It was then about six o'clock, and night was approaching; with the
coolness of the evening the frogs were beginning their music in the
midst of the reeds, and the high grasses of the pool, and the old fir
trees on the other side of the shore showed blue against the darker sky.
I stopped from time to time to look at them and I thought:
"You are fine trees, straight and full of good sap, and so you will
remain there for a long time to come. The sun will delight your
evergreen tops till you are marked for the axe of the woodcutter. Then
that will be the end, but the little firs will have grown up in your
shadow and the place will never be vacant."
And while thinking of that, I recommenced my march, quite touched, and I
cried:
"Yes, Frederick, such will be your lot. You loved father-in-law Burat,
you supported him when he could not do anything, in consideration of the
confidence he had reposed in you, and because he was a good man, an old
servant of the state and a man to be respected. Now it is your turn to
be loved and supported by those who are full of youth; you will be in
the midst of them like one of these old fir trees, covered with white
moss. The poor old things, they deserved to live, for if they had not
grown up straight they would have been cut down long ago to be made into
logs and fagots."
I blessed Providence which never lets the honest perish, and it is thus
that I arrived, towards seven o'clock in the evening, on the Scienie
road at the bottom of the valley. I saw the forester house at the left,
near the bridge. Ragot was barking, Calas was bringing the cattle back
to the stable, shouting and cracking his whip, the flock of ducks on the
bank of the river were scratching and picking themselves around their
necks and under their wings and tails, while awaiting the hour of going
to roost; some chickens were still pecking in the courtyard, and two or
three half-plucked old hens were napping in the shadow of the little
wall.
Then, seeing Ragot running to meet me, I said to myself:
"Here we are. Now attention. First you are going to speak. Jean
Merlin must be there for certain. All must be quite clear beforehand."
*VII*
I went up the stairs and I saw Marie-Rose in the lower room, with bare
arms; she was kneading dough and rolling it out flat, with the
rolling-pin, on our large table, to make noodles. She had seen me in
the distance and continued her work without raising her eyes.
"You are working hard, Marie-Rose," I remarked to her.
"Ah! it is you, father," said she; "I am making noodles."
"Yes, it is I," I replied, hanging my bag against the wall; "I have come
from the inspector's. Has any one been here?"
"Yes, father, Jean Merlin came to make his report, but he went away
again."
"Ah! he went away again, did he? Very good! he has not gone far, I
guess; we have some very important business to talk over!"
I came and went, looking at the dough, the basket of eggs, the little
bowl of flour and Marie-Rose, working away without opening her lips.
Finally I stopped and said to her:
"See here, Marie-Rose, it is right to be industrious, but we have
something else to do just now. What is this that I have just heard at
the inspector's? Is it true that you love Jean Merlin?"
As I spoke she let fall the rolling pin and flushed scarlet.
"Yes," I said; "that's the point! I don't mean to scold you about it;
Jean Merlin is a nice fellow, and a good forester, and I am not angry at
him. In my time, I loved your mother dearly, and father Burat, who was
my superior, neither chased me away nor swore at me because of it. It
is a natural thing when one is young to think of getting married. But
when one wishes to marry an honest girl, one must first ask her of her
father, so that every one may be agreed. Everything ought to be
conducted sensibly."
She was very much embarrassed, for on hearing that she ran to get a pot
of mignonette and placed it on the sill of the open window, an action
which filled me with surprise, for my wife, Catherine, had done the same
thing on the day of my proposal to call me in; and almost at once Merlin
came out of the clump of trees under the rocks opposite, where I also
had hidden, and ran across the meadow as I myself had run, twenty-three
years before!
Then, seeing these things, I did also what old Burat had done. I placed
myself in the hall before the door of the room, my daughter behind me;
and as Merlin entered, all out of breath, I drew myself up and said to
him:
"Merlin, is it true what the inspector tells me; that you love my
daughter and ask her in marriage?"
"Yes brigadier," he answered me, placing his hand on his heart, "I love
her better than life! At the same time he wished to speak to Marie-Rose,
but I cried:
"Stop a minute! You love her and she has found out that she loves you.
That is very nice--it is agreeable to love each other! But you must
think also of the others, of the old people. When I married Catherine
Burat I promised to keep her father and mother till the end of their
days, and I have kept my word, like every man of honour; I have loved
them, cared for them, and venerated them; they have always had the first
place at table, the first glass of wine, the best bed in the house.
