dead have the better part!"

Night descended while they were at Wadelincourt, and it was pitchy dark
long before they reached Remilly. Father Fouchard was greatly surprised
to behold the body of his son, for he had felt certain that it would
never be recovered. He had been attending to business during the day,
and had completed an excellent bargain; the market price for officers'
chargers was twenty francs, and he had bought three for forty-five
francs.

II.

The crush was so great as the column of prisoners was leaving Torcy that
Maurice, who had stopped a moment to buy some tobacco, was parted from
Jean, and with all his efforts was unable thereafter to catch up with
his regiment through the dense masses of men that filled the road. When
he at last reached the bridge that spans the canal which intersects the
peninsula of Iges at its base, he found himself in a mixed company of
chasseurs d'Afrique and troops of the infanterie de marine.

There were two pieces of artillery stationed at the bridge, their
muzzles turned upon the interior of the peninsula; it was a place easy
of access, but from which exit would seem to be attended with some
difficulties. Immediately beyond the canal was a comfortable house,
where the Prussians had established a post, commanded by a captain, upon
which devolved the duty of receiving and guarding the prisoners. The
formalities observed were not excessive; they merely counted the men,
as if they had been sheep, as they came streaming in a huddle across
the bridge, without troubling themselves overmuch about uniforms or
organizations, after which the prisoners were free of the fields and at
liberty to select their dwelling-place wherever chance and the road they
were on might direct.

The first thing that Maurice did was to address a question to a Bavarian
officer, who was seated astride upon a chair, enjoying a tranquil smoke.

"The 106th of the line, sir, can you tell me where I shall find it?"

Either the officer was unlike most German officers and did not
understand French, or thought it a good joke to mystify a poor devil of
a soldier. He smiled and raised his hand, indicating by his motion that
the other was to keep following the road he was pursuing.

Although Maurice had spent a good part of his life in the neighborhood
he had never before been on the peninsula; he proceeded to explore his
new surroundings, as a mariner might do when cast by a tempest on the
shore of a