 
 
$04 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 
 
 "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 apologetic- 
 ally, "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 ques- 
 tion 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-fetc 
 — 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, 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREUR8. 305 
 
 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," Kalph 
 said, "by stopping the bleeding; but now it wants bath- 
 ing 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," Kalph 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 bathe first and then bandage the 
 wound, they talked over the matter, and agreed that 
 Ralph could be hill 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 assist- 
 ance 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 
 
306 THE YOUNG FRANG-TIREUR8. 
 
 — or rather opening, for it was nnglazed — 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, any one inside would scarcely have 
 suspected the existence of any loft at all. It was reached 
 by a ladder and trapdoor. 
 
 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 weii 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: good-by." 
 
 "Good-by," 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 rest- 
 lessly: soon, however, the effects of the cloth soaked in 
 icy-cold water, which the farmer's wife had placed on 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREUIiS. 307 
 
 the bandages over the wound, began to subside the fever- 
 ish 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," Ealph 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?" 
 
308 1HE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 
 
 "No, thank yon," 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 lie awake;" and almost as he mur- 
 mured the words Ralph dropped off again, and slept until 
 ten o'clock. 
 
 This time he woke with the slight creaking which the 
 trapdoor made. "How are you to-day, M. le Capi- 
 taine?" 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 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 309 
 
 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 
 cheek bone. He said that M. 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 -tire ur, and so will prevent my being hung, 
 and you having your house burned over your head. Be- 
 sides 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 
 to-day we can hear a constant booming from the direc- 
 tion of Orleans." 
 
 Ralph listened, but the bandage prevented his hear- 
 ing 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 
 
310 THE YOU NO FRANC-TIREURS. 
 
 of all that fighting at Orleans. Be patient, my friend, 
 we will do our best for you. If you have no fever, to- 
 morrow 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 lay 
 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," Ealph 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." 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIBEUM8. 311 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 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; in- 
 flammation had again set in, and he was feverish and 
 incoherent in his talk. He was conscious of this him- 
 self, by seeing the dismay in the face of the nurse when 
 he had been rambling on to her for some time in Eng- 
 lish. At last, with an effort, he commanded his atten- 
 tion 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 yon 
 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 pocketbook 
 with a pencil in it." 
 
 The woman did as he told her, and Ralph with a great 
 effort wrote: 
 
312 THE YOUNG FRANC-T1REURS. 
 
 . "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. — Kalph Barclay/ 
 
 9) 
 
 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 any one 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 guid3, as, had he been 
 seen walking by the side of the surgeon's horse, the sus- 
 picions 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 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 813 
 
 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 seven- 
 teen 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 Ealph had sent to him. "Ah, now I remem- 
 ber 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 
 
3M THE YOUNG FRANC TIRKURS. 
 
 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 to-day: 
 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 band- 
 age on you must put wet cloths to his head as long as 
 he remains delirious. I am awfully busy, out 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 among 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 
 
THE TO UNO FRANC-TIREURS. 315 
 
 it. For some time Ralph thought all this over in the 
 vague wandering 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 nwrse. 
 
 "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 Beanguency. 
 
 "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 
 
316 THE YOUNO FRANC-TIREURS. 
 
 of the terrible anxiety which they must be feeling at 
 home respecting him. They would hare 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 yery 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, espe- 
 cially 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 2d 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 pris- 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 317 
 
 oner 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 was 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 pro- 
 visions 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 
 
S18 THE TOUNG FRANC-TIRE UBS. 
 
 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. Ealph 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 forever: 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 YOUNG FHANC-TIllEURS. 319 
 
 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," Kalph said; "here 
 is half the money, you shall have the rest to-morrow. 
 Now you must go with me to-morrow 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 day- 
 break," 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 to-night, 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 gar- 
 ment 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 
 
320 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 
 
 handed Kalph 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 toward Romorantin, while the rest, 
 now fifteen in number, kept on toward 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 follow- 
 ing 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 ad- 
 vanced 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. 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 321 
 
 "You will have to-morrow 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 farmhouse upon 
 which no Prussian soldiers were quartered. He was 
 unable for some time to find one; but at last over a mile 
 from this 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 
 farmhouse. He anticipated no great difficulty in pass- 
 ing 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 toward morning he was awoke by the 
 distant sound of bug.'~3. "Something is up," he said 
 to himself, "either a French attack, a general advance, 
 or a recall. If it should be the latter lam 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 
 toward 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." 
 