Grandmother Anne, who still lives, is there to say it. It was only my
duty, and if I had not done it I would have been a villain; but they
have never had any complaints to make, and on his death-bed father Burat
blessed me and said: 'Frederick has always been to us like the best of
sons!' I deserve, therefore, to have the same, and I wish to have it
because it is just! Well, now that you have heard me, will you promise
to be to me what I was to father Burat?"
"Ah! brigadier," said he, "I would be the happiest of men to have you
for a father! Yes, yes, I promise to be a good son to you; I promise to
love you always and to respect you as you deserve."
Then I was touched, and I said:
"In that case, all right; I give you the hand of Marie-Rose, and you may
kiss her."
They kissed each other right before me, like two good children that they
were. Marie-Rose wept profusely. I called the grandmother into the
little side-room; she came leaning on my arm and blessed us all, saying:
"Now I can die in peace, I have seen my grand-daughter happy, and loved
by an honest man."
And all that day till evening she did not stop praying, commending her
grand-children to God. Merlin and Marie-Rose did not weary of talking
together and looking at each other. I walked to and fro in the large
room and told them:
"Now you are affianced. Jean can come whenever he likes, whether I am
at home or gone out. The inspector told me that he was first on the
list for promotion, and that he would doubtless replace me at my
retreat; that cannot be far off now; then we will celebrate the
marriage."
This good news augmented their satisfaction.
Night came on, and Jean Merlin, so as not to worry his mother, rose and
kissed once more his promised bride. We accompanied him out as far as
the great pear tree. The weather was magnificent, the sky glittering
with stars; not a bird nor a leaf was stirring, all were sleeping in the
valley. And as Merlin pressed my hand I said to him again:
"You will tell your mother, Margredel, to come without fail to-morrow
before noon; Marie-Rose will get you up a good dinner, and we will
celebrate the betrothal together; it is the greatest festival in one's
life; and if Uncle Daniel could also come we should be very glad of it."
"Very well, Father Frederick," he said, and then he walked swiftly away.
We went in again with tears in our eyes. And thinking of my poor
Catherine, I said to myself:
"There are still some pleasant days in life; why is my good, my
excellent wife no longer with us?"
It was the only bitter moment I had during that day.
*VIII*
You understand, George, that after this, all went on well. I had
nothing more to think of but my service. Jean Merlin and his mother
Margredel came to pass every Sunday at our house.
It was autumn, the opening of the season for hunting and fishing; the
time for bird catching and snare setting in the woods, and for fishing
baskets and nets at the river.
The old watchmaker, Baure, of Phalsbourg, arrived, as usual, with his
great fishing rod and his bag for the trout; Lafleche, Vignerol, and
others, with their bird calls and limed twigs; the gentlemen from
Saverne with their dogs and their guns; they whistled, they yelled; they
shot hares and sometimes a deer; then all these people came to take
lunch and refresh themselves at the forester's house; the smell of
frying and of good omelettes, with ham, reached to the garden, and we
turned a penny or two at the house that way.
As you know all these things, I have no need to tell you about them.
But this year we saw also arrive quantities of wood-cutters from the
Palatinate, from Bavaria, and further; great strapping fellows, with
knapsacks on their backs and gaiters with bone buttons on their legs,
who were going to Neiderviller, to Laneville, and to Toul to work at
wood felling. They passed in bands, their vests hanging from the handles
of their axes over their shoulders.
These people emptied their mugs of wine as they passed; they were jolly
fellows, who filled the room with smoke from their big porcelain pipes,
asking questions about everything, laughing and joking like people who
have no trouble about earning their living.
Naturally I was glad to have them stop at our house; that made business
brisk.
I remember at this time a thing which shows the blindness of slow-witted
people who are ignorant of what is going on at twenty leagues from home,
and who trust to the government without thinking of anything; a thing of
which I am ashamed, for we went so far as to laugh at sensible men, who
warned us to be on our guard!
One day our whole house was filled with people from the city and the
environs; some of these strangers among the rest. They were laughing
and drinking, and one of the tall Bavarians, with red whiskers and big
mustaches, who was before the window, cried:
"What a lovely country! What magnificent fir trees! What are those old
ruins up there--and this little wood yonder--and that path to the
right--and that pass to the left, between the rocks? Ah! I have never
seen such a country for fruit trees or fine water courses. It is rich;
it is green. Is there not a steeple behind that little wood? What is
the name of that pretty village?"
