第 33 页

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 people 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 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 daresay 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."

"Not at all," the officer answered. "However, I am here with a

message from the general, now. He would have asked you 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

come 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 thirteenth instant; and you were

picked up, by the Farcey, upon the evening of the sixteenth. 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 thirteenth, at Montargis," Ralph

said; "on the fourteenth at Melun, on the fifteenth at Versailles;

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 general 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.

"Goodbye."

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 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 anything 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 disconnected sentences;

sometimes raving wildly, and imagining himself repeating the scenes

through which he had passed, since he left home.

At nine o'clock, exactly, Ralph 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;

presented 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, "you are in the Gazette, this

morning, as captain."

Ralph bowed, 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 Ducrot 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 expecting 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."

Ralph 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," Ralph 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 appearance never

entered my mind. I have become so accustomed--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 presented myself before you, this evening; for I should not

have presumed to do so, in my present state; and it will 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 apology, and their

own mistake; and General Trochu then asked him to give them a full

account of what had happened to him, what he had seen, and what

information he had gained since he left Tours. Ralph 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 fellows, 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 commissions first? Were you at the Polytechnic, or Saint

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 Vesouze; and should have blown up the tunnel of

Saverne, had it not been for treachery."

"Yes, yes," General Trochu said; "I remember Gambetta has once or

twice mentioned your corps, especially. You see, we don't hear much

from outside.

"Let us hear 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, Ralph gave an account of the doings of the corps; from

the day they arrived in the Vosges, to the day he had left

them--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?" General 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 languages

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 to call again, for a day or two; as your

brother will naturally occupy your attention, 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 least no worse; and the Sisters of

Charity, who were nursing him, said that the doctors had spoken

hopefully at their last visit. Ralph 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 themselves were keeping watch, by

turns.

Accordingly Ralph--who still felt the effects 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.

Chapter 17: A Balloon Voyage.

For eight-and-forty 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 prognostication 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 anyone 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