nces, and retire little by little, as they did a hundred years
earlier when Charles XII. invaded Russia. At length there is a battle at
Moscow, and the French army enters the town. We see in imagination the
September nights lighted up far and wide by a blazing flame. Moscow is
on fire. On the terrace of the Kremlin stands a little man in a grey
military coat and a black cocked hat, watching the flame. Within a week
the old holy city of the Muscovites lies in ashes.

The early twilight of winter falls over Paris, and we see the shadows
deepen round Napoleon's tomb. We fancy we see among them human figures
fighting against hunger, cold, and weariness. The time of misfortune is
come. The great army is retreating, the roads are lined with corpses and
fragments. The cannon are left in the snow. The soldiers fall in
regiments like a ripe crop. Packs of wolves follow in their tracks: they
are contented with the dead, but the Cossack squadrons cut down the
living. At the bridge over the Beresina, a tributary of the Dnieper,
30,000 men are drowned and perish. All discipline is relaxed. The
soldiers throw away their guns and knapsacks. Clothed in furs and with a
birchen staff in his hand, the defeated emperor marches like a simple
soldier in the front. Thanks to the severe climate of their country and
its great extent, and thanks also to their own cautious conduct of the
war, the Russians practically annihilated Napoleon's army.

The darkness deepens. At Leipzig Russians, Austrians, Prussians, and
Swedes oppose Napoleon. There his proud empire falls to pieces, even
Paris is captured, and he loses his crown. He is carried a prisoner down
the Rhone valley through Lyons, and shipped off to the island of Elba.

Once more he fills the world with tumult. With a brig and seven small
vessels he sails back to the coast of France. He has a force of only
1100 men, but in his hands it is sufficient to reconquer France. He
marches over the western offshoots of the Alps. At Grenoble his force
has increased to 7000 men. In Lyons he is saluted as Emperor, and Paris
opens its gates. He is ready to stake everything on a single throw. In
Belgium is to be the decisive battle. Hostile armies gather round the
frontiers of France, for Europe is tired of continual war. At Waterloo
Napoleon fights his last battle, and his fate is sealed for ever.

He leaves Paris for the last time. At the port of Rochefort, between the
mouths of the Loire and the Garon