I, who was glad to hear this man so enthusiastic over our valley, I told
him about everything in detail.
Baure, Duerr, Vignerol were talking together; they were smoking and
going occasionally to the kitchen to see if the omelette was nearly
ready, without troubling their heads about anything else.
But near the clock sat Captain Rondeau, who had returned home several
months before having retired on a pension, a tall, dry-looking man, with
hollow cheeks, wearing his black overcoat buttoned up to the chin,
suffering from wounds received in Italy, Africa, and the Crimea,
listening without saying anything and drinking a cup of milk because
Doctor Semperlin had forbidden him to take anything else.
This went on for a whole hour, when the Bavarians, having emptied their
mugs, continued their journey. I followed them to the door to show them
the road to Biegelberg; the tall, red-haired man laughed, showing his
teeth with a joyous air; finally he shook hands with me and cried,
"Thanks," as he went to join his band.
While they were taking their leave, Captain Rondeau, leaning on his
cane, was standing in the doorway, and he watched them go off with
glittering eyes and compressed lips.
"Who are those people, Father Frederick?" he said to me. "Do you know
them?"
"Those are Germans, captain," I answered him; "wood-cutters; I do not
know any more about them, except that they are going to Toul, to work
for some contractors there."
"Why do they not employ Frenchmen, these contractors?"
"Ah! because these wood-cutters are cheaper than ours; they work for
half-price."
The captain frowned, and all at once he said:
"Those are spies; people that came to examine the mountain."
"Spies? How is that?" I answered, in astonishment. "What have they to
spy out here? Have they any reason to meddle in our affairs?"
"They are Prussian spies," he said, dryly; "they came to take a look at
our positions."
Then I believed almost that he was joking with me, and I said to him:
"But, Captain Rondeau, all the strong points are set down, and any one
can buy maps of the country at Strasburg, or Nancy, or anywhere."
But, looking at me askance, he exclaimed:
"Maps! maps! And do your maps tell how much hay, and straw, and wheat,
and oats, and wine, and oxen, and horses and wagons can be put into
requisition in each village for an army on the march? Do they tell you
where the mayor lives, or the _cure_, or the postmaster, or the receiver
of contributions, so that one can lay one's hand upon them at any
minute, or where stables can be found to lodge the horses, and a
thousand other things that are useful to know beforehand? Maps, indeed!
Do your maps tell the depth of the streams, or the situation of the
fords? Do they point out to you the guides that are best to take or the
people that must be seized because they might rouse up the populace?"
And as I remained, my arms hanging at my sides, surprised at these
things, of which I had never thought, Father Baure cried from the room:
"Well, captain, who is it that would want to attack us? The Germans?
Ha! ha! ha! Let them come! let them come! We'll give them a warm
reception. Poor devils! I would not like to be in their skins. Ha!
ha! ha! We would settle them! Not one should go out alive from these
mountains."
All the others laughed and cried out: "Yes! yes! let them come! Let
them try it! We'll give them a good reception!"
Then the captain re-entered the room, and, looking at big Fischer, who
was shouting the loudest, he asked of him:
"You would receive them? With what? Do you know what you are talking
about? Where are our troops, our supplies, our arms; where, where,
where, I ask of you? And do you know how many of them there are, these
Germans? Do you know that they are a million of men, exercised,
disciplined, organized, ready to start at two weeks' notice--artillery,
cavalry, infantry? Do you know that? _You_ will receive them!"
"Yes," cried Father Baure, "Phalsbourg, with Bitche, Lichtenberg, and
Schlestadt, would stop them for twenty years."
Captain Rondeau did not even take the trouble to reply, and, pointing
from the window to the wood-cutters that were going away, he said to me:
"Look, Father Frederick, look! Are those men wood-cutters? Do our
wood-cutters march in ranks? do they keep step? do they keep their
shoulders thrown back and their heads straight, and do they obey a chief
who keeps them in order? Do not our wood-cutters and those of the
mountains all have rounded shoulders and a heavy gait? These men are not
even mountaineers; they come from the plains; they are spies. Yes, they
are spies, and I mean to have them arrested."
And, without listening to what might be answered, he threw _sous_ on the
table in payment for his cup of milk, and went out abruptly.
