resembled their own.

The basket was empty--this had not been difficult among ten of
them--they only regretted it was not larger. The conversation was kept
up for some little time longer, although somewhat more coldly after they
had finished eating.

The night fell, the darkness grew gradually more profound, and the cold,
to which digestion rendered them more sensitive, made even Boule de Suif
shiver in spite of her fat. Madame de Breville thereupon offered her
her charcoal foot-warmer, which had been replenished several times since
the morning; she accepted with alacrity, for her feet were like ice.
Mesdames Carre-Lamadon and Loiseau lent theirs to the two Sisters.

The driver had lit his lanterns, which shed a vivid light over the cloud
of vapor that hung over the steaming back of the horses and over the
snow at each side of the road, which seemed to open out under the
shifting reflection of the lights.

Inside the conveyance nothing could be distinguished any longer, but
there was a sudden movement between Boule de Suif and Cornudet, and
Loiseau, peering through the gloom, fancied he saw the man with the
beard start back quickly as if he had received a well-directed but
noiseless blow.

Tiny points of fire appeared upon the road in front. It was Totes. The
travelers had been driving for eleven hours, which, with the four
half-hours for food and rest to the horses, made thirteen. They entered
the town and stopped in front of the Hotel de la Commerce.

The door opened. A familiar sound caused every passenger to tremble--it
was the clink of a scabbard on the stones. At the same moment a German
voice called out something.

Although the diligence had stopped, nobody attempted to get out, as
though they expected to be massacred on setting foot to the ground. The
driver then appeared holding up one of the lanterns, which suddenly
illumined the vehicle to its farthest corner and revealed the two rows
of bewildered faces with their open mouths and startled eyes wide with
alarm.

Beside the driver in the full glare of the light stood a German
officer, a tall young man excessively slender and blonde, compressed
into his uniform like a girl in her stays, and wearing, well over one
ear, a flat black wax-cloth cap like the "Boots" of an English hotel.
His preposterously long moustache, which was drawn out stiff and
straight, and tapered away indefinitely to each side till it finished
off in a single thread so thin that i