第 8 页

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 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 footing 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--amidst 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.

Railway 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, towards the end of their journey, when they were fairly

among the Vosges, the scenery became wild and savage. At Vesoul,

which was about halfway, 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 enthusiastic

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 off, 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 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 along. 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 relationship and

friendship of the young Barclays and Duburgs, 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 future, 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 surprise at the youthfulness of their guests.

"But these are mere boys!" the lady said to her husband, 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

understood 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 appearance," the lady

said, smiling, "but two of you look more like Alsatians than

French. You have the fair complexion and brown, wavy hair. You do

not look like Frenchmen."

"Nor are we," Ralph laughed. "My brother and myself, although

French born, 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 lets you go out

upon this expedition--which is very perilous."

"We wished to go--that is, we thought it was our duty," Ralph 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," their

host said warmly. "Your gallant example 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 as 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," Ralph said; "their father is our mother's

brother."

For some 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 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 happen--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 goodbye

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 towards 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 the appearance and

manners of young ladies.

"Were they?" Percy said carelessly, with the indifference of an

English boy of his age as to girls. "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 others laughed.

"I am sure Milly is jolly enough," Philippe 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 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

anyone 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. Everyone 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, the country wild and

mountainous, thick forests extended in every direction, as far as

the eye could carry.

"There is one comfort, Percy," Ralph 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 leave 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 provisions. 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 tumbling 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 were piled, blankets and haversacks taken off, and then

preparations began for their first meal. 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 company to fetch wood, and the old

soldiers prepared for the important operation of cooking.

Several little fireplaces 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 canteen, 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