He was scarcely outside the door when all who were present burst out
laughing. I signed to them to be quiet, for that the captain could
still hear them; then they held their sides and snuffled through their
noses, saying:
"What fun! what fun! The Germans coming to attack us!"
Father Baure, while wiping his eyes with his handkerchief, said:
"He is a good fellow; but he got a rap at the Malakoff, and since then
his clock has been out of order, and it always strikes noon at fourteen
o'clock."
The others recommenced laughing, like real madmen, so that I thought,
George, myself, that the captain had not common sense.
All that comes back to me as if it had taken place yesterday, and two or
three days later, having learned that the captain had caused the
wood-cutters to be arrested in a body at the Lutzelbourg station, and
that, their papers being all right, they had obtained authorization to
continue their journey into Lorraine, notwithstanding all the
representations and the observations of M. Rondeau, I believed decidedly
that the worthy man was cracked.
Every time that Baure came to the forester's house he would begin upon
the chapter of the German spies, and made me very merry over it. But
to-day we have ceased laughing, and I am sure that the jokers of
Phalsbourg no longer rub their hands when the _feldwebel_ makes his rod
whistle while calling to the conscripts on the parade ground, "_Gewehr
auf!--Gewehr ab!_" I am sure that this sight has more than once
recalled to them the captain's warning.
*IX*
This took place at the end of the autumn of 1869; the valley was already
filled with mist; then came the winter: the snow began to whirl before
the panes, the fire to crackle in the furnace, and the spinning-wheel of
Marie-Rose to hum from morning till night, to the accompaniment of the
monotonous ticking of the old clock.
I paced to and fro, smoking my pipe, and thinking of my retreat.
Doubtless Marie-Rose thought of it also, and Merlin spoke to me
sometimes about hurrying up the marriage, which annoyed me considerably,
for when I have said my say, I am done, and, since we had agreed to
celebrate the marriage the day of his nomination, I did not see the use
of talking over an affair already decided.
But the young people were in a hurry; the dulness of the season and the
impatience of youth were the causes.
For two months past, Baure, Vignerol, Duerr, and the others came no
more; the trees bent under their load of icicles; no one passed the
house any more, except some rare travellers afar off in the valley. The
history of the captain's spies, which had made me laugh so much, had
entirely gone out of my head, when an extraordinary thing proved to me
clearly that the old soldier had not been wrong in distrusting the
Prussians, and that other people thought of dealing foul blows--people
high in rank, in whom we had placed all our confidence.
That year several herds of wild boars ravaged the country. These
animals scratched up the newly-sown grain; they dug up the ground in the
woods to find roots, and came down every night to tear up the fields
around the farms and the hamlets.
The peasants were never done lamenting and complaining; when, finally,
we heard that Baron Pichard had arrived to organize a general battle. I
received at the same time the order to go and join him, at his
rendezvous of Rothfelz, with the best marksmen of the brigade, as many
of the huntsmen of the neighbourhood as I could get.
It was in December I started with Merlin, big Kern, Donadieu, Trompette,
and fifteen or twenty hunters, and in the evening we found up there all
the baron's guests, filling the rooms of the little hunting lodge, lying
on straw, eating, drinking, and joking as usual.
But you know all about those things, George; you remember also the
hunting lodge at Rothfelz, the cries of the hunters, the barking of the
dogs, and the danger of the guests, who fired in every direction but the
right one, in the lines and out of the lines, always imagining at the
end that they had killed the great beast. As for us guards, we had
always missed. You remember that; it is always the same thing.
What I want to tell you is, that after the hunt, in which some wild
boars and a few young pigs had fallen, they had a grand feast in the
hunting lodge. The carriages of the baron had contained an abundance of
everything: wine, cherry brandy, wheaten bread, pies, sugar, coffee,
cognac; and, naturally, towards midnight, after having run around in the
snow, eaten, drunk, howled and sung, the party of pleasure wore a
dubious aspect.
We were quartered in the kitchen and well supplied with everything, and,
as the door of the dining-room was open, to air the room, we could hear
everything that the guests said, particularly as they shouted at the
tops of their voices, like blind men.
I had noticed among the number a tall, lean fellow, with a hooked nose,
black eyes, a small mustache, a tightly-fitting vest, and muscular legs
in his high leather gaiters, who handled his small gun with singular
skill; I said to myself, "That man, Frederick, is not in the habit of
sitting before a desk and toasting his calves by the fire; he is
certainly a soldier, a superior officer!"
