e knelt down and dried my feet with her apron before I knew what she
was about to do. I cried:

"Good Heavens! madame; you treat me as if I were your son."

She replied, after a moment's mournful silence:

"We have a son in the army."

Her voice trembled as she spoke, and my heart bled within me. I
thought of Catharine and Aunt Gredel, and could not speak again. I ate
and drank with a pleasure I never before felt in doing so. The two old
people sat gazing kindly on me, and, when I had finished, the man said:

"Yes, we have a son in the army; he went to Russia last year, and we
have not since heard from him. These wars are terrible!"

He spoke dreamily, as if to himself, all the while walking up and down
the room, his hands crossed behind his back. My eyes began to close
when he said suddenly:

"Come, wife. Good-night, conscript."

They went out together, she carrying the tub.

"God reward you," I cried, "and bring your son safe home!"

In a minute I was undressed, and, sinking on the bed, I was almost
immediately buried in a deep sleep.

IX

The next morning I awoke at about seven o'clock. A trumpet was
sounding the recall at the corner of the street; horses, wagons, and
men and women on foot were hurrying past the house. My feet were yet
somewhat sore, but nothing to what they had been; and when I had
dressed, I felt like a new man, and thought to myself:

"Joseph, if this continues, you will soon be a soldier. It is only the
first step that costs."

I dressed in this cheerful mood. The baker's wife had put my shoes to
dry before the fire, after filling them with hot ashes to keep them
from growing hard. They were well greased and shining.

Then I buckled on my knapsack, and hurried out, without having time to
thank those good people--a duty I intended to fulfil after roll-call.
At the end of the street--on the square--many of our Italians were
already waiting, shivering around the fountain. Furst, Klipfel, and
Zebede arrived a moment after.

Cannon and their caissons covered one entire side of the square.
Horses were being brought to water, led by hussars and dragoons.
Opposite us were cavalry barracks, high as the church at Phalsbourg,
while around the other three sides rose old houses with sculptured
gables, like those at Saverne, but much larger. I had never seen
anything like all this, and while I stood gazing around, the drums
began to beat, and each man took his place in t