s alive! it is he!"

We hastened on, and saw the captain smoking his pipe at the entrance of
the village, but strangely enough he was on horseback.

"Ah! Ah!" he said to us, "you see that there is something to be done
here. Here I am on horseback already. I knocked over a uhlan yonder, and
took his horse; I suppose they were guarding the wood, but it was by
drinking and swilling in clover. One of them, the sentry at the door,
had not time to see me before I gave him a sugar plum in his stomach,
and then, before the others could come out, I jumped on to the horse and
was off like a shot. Eight or ten of them followed me, I think, but I
took the cross-roads through the woods; I have got scratched and torn a
bit, but here I am, and now, my good fellows, attention, and take care!
Those brigands will not rest until they have caught us, and we must
receive them with rifle bullets. Come along; let us take up our posts!"

We set out. One of us took up his position a good way from the village
of the cross-roads; I was posted at the entrance of the main street,
where the road from the level country enters the village, while the two
others, the captain and his wife were in the middle of the village, near
the church, whose tower served for an observatory and citadel.

We had not been in our places long before we heard a shot followed by
another, and then two, then three. The first was evidently a chassepot;
one recognized it by the sharp report, which sounds like the crack of a
whip, while the other three came from the lancers' carbines.

The captain was furious. He had given orders to the outpost to let the
enemy pass and merely to follow them at a distance, if they marched
towards the village, and to join me when they had gone well between the
houses. Then they were to appear suddenly, take the patrol between two
fires, and not allow a single man to escape, for posted as we were, the
six of us could have hemmed in ten Prussians, if needful.

"That confounded Piedelot has roused them," the captain said, "and they
will not venture to come on blindfold any longer. And then I am quite
sure that he has managed to get a shot into himself somewhere or other,
for we hear nothing of him. It serves him right; why did he not obey
orders?" And then, after a moment, he grumbled in his beard: "After all,
I am sorry for the poor fellow, he is so brave and shoots so well!"

The captain was right in his conjectures. We waited until evening,