rth, the
forest-path, part of which skirts the ridge of the Vosges.

"Let's go by the road, shall we?" said Morestal to his son.

And, as soon as they had started, he took Philippe's arm and said,
gleefully:

"Only think, my boy, at the camp, just now, we met one of the
lieutenants of the manoeuvring company. We talked about the Saboureux
business and, this evening, he is going to introduce us to his captain,
who happens to be a nephew of General Daspry, commanding the army-corps.
So I shall tell him what I have done at the Old Mill, you see; he will
report it to his uncle Daspry; and Fort Morestal will be listed at
once...."

He beamed with delight, held his head high and flung out his chest,
while, with his free hand, he made warlike flourishes with his cane.
Once he even halted and placed himself on guard and stamped his foot on
the ground:

"Three appels ... Engage ... Lunge! What do you say to that, Philippe,
eh? Old Morestal is game yet!"

Philippe, full of affection for the old man, smiled. Now that he was
acting on Marthe's advice and delaying the painful explanation, life
seemed better to him, quite simple and quite easy, and he surrendered
himself to the pleasure of seeing his father again and the scenes which
he loved and renewing the childhood memories that seemed to await him at
every turn of the road and to rise up at his approach:

"Do you remember, father? This is where I fell off my bicycle.... I was
standing under that tree when it was struck by lightning...."

They stopped, recalled all the circumstances of the event and set off
again, arm in arm.

And, a little further, Morestal took up the thread:

"And over there, do you remember? That's where you killed your first
rabbit ... with a catapult! Ah, even in those days you promised to be a
good shot ... the best at Saint-Elophe, as I live!... But I was
forgetting: you have given up your gun! A fellow of your build! Why,
sport, my boy, is the great apprenticeship for war!..."

*
* *

Saint-Elophe-la-Cote, once a flourishing little town, had never quite
recovered from the wounds earned by its heroism during the war. It stood
crowding round an old ruined castle which became visible at the last
turn in the road. Nevertheless, situated on the borders of the
department, at twelve or thirteen miles from Noirmont, the
sub-prefecture, it owed a certain importance to its positio