322 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIRKURS. 
 
 Half an hour later Ealph 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 pur- 
 chaser for his horse and cart at ten pounds, and the next 
 morning started on his way home. 
 
THE YOUNG FMANG-TIREUHS. 323 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 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 ?c 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 considera- 
 ble 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?" 
 
324 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIIIKURS. 
 
 "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 see- 
 ing 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 day since I 
 came home, having paid one of the railway people to 
 send me word directly the train was telegraphed as start- 
 ing from D61e." 
 
 "How long is it since my letter arrived ?" 
 
 "Nearly three weeks, Ealph: 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," Ealph said. "The 
 English ambulance, through whom my letter was sent, 
 moved down to Vendome ths 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 palled you down, Ealph, 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?" 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. 3&5 
 
 "I think he has been nervous, Ealph, but he did not 
 show it, but talked cheerfully to keep up mamma and 
 Milly." 
 
 "And you are quite strong again, Percy?" 
 
 "Yes, I think I am nearly as strong as ever, Ealph. 
 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. 
 
 "Yon 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 some one 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 
 
126 THE YOUNG FBANG-TIBEURb. 
 
 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 office 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 
 ihon 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 he, per- 
 haps 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 to-morrow. 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 to-morrow I may 
 have both ray boys back again." 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. $2? 
 
 "Viil there be another train in to-night, Percy? 7 * 
 Oaptain Barclay asked. 
 
 "Quite possibly/' Percy said; "indeed, indeed — "and 
 he hesitated, "you see I walked up fast; it is just possi- 
 ble 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, Millicent? Yes, dear, he has come." 
 
 Percy saw that it was safe now. He went to the door 
 and opened it. Ealph 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 to-morrow you will obtain a medical certifi- 
 cate, and write to General Chanzy, saying that you are 
 alive, but unable to rejoin?" 
 
 "Yes," Ealph 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 unmistakable. The game is, I am con- 
 vinced, 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. Bourkbaki 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 march- 
 ing on this town from Paris, and if Bourbaki is not won- 
 
328 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREUR8. 
 
 derfuliy 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 sur- 
 render, 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 possiblity of saving 
 France. You have done your duty, more than your 
 duty. It would be worse than folly, it would be wicked- 
 ness 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," Ealph 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 ex- 
 tended 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 
 
THE YOUNG FRANG-TIREUR8. 399 
 
 touched the rosette of the legion of honor in his 
 buttonhole, "will prove that we have distinguished our- 
 selves. 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 
 alreadv 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 con- 
 tained bad news, for he mentioned that Tim had lost an 
 arm at the battle of the 8th of 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 Bar- 
 clays' 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 
 
330 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIRBUR& 
 
 higher ground, at a distance of two and three mile? 
 respectively, lay the villages of Daix and Hautville. 
 
 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 lis- 
 tened for awhile with them. The enemy had taken up 
 positions upon some of the numerous heights surround- 
 ing, and were playing upon the batteries at Talant, Fon- 
 taine 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 atten- 
 tion, 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 gradu- 
 ally died away, the Germans retiring. An hour later 
 the greater portion of the troops marched back to the 
 town. The enemy, they reported, wWe not over fifteen 
 thousand strong, while in all the Garibaldians and 
 mobilized national guards in the town were from thirty 
 thousand to forty thousand 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 mid- 
 night 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. 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREXTR8. 331 
 
 "It is a night attack/' Captain Barclay said; "and 
 jndging by the sound they are in earnest. I can hear 
 snusketry 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, Millicent," Cap- 
 tain Barclay said to his wife. "It is our duty to go; 
 but I hardly think that they can have been reinforced 
 in sufficient Btrength to attack the town." 
 
 The boys were soon down. 
 
 "Good-by, mamma; good-by 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 to-night." 
 
 Two silent kisses and then father and sons hurried 
 away toward 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. 
 
332 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREURSL 
 
 "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 generaPs 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 amid 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 
 
THE YOUNG FRANC-TIRE U 118. 333 
 
 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 St. 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 betAveen 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 for- 
 ward 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." 
 
334 THE YOUNG FRANC-TIREUR8. 
 
 For awhile 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 Ger- 
 mans 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 Ohanzy 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. M. Dubnrg had already agreed to pur- 
 chase 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 Ma- 
 dame 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. 
 
THE TOUNQ FRANC- TIME UBS. 365 
 
 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 achieve- 
 ments, 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 take the ponies oft 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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