He had been stationed near me in the morning, and I had noticed that his
two shots had not missed their mark. I looked upon him as a real
huntsman, and so he was. He knew also how to drink, for towards
midnight three-fourths of the guests were already fast asleep in all the
corners, and, except himself, Baron Pichard, M. Tubingue, one of the
largest, richest vine-growers in Alsace; M. Jean Claude Ruppert, the
notary, who could drink two days running without changing colour or
saying one word quicker than another; and M. Mouchica, the
wood-merchant, whose custom it is to intoxicate every one with whom he
has any dealings--except these, the other guests, extended on their
bundles of straw, had all left the party.
Then a loud conversation took place; the baron said that the Germans
were sending spies into Alsace, that they had agents everywhere,
disguised as servants or commercial travellers or peddlers; that they
were drawing out maps of the roads, the paths, the forests; that they
even penetrated into our arsenals and sent notes regularly to Germany;
that they had done the same thing in Schleswig-Holstein before
commencing the war, and then in Bohemia, before Sadowa; that they were
not to be trusted, etc.
The notary and M. Mouchica agreed with him that it was a very serious
business, and that our government ought to take measures to stop this
spy system.
Naturally, when we heard that, we listened with all our ears, when the
officer began to laugh, saying that he was more ready to believe what
the baron said because we were doing the same thing in Germany; that we
had engineers in all the fortresses and staff-officers in all their
valleys. And M. Tubingue having said that that was impossible, that no
French officer would behave that way, because of the honour of the army,
he began to laugh still louder, and said:
"But, my dear sir, what is war now? It is an art, a game, an open
contest; they look over each other's hands and each tries to make out
the cards of his adversary. Look at me; I have gone all through the
Palatinate as a commercial traveller; I sold Bordeaux to those good
Germans!"
Then, laughing still more, the gentleman related all that he had seen on
his road, just like what Captain Rondeau had said that the Prussians
were doing here, adding that we were only waiting for an excuse to seize
on the left bank of the Rhine.
When they heard that, my guards began to stamp their feet with delight,
as if their fortune was made; and at once the door was closed, and we
heard nothing more.
I went out into the air, for the stupidity of big Kern, Trompette, and
the others disgusted me.
It was very cold outside; the platform was white with frost and the moon
over the bristling old firs was peeping between the clouds.
"What is the matter, brigadier?" asked Merlin, who had followed me; "you
look pale. Do you feel sick?"
"Yes, the stupidity of Trompette and the others has upset me; I should
like to know what made them stamp," I answered. "And you, too, Merlin;
you surprise me! You think that it is a fine thing to invade the
country of our neighbours; to carry off the wheat, the wine, the hay,
and the straw of poor people, who never did us any harm. You think it
is fine to take their country and to make them French, in spite of
themselves. That is sport. You think that is sport! Would you like to
become a German? Would you like to obey the Prussians and put aside your
country for another? What would it profit us to do such a thing as
that? Would it make us richer to tear out the souls of our neighbours?
Would that leave us with a good conscience? Well, for my part, I would
not, for the honour of our nation, have an ill-gotten _centime_ or inch
of land. I do not want to believe what that gentleman says. If it is
true, so much the worse! Even if we were the strongest to-day, the
Germans, from father to son, would think only of vengeance, of returning
to their rights, of reclaiming their blood. Would the good God be just
to abandon them? There are only beings without hearts and without
religion who are capable of believing it; gamblers, who imagine stupidly
that they will always win. Nevertheless, we see that many gamblers end
their days on a dunghill."
"Father Frederick," said Merlin, "don't be angry with me. I had never
thought of all that; it is true. But you are too angry to return to the
kitchen."
"Yes," I answered, "let us go to sleep; that is better than drinking;
there is still room in the barn."
We did so, and left the next morning at daybreak.
What I have just told you, George, is true; I have always placed justice
above everything, and even now, when I have lost all that I loved best
in the world, I repeat the same thing. I am better pleased in my great
misery to be deprived of the fruit of my labour for thirty years than to
have lost my love of justice.
*X*
After that the winter passed as usual; rain, snow, great blasts of wind
through the leafless trees, uprooted firs, dislodged rocks, covering
with earth the roads and paths at the foot of the slope. That is what I
had seen for twenty-five years past.
