alking about as if you were in the principal
street in Nantes! I do not say that we must not expose ourselves a
good deal more than the peasants, in order to encourage them; but
there is a limit to all things, and one must remember that we are
very short of officers, and that the peasants, brave as they are,
would be useless without someone to direct them."

"I have no doubt but you are right, Jean," Desailles said with a
laugh; "but in fact, I don't remember giving a thought to the
matter. I was almost bewildered by the roar of the battle and the
whistling of the bullets. I felt like a man who had taken too much
wine; which, in my student days, happened to me more than once. My
blood seemed to rush through my veins, and I would have given
anything for the order to come for us to throw ourselves upon the
enemy."

"You will get over that," Jean laughed, "but the same feeling is
strong among the men. One can see how eager they are for the order
to charge. They use their muskets, but it is to use their bayonets
that they are panting. They would make grand soldiers, if they were
but well drilled and disciplined.

"Unless I am mistaken, you will see them at their favourite work,
before many days are over. Westermann will get to Chatillon
tonight. When he gets there, he will find no provisions for his
troops, and will begin to wonder whether he is wise in thus
penetrating so far into a nest of hornets.

"Bonchamp will give him two or three days to forget the mauling
that we have given him. By that time our force will have increased,
and it will be well for Westermann if he manages to carry half his
force back with him."

The news of the burning of la Rochejaquelein's chateau, on the
following day, excited the liveliest indignation. The young count
himself received the news with greater indifference than did those
around him.

"When a man carries his life in his hand, every day," he said, "he
does not fret over the loss of a house. I do not suppose that I
should ever have sat down quietly in possession of it, and the
cousin who is my heir may have to wait a number of years before, if
ever, he comes to take possession of the estate. Had circumstances
been different, the loss of the old chateau, where my family have
lived for so many years, would have been very grievous to me; but
at present it affects me comparatively little.

"It is lucky that I sent off four men, directly the fight was over,
with a letter to my ste