The Invasion of France in 1814 Part 12

They looked closely at each other, with bright, beaming faces, and went arm-in-arm up and down the great room; and Mother Catherine with the knapsack, Louise with the gun, and d.u.c.h.ene with the shako, followed them, laughing and drying their cheeks and eyes--nothing had ever been seen like it before.

"Let us sit down and drink!" exclaimed Doctor Lorquin. "This is the bouquet of the feast."

"Ah, my poor Gaspard, how happy I am to behold thee safe and sound,"

said Hullin. "Ha, ha! Without flattery, I like thee better as thou art now than with thy great red cheeks. Parbleu! thou art a man now.

Thou remindest me of the old fellows of my time, those of the Sambre and Egypt--ha, ha, ha! we had not round noses, we were not sleek and fat; we looked like lean rats watching a cheese, and our teeth were long and white!"

"Yes, yes, that does not surprise me, Papa Jean-Claude. Come, let us sit down; we can talk more at ease. Ah, now, why are you all at the farm?"

"What, dost thou not know? All the country is up, from Houpe to Saint-Sauveur, to defend itself."

"Yes, the anabaptist of Painbach just mentioned it as I pa.s.sed. It is then true?"

"It is true. Everybody is in it; and I am the general in chief."

"Excellent--excellent! That these rogues of 'kaiserlichs' should not carry everything with a high hand in our own country gives me pleasure.

But hand me the knife. Anyway one is happy to find one's self at home again. He! Louise, come here and sit down a little while. Look, Papa Jean-Claude: with this girl on one side of me, the ham on the other, and the bottle to the front, I should not need a fortnight to pick up again; and my comrades would not know me when I joined the company."

Everybody was now sitting down and astonished to see with what appet.i.te the brave fellow ate and drank, while regarding Louise and his mother tenderly, and replying to one and the other, without losing a single mouthful.

The farm-people, d.u.c.h.ene, Annette, Robin, and Dubourg, arranged in a half-circle, watched Gaspard in ecstasies; Louise refilled his gla.s.s; the Mother Lefevre, seated by the stove, got up and went to his knapsack, and, on only finding two old black shirts with holes wide enough to put one's, hand through, with worn-out shoes and a bit of wax for cartridges, a comb with two teeth and an empty bottle, she lifted her hands to heaven and hastening to open the linen chest, saying, "Lord, can one be astonished that so many die of sheer want!"

Doctor Lorquin, in presence of such a vigorous appet.i.te, rubbed his hands joyfully, and murmured to himself, "What a st.u.r.dy fellow! What a digestion! What a set of teeth! He could crunch pebbles like nuts."

And even old Materne said to his sons:--"In other days, after two or three days of hunting in the high mountains in winter, I also used to feel the hunger of a wolf, and to eat a haunch of venison right off: now I am getting old, one or two pounds of meat are sufficient for me---which shows what age does."

Hullin had lit his pipe, and seemed in a reverie: evidently something worried him. After a few minutes, seeing that Gaspard's appet.i.te was less lively, he brusquely asked, "Say, then, Gaspard, without interrupting thyself, how the devil hast thou managed to come? We believed that thou wast still on the borders of the Rhine, on the Strasbourg side."

"Ah! ah! old soldier, I comprehend," said young Lefevre, winking.

"There are so many deserters, are there not?"

"Oh! such an idea would never enter my head, and yet----"

"You would not be sorry to know that I had done nothing wrong? I cannot blame you, Papa Jean-Claude: you are right. He who is missing at the roll-call when the 'kaiserlichs' are in France, deserves to be shot. Be composed, here is my leave."

Hullin, who possessed no false delicacy, read,--"Leave for twenty-four hours to the grenadier Gaspard Lefevre, of the 2d of the 1st. This day, 3d January, 1814.--GEMEAU, Head of Battalion."

"Good, good," exclaimed he. "Put that carefully in thy knapsack, thou mightest lose it."

All his good-humor had returned:--"Do you see, my children, I know what love is? There is both good and bad in it: but it is particularly bad for young soldiers who come too close to their village after a campaign. They are capable of forgetting themselves and of not returning unless in company of two or three gendarmes. I have seen it.

But come, since everything is in order, let us drink a gla.s.s of 'rikevir.' What say you, Catherine? The men of the Sarre may arrive at any moment, and we have not an instant to lose?"

"You are right, Jean-Claude," replied the old farm-mistress sadly.

"Annette, go down and bring three bottles from the small cellar."

The servant obeyed quickly.

"But this leave, Gaspard," continued Catherine--"how long has it lasted?"

