sic rise, soft as a murmur, and spread
through the little church, the Abbe Constantin was filled with such
emotion, such joy, that the tears came to his eyes. He could not
remember having wept since the day when Jean had said that he wished to
share all that he possessed with the mother and sister of those who had
fallen by his father's side under the Prussian bullets.

To bring tears to the eyes of the old priest, a little American had been
brought across the seas to play a reverie of Chopin in the little church
of Longueval.

BOOK 2.

CHAPTER IV. A RIOT OF CHARITY

The next day, at half-past five in the morning, the bugle-call rang
through the barrack-yard at Souvigny. Jean mounted his horse, and took
his place with his division. By the end of May all the recruits in the
army are sufficiently instructed to be capable of sharing in the general
evolutions. Almost every day manoeuvres of the mounted artillery are
executed on the parade-ground. Jean loved his profession; he was in the
habit of inspecting carefully the grooming and harness of the horses,
the equipment and carriage of his men. This morning, however, he
bestowed but scant attention on all the little details of his duty.

One problem agitated, tormented him, and left him always undecided, and
this problem was one of those the solution of which is not given at
the Ecole Polytechnique. Jean could find no convincing reply to this
question: Which of the two sisters is the prettier?

At the butts, during the first part of the manoeuvre, each battery
worked on its own account, under the orders of the captain; but he often
relinquished the place to one of his lieutenants, in order to accustom
them to the management of six field-pieces. It happened on this day that
the command was intrusted to the hands of Jean. To the great surprise of
the Captain, in whose estimation his Lieutenant held the first rank as
a well-trained, smart, and capable officer, everything went wrong. The
Captain was obliged to interfere; he addressed a little reprimand to
Jean, which terminated in these words:

"I can not understand it at all. What is the matter with you this
morning? It is the first time such a thing has happened with you."

It was also the first time that Jean had seen anything at the butts at
Souvigny but cannon, ammunition wagons, horses, or gunners.

In the clouds of dust raised by the wheels of the wagons and the hoofs
of the horses Jean beheld, not t