第 42 页

the 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 pulled you down, Ralph, 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?"

"I think he has been nervous, Ralph; but he did not show it, but

talked cheerfully to keep up mamma and Milly."

"And are you quite strong again, Percy?"

"Yes, I think I am nearly as strong as ever, Ralph.

"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.

"You 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 someone 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 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 officer, 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 then 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 him--perhaps 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 tomorrow. 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, tomorrow, I may have both my boys back

again."

"Will there be another train in, tonight, Percy?" Captain Barclay

asked.

"Quite possibly," Percy said; "indeed, indeed,"--and he

hesitated--"you see, I walked up fast; it is just possible 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, Melanie? Yes, dear, he has come."

Percy saw that it was safe now. He went to the door, and opened it.

Ralph 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 tomorrow you will obtain a medical certificate, and

write to General Chanzy: saying that you are alive, but unable to

rejoin?"

"Yes," Ralph 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 be

unmistakable.

"The game is, I am convinced, 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.

"Bourbaki 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 marching on this town from Paris and, if Bourbaki is not

wonderfully 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 surrender, 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

possibility of saving France. You have done your duty--more than

your duty. It would be worse than folly--it would be wickedness--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," Ralph 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 extended 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 touched the

rosette of the legion of honor, in his buttonhole--"will prove that

we have distinguished ourselves. 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 already 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

contained bad news; for he mentioned that Tim had lost an arm, at

the battle of the 8th 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 Barclays' 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 higher ground--at a

distance of two and three miles, respectively--lay the villages of

Daix and Hauteville.

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 listened for a while

with them. The enemy had taken up positions upon some of the

numerous heights surrounding, and were playing upon the batteries

at Talant, Fontaine 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 attention; 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 gradually died

away, the Germans retiring. An hour later, the greater portion of

the troops marched back to the town. The enemy, they reported, were

not over 15,000 strong while, in all, the Garibaldians and

mobilized national guards in the town were 30,000 to 40,000 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 midnight 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.

"It is a night attack," Captain Barclay said; "and judging by the

sound, they are in earnest. I can hear musketry, 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, Melanie," Captain Barclay said

to his wife. "It is our duty to go; but I hardly think that they

can have been reinforced in sufficient strength to attack the

town."

The boys were soon down.

"Goodbye, mamma; goodbye, 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, tonight."

Two silent kisses, and then father and sons hurried away towards

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.

"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.