"I received it yesterday, at eight in the evening, at Va.s.selonne, my mother. The regiment is retreating on Lorraine; I must rejoin it this evening at Phalsbourg."

"It is well; thou hast still seven hours; thou wilt not need more than six to reach there, although there is much snow on the Foxthal."

The good woman came and sat down again by her son, with a full heart.

Every one was moved. Louise, with her arm on the old tattered epaulet of Gaspard and her cheek against his, was sobbing. Hullin emptied the ashes from his pipe at the end of the table, frowning, without saying anything; but when the bottles arrived and were uncorked, "Come, Louise," said he, "take courage! this cannot last forever; it must end in one way or another, and I venture to affirm that it will end well.

Gaspard will come back to us, and then we shall have the wedding."

He refilled the gla.s.ses, and Catherine dried her eyes, murmuring, "To think that those brigands are the cause of all this. Ah! let them come--let them come here!"

They all drank with a melancholy air; but the old "rikevir," entering the hearts of these brave people quickly enlivened them. Gaspard, stronger than he had appeared at first, began to relate the terrible battles of Bautzen, Lutzen, Leipzig, and Hanau, where the conscripts had fought like tried soldiers, winning victory after victory, till traitors began to appear.

Every one listened in silence. Louise, when he spoke of any great danger--of the pa.s.sage over rivers under the enemy's fire, or the taking of a battery by the bayonet--squeezed his arm as though to defend him. Jean-Claude's eyes sparkled; the doctor demanded each time the position of the ambulance; Materne and his sons stretched out their necks and clinched their jaws; and with help of the old wine the enthusiasm increased every moment. "Ah, the rascals! ah, the brigands!

But look out! it is not over yet."

Mother Lefevre admired the courage and luck of her son in the midst of these events, which will be remembered centuries to come. But when Lagarmitte, looking solemn and grave in his long gray cloth coat, with his broad black felt on his white head, and with his bark trumpet on his shoulder, crossed the kitchen, and appeared at the entrance to the large room, saying,--"The men of the Sarre are come,"--then all this enthusiasm, disappeared, and the company rose, thinking of the terrible struggle which would soon take place in the mountains.

Louise, throwing her arms round Gaspard's neck, cried, "Gaspard, do not go away! Remain with us!"

He became very pale.

"I am a soldier," said he. "I am called, Gaspard Lefevre. I love thee a thousand times more than my own life; but a Lefevre only knows his duty."

And he unwound her arms. Louise then, sinking on the table, began to moan aloud. Gaspard rose. Hullin stood between them, and grasping his hands tightly, with trembling lips, said: "Excellently well! Thou hast spoken like a man."

His mother came forward with a calm countenance to buckle his knapsack on his shoulders. She did it with knitted eyebrows and pressed lips, without one sigh escaping her; but two great tears slowly ran down the wrinkles of her cheeks. And when she had done it, she turned away, and with her sleeve over her eyes, said: "It is well! Go--go, my child!

thy mother blesses thee. Whatever thy fortune thou wilt yet not be lost to us. Look, Gaspard: there is thy place--there between Louise and myself--thou wilt always be there. This poor child is not old enough yet to know that to live is to suffer."

Everybody left; only Louise remained lamenting in the room. A few seconds later, as the b.u.t.t end of the musket sounded on the slabs of the kitchen, and the outer door was opened, she gave a piercing shriek, and darted after him.

"Gaspard, Gaspard, look! I will be courageous; I will not cry; I will not keep thee back. Oh, no; but do not leave me in anger. Have pity on me!"

"Angry! angry with thee, my Louise! Oh, no! But to see thee so unhappy breaks my heart. Ah! if thou wert a little braver now, I should feel happier."

"Well, I am. Let us kiss each other! See, I am no longer the same. I would be like Maman Lefevre."

They calmly gave each other a parting embrace, Hullin held the gun; Catherine motioned with her hands, as though to say, "Go, go! it is enough!" And he, suddenly seizing his musket, walked away resolutely, without looking back.

On the other side, the men of the Sarre, with their axes and hatchets, were climbing the steep ascent of the Valtin.

Five minutes later, on pa.s.sing by the great oak, Gaspard turned round, lifting his hands. Catherine and Louise replied to it. Hullin advanced to meet his people. Doctor Lorquin alone remained with the women; and when Gaspard, continuing his way, had disappeared, he exclaimed, "Catherine Lefevre, you can pride yourself on having an affectionate son. G.o.d grant him good fortune!"

And the distant voices of the new-comers could be heard laughing among themselves, as they were marching to war as gayly as to a wedding.

CHAPTER X