rst Sucy caught the young Countess' hand in his, trying to express
his affection for her, and the pain that it gave him to see her reduced
like this to the last extremity of misery; but he said nothing as he
sat by her side on the thawing heap of snow, he gave himself up to the
pleasure of the sensation of warmth, forgetful of danger, forgetful of
all things else in the world. In spite of himself his face expanded with
an almost fatuous expression of satisfaction, and he waited impatiently
till the scrap of horseflesh that had fallen to his soldier's share
should be cooked. The smell of charred flesh stimulated his hunger.
Hunger clamored within and silenced his heart, his courage, and his
love. He coolly looked round on the results of the spoliation of his
carriage. Not a man seated round the fire but had shared the booty, the
rugs, cushions, pelisses, dresses,--articles of clothing that belonged
to the Count and Countess or to himself. Philip turned to see if
anything worth taking was left in the berline. He saw by the light of
the flames, gold, and diamonds, and silver lying scattered about; no one
had cared to appropriate the least particle. There was something hideous
in the silence among those human creatures round the fire; none of them
spoke, none of them stirred, save to do such things as each considered
necessary for his own comfort.

It was a grotesque misery. The men's faces were wrapped and disfigured
with the cold, and plastered over with a layer of mud; you could see
the thickness of the mask by the channel traced down their cheeks by
the tears that ran from their eyes, and their long slovenly-kept beards
added to the hideousness of their appearance. Some were wrapped round in
women's shawls, others in horse-cloths, dirty blankets, rags stiffened
with melting hoar-frost; here and there a man wore a boot on one foot
and a shoe on the other, in fact, there was not one of them but wore
some ludicrously odd costume. But the men themselves with such matter
for jest about them were gloomy and taciturn.

The silence was unbroken save by the crackling of the wood, the roaring
of the flames, the far-off hum of the camp, and the sound of sabres
hacking at the carcass of the mare. Some of the hungriest of the men
were still cutting tidbits for themselves. A few miserable creatures,
more weary than the others, slept outright; and if they happened to roll
into the fire, no one pulled them back. With cut-and-dried logi