Then gradually the spring arrived. The cattle again descended to drink
at the river. Calas began to sing again as he cracked his whip, and the
cock began to flap his wings on the low wall of the poultry-yard, in the
midst of his hens, filling with his clear voice all the echoes of the
valley.
Ah! how all that comes back to me, George, and how beautiful those
things to which I then paid no attention, appear to me now in this
garret into which scarcely a ray of light can penetrate.
It was our last spring at the forest house.
Marie-Rose, every morning, in her short petticoat, with her clean
_fichu_ crossed over her bosom, went into the garden with her basket and
the old earthy knife, to gather the first vegetables. She came and
went, lifting up the bordering of box that edged the little alleys, and
tied up the branches of the rose bushes that had fallen away from their
stakes. I saw in the distance Jean Merlin, advancing at a swift pace
through the meadow path, skirting the old willows; I heard him call out:
"Marie-Rose!"
She instantly rose and hastened to meet him. They kissed each other and
returned laughing, arm in arm. I was pleased and said to myself:
"They love each other dearly. They are good children."
Old grandmother Anne, who was nearly always shut up in her own room, was
looking too, leaning out of the little window surrounded with ivy, with
her eyelids puckered up, her old face wrinkled with satisfaction; she
called me:
"Frederick!"
"What is it, grandmother?"
"I am growing young as at the time of my own marriage. It was the year
of the comet in which they made such good wine before the great Russian
winter; you have heard them talk of that, Frederick; all our soldiers
were frozen."
"Yes, grandmother."
She liked to recall those old stories, and we did not think that we
should soon see the same things.
The good people of Phalsbourg, the poorest, such as father Maigret, old
Paradis, grandfather Lafougere, all of them old soldiers without any
means of subsistence but public charity and their medal of St. Helena,
began to come to look for mushrooms in the woods; they knew all the
different kinds from the small to the large Polish mushroom; they
gathered also strawberries and mulberries. The wood strawberries, which
are the best, sell in the town for two sous a quart, mushrooms for three
sous the small basketful.
The lower meadow, by the river bank, gave them also quantities of salad.
How many times those poor old backs were forced to stoop in order to
earn a _sou_!
And every year we received orders to enforce the forest laws more
severely, to prevent the poor from picking up the dead leaves and beech
nuts, which was as much as to say to "prevent them from living."
Things went on this way till the hay-making season, when came the great
drought; it lasted till the end of July, and we feared for the potatoes.
As to the _plebiscite_, I won't talk to you about that; those things did
not worry us foresters much. One fine morning we received the order to
go to the Petite Pierre, and all the brigade, after assembling at my
house, left together in their holiday clothes to vote; yes, as we had
been ordered to do. Then, stopping at the inn of the Three Pigeons, we
drank a bumper to the Emperor's health, after which every one went home
and never thought of it any more.
The people complained of but one thing at Graufthal, Dosenheim, and
Echbourg, and that was the lack of rain. But in the depths of the
valleys dry weather was always the most beautiful and the richest; we
never lacked moisture; the grass grew in abundance, and all the birds in
Alsace, blackbirds, thrushes, bullfinches, and wood pigeons, with their
young nestlings, enjoyed themselves with us as if in an aviary.
It was also the best time one could wish for fishing, for when the
waters were low all the trout ascended to the springs beneath the rocks,
where one could take them out in one's hand.
You may well believe that there was no lack of fishermen. Marie-Rose
had never before had as many omelettes and fried dishes to prepare. She
superintended everything and answered the compliments made to her upon
her approaching marriage without stopping her work. She looked as fresh
as a rose; merely looking at her, Jean Merlin's eyes grew moist with
tenderness.
Who would have imagined at that time that we were going to have a war
with the Prussians? What interest had we in that? Beside, did not every
one say that the _plebiscite_ had been voted to keep peace? Such an
idea had never entered our heads, when, one July evening, the little
Jew, David, who had been to Dosenheim to buy a calf, said to me as he
passed:
"You have heard the great news, brigadier?"
"No; what is it?"
"Well, the Paris newspapers say that the Emperor is about to declare war
upon the King of Prussia."
I could not believe it, because the wood-merchant Schatner, who had
returned a few days before from Sarrebrueck, had told me that the
country thereabouts was swarming with troops, cavalry, infantry,
artillery, and that even the citizens had their knapsacks, their guns,
and their complete outfits, ticketed and numbered, all arranged in good
order on shelves in large barracks, and that at the first sign of the
_hauptmann_ these people would have nothing to do but to dress
themselves, receive cartridges, get into a railway car, and fall upon
our backs _en masse_. As for us, we had nothing at all, either in our
towns or our villages, so simple good sense made me think that they
would not declare war on these Germans before having put us in a
condition to defend ourselves.
