ived one who was endeavoring to
get rid of a comrade, wounded as he was, whose body was crushing his
chest; and, as this wounded man struggled and complained, the soldier
pushed him brutally away, and made him roll down the slope of the mound,
whilst the wretched creature yelled with pain. At that cry a murmur came
from the heap of corpses. The sun, which was sinking, shed rays of a light
fallow colour. The blue of the sky was softer.

I finished reading my uncle Lazare's letter.

"I simply wished," he continued, "to give you news of ourselves, and to
beg you to come as soon as possible and make us happy. And here I am
weeping and gossiping like an old child. Hope, my poor Jean, I pray, and
God is good.

"Answer me quickly, and give me, if possible, the date of your return.
Babet and I are counting the weeks. We trust to see you soon; be hopeful."

The date of my return!--I kissed the letter, sobbing, and fancied for a
moment that I was kissing Babet and my uncle. No doubt I should never see
them again. I would die like a dog in the dust, beneath the leaden sun.
And it was on that desolated plain, amidst the death-rattle of the dying,
that those whom I loved dearly were saying good-bye. A buzzing silence
filled my ears; I gazed at the pale earth spotted with blood, which
extended, deserted, to the grey lines of the horizon. I repeated: "I must
die." Then, I closed my eyes, and thought of Babet and my uncle Lazare.

I know not how long I remained in a sort of painful drowsiness. My heart
suffered as much as my flesh. Warm tears ran slowly down my cheeks. Amidst
the nightmare that accompanied the fever, I heard a moan similar to the
continuous plaintive cry of a child in suffering. At times, I awoke and
stared at the sky in astonishment.

At last I understood that it was M. de Montrevert, lying a few paces off,
who was moaning in this manner. I had thought him dead. He was stretched
out with his face to the ground and his arms extended. This man had been
good to me; I said to myself that I could not allow him to die thus, with
his face to the ground, and I began crawling slowly towards him.

Two corpses separated us. For a moment I thought of passing over the
stomachs of these dead men to shorten the distance; for, my shoulder made
me suffer frightfully at every movement. But I did not dare. I proceeded
on my knees, assisting myself with one hand. When I reached the colonel, I
gave a sigh of relief; it seemed to me