upied the former of those towns,
the army was about to attempt the passage of the river at the other,
which was situated more to the northward.

"So you see, General," Sambuc continued, "we've come to tell you that
the woods of Dieulet are alive with Prussians. There was an engagement
yesterday as the 5th corps was leaving Bois-les-Dames, somewhere about
Nonart--"

"What, yesterday? There was fighting yesterday?"

"Yes, General, the 5th corps was engaged as it was falling back; it must
have been at Beaumont last night. So, while some of us hurried off to
report to it the movements of the enemy, we thought it best to come and
let you know how matters stood, so that you might go to its assistance,
for it will certainly have sixty thousand men to deal with in the
morning."

General Bourgain-Desfeuilles gave a contemptuous shrug of his shoulders.

"Sixty thousand men! Why the devil don't you call it a hundred thousand
at once? You were dreaming, young man; your fright has made you see
double. It is impossible there should be sixty thousand Germans so near
us without our knowing it."

And so he went on. It was to no purpose that Sambuc appealed to Ducat
and Cabasse to confirm his statement.

"We saw the guns," the Provencal declared; "and those chaps must be
crazy to take them through the forest, where the rains of the past few
days have left the roads in such a state that they sink in the mud up to
the hubs."

"They have someone to guide them, for certain," said the ex-bailiff.

Since leaving Vouziers the general had stoutly refused to attach any
further credit to reports of the junction of the two German armies
which, as he said, they had been trying to stuff down his throat. He did
not even consider it worth his while to send the francs-tireurs before
his corps commander, to whom the partisans supposed, all along, that
they were talking; if they should attempt to listen to all the yarns
that were brought them by tramps and peasants, they would have their
hands full and be driven from pillar to post without ever advancing
a step. He directed the three men to remain with the column, however,
since they were acquainted with the country.

"They are good fellows, all the same," Jean said to Maurice, as they
were returning to fold the tent, "to have tramped three leagues across
lots to let us know."

The young man agreed with him and commended their action, knowing as he
did the country, and deeply alarmed to hear