and one of them was dragging the dead body of its rider, which rebounded
violently from the ground; his foot had caught in the stirrup.

"One of the soldiers behind me gave a terrible laugh and said: 'There
will be some widows there!'

"Perhaps he was married. A third added: 'It did not take long!'

"A head emerged from the litter.

"'What is the matter?' she asked; 'are you 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 lighter. The snow
became quite clear, luminous and glistening, 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 give the countersign. We
had reached the French lines, and, as my men defiled before the outpost,
a commandant on horseback, whom I had informed of what had taken place,
asked in a sonorous voice, as he saw the litter pass him: 'What have you
in there?'

"And immediately a small head covered with light hair appeared,
dishevelled and smiling, and replied:

"'It is I, monsieur.'

"At this the men raised a hearty laugh, and we felt quite light-hearted,
while Pratique, who was walking by the side of the litter, waved his
kepi and shouted:

"'Vive la France!' And I felt really affected. I do not know why, except
that I thought it a pretty and gallant thing to say.

"It seemed to me as if we had just saved the whole of France and had
done something that other men could not have done, something simple
and really patriotic. I shall never forget that little face, you may be
sure; and if I had to give my opinion about abolishing drums, trumpets
and bugles, I should propose to replace them in every regiment by
a pretty girl, and that would be even better than playing the
'Marseillaise: By Jove! it would put some spirit into a trooper to have
a Madonna like that, a live Madonna, by the colonel's side."

He was silent for a few moments and then continued, with an air of
conviction, and nodding his head:

"All the same, we are very fond of women, we Frenchmen!"

MOTHER SAUVAGE

Fifteen years had passed since I was at Virelogne. I returned there in
the autumn to shoot with my friend Serval, who had at last rebuilt his
chateau, which the Prussians