So I shrugged my shoulders when the Jew told me such an absurd thing,
and I said:
"Do you take the Emperor for a fool?"
But he went off, dragging his calf by the rope, and saying:
"Wait a bit, brigadier; you will see--this won't last long."
All that he could say on that score came to the same thing, and when
Jean Merlin came that evening, as usual, it never occurred to me to tell
him about it.
Unfortunately, eight or ten days later, the thing was certain; they were
calling in all soldiers away on leave of absence. It was even stated
that the Bavarians had cut the telegraph wires in Alsace--that
innumerable troops were passing Saverne, and that others were encamped
at Niederbronn.
*XI*
All at once it was rumoured that there had been fighting near
Wissembourg, and that same evening the inhabitants of Neu Willer,
fleeing with their furniture piled on carts to Lutzelstein, told us at
the very door of the house, without daring to come in, that several of
our battalions had been slaughtered; that the general of the vanguard
had been left on the field; that Wissembourg was in flames, and that our
troops were retiring towards Bitche.
These people seemed bewildered with terror; instead of continuing on
their way to Petite Pierre, the idea struck them all at once that it was
not strongly enough fortified, and in spite of the circuit of three
leagues that they had just made, the whole band, men and women, began to
climb the Falberg hill to fly to Strasbourg.
Then desolation reigned among us. Merlin and his mother came to our
house to talk over the bad news. The grandmother lamented. As for me,
I said there was no need to be cast down about it, that the Germans
would never dare to risk themselves in our forests; that they did not
know the roads, and other reasons like that, which did not prevent me
from being very uneasy myself, for all that Captain Rondeau had said to
us one year before came back to me; the wood-cutters that he had caused
to be arrested at Lutzelstein rose before my eyes; and then I was
humiliated to think that the soldiers of Baden and Bavaria had beaten
the French at their first encounter. I knew that they were ten to one,
but that did not lessen my grief.
It was our first bad night. I could not sleep, and I heard Marie-Rose,
in her little side room, get up, open the window, and look out.
All outside was as silent as if nothing had happened; not a leaf was
stirring, so calm was the air; some crickets were chirping on the
ground, which was still warm six hours after sunset, and along the river
the frogs were uttering their long, drawn-out cry.
My inward emotion prevented me from sleeping. About four o'clock Ragot
began to bark down-stairs; some one was knocking at the door, I dressed
myself, and two minutes after, went down to open the door.
A man, the younger Klein-Nickel, of Petite Pierre, brought me an order
from Inspector Laroche to come without delay.
Marie-Rose had come down-stairs. I only waited long enough to snatch a
morsel, and then I left with my gun slung over my shoulder. By seven
o'clock I was at M. Laroche's door, and I went in. The inspector was
seated at his desk writing.
"Ah! it is you, Frederick," he said, laying down his pen, "take a seat.
We have had some pretty bad news; you know that our little body of men
detached for observation has had a misfortune?" "Yes, sir."
"They allowed themselves to be surprised," said he; "but that is
nothing; it will not occur again."
He appeared as tranquil as usual, and said that in every war there were
ups and downs; that a first unfortunate engagement did not signify
anything, but that it was always good to take precautions in view of
more serious events impossible to foresee; consequently, that it was
necessary to tell all the men of my brigade, and those that we were
employing on the forest roads, to be ready to march with their pickaxes,
hatchets, and shovels, at the first order, because it would perhaps be
necessary to blow up the rocks and to cut the roads by means of ditches
and the felling of trees.
"You understand," said he, seeing me rather uneasy, "that these things
are simply measures of forethought, nothing is threatening; Marshal
MacMahon is concentrating his troops near Hagenau; everything is in
movement; there is nothing immediate to fear; but the chief thing is to
be ready in case of need; when everything is ready, we will act rapidly
and surely. I may receive an order from General de Failly to block the
roads, and in such a case the order must be executed within a few
hours."
"It will not take long, sir," I answered; "everywhere the rocks are
leaning over the roads; in falling they would take everything with them
to the bottom of the valley."
