NCLE CHAMBRUN.

Having done so, I returned to my uncle, and said to him,--"Uncle, the
bishop has gone away in great wrath, vowing that you shall repent of
your conduct."

"And when I would have made way for him," said my aunt, indignantly,
"he called me a bad name, and looked as if I were the very scum of
the earth."

"Ah, he does not recognize marriages among the clergy," said my uncle,
calmly. "Never mind him, my good Dorothee; he'd be glad enough to have a
wife of his own, and seeing me so much better off than he is, makes him
captious and querulous. Come and shake up my pillow, for my poor head
aches sadly. I will try to get a little sleep."

At that instant, a loud trampling of horses' feet was heard, together
with the jingling of spurs and the clanking of armor.

"What's that?" cried Aunt Dorothee, running from the bed to the window,
and pulling back the little curtain, "Ah, le beau spectacle! Look out,
Jacques!"

It was indeed a fine spectacle, as far as mere outward splendor went,
to see a troup of cavalry in blue and burnished steel, on powerful black
horses, ride proudly by, making the very earth shake under them; and
many children, attracted by the sight, ran towards them, shouting and
throwing up their caps; but when I looked at the ferocious faces of
these men, seamed with many an ugly scar--their lowering brows, their
terrible eyes, their sour aspect--I felt they might be as dreadful to
face in peace as in war. I watched them out of sight, and then placed
myself beside my uncle, who, with closed eyes and folded hands, was
endeavoring to sleep. My aunt went below to baste the poulet for his
dinner. The house was very still; nothing was to be heard but the
ticking of the clock.

All at once I heard heavy feet tramping towards the house, and a
confused medley of rough voices. The next instant, the house door was
battered as if to break it in, which, being of solid oak, was no easy
matter. The door being opened, I heard a faint cry of terror from my
aunt, and a brawling and trampling impossible to describe. I looked down
from the stair-head and counted forty-two dragoons, trampling in one
after another, till, the house being of moderate size, there was hardly
room for them to stand. Yet they continued to pour in, jostling,
pushing, and elbowing one another, each trying to shout louder than his
comrades, "Hola! hola! House! house!--Give us to eat! Give us to drink!"
with frightful oaths and curses.