ck. Jean, who by that
time was completely dressed, would have run for it, but Maurice, still
in bed, found he no longer had control of his legs; how were they ever
to find their comrades? would not the army have marched away? They took
Weiss to task for having let them sleep so long. But the accountant
shook his head sorrowfully and said:

"You have done just as well to remain in bed, for all that has been
accomplished."

All that day, from early morning, he had been scouring Sedan and its
environs in quest of news, and was just come in, discouraged with the
inactivity of the troops and the inexplicable delay that had lost them
the whole of that precious day, the 31st. The sole excuse was that
the men were worn out and rest was an absolute necessity for them, but
granting that, he could not see why the retreat should not have been
continued after giving them a few hours of repose.

"I do not pretend to be a judge of such matters," he continued, "but I
have a feeling, so strong as to be almost a conviction, that the army
is very badly situated at Sedan. The 12th corps is at Bazeilles, where
there was a little fighting this morning; the 1st is strung out along
the Givonne between la Moncelle and Holly, while the 7th is encamped
on the plateau of Floing, and the 5th, what is left of it, is crowded
together under the ramparts of the city, on the side of the Chateau.
And that is what alarms me, to see them all concentrated thus about the
city, waiting for the coming of the Prussians. If I were in command I
would retreat on Mezieres, and lose no time about it, either. I know the
country; it is the only line of retreat that is open to us, and if we
take any other course we shall be driven into Belgium. Come here! let me
show you something."

He took Jean by the hand and led him to the window.

"Tell me what you see over yonder on the crest of the hills."

Looking from the window over the ramparts, over the adjacent buildings,
their view embraced the valley of the Meuse to the southward of Sedan.
There was the river, winding through broad meadows; there, to the left,
was Remilly in the background, Pont Maugis and Wadelincourt before them
and Frenois to the right; and shutting in the landscape the ranges of
verdant hills, Liry first, then la Marfee and la Croix Piau, with their
dense forests. A deep tranquillity, a crystalline clearness reigned over
the wide prospect that lay there in the mellow light of the declining
day