"Exactly," said he. "But, first, every one must be warned. We have no
lack of blasting powder; if the order arrives, all my colleagues having
taken the same measures, it will be a day's journey from Bitche to Dabo;
not a cannon, not an ammunition wagon can pass from Alsace to Lorraine."
He said this as he accompanied me to the door, and shook hands with me.
As I was going thoughtfully home, I saw on the height of Altenberg some
soldiers who were planting stockades along the hillside. The greatest
confusion was reigning in the suburbs, people were running from house to
house to get news, two or three companies of infantry were encamped in a
potato-field.
All that day and the next I did nothing but carry the orders of the
inspector from Frohmuehle to Echbourg, from Echbourg to Hangsviller, to
Graufthal, to Metting, etc., telling each of what he would have to do,
the places where we were to meet, the rocks which we were to attack.
On the third day I came home, so worn out that I could not eat nor even
sleep for several hours. However, towards morning I fell into a heavy
sleep, from which I was roused by Marie-Rose coming into my room and
opening the window towards Dosenheim.
"Listen, father," said she, in a trembling voice; "listen to that noise.
What is it? We hear nothing but that in the whole valley."
I listened. It was an endless booming that filled the mountain, and at
times covered the noise of the wind in the trees. It did not take me
long to understand what it meant, and I answered:
"It is cannon. They are fighting seven or eight leagues from here, near
Woerth. It is a great battle."
Marie-Rose instantly ran down-stairs, and after having dressed myself I
followed her into the lower room, where the grandmother was also; her
chin trembled as she looked at me with wide-open eyes.
"It is nothing," I told them; "do not be afraid; whatever happens, the
Germans will never come this far; we have too many good places to defend
our passes."
But I was very far from feeling very confident myself.
The cannonading grew louder, sometimes like the distant rolling of a
storm; then it died away, and we heard nothing more but the rustling of
the leaves, the barking of Ragot before the door, and the quacking of a
duck among the willows by the river. These voices of the solitude, when
one thought of what was going on behind the curtain of the forest, had
something strange about them.
I should have liked to climb the rocks to see at least what was going on
on the other side, in the plain; but as the order to commence operations
might arrive at any minute, I was forced to stay where I was.
This went on till three o'clock in the afternoon.
I walked about, trying to put a brave face on the matter, so as not to
frighten the women. This day, the sixth of August, was very long; even
today, when so many other griefs have overwhelmed us, I cannot think of
it without a heavy heart.
The most terrible moment was, when all at once the dull sound that we
had heard since morning ceased. We listened at the garden window, but
not a breath, not a sound but those from the valley reached us. It was
only after a few minutes that I said:
"It is over. The battle is ended. Now some are running away and the
others are pursuing them. God grant that we have conquered."
And till night not a soul appeared in the neighbourhood. After supper
we went to bed with heavy hearts.
*XII*
The next day was very gloomy; the sky was cloudy, and at length it began
to rain, after the two months' drought; the rain fell heavily and
continuously; the hours passed slowly away, the order to commence
operations did not come, and I said to myself:
"That is a good sign! So much the better! If we had been defeated the
order would have arrived early this morning."
But we had no news, and about three o'clock, losing patience, I said to
Marie-Rose and the grandmother:
"See here, I cannot stand this any longer; I must go to Petite Pierre to
find out what is going on."
I put on my water-proof cape and went out into the pouring rain. On our
sandy soil the water flows off without soaking into the ground. I
arrived at Petite Pierre, where every one was then shut up in the
cottages, about six o'clock. At the point of the fort, high up in air a
sentinel was on guard outside of his watch-box.
A few minutes later I entered the office of the chief inspector. He was
there alone, walking up and down with a bowed back and a gloomy air, and
when I raised my hood he stopped short and said to me:
"It is you, Father Frederick, is it? Have you come to hear the news and
to get your orders?"
"Yes, sir," I replied.
"Well, the news is bad; the battle is lost; we are repulsed from Alsace,
and one hundred and fifty thousand Germans are advancing to enter
Lorraine."
A cold shiver ran down my back, and as he said no more I murmured:
"Everything is ready, sir; there is nothing to do but to distribute the
powder for the mines and to commence felling the trees; we are all ready
and waiting."
Then, smiling bitterly and running his hands through his thick brown
hair, he cried:
"Yes, yes, we are all like that. Time presses; the retreat is
continuing by Bitche and Saverne, the enemy is sending out scouts in all
directions, and the orders do not come."