hen its
master fell, and was now returning, to follow its companions. As he
did so, the old peasant appeared, from the wood.

"Thank you," Ralph said warmly. "You have saved my life or, at any
rate, have saved me from a German prison."

The peasant paid no attention to him; but stooped down to examine,
carefully, whether the Germans were both dead.

"Two more," he said, with a grim smile. "That makes fifteen. Three
apiece."

Then he picked up the officer's revolver, took the cartridge
belonging to it from the pouch and, with a wave of the hand to
Ralph, strode back into the wood.

Ralph removed the holsters from the saddle of his own horse--which
had fallen dead--placed them on the horse of the German officer and
then, mounting it, rode off at full speed, to inform General
Cambriels of the results of his investigation.

"Hallo, Barclay!" one of his fellow officers said, as he rode up to
the headquarters, "what have you been up to? Doing a little barter,
with a German hussar? You seem to have got the best of him, too;
for your own horse was a good one, but this is a good deal better,
unless I am mistaken.

"How has it come about?"

Quite a crowd of idlers had collected round, while the officer was
speaking; struck, like him, with the singularity of the sight of a
French staff officer upon a horse with German trappings. Ralph did
not wish to enter into explanations, there; so merely replied, in
the same jesting strain, that it had been a fair exchange--the
small difference in the value of the horses being paid for, with a
small piece of lead. Then, throwing his reins to his orderly--who
came running up--he went in to report, to the general, the evident
forward movements of the Germans.

"Are they as strong as we have heard?" the general asked.

"Fully, I should say, sir. I had no means of judging the infantry,
but they seemed in large force. They were certainly strong in
cavalry, and I saw some eight or ten batteries of artillery."

"Let the next for duty ride, with all speed, to Tempe; and tell him
to hold the upper end of this valley. Send Herve's battery forward
to assist him. Have the general assembly sounded."

Ralph left to obey these orders, while the general gave the colonel
of his staff the instructions for the disposition of his forces.

The army of the Vosges--pompous as was its name--consisted, at this
time, of only some ten thousand men; all Mobiles or franc tireurs,
with the exception of a