ed it, inside
and out, with its central hall and four rooms on each floor; why, it was
as if he had just left it! There were lights in the corner room on the
first floor overlooking the square; the apothecary's wife informed him
that it was the bedroom of the Emperor. But the chief center of activity
seemed, as she had said, to be the kitchen, the window of which opened
on the Rue de Vouziers. In all their lives the good people of Chene had
witnessed no such spectacle, and the street before the house was filled
with a gaping crowd, constantly coming and going, who stared with all
their eyes at the range on which was cooking the dinner of an Emperor.
To obtain a breath of air the cooks had thrown open the window to
its full extent. They were three in number, in jackets of resplendent
whiteness, superintending the roasting of chickens impaled on a huge
spit, stirring the gravies and sauces in copper vessels that shone
like gold. And the oldest inhabitant, evoking in memory all the civic
banquets that he had beheld at the Silver Lion, could truthfully declare
that never at any one time had he seen so much wood burning and so much
food cooking.

Combette, a bustling, wizened little man, came in from the street in
a great state of excitement from all that he had seen and heard. His
position as deputy-mayor gave him facilities for knowing what was going
on. It was about half-past three o'clock when MacMahon had telegraphed
Bazaine that the Crown Prince of Prussia was approaching Chalons, thus
necessitating the withdrawal of the army to the places along the Belgian
frontier, and further dispatches were also in preparation for the
Minister of War, advising him of the projected movement and explaining
the terrible dangers of their position. It was uncertain whether or not
the dispatch for Bazaine would get through, for communication with
Metz had seemed to be interrupted for the past few days, but the second
dispatch was another and more serious matter; and lowering his voice
almost to a whisper the apothecary repeated the words that he had heard
uttered by an officer of rank: "If they get wind of this in Paris, our
goose is cooked!" Everyone was aware of the unrelenting persistency with
which the Empress and the Council of Ministers urged the advance of the
army. Moreover, the confusion went on increasing from hour to hour,
the most conflicting advices were continually coming in as to the
whereabouts of the German forces. Could