bit of the bread he had had the foresight
to bring with them. When they were near Sedan, however, they were
brought to a halt by another Prussian post, and this time the
consequences threatened to be serious; the officer stormed at them,
and even refused to restore their pass, which he declared, in excellent
French, to be a forgery. Acting on his orders some soldiers had run the
donkey and the little cart under a shed. What were they to do? were they
to be forced to abandon their undertaking? Silvine was in despair, when
all at once she thought of M. Dubreuil, Father Fouchard's relative, with
whom she had some slight acquaintance and whose place, the Hermitage,
was only a few hundred yards distant, on the summit of the eminence that
overlooked the faubourg. Perhaps he might have some influence with
the military, seeing that he was a citizen of the place. As they were
allowed their freedom, conditionally upon abandoning their equipage, she
left the donkey and cart under the shed and bade Prosper accompany
her. They ascended the hill on a run, found the gate of the Hermitage
standing wide open, and on turning into the avenue of secular elms
beheld a spectacle that filled them with amazement.

"The devil!" said Prosper; "there are a lot of fellows who seem to be
taking things easy!"

On the fine-crushed gravel of the terrace, at the bottom of the steps
that led to the house, was a merry company. Arranged in order around a
marble-topped table were a sofa and some easy-chairs in sky-blue satin,
forming a sort of fantastic open-air drawing-room, which must have been
thoroughly soaked by the rain of the preceding day. Two zouaves, seated
in a lounging attitude at either end of the sofa, seemed to be laughing
boisterously. A little infantryman, who occupied one of the fauteuils,
his head bent forward, was apparently holding his sides to keep them
from splitting. Three others were seated in a negligent pose, their
elbows resting on the arms of their chairs, while a chasseur had his
hand extended as if in the act of taking a glass from the table. They
had evidently discovered the location of the cellar, and were enjoying
themselves.

"But how in the world do they happen to be here?" murmured Prosper,
whose stupefaction increased as he drew nearer to them. "Have the
rascals forgotten there are Prussians about?"

But Silvine, whose eyes had dilated far beyond their natural size,
suddenly uttered an exclamation of horror. The s