give us up to be eaten by wolves? Have we mothers and
sisters and friends, beings who are dear to us, and will they not cry
out for vengeance?"

I should have thought of a thousand other things, but now I did not
think at all. From having seen such a mass of slaughter and wrong
every day and in every fashion, I began to say to myself:

"The strongest are always right. The Emperor is the strongest, and he
has called us, and we must come in spite of everything, from
Pfalzbourg, from Saverne, or other cities, and take our places in the
ranks and march. The one who would show the least sign of resistance
ought to be shot at once. The marshals, the generals, the officers,
down to the last man, follow their instructions, they dare not make a
move without orders, and everybody obeys the army. It is the Emperor
who wills, who has the power and who does everything. And would not
Joseph Bertha be a fool to believe that the Emperor ever committed a
single fault in his life? Would it not be contrary to reason?"

That was what we all thought, and if the Emperor had remained here, all
France would have had the same opinion.

My only satisfaction was in thinking that I had some carrots and
turnips, for in passing in the rear of the pickets to find our place in
the battalion, we learned that no rations had been distributed except
brandy and cartridges.

The veterans were filling their kettles; but the conscripts, who had
not yet learned the art of living while on a campaign, and who had
unfortunately already eaten all their bread, as will happen when one is
twenty years old, and is on the march with a good appetite, they had
not a spoonful of anything. At last about seven o'clock we reached the
camp. Zebede came to meet me and was delighted to see me, and said,
"What have you brought, Joseph? We have found a fat kid and we have
some salt, but not a mouthful of bread."

I showed him the rice which I had left, and my turnips and carrots.

"That's good," said he, "we shall have the best soup in the battalion."

I wanted Buche to eat with us too, and the six men belonging to our
mess, who had all escaped with only bruises and scratches, consented.
Padoue, the drum-major, said, laughing, "Veterans are always veterans,
they never come empty-handed."

We looked into the kettles of the five conscripts, and winked, for they
had nothing but rice and water in them, while we had a good rich soup,
the odor of which filled the a