he litter, waiting for his turn to replace the first of
his comrades who might give in, said to one of his neighbors, loud
enough for me to hear:

"'I am not a young man, now; but by Jove, there is nothing like a woman
to make you feel queer from head to foot!'

"We went on, almost without stopping, until three o'clock in the
morning, when suddenly our scouts fell back again. Soon the whole
detachment showed nothing but a vague shadow on the ground, as the men
lay on the snow, and I gave my orders in a low voice, and heard the
harsh, metallic sound of the cocking of rifles. There, in the middle of
the plain, some strange object was moving about. It might have been
taken for some enormous animal running about, which uncoiled itself
like a serpent, or came together into a coil, then suddenly went
quickly to the right or left, stopped, and then went on again. But
presently the wandering shape came near, and I saw a dozen lancers, one
behind the other, who were trying to find their way, which they had
lost.

"By this time they were so near that I could hear the panting of the
horses, the clink of the swords, and the creaking of the saddles, and
so cried: 'Fire!'

"Fifty rifle-shots broke the stillness of the night; then there were
four or five reports, and at last one single shot was heard. When the
smoke had cleared away we saw that the twelve men and nine horses had
fallen. Three of the animals were galloping away at a furious pace. One
of them was dragging the body of its rider behind it. His foot had
caught in the stirrup, and his body rebounded from the ground in a
horrible way.

"One of the soldiers behind me gave a harsh laugh, and said: 'There are
a few more widows now!'

"Perhaps he was married. And another added: 'It did not take long!'

"A head was put out of the litter:

"'What is the matter?' she asked; 'you are fighting?'

"'It is nothing, Mademoiselle,' I replied; 'we have got rid of a dozen
Prussians!'

"'Poor fellows!' she said. But as she was cold, she quickly disappeared
beneath the cloaks again, and we started off once more. We marched on
for a long time, and at last the sky began to grow pale. The snow
became quite clear, luminous, and bright, and a rosy tint appeared in
the east. Suddenly a voice in the distance cried:

"'Who goes there?'

"The whole detachment halted, and I advanced to say who we were. We had
reached the French lines, and as my men defiled before the outpost, a
comman