There was no trouble as to billets for the night, as the Maire had already made out a list of the inhabitants who had offered accommodation–the number being greatly in excess of the strength of the corps. These persons now came forward, and each took off the number of franc tireurs who had been allotted to them.
The sergeant of the first company, knowing the relationship and friendship of the young Barclays and Duburgs, had promised them that–when practicable–he would always quarter them together. Upon the present occasion, the four were handed over to a gentleman whose house was a short distance outside the town. Upon the way, he chatted to them on the proposed course of the corps, upon its organization and discipline; and they asked for the first time the question which was so often, in future, to be upon their lips:
"Had he any news of the enemy?"
The answer was that none, as yet, had come south of Luneville; and that indeed, at present they were too much occupied at Metz, and Strasburg, to be able to detach any formidable parties. Small bodies of Uhlans occasionally had made raids, and driven in sheep and cattle; but they had not ventured to trust themselves very far into the mountains.
Upon arriving at the residence of their host, they were most kindly received by his wife and daughter; who, however, could not refrain from expressing their surprise at the youthfulness of their guests.
"But these are mere boys!" the lady said to her husband, in German; "are all the franc tireurs like these?"
"Oh no," her husband said, in the same language, "the greater part are sturdy fellows but, as they marched by, I observed some twelve or fourteen who were scarcely out of their boyhood.
"It is cruelty to send such youngsters out as these. What can they do against these Prussians, who have beaten our best soldiers?"
"Fortunately," Ralph said in German–which he spoke fluently, as has already been stated–and with a merry laugh–which showed that he was not offended at the remark–"fortunately, fighting now is not an affair of spears and battle axes Age has nothing to do with shooting; and as for fatigue, we shall not be the first in the corps to give up."
"I must really apologize very much, but I had no idea that you understood German, or I should not have made any remarks," the lady said, smiling; "but so few French boys, out of Alsace, do understand it that it never struck me that you spoke the language. You will find it an immense advantage for, outside the towns, you will scarcely meet a person understanding French. But I am sure you must be all very hungry, and supper is quite ready."
They were soon seated at a well-spread table–waited upon by the daughter of the family–while their host and hostess sat and chatted with them, as to their corps, while the meal went on.
"Excuse another remark upon your personal appearance," the lady said, smiling, "but two of you look more like Alsatians than French. You have the fair complexion and brown, wavy hair. You do not look like Frenchmen."
"Nor are we," Ralph laughed. "My brother and myself, although French born, are actually English. Our father is an English officer, but our mother is French and, as you see, we take after him rather than her."
"But I wonder that, as your father is English, he lets you go out upon this expedition–which is very perilous."
"We wished to go–that is, we thought it was our duty," Ralph said; "and although they were very sad at our leaving, they both agreed with us."
"I wish all Frenchmen were animated by the same feeling," their host said warmly. "Your gallant example should shame hundreds of thousands of loiterers and skulkers.
"You speak French perfectly. I should have had no idea that you were anything but French–or rather, from the way you speak German, that you were Alsatian."
"We have lived in France all our lives, except for two years which we passed in Germany; and two years at one time, together with one or two shorter visits, in England."
"And do you speak English as well as French?"
"Oh yes, we always speak English at home. Our father made a rule that we should always do so; as he said it would be an immense disadvantage to us, when we returned to England, if we had the slightest French accent. Our mother now speaks English as purely and correctly as our father."
"Are your friends any relations of yours?"
"They are our cousins," Ralph said; "their father is our mother's brother."
For some time longer they chatted, and then their host said:
"It is half-past nine; and we are early people, here. You will have to be up by five, so I think that it is time you were off to bed. We shall scarcely be up when you start; but you will find a spirit lamp on the table, with coffee–which only requires heating–together with some bread and butter. You will have some miles to march before you breakfast.
"And now, you must all promise me that, if you come to this place again, you will come straight up here, and look upon it as your home. If you get ill or wounded–which I hope will not happen–you will, of course, go home; but something may occur not sufficiently important for you to leave the corps, but which could be set straight by a few days' nursing, and rest. In that case, you will come to us, will you not?"
The boys all gratefully promised to avail themselves of the invitation, in case of need; and then said good night and goodbye to their host, and went off to the room prepared for them. In the morning they were up in good time, dressed as quietly as they could–so as not to disturb their host–and went downstairs; lit the spirit lamp under a glass bowl full of coffee and milk and, in ten minutes, were on their way towards the town.
"We shall be lucky if we are often as comfortable as that," Percy said, looking back; and there was a general assent.
"There goes the bugle," Louis Duburg said; "we have a quarter of an hour, yet.
"What pretty girls those were!"
Louis was nearly seventeen and, at seventeen, a French lad considers himself a competent judge as to the appearance and manners of young ladies.
"Were they?" Percy said carelessly, with the indifference of an English boy of his age as to girls. "I did not notice it. I don't care for girls; they are always thinking about their dress, and one is afraid of touching them, in case you should spoil something. There is nothing jolly about them."
The others laughed.
"I am sure Milly is jolly enough," Philippe Duburg said.
"Yes, Milly is jolly," Percy answered. "You see, she has been with us boys, and she can play, and doesn't screech if you touch her, or mind a bit if she tears her frock. So are our cousins in England–some of them. Yes, there are some jolly girls, of course; still, after all, what's the good of them, taking them altogether? They are very nice in their way–quiet and well behaved, and so on–but they are better indoors than out."
The clock was just striking half-past five, as the boys reached the place of assembly. Most of the men were already upon the spot, and the bugler was blowing lustily. In another five minutes all were assembled; including Tim Doyle, with his horse and cart.
"Good-morning, Tim," the boys said, as they came up to him. "I hope you had as comfortable quarters as we had, last night."
"Splendid, your honor–downright splendid; a supper fit for a lord, and a bed big enough for a duchess."
The boys laughed at the idea of a duchess wanting a bed bigger than anyone else, and Tim went on:
"Ah, your honor, if campaigning was all like this, sure I'd campaign all my life, and thank you; but it's many a time I shall look back upon my big supper, and big bed. Not that I should like it altogether entirely; I should get so fat, and so lazy, that I shouldn't know my own shadow."
And now the bugle sounded again, and the men fell in. As they started, they struck up a lively marching song; and several windows opened, and adieus were waved to them as they passed down the street into the open country. Everyone was