ter an hour's slumber M. de Sucy was awakened by a hideous
uproar and the sound of an explosion. The remembrance of his duty, of
the danger of his beloved, rushed upon his mind with a sudden shock. He
uttered a cry like the growl of a wild beast. He and his servant stood
upright above the rest. They saw a sea of fire in the darkness, and
against it moving masses of human figures. Flames were devouring the
huts and tents. Despairing shrieks and yelling cries reached their
ears; they saw thousands upon thousands of wild and desperate faces;
and through this inferno a column of soldiers was cutting its way to the
bridge, between the two hedges of dead bodies.

"Our rearguard is in full retreat," cried the major. "There is no hope
left!"

"I have spared your traveling carriage, Philip," said a friendly voice.

Sucy turned and saw the young aide-de-camp by the light of the flames.

"Oh, it is all over with us," he answered. "They have eaten my horse.
And how am I to make this sleepy general and his wife stir a step?"

"Take a brand, Philip, and threaten them."

"Threaten the Countess?..."

"Good-bye," cried the aide-de-camp; "I have only just time to get across
that unlucky river, and go I must, there is my mother in France!... What
a night! This herd of wretches would rather lie here in the snow, and
most of them would sooner be burned alive than get up.... It is four
o'clock, Philip! In two hours the Russians will begin to move, and you
will see the Beresina covered with corpses a second time, I can tell
you. You haven't a horse, and you cannot carry the Countess, so come
along with me," he went on, taking his friend by the arm.

"My dear fellow, how am I to leave Stephanie?"

Major de Sucy grasped the Countess, set her on her feet, and shook her
roughly; he was in despair. He compelled her to wake, and she stared at
him with dull fixed eyes.

"Stephanie, we must go, or we shall die here!"

For all answer, the Countess tried to sink down again and sleep on the
earth. The aide-de-camp snatched a brand from the fire and shook it in
her face.

"We must save her in spite of herself," cried Philip, and he carried her
in his arms to the carriage. He came back to entreat his friend to help
him, and the two young men took the old general and put him beside his
wife, without knowing whether he were alive or dead. The major rolled
the men over as they crouched on the earth, took away the plundered
clothing, and heaped