me from under his eyes with humble, stupid, and crafty air.

The men all round us exclaimed:

"'To the wall! to the wall!'

"I said to the gendarmes:

"'Do you answer for the prisoner?'

"I had not ceased speaking when a terrible push threw me on my back,
and in a second I saw the man seized by the furious soldiers, thrown
down, struck, dragged along the side of the road, and flung against a
tree. He fell in the snow, nearly dead already.

"And immediately they shot him. The soldiers fired at him, re-loaded
their guns, fired again with the desperate energy of brutes. They
fought with each other to have a shot at him, filed off in front of
the corpse, and kept firing on at him, as people at a funeral keep
sprinkling holy water in front of a coffin.

"But suddenly a cry arose of: 'The Prussians! the Prussians!'

"And all along the horizon I heard the great noise of this
panic-stricken army in full flight.

"The panic, generated by these shots fired at this vagabond, had
filled his very executioners with terror; and, without realizing that
they were themselves the originators of the scare, rushed away and
disappeared in the darkness.

"I remained alone in front of the corpse with the two gendarmes whom
their duty had compelled to stay with me.

"They lifted up the riddled piece of flesh, bruised and bleeding.

"'He must be examined,' said I to them.

"And I handed them a box of vestas which I had in my pocket. One of
the soldiers had another box. I was standing between the two.

"The gendarme, who was feeling the body, called out:

"'Clothed in a blue blouse, a trousers, and a pair of shoes.'

"The first match went out; we lighted a second. The man went on, as he
turned out his pockets:

"'A horn knife, check handkerchief, a snuff-box, a bit of packthread,
a piece of bread.'

"The second match went out; we lighted a third. The gendarme, after
having handled the corpse for a long time, said:

"'That is all.'

"I said:

"'Strip him. We shall perhaps find something near the skin.'

"And, in order that the two soldiers might help each other in this
task, I stood between them to give them light. I saw them, by the
rapid and speedily extinguished flash of the match, take off the
garments one by one, and expose to view that bleeding bundle of flesh
still warm, though lifeless.

"And suddenly one of them exclaimed:

"'Good God, General, it is a woman!'

"I cannot describe to you the strange and po