verpowering stench that rose from the bodies of drowned soldiers and
horses that lay festering among the weeds. And the horses, that dropped
in the fields from inanition, were decomposing so rapidly and forming
such a fruitful source of pestilence that the Prussians, commencing
to be alarmed on their own account, had provided picks and shovels and
forced the prisoners to bury them.

That day, however, was the last on which they suffered from famine. As
their numbers were so greatly reduced and provisions kept pouring in
from every quarter, they passed at a single bound from the extreme of
destitution to the most abundant plenty. Bread, meat, and wine, even,
were to be had without stint; eating went on from morning till night,
until they were ready to drop. Darkness descended, and they were
eating still; in some quarters the gorging was continued until the next
morning. To many it proved fatal.

That whole day Jean made it his sole business to keep watch over
Maurice, who he saw was ripe for some rash action. He had been drinking;
he spoke of his intention of cuffing a Prussian officer in order that he
might be sent away. And at night Jean, having discovered an unoccupied
corner in the cellar of one of the outbuildings at the Tour a Glaire,
thought it advisable to go and sleep there with his companion, thinking
that a good night's rest would do him good, but it turned out to be
the worst night in all their experience, a night of terror during
which neither of them closed an eye. The cellar was inhabited by other
soldiers; lying in the same corner were two who were dying of dysentery,
and as soon as it was fairly dark they commenced to relieve their
sufferings by moans and inarticulate cries, a hideous death-rattle that
went on uninterruptedly until morning. These sounds finally became so
horrific there in the intense darkness, that the others who were resting
there, wishing to sleep, allowed their anger to get the better of them
and shouted to the dying men to be silent. They did not hear; the rattle
went on, drowning all other sounds, while from without came the drunken
clamor of those who were eating and drinking still, with insatiable
appetite.

Then commenced for Maurice a period of agony unspeakable. He would have
fled from the awful sounds that brought the cold sweat of anguish in
great drops to his brow, but when he arose and attempted to grope his
way out he trod on the limbs of